¹The Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded:

¹Da kom Guds Ånd over Asarja, Odeds sønn,

²and 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.

²og han gikk ut mot Asa og sa til ham: Hør på mig, Asa og hele Juda og Benjamin! Herren er med eder når I er med ham, og dersom I søker ham, skal han la sig finne av eder; men dersom I forlater ham, skal han forlate eder.

³Now for a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

³I lange tider var Israel uten sann Gud og uten prest som lærte dem, og uten lov.

⁴But when in their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.

⁴Da vendte de i sin trengsel om til Herren, Israels Gud, og søkte ham, og han lot sig finne av dem.

⁵In 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.

⁵Og i de tider kunde ingen ferdes trygt, hverken ute eller hjemme; for det rådet stor uro blandt alle dem som bodde her i landene.

⁶They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God troubled them with all adversity.

⁶Da støtte folk mot folk og by mot by, så de knustes; for Gud voldte uro iblandt dem med alle slags trengsel.

⁷But you be strong, and don’t let your hands be slack; for your work shall be rewarded.”

⁷Men vær I frimodige og la ikke eders hender synke! I skal få lønn for eders gjerning.

⁸When 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.

⁸Da Asa hørte disse ord og denne profeti av profeten Oded, fattet han mot og sørget for å få bort de vederstyggelige avgudsbilleder i hele Judas og Benjamins land og i de byer han hadde inntatt i Efra'im-fjellene, og han satte i stand Herrens alter, som stod foran Herrens forhall.

⁹He 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.

⁹Så samlet han hele Juda og Benjamin og de fremmede fra Efra'im og Manasse og Simeon som bodde iblandt dem; for mange gikk over til ham fra Israel, da de så at Herren, hans Gud, var med ham.

¹⁰So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

¹⁰I den tredje måned i det femtende år av Asas regjering samlet de sig i Jerusalem

¹¹They sacrificed to Yahweh in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep.

¹¹Og ofret samme dag til Herren syv hundre stykker storfe og syv tusen stykker småfe av det hærfang de hadde ført med sig.

¹²They entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul;

¹²Og de gjorde en pakt om at de vilde søke Herren, sine fedres Gud, av alt sitt hjerte og av all sin sjel,

¹³and that whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

¹³og at hver den som ikke søkte Herren, Israels Gud, skulde drepes, enten det var en liten eller en stor, mann eller kvinne.

¹⁴They swore to Yahweh with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

¹⁴Og de svor Herren troskap med høi røst og jubelrop og under trompeters og basuners lyd.

¹⁵All 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.

¹⁵Og hele Juda gledet sig over eden; for av alt sitt hjerte hadde de svoret den, og med all sin vilje søkte de ham, og han lot sig finne av dem, og Herren gav dem ro rundt omkring.

¹⁶Also 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.

¹⁶Kong Asa avsatte endog sin mor Ma'aka fra hennes verdighet, fordi hun hadde gjort et gruelig avgudsbillede for Astarte; Asa hugg hennes gruelige avgudsbillede ned og knuste det og brente det i Kidrons dal.

¹⁷But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

¹⁷Men offerhaugene blev ikke nedlagt i Israel; dog var Asas hjerte helt med Herren så lenge han levde.

¹⁸He brought into God’s house the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

¹⁸Han lot de ting hans far hadde helliget, og dem han selv hadde helliget, føre inn i Guds hus, både sølv og gull og andre ting.

¹⁹There was no more war to the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

¹⁹Og det var ingen krig før i det fem og trettiende år av Asas regjering.