New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 The spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded.
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And the spirit of God came on Azariah, the son of Oded;
2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you, while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
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And he came face to face with Asa and said to him, Give ear to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you while you are with him; if your heart's desire is for him, he will be near you, but if you give him up, he will give you up.
3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law;
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Now for a long time Israel has been without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without the law;
4 but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.
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But when in their trouble they were turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, searching after him, he let their search be rewarded.
5 In those times it was not safe for anyone to go or come, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands.
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In those times there was no peace for him who went out or for him who came in, but great trouble was on all the people of the lands.
6 They were broken in pieces, nation against nation and city against city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress.
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And they were broken by divisions, nation against nation and town against town, because God sent all sorts of trouble on them.
7 But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded."
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But be you strong and let not your hands be feeble, for your work will be rewarded.
8 When Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.
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And Asa, hearing these words of Azariah, the son of Oded the prophet, took heart and put away all the disgusting things out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the towns which he had taken from the hill-country of Ephraim; and he made new again the altar of the Lord in front of the covered way of the Lord's house.
9 He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing as aliens with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.
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And he got together all Judah and Benjamin and those of Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon who were living with them; for numbers of them came to him out of Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.
10 They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
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So they came together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the rule of Asa.
11 They sacrificed to the Lord on that day, from the booty that they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.
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And that day they made offerings to the Lord of the things they had taken in war, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.
12 They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and with all their soul.
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And they made an agreement to be true to the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and all their soul;
13 Whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.
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And that anyone, small or great, man or woman, who was not true to the Lord, the God of Israel, would be put to death.
14 They took an oath to the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with horns.
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And they made an oath to the Lord, with a loud voice, sounding wind-instruments and horns.
15 All Judah rejoiced over the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.
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And all Judah was glad because of the oath, for they had taken it with all their heart, turning to the Lord with all their desire; and he was with them and gave them rest on every side.
16 King Asa even removed his mother Maacah from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the Wadi Kidron.
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And Asa would not let Maacah, his mother, be queen, because she had made a disgusting image for Asherah; and Asa had her image cut down and broken up and burned by the stream Kidron.
17 But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was true all his days.
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But the high places were not taken away out of Israel; but still the heart of Asa was true to the Lord all his life.
18 He brought into the house of God the votive gifts of his father and his own votive gifts—silver, gold, and utensils.
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He took into the house of God all the things which his father had made holy and those which he himself had made holy, silver and gold and vessels.
19 And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
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And there was no more war till the thirty-fifth year of the rule of Asa.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.