8 When Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azari′ah the son of Oded,[a] he took courage, and put away the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the hill country of E′phraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.[b] 9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from E′phraim, Manas′seh, and Simeon who were sojourning with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 They sacrificed to the Lord on that day, from the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. 12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 and that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. 14 They took oath to the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with horns. 15 And all Judah rejoiced over the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest round about.
16 Even Ma′acah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Ashe′rah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17 But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was blameless all his days. 18 And he brought into the house of God the votive gifts of his father and his own votive gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19 And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 15:8 Compare Syr Vg: Heb the prophecy, Oded the prophet
- 2 Chronicles 15:8 Heb the vestibule of the Lord