Book | Chapter | Verse | Text |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
1 |
Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded, |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
2 |
and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. "Listen to me, Asa!" he shouted. "Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The LORD will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
3 |
For a long time, Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without God's law. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
4 |
But whenever you were in distress and turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him out, you found him. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
5 |
During those dark times, it was not safe to travel. Problems troubled the nation on every hand. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
6 |
Nation fought against nation, and city against city, for God was troubling you with every kind of problem. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
7 |
And now, you men of Judah, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded." |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
8 |
When Asa heard this message from Azariah the prophet, he took courage and removed all the idols in the land of Judah and Benjamin and in the towns he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. And he repaired the altar of the LORD, which stood in front of the foyer of the LORD's Temple. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
9 |
Then Asa called together all the people of Judah and Benjamin, along with the people of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them. Many had moved to Judah during Asa's reign when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
10 |
The people gathered at Jerusalem in late spring, during the fifteenth year of Asa's reign. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
11 |
On that day they sacrificed to the LORD some of the animals they had taken as plunder in the battle--seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep and goats. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
12 |
Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
13 |
They agreed that anyone who refused to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, would be put to death--whether young or old, man or woman. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
14 |
They shouted out their oath of loyalty to the LORD with trumpets blaring and horns sounding. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
15 |
All were happy about this covenant, for they had entered into it with all their hearts. Eagerly they sought after God, and they found him. And the LORD gave them rest from their enemies on every side. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
16 |
King Asa even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down the pole, broke it up, and burned it in the Kidron Valley. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
17 |
Although the pagan shrines were not completely removed from Israel, Asa remained fully committed to the LORD throughout his life. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
18 |
He brought into the Temple of God the silver and gold and the utensils that he and his father had dedicated. |
2 Chronicles |
15 |
19 |
So there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign. |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
1 |
In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Asa's territory in Judah. |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
2 |
Asa responded by taking the silver and gold from the treasuries of the LORD's Temple and from the royal palace. He sent it to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, along with this message: |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
3 |
"Let us renew the treaty that existed between your father and my father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone." |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
4 |
Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa's request and sent his armies to attack Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all the store cities in Naphtali. |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
5 |
As soon as Baasha of Israel heard what was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Ramah. |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
6 |
Then King Asa called out all the men of Judah to carry away the building stones and timbers that Baasha had been using to fortify Ramah. Asa used these materials to fortify the towns of Geba and Mizpah. |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
7 |
At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, "Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the LORD your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
8 |
Don't you remember what happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and horsemen? At that time you relied on the LORD, and he handed them all over to you. |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
9 |
The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on, you will be at war." |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
10 |
Asa became so angry with Hanani for saying this that he threw him into prison. At that time, Asa also began to oppress some of his people. |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
11 |
The rest of the events of Asa's reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
12 |
In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Even when the disease became life threatening, he did not seek the LORD's help but sought help only from his physicians. |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
13 |
So he died in the forty-first year of his reign. |
2 Chronicles |
16 |
14 |
He was buried in the tomb he had carved out for himself in the City of David. He was laid on a bed perfumed with sweet spices and ointments, and at his funeral the people built a huge fire in his honor. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
1 |
Then Jehoshaphat, Asa's son, became the next king. He strengthened Judah to stand against any attack from Israel. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
2 |
He stationed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah, and he assigned additional garrisons to the land of Judah and to the towns of Ephraim that his father, Asa, had conquered. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
3 |
The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father's early years and did not worship the images of Baal. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
4 |
He sought his father's God and obeyed his commands instead of following the practices of the kingdom of Israel. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
5 |
So the LORD established Jehoshaphat's control over the kingdom of Judah. All the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so he became very wealthy and highly esteemed. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
6 |
He was committed to the ways of the LORD. He knocked down the pagan shrines and destroyed the Asherah poles. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
7 |
In the third year of his reign, Jehoshaphat sent out his officials to teach in all the towns of Judah. These officials included Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
8 |
He sent Levites along with them, including Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah. He also sent out the priests, Elishama and Jehoram. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
9 |
They took copies of the Book of the Law of the LORD and traveled around through all the towns of Judah, teaching the people. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
10 |
Then the fear of the LORD fell over all the surrounding kingdoms so that none of them declared war on Jehoshaphat. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
11 |
Some of the Philistines brought him gifts and silver as tribute, and the Arabs brought seventy-seven hundred rams and seventy-seven hundred male goats. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
12 |
So Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful and built fortresses and store cities throughout Judah. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
13 |
He stored numerous supplies in Judah's towns and stationed an army of seasoned troops at Jerusalem. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
14 |
His army was enrolled according to ancestral clans. From Judah, there were 300,000 troops organized in units of one thousand, under the command of Adnah. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
15 |
Next in command was Jehohanan, who commanded 280,000 troops. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
16 |
Next was Amasiah son of Zicri, who volunteered for the LORD's service, with 200,000 troops under his command. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
17 |
From Benjamin, there were 200,000 troops equipped with bows and shields. They were under the command of Eliada, a veteran soldier. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
18 |
Next in command was Jehozabad, who commanded 180,000 armed men. |
2 Chronicles |
17 |
19 |
These were the troops stationed in Jerusalem to serve the king, besides those Jehoshaphat stationed in the fortified cities throughout Judah. |