15The spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. 2He came to Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin; the LORD is with you as long as you are with Him. If you turn to Him, He will respond to you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 3Israel has gone many days without the true God, without a priest to give instruction and without Teaching. 4But in distress it returned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, and He responded to them. 5At those times, a-no wayfarer-a was safe, for there was much tumult among all the inhabitants of the lands. 6Nations was crushed by nation and city by city, for God threw them into panic with every kind of trouble. 7As for you, be strong, do not be disheartened, for there is reward for your labor.”
8When Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the abominations from the entire land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He restored the altar of the LORD in front of the porch of the LORD. 9He assembled all the people of Judah and Benjamin and those people of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who sojourned among them, for many in Israel had thrown in their lot with him when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. 10They were assembled in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11They brought sacrifices to the LORD on that day; they brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep of the spoil. 12They entered into a covenant to worship the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul. 13Whoever would not worship the LORD God of Israel would be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14So they took an oath to the LORD in a loud voice and with shouts, with trumpeting and blasts of the horn. 15All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they swore with all their heart and sought Him with all their will. He responded to them and gave them respite on every side.
16bHec also deposed Maacah mother of King Asa from the rank of queen mother, because she had made an abominable thing for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa cut down her abominable thing, reduced it to dust, and burned it in the Wadi Kidron. 17The shrines, indeed, where not abolished in Israel; however, Asa was wholehearted [with the LORD] all his life. 18He brought into the House of God the things that he and his father had consecrated—silver, gold, and utensils. 19There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
16 aIn the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, King Baasha of Israel marched against Judah and built up Ramah to block b-all movement-b of King Asa of Judah. 2Asa took all the silver and gold from the treasuries of the House of the LORD and the royal palace, and sent them to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who resided in Damascus, with this message: 3“There is a pact between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. I herewith send you silver and gold; go and break your pact with King Baasha of Israel so that he may withdraw from me.” 4Ben-hadad acceded to King Asa’s request; he sent his army commanders against the towns of Israel and ravaged Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the garrison towns of Naphtali. 5When Baasha heard about it, he stopped building up Ramah and put an end to the work on it. 6Then King Asa mustered all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber with which Baasha had built up Ramah; with these King Asa built up Geba and Mizpah.
7At that time, Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Aram and did not rely on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has slipped out of your hands. 8The Cushites and Lybians were a mighty army with chariots and horsemen in very great numbers, yet because you relied on the LORD He delivered them into your hands. 9For the eyes of the LORD range over the entire earth, to give support to those who are wholeheartedly with Him. You have acted foolishly in this matter, and henceforth you will be beset by wars.” 10Asa was vexed at the seer and put him into the stocks,c for he was furious with him because of that. Asa inflicted cruelties on some of the people at that time.
11The acts of Asa, early and late, are recorded in the annals of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa suffered from an acute foot ailment; but ill as he was, he still did not turn to the LORD but to physicians. 13Asa slept with his fathers. He died in the forty-first year of his reign 14and was buried in the grave that he had made for himself in the City of David. He was laid in his resting-place, which was filled with spices of all kinds, expertly blended; a very great fire was made in his honor.
17 His son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king, and took firm hold of Israel. 2He stationed troops in all the fortified towns of Judah, and stationed garrisons throughout the land of Judah and the cities of Ephraim which his father Asa had captured. 3The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the earlier ways of his father David, and did not worship the Baalim, 4but worshiped the God of his father and followed His commandments—unlike the behavior of Israel. 5So the LORD established the kingdom in his hands, and all Judah gave presents to Jehoshaphat. He had wealth and glory in abundance. 6His mind was elevated in the ways of the LORD. Moreover, he abolished the shrines and the sacred posts from Judah.
7In the third year of his reign he sent his officers Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah throughout the cities of Judah to offer instruction. 8With them were the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tobadonijah the Levites; with them were Elishama and Jehoram the priests. 9They offered instruction throughout Judah, having with them the Book of the Teaching of the LORD. They made the rounds of all the cities of the LORD and instructed the people. 10A terror of the LORD seized all the kingdoms of the lands around Judah, and they did not go to war with Jehoshaphat. 11From Philistia a load of silver was brought to Jehoshaphat as tribute. The Arabs, too, brought him flocks: 7,700 rams and 7,700 he-goats. 12Jehoshaphat grew greater and greater, and he built up fortresses and garrison towns in Judah. 13He carried out extensive works in the towns of Judah, and had soldiers, valiant men, in Jerusalem. 14They were enrolled according to their clans. Judah: chiefs of thousands, Adnah the chief, who had 300,000 valiant men; 15next to him was Jehohanan the captain, who had 280,000; 16next to him was Amasiah son of Zichri, who made a freewill offering to the LORD. He had 200,000 valiant men. 17Benjamin: Eliada, a valiant man, who had 200,000 men armed with bow and buckler; 18next to him was Jehozabad, who had 180,000 armed men. 19These served the king, besides those whom the king assigned to the fortified towns throughout Judah.
18 aSo Jehoshaphat had wealth and honor in abundance, and he allied himself by marriage to Ahab. 2After some years had passed, he came to visit Ahab at Samaria. Ahab slaughtered sheep and oxen in abundance for him and for the people with him, and persuaded him to march against Ramoth-gilead. 3King Ahab of Israel said to King Jehoshaphat of Judah, “Will you accompany me to Ramoth-gilead?” He answered him, “I will do what you do; my troops shall be your troops and shall accompany you in battle.” 4Jehoshaphat then said to the king of Israel, “But first inquire for the word of the LORD.”
5So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred men, and asked them, “Shall I march upon Ramoth-gilead for battle, or shall I not?” “March,” they said, “and God will deliver it into the king’s hands.” 6Then Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not another prophet of the LORD here through whom we can inquire?” 7And the king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is one more man through whom we can inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, because he never prophesies anything good for me but always misfortune. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” Jehoshaphat replied, “Let the
