2 Chronicles 15

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Now Azariah, the son of Oded, had the Spirit of God within him.	1 Upon Azariah, son of Oded, came the spirit of God.
2 And he went out to meet Asa, and he said to him: “Listen to me, Asa and all of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you, because you have been with him. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.	2 He went forth to meet Asa and said to him: "Hear me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The LORD is with you when you are with him, and if you seek him he will be present to you; but if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
3 Then many days will pass in Israel, apart from the true God, and apart from a learned priest, and apart from the law.	3 For a long time Israel had no true God, no priest-teacher and no law,
4 And when, in their anguish, they will have returned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and will have sought him, they shall find him.	4 but when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was present to them.
5 In that time, there will be no peace for those who depart and those who enter. Instead, there will be terror on every side, among all the inhabitants of the lands.	5 In that former time there was no peace for anyone to go or come, but there were many terrors upon the inhabitants of the lands.
6 For nation will fight against nation, and city against city. For the Lord will disturb them with every anguish.	6 Nation crushed nation and city crushed city, for God destroyed them by every kind of adversity.
7 But as for you, be strengthened, and do not let your hands be weakened. For there will be a reward for your work.”	7 But as for you, be strong and do not relax, for your work shall be rewarded."
8 And when Asa had heard these particular words, and the prophecy of the prophet Azariah, the son of Oded, he was strengthened, and he took away the idols from the entire land of Judah, and from Benjamin, and from the cities that he had seized of mount Ephraim, and he dedicated the altar of the Lord, which was before the portico of the Lord.	8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy (Oded the prophet), he was encouraged to remove the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had taken in the highlands of Ephraim, and to restore the altar of the LORD which was before the vestibule of the LORD.
9 And he gathered together all of Judah and Benjamin, and with them the new arrivals from Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon. For many had fled to him from Israel, seeing that the Lord his God was with him.	9 Then he convened all Judah and Benjamin, together with those of Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who sojourned with them; for many had fled to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD, his God, was with him.
10 And when they had arrived in Jerusalem, in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa,	10 They gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign,
11 they immolated to the Lord on that day, from the best of the spoils and from the plunder that they had brought: seven hundred oxen and seven thousand rams.	11 and sacrificed to the LORD at that time seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep of the booty they had brought.
12 And he entered, according to custom, in order to confirm the covenant, so that they would seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with their whole heart and with their whole soul.	12 They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul;
13 “But if anyone,” he said, “will not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, let him die, from the least even to the greatest, from man even to woman.”	13 and everyone who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
14 And they swore to the Lord, with a great voice, in jubilation, and with the blare of trumpets, and with the sound of horns,	14 They swore to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting and with trumpets and horns.
15 all who were in Judah swore with a curse. For with all their heart they swore, and with all their will they sought and found him. And the Lord granted rest on all sides to them.	15 All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and sought him with complete desire, so that he was present to them. And the LORD gave them rest on every side.
16 Then too, Maacah, the mother of king Asa, he deposed from the august authority, because she had made an idol of Priapus within a sacred grove. And he entirely crushed it, breaking it into pieces, and he burned it at the torrent Kidron.	16 Maacah, the mother of King Asa, he deposed as queen mother because she had made an outrageous object for Asherah; Asa cut this down, smashed it, and burnt it in the Kidron Valley.
17 But some high places were left in Israel. Even so, the heart of Asa was perfect during all his days.	17 Although the high places did not disappear from Israel, yet Asa's heart was undivided as long as he lived.
18 And whatever his father or he himself had vowed, he brought into the house of the Lord: silver and gold, and vessels for various uses.	18 He brought into the house of God his father's votive offerings and his own: silver, gold, and various utensils.
19 Truly, there was no war, until the thirty-fifth year of the kingdom of Asa.	19 There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.