Asa's Religious Reforms
2 and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh is with you, while you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
2 and he went out (a)to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: (B)the Lord is with you when you are with Him. And (C)if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
2 So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Asa and all Judah and Benjamin, hear me. The Lord is with you(B) when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you,(C) but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you.(D)
2 so he went out to meet Asa and rebuked him:
3 Now for a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
3 Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
3 (D)For many days Israel was without the true God and without (E)a teaching priest and without law.
3 For many years Israel has been without the true God,(E) without a teaching priest, and without instruction,(F)
3 "Listen to me, Asa, Judah, and Benjamin! The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will allow you to find him, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you. Israel lived for years without the true God, priests to teach them, and the Law,
4 But when in their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.
4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.
4 But (F)in their distress they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him.
4 but when they turned to the Lord God of Israel in their distress and sought Him, He was found by them.
4 but they turned to the LORD God of Israel in their distress. When they sought him, he let them become reacquainted with him.
5 In those times there was no peace to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands.
5 And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.
5 (G)In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for many disturbances (b)afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands.
5 In those times there was no peace for those who went about their daily activities because the residents of the lands had many conflicts.
5 "During those days, it wasn't safe for anyone to come and go, because many civil disturbances afflicted everyone who lived in the territories.
6 They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God troubled them with all adversity.
6 And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.
6 (H)Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress.
6 Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every possible distress.
6 Nation battled nation, and city fought city, because God was afflicting them all with every kind of distress.
8 When Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of Yahweh, that was before the porch of Yahweh.
8 And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.
8 Now when Asa heard these words and the (d)prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from (K)the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. (L)He then restored the altar of the Lord which was in front of the porch of the Lord.
8 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.(H) He renovated the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.(I)
8 Encouraged by what Oded's son Azariah the prophet had said in his prophecy, Asa removed the detestable idols from throughout the entire territories of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He repaired the LORD's altar that stood in front of the vestibule of the LORD's Temple.
9 He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who lived with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him.
9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
9 He gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon (M)who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.
9 Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, as well as those from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them, for they had defected to him from Israel in great numbers when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him.(J)
9 Then he gathered together all of Judah, Benjamin, and people from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were living among them, since many people had defected to him from Israel when they learned that the LORD his God was with him.
10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
10 So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.
10 They were gathered in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.
10 They all assembled in Jerusalem during the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign.
11 They sacrificed to Yahweh in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep.
11 And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.
11 (N)They sacrificed to the Lord that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought.
11 At that time they sacrificed to the Lord 700 cattle and 7,000 sheep from all the plunder they had brought.(K)
11 They sacrificed to the LORD that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil that they had brought with them.
12 They entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul;
12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;
12 (O)They entered into the covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and soul;
12 Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their ancestors with all their mind and all their heart.(L)
12 They also entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their ancestors with all their heart and soul,
13 and that whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
13 That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
13 and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel (P)should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.
13 Whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel would be put to death, young or old,(b) man or woman.(M)
13 and they further agreed that whoever would refuse to seek the LORD God of Israel was to be executed, whether important or unimportant, man or woman.
14 They swore to Yahweh with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.
14 And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.
14 Moreover, they made an oath to the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns.
14 They took an oath to the Lord in a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with rams’ horns.
14 They also made a vow to the LORD with loud voices, shouting, trumpets, and horns.
15 All Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and Yahweh gave them rest all around.
15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.
15 All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him (e)earnestly, and He let them find Him. So (Q)the Lord gave them rest on every side.
15 All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn it with all their mind. They had sought Him with all their heart, and He was found by them.(N) So the Lord gave them rest on every side.(O)
15 Everybody in Judah was very glad to make their oath, because they had made their vow with all their heart and had sought him with all of their might, and they found him! The LORD also gave them rest in their surrounding lands.
16 Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.
16 And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.
16 (R)He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from the position of queen mother, because she had made a horrid image (f)as (S)an Asherah, and (T)Asa cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron.
16 King Asa(P) also removed Maacah, his grandmother,(c)(Q) from being queen mother because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. Asa chopped down her obscene image, then crushed it and burned it in the Kidron Valley.(R)
16 King Asa removed his mother Maacah from her position as Queen Mother because she had made a detestable image dedicated to Asherah. He cut down his mother's idol, crushed it, and burned it at the Kidron Brook.
17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.
17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.
17 But the high places were not removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was blameless all his days.
17 The high places were not taken away from Israel; nevertheless, Asa was wholehearted his entire life.(d)
17 Nevertheless, the high places were not removed from Israel, even though Asa's heart was blameless all of his life.
18 He brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.
18 And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.
18 He brought into the house of God the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver and gold and utensils.
18 He brought his father’s consecrated gifts and his own consecrated gifts into God’s temple: silver, gold, and utensils.
18 Asa brought into God's Temple the things that his father had dedicated, as well as his own dedicated gifts such as silver, gold, and temple service implements.
19 There was no more war to the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.
19 And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.
19 And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
19 There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
19 Asa experienced no more war until the end of the thirty-fifth year of his reign.