1 Veio o espírito de Deus sobre Azarias, filho de Obede,2 que saiu ao encontro de Asa e lhe disse: Ouve-me, Asa e todo o Judá e Benjamim: Jeová está convosco, enquanto estais com ele; se o buscardes, achá-lo-eis; mas se o deixardes, ele vos deixará.3 Ora, por muito tempo Israel tem estado sem o verdadeiro Deus, e sem sacerdote que o ensine, e sem lei;4 quando, porém, na sua angústia voltaram para Jeová, Deus de Israel, e o buscaram, deles foi achado.5 Naqueles tempos não havia paz nem para os que saíam nem para os que entravam, mas grandes perturbações estavam sobre todos os habitantes das terras.6 Pois nação contra nação e cidade contra cidade se despedaçavam, porque Deus os conturbou com toda a advertência.7 Vós, porém, esforçai-vos e não sejam remissas as vossas mãos; porque a vossa obra será recompensada.8 Tendo Asa ouvido estas palavras, e a profecia do profeta Obede, cobrou ânimo e lançou as abominações fora de toda a terra de Judá e Benjamim e das cidades que tomara da região montanhosa de Efraim; e renovou o altar de Jeová, que estava diante do pórtico de Jeová.9 Congregou todo o Judá e Benjamim, e os que peregrinavam no meio deles, de Efraim, de Manassés e de Simeão: e de Israel muitos se aliaram com ele, vendo que Jeová seu Deus era com ele.10 Ajuntaram-se em Jerusalém ao terceiro mês, ao décimo quinto ano do reinado de Asa.11 Naquele dia ofereceram em sacrifício a Jeová, do despojo que tinham trazido, setecentos bois e sete mil ovelhas.12 Entraram numa aliança para buscarem a Jeová, Deus de seus pais, com todo o seu coração e com toda a sua alma;13 e para que fosse morto todo aquele que não buscasse a Jeová, Deus de Israel, pequeno ou grande, homem ou mulher.14 Prestaram juramento a Jeová em alta voz, e com júbilo, e com trombetas e com buzinas.15 Todo o Judá se alegrou deste juramento; porque de todo o seu coração juraram, e com toda a sua vontade o buscaram; e deles foi achado. Jeová deu-lhes descanso ao redor.16 Também a Maaca, mãe do rei Asa, ele tirou a dignidade de rainha, porque ela fizera para Aserá uma imagem abominável; e Asa cortou-lhe a imagem, que, feita em pó, queimou junto à torrente de Cedrom.17 Os altos, porém, não se tiraram de Israel; contudo o coração de Asa foi perfeito todos os seus dias.18 Trouxe para a casa de Deus as coisas que seu pai tinha dedicado, e as que ele mesmo tinha dedicado, a saber, prata, ouro e vasos.19 Não houve guerra mais até o trigésimo quinto ano do reinado de Asa.

1 God’s Spirit came to Azariah, son of Oded.2 Azariah went to Asa and said: »Listen to me Asa and all you men from Judah and Benjamin. Jehovah is with you when you are with him. If you will dedicate your lives to serve him, he will accept you. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.3 »Israel was without the true God for a long time. They were without a priest who taught correctly, and without law.4 »When they were in trouble they turned to Jehovah the God of Israel. When they searched for him, he let them find him.5 »No one could come and go in peace at that time. This is because everyone living in the land had a lot of turmoil.6 »One nation crushed another nation. One city crushed another. God tormented them with every kind of trouble.7 »But you must remain strong and not become discouraged. Your actions will be rewarded.«8 Asa heard the prophet Oded’s words of prophecy. He was encouraged and put away the detestable idols from all of Judah, Benjamin, and the cities he had captured in the mountains of Ephraim. He also repaired Jehovah’s altar in front of Jehovah’s entrance hall.9 Then Asa gathered all the people from Judah and Benjamin and the foreigners who had come from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon. Many of them had come to him from Israel when they saw that Asa’s God, Jehovah, was with him.10 In the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign, they gathered in Jerusalem.11 They sacrificed to Jehovah a part of the loot they brought with them: seven hundred cattle and seven thousand sheep.12 They made an agreement with one another to dedicate their lives to serve the true God Jehovah, the God of their ancestors with all their heart and all their being.13 All people, young and old, male and female, who refused to dedicate their lives to the true God Jehovah the God of Israel were to be killed.14 Asa and the people swore their oath to Jehovah with shouts, singing, and the blowing of trumpets and rams’ horns.15 All the people of Judah were overjoyed because of the oath. They took the oath wholeheartedly. They took great pleasure in looking for Jehovah. And he let them find him. So Jehovah surrounded them with rest and peace.16 King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from the position of queen mother. She made a statue of the repulsive goddess Asherah. Asa immediately cut the statue down, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.17 Although the illegal worship sites in Israel were not taken down, Asa remained committed to Jehovah his entire life.18 He brought into God’s Temple the silver, the gold, and the utensils he and his father had set apart as holy.19 There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.