7. But as for you, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded.”
8. When Asa heard this message from Azariah the prophet, he took courage and removed all the detestable idols from the land of Judah and Benjamin and in the towns he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. And he repaired the altar of the lord, which stood in front of the entry room of the lord’s Temple.
9. Then Asa called together all the people of Judah and Benjamin, along with the people of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them. For many from Israel had moved to Judah during Asa’s reign when they saw that the lord his God was with him.
10. The people gathered at Jerusalem in late spring, during the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.
11. On that day they sacrificed to the lord 700 cattle and 7,000 sheep and goats from the plunder they had taken in the battle.
12. Then they entered into a covenant to seek the lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul.
13. They agreed that anyone who refused to seek the lord, the God of Israel, would be put to death—whether young or old, man or woman.
14. They shouted out their oath of loyalty to the lord with trumpets blaring and rams’ horns sounding.
15. All in Judah were happy about this covenant, for they had entered into it with all their heart. They earnestly sought after God, and they found him. And the lord gave them rest from their enemies on every side.
16. King Asa even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down her obscene pole, broke it up, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
17. Although the pagan shrines were not removed from Israel, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful throughout his life.
18. He brought into the Temple of God the silver and gold and the various items that he and his father had dedicated.