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2 Chronicles 15:1-15

The spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded.  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.  For a long time Israel
was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law;
but when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and
sought him, he was found by them.  In those times it was not safe for
anyone to go or come, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants
of the lands.  They were broken in pieces, nation against nation and city
against city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress.  But you,
take courage!  Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be
rewarded."

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.  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.  They were gathered at Jerusalem in
the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.  They
sacrificed to the LORD on that day, from the booty that they had brought,
seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.  They entered into a covenant
to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and
with all their soul.  Whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel,
should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.  They took an
oath to the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets,
and with horns.  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.