And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:
and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Jehovah is with you, while ye are with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
Now for a long season Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law:
but when in their distress they turned unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.
And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in; but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the lands.
And they were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God did vex them with all adversity.
But be ye strong, and let not your hands be slack; for your work shall be rewarded.
And when Asa heard these words, {Or, even}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 Jehovah, that was before the porch of Jehovah.
And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and them that sojourned 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 Jehovah his God was with him.
So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
And they sacrificed unto Jehovah in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.
And they entered into the covenant to seek Jehovah, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul;
and that whosoever would not seek Jehovah, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
And they sware unto Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.
And all 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 Jehovah gave them rest round about.
And also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being {Or, queen mother}queen, because she had made an abominable image {Or, for Asherah}for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.
But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.
And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.
And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.
Querverweise zu 2. Chronika 15,3 2Chr 15,3
Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said unto them, {Or, Ye have gone up long enough}It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.
And this thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before {Or, each of them}the one, even unto Dan.
And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, that were not of the sons of Levi.
And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he {Or, offered upon}went up unto the altar; so did he in Beth-el, {Or, to sacrifice}sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places that he had made.
And he {Or, offered upon}went up unto the altar which he had made in Beth-el on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised {Another reading is, apart.}of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and {Or, offered upon}went up unto the altar, to burn incense.
But Jehovah is {Or, God in truth}the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth trembleth, and the nations are not able to abide his indignation.
and with them the Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests.
For as many as {Greek: sinned.}have sinned without law shall also perish without the law: and as many as {Greek: sinned.}have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law;
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without {Or, obelisk}pillar, and without ephod or teraphim:
And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.
And they taught in Judah, having the book of the law of Jehovah with them; and they went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught among the people.
but sin, finding occasion, wrought in me through the commandment all manner of {Or, lust}coveting: for apart from {Or, law}the law sin is dead.
For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
and {Or, ye shall}that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which Jehovah hath spoken unto them by Moses.
And I was alive apart from {Or, law}the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died;
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
They shall teach Jacob thine ordinances,And Israel thy law:They shall put incense {Hebrew: in thy nostrils.}before thee,And whole burnt-offering upon thine altar.
to them that are without law, as without law, not being without law to God, but under law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law.
And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto Jehovah your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
Neither shall any of the priests drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.
Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that is the widow of a priest.
And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us.
For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts.
And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.
And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is written through the prophet,
The {Or, overseer}bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach;