2 Chronicles 15

The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you abandon him, he will abandon you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without the law. But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. In those times there was no peace for anyone going out or coming in, for great turmoil troubled all the inhabitants of the lands. Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress. But you, be strong and do not let your hands grow weak, for there is a reward for your work.” When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He restored the altar of the LORD in front of the porch of the LORD. He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, along with those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing among them, for many from Israel had come over to him when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. They gathered in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign. That day they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred cattle and seven thousand sheep from the plunder they had brought. They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and all their soul. Anyone who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, small or great, man or woman. They swore to the LORD with a loud voice and shouting, with trumpets and horns. All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought him with all their desire. He was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest on every side. King Asa also removed his mother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for Asherah. Asa cut down her repulsive image, crushed it, and burned it at the Brook Kidron. But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless, Asa's heart was undivided all his days. He brought into the house of God the things his father had dedicated and the things he himself had dedicated: silver, gold, and utensils. There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.

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