Guds ånd kom over Asarja, Odeds sønn;

And the spirit of God came on Azariah, the son of Oded;

Han trådte fram for Asa og sa til ham: Hør på meg, Asa og hele Juda og Benjamin: Herren er med dere så lenge dere er med ham. Hvis deres hjerter søker ham, vil han være nær dere, men hvis dere forlater ham, vil han forlate dere.

And he came face to face with Asa and said to him, Give ear to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you while you are with him; if your heart's desire is for him, he will be near you, but if you give him up, he will give you up.

Israel har lenge vært uten den sanne Gud, uten en lærende prest og uten loven.

Now for a long time Israel has been without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without the law;

Men i sin nød vendte de seg til Herren, Israels Gud, og søkte ham, og han lot dem finne ham.

But when in their trouble they were turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, searching after him, he let their search be rewarded.

På den tiden var det ingen fred for dem som dro ut eller kom inn, for stor uro hersket blant alle folkene i landene.

In those times there was no peace for him who went out or for him who came in, but great trouble was on all the people of the lands.

De var splittet av strid, folk mot folk og by mot by, fordi Gud sendte alle slags trengsler over dem.

And they were broken by divisions, nation against nation and town against town, because God sent all sorts of trouble on them.

Men vær sterke, og la ikke hendene synke, for deres arbeid vil bli belønnet.

But be you strong and let not your hands be feeble, for your work will be rewarded.

Da Asa hørte disse ordene fra profeten Asarja, Odeds sønn, tok han mot til seg og fjernet alle de avskyelige ting i hele landet Juda og Benjamin og fra byene han hadde inntatt fra Efraims fjelland; og han gjenoppbygget Herrens alter foran forhallen til Herrens hus.

And Asa, hearing these words of Azariah, the son of Oded the prophet, took heart and put away all the disgusting things out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the towns which he had taken from the hill-country of Ephraim; and he made new again the altar of the Lord in front of the covered way of the Lord's house.

Han samlet hele Juda og Benjamin, og også dem fra Efraim, Manasse og Simeon som bodde blant dem, for mange kom til ham fra Israel da de så at Herren hans Gud var med ham.

And he got together all Judah and Benjamin and those of Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon who were living with them; for numbers of them came to him out of Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

Så samlet de seg i Jerusalem i den tredje måned, i det femtende året av Asas styre.

So they came together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the rule of Asa.

Den dagen ofret de til Herren av byttet de hadde tatt i krig, syv hundre okser og syv tusen sauer.

And that day they made offerings to the Lord of the things they had taken in war, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

Og de inngikk en pakt om å være tro mot Herren, deres fedres Gud, med hele sitt hjerte og hele sin sjel;

And they made an agreement to be true to the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and all their soul;

og at enhver, liten eller stor, mann eller kvinne, som ikke var tro mot Herren, Israels Gud, skulle dø.

And that anyone, small or great, man or woman, who was not true to the Lord, the God of Israel, would be put to death.

De sverget en ed til Herren med høy stemme, til lyden av trompeter og horn.

And they made an oath to the Lord, with a loud voice, sounding wind-instruments and horns.

Hele Juda gledet seg over eden, for de hadde sverget den med hele sitt hjerte, og de vendte seg til Herren med hele sitt ønske; og han var med dem og gav dem fred på alle kanter.

And all Judah was glad because of the oath, for they had taken it with all their heart, turning to the Lord with all their desire; and he was with them and gave them rest on every side.

Asa avsatte Maaka, sin mor, fra dronningverdigheten fordi hun hadde laget et avskyelig bilde for Ashera; og Asa hugget ned hennes bilde, knuste det og brente det ved Kedronbekken.

And Asa would not let Maacah, his mother, be queen, because she had made a disgusting image for Asherah; and Asa had her image cut down and broken up and burned by the stream Kidron.

Men offerhaugene ble ikke fjernet fra Israel; likevel var Asas hjerte trofast mot Herren hele hans liv.

But the high places were not taken away out of Israel; but still the heart of Asa was true to the Lord all his life.

Han brakte inn i Guds hus de ting som hans far hadde innviet, og de han selv hadde innviet, sølv og gull og kar.

He took into the house of God all the things which his father had made holy and those which he himself had made holy, silver and gold and vessels.

Og det var ingen krig før i det trettifemte året av Asas styre.

And there was no more war till the thirty-fifth year of the rule of Asa.