Asa with Judah and many of Israel, moved by the prophecy of Azariah the son of Obed, make a solemn Covenant with God.

1 ¶ And the Spiritº of Godº came² upon² Azariahº the sonº of Oded:º 2 And he went outºª to meetº Asa,º and saidºª unto him, Hearºª ye me, Asa,º and all² Judahº and Benjamin;º The LORDº [is] with² you, while ye be² with² him; and if² ye seekºª him, he will be foundºª of you; but if² ye forsakeºª him, he will forsakeºª you. 3 Now for a long¹ seasonº² Israelº [hath been] withoutº the trueº God,º and without² a teachingºª priest,º and without² law.º 4 But when they in their troubleº did turnºª unto² the LORDº Godº of Israel,º and soughtºª him, he was foundºª of them. 5 And in those² timesº [there was] no² peaceº to him that went out,ºª nor to him that came in,ºª but² greatº vexationsº [were] upon² all² the inhabitantsºª of the countries.º 6 And nationº was destroyedºª of nation,º and cityº of city:º for² Godº did vexºª them with all² adversity.º 7 Be ye strongºª² therefore, and let not² your handsº be weak:ºª for² your workº shall beº rewarded.º 8 And when Asaº heardºª these² words,º and the prophecyº of Odedº the prophet,º he took courage,ºª and put awayºª the abominable idolsº out of all²² the landº of Judahº and Benjamin,º and out of² the citiesº which² he had takenºª from mountº² Ephraim,º and renewedºª² the altarº of the LORD,º that² [was] beforeº the porchº of the LORD.º 9 And he gatheredºª² all² Judahº and Benjamin,º and the strangersºª with² them out of Ephraimº² and Manasseh,º and out of Simeon:º² for² they fellºª to² him out of Israelº² in abundance,º when they sawºª that² the LORDº his Godº [was] with² him. 10 So they gathered themselves togetherºª at Jerusalemº in the thirdº month,º in the fifteenthºº yearº of the reignº of Asa.º 11 And they offeredºª unto the LORDº the same² time,º of² the spoilº [which] they had brought,ºª sevenº hundredº oxenº and sevenº thousandº sheep.º 12 And they enteredºª into a covenantº to seekºª² the LORDº Godº of their fathersº with all² their heartº and with all² their soul;º 13 That whosoever²² would not² seekºª the LORDº Godº of Israelº should be put to death,ºª whetherº smallº or² great,º whether manº² or² woman.º 14 And they swareºª unto the LORDº with a loudº voice,º and with shouting,º and with trumpets,º and with cornets.º 15 And all² Judahº rejoicedºª at² the oath:º for² they had swornºª with all² their heart,º and soughtºª him with their whole² desire;º and he was foundºª of them: and the LORDº gave them restºª round about.º²

He putteth down Maachah his mother for her idolatry.

16 ¶ And also² [concerning] Maachahº the motherº of Asaº the king,º he removedºª her from [being] queen,º² because² she had madeºª an idolº in a grove:º and Asaº cut downºª² her idol,º and stampedºª [it], and burntºª [it] at the brookº Kidron.º 17 But the high placesº were not² taken awayºª out of Israel:º² nevertheless² the heartº of Asaº was² perfectº all² his days.º

He bringeth dedicated things into the house of God, and enjoyeth a long peace.

18 ¶ And he brought¹ª into² the houseº of Godº² the things that his fatherº had dedicated,º and that he himself had dedicated,º silver,º and gold,º and vessels.º 19 And there was² no² [more] warº unto² the fiveº and thirtiethº yearº of the reignº of Asa.º