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The
Prophet Azariah Warns Asa |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:1 |
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Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son
of Oded, |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:2 |
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and 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. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake
Him, He will forsake you. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:3 |
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For many days Israel was without the true God
and without a teaching priest and without law. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:4 |
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But in their distress they turned to the LORD
God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:5 |
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In those times there was no peace to him who
went out or to him who came in, for many disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants
of the lands. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:6 |
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Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city,
for God troubled them with every kind of distress. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:7 |
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But you, be strong and do not lose courage,
for there is reward for your work." |
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Asa's
Reforms |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:8 |
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Now when Asa heard these words and the 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 the cities which
he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of
the LORD which was in front of the porch of the LORD. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:9 |
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He gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those
from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who resided with them, for many defected to
him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:10 |
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So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third
month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:11 |
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They sacrificed to the LORD that day 700 oxen
and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:12 |
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They entered into the covenant to seek the LORD
God of their fathers with all their heart and soul; |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:13 |
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and whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel
should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:14 |
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Moreover, they made an oath to the LORD with
a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:15 |
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All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for
they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him earnestly, and He let
them find Him. So the LORD gave them rest on every side. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:16 |
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He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa,
from the position of queen mother, because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah,
and Asa cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:17 |
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But the high places were not removed from Israel;
nevertheless Asa's heart was blameless all his days. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:18 |
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He brought into the house of God the dedicated
things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver and gold and utensils. |
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| 2 Chronicles 15:19 |
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And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth
year of Asa's reign. |
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