2 Chronicles

And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:

1The Spirit of God came upon a man named Azariah. His father was Oded.

2And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

2Azariah went out to meet King Asa. He said, "Listen to me, Asa, and all the people of Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you stay with him. If you look for him, you will find him. But if you walk away from him, he will walk away from you."

3Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

3"For a long time Israel had no true God. They had no priest to teach them. A priest was a helper who served God and taught people his rules. And they had no law from God."

4But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

4"But when trouble came, they turned back to the LORD, the God of Israel. They looked for him, and they found him."

5And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.

5"In those days it was not safe to travel anywhere. Everyone in those lands had fighting and trouble."

NoteThe King James Bible says there was "no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in." That means it was dangerous to travel, whether you were leaving home or coming back.

6And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.

6"One nation crushed another nation. One city crushed another city. God let all kinds of hard things happen to them."

7Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.

7"So be strong. Do not give up. Your work will be paid back."

8And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.

8Asa heard these words from Azariah, a prophet. A prophet was someone who told people what God said. Asa took courage. He got rid of the awful idols in all the land of Judah and Benjamin. He also cleared them out of the towns he had taken in the hills of Ephraim. Then he fixed up the LORD's altar, which stood in front of the porch of God's house. An altar was a stone table where gifts were burned for God.

9And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

9Asa called together all the people of Judah and Benjamin. People from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon came too, because they had moved in among them. Many people had left Israel and joined Asa. They came because they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

10So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

10So they all met together in Jerusalem. It was the third month of Asa's fifteenth year as king.

11And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

11That day they gave gifts to the LORD. They gave 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. These animals came from what they had taken in battle.

12And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;

12Then they made a covenant, a serious promise. They promised to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with their whole heart and soul.

13That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

13They agreed that anyone who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, would be put to death. This was true for young and old, for men and women.

14And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

14They made this promise to the LORD out loud. They shouted, and they blew trumpets and rams' horns.

NoteThe King James Bible says "cornets." These were horns made from rams' horns, blown like trumpets.

15And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.

15All Judah was glad about the promise. They had made it with their whole heart. They wanted God and looked for him, and they found him. So the LORD gave them peace all around.

16And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

16King Asa also took Maacah, his grandmother, out of her place as queen mother. She had made an awful pole to honor the goddess Asherah. Asa cut the pole down. He smashed it and burned it by the Kidron brook.

NoteThe King James Bible calls Maacah Asa's "mother," but she was his grandmother. It also says she made an idol "in a grove." That was a tall wooden pole set up to honor a goddess named Asherah.

17But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

17The high places, where people brought gifts on hilltops, were not all taken away in Israel. Even so, Asa's heart belonged fully to God his whole life.

NoteThe King James Bible says Asa's heart was "perfect." In old English that meant whole or fully loyal. It does not mean he never did anything wrong.

18And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

18He brought gifts into God's house. They were silver, gold, and bowls and dishes. He and his father had set them apart for God.

19And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

19There was no more war until Asa's thirty-fifth year as king.