Asa Destroys the Idols in Judah

¹Some time later, God spoke to Azariah son of Oded.

²At once, Azariah went to Asa and said:

⁸As soon as Asa heard what Azariah the prophet said, he gave orders for all the idols in Judah and Benjamin to be destroyed, including those in the towns he had captured in the territory of Ephraim. He also repaired the Lord 's altar that was in front of the temple porch.

⁹Asa called together the people from Judah and Benjamin, as well as the people from the territories of Ephraim, West Manasseh, and Simeon who were living in Judah. Many of these people were now loyal to Asa, because they had seen that the Lord was with him.

¹⁰In the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's rule, they all met in Jerusalem.

¹¹That same day, they took 700 bulls and 7,000 sheep and goats from what they had brought back from Gerar and sacrificed them as offerings to the Lord .

¹²They made a solemn promise to faithfully worship the Lord God their ancestors had worshiped,

¹³and to put to death anyone who refused to obey him.

¹⁴The crowd solemnly agreed to keep their promise to the Lord , then they celebrated by shouting and blowing trumpets and horns.

¹⁵Everyone was happy because they had made this solemn promise, and in return, the Lord blessed them with peace from all their enemies.

¹⁶Asa's grandmother Maacah had made a disgusting idol of the goddess Asherah, so he cut it down, crushed it, and burned it in Kidron Valley. Then he removed Maacah from her position as queen mother.[#15.16 Or “the mother of the king,” which was an important position in biblical times (see 1 Kings 2.19).]

¹⁷As long as Asa lived, he was faithful to the Lord , even though he did not destroy the local shrines in Israel.[#15.17 See the note at 11.15.]

¹⁸He placed in the temple all the silver and gold objects that he and his father had dedicated to God.

¹⁹There was peace in Judah until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's rule.