The Prophecy of Azariah 1 CPDV Now Azariah, the son of Oded, had the Spirit of God within him. BSB BSB: Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded.
2 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
3 CPDV Then many days will pass in Israel, apart from the true God, and apart from a learned priest, and apart from the law. BSB BSB: For many years Israel has been without the true God, without a priest to instruct them, and without the law.
4 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought Him, and He was found by them.
5 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: In those days there was no safety for travelers, because the residents of the lands had many conflicts.
6 CPDV For nation will fight against nation, and city against city. For the Lord will disturb them with every anguish. BSB BSB: Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God afflicted them with all kinds of adversity.
7 CPDV But as for you, be strengthened, and do not let your hands be weakened. For there will be a reward for your work.” BSB BSB: But as for you, be strong; do not be discouraged, for your work will be rewarded.”
Asa’s Reforms (1 Kings 15:9–15)
8 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.
9 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: And he assembled all Judah and Benjamin, along with those from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them, for great numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
10 CPDV And when they had arrived in Jerusalem, in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa, BSB BSB: So they gathered together in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.
11 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: At that time they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep from all the plunder they had brought back.
12 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul.
13 CPDV “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.” BSB BSB: And whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, would be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.
14 CPDV And they swore to the Lord, with a great voice, in jubilation, and with the blare of trumpets, and with the sound of horns, BSB BSB: They took an oath to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting, trumpets, and rams’ horns.
15 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn it with all their heart. They had sought Him earnestly, and He was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.
16 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
17 CPDV But some high places were left in Israel. Even so, the heart of Asa was perfect during all his days. BSB BSB: The high places were not removed from Israel, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted all his days.
18 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: And he brought into the house of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.
19 CPDV Truly, there was no war, until the thirty-fifth year of the kingdom of Asa. BSB BSB: And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.