Azariah

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

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

Note"The Spirit of God came upon" him means God filled him with his power. It let him speak God's message to people.

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."

And 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.

NoteJudah and Benjamin were two family groups of Israel. They lived in the southern part of the land. Asa was their king. In the King James, "the LORD" in big letters stands for God's own special name.

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."

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

NoteA priest was a man with a special job at God's house. He brought people's gifts to God. He also taught people God's rules. The "law" was the set of rules God gave to Moses long ago.

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

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

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

And 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.

NoteBack then people walked or rode donkeys from town to town. Robbers and fighting made those roads unsafe.

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

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

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

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

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.

And 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.

NoteAn idol is a statue that people treat like a god. A prophet was a person who told others what God said. An altar was a stone table where gifts were burned for God. The "porch" was the covered doorway in front of God's house. God's house was the temple, the big building in Jerusalem where people came to worship.

9Asa called together all the people of Judah and Benjamin. People from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon came too, for 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.

And 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.

NoteLong ago the land split into two countries. Asa ruled the smaller one in the south. Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon were family groups from the other country. Some of their people moved south to live near Asa.

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

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

NoteTheir year started in the spring, not in January. So the third month was near our May or June.

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.

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

NoteThese animals were killed and burned on the altar as gifts to God. That was how people said thank you to him. The animals came from the goods they took from an enemy after winning a battle.

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.

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

NoteA covenant was a strong promise between two sides. Both sides agreed, and both had to keep it. "God of their fathers" means the same God their grandparents had followed.

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.

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

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

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

NoteA ram's horn came from a male sheep. People blew into it to make a loud, deep sound, like a trumpet.

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.

And 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.