⁸ When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of^[a] Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols^(A) from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured^(B) in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar^(C) of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.

⁹ Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers^(D) had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

¹⁰ They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month^(E) of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. ¹¹ At that time they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder^(F) they had brought back. ¹² They entered into a covenant^(G) to seek the Lord,^(H) the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. ¹³ All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death,^(I) whether small or great, man or woman. ¹⁴ They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. ¹⁵ All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God^(J) eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest^(K) on every side.

¹⁶ King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah^(L) from her position as queen mother,^(M) because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah.^(N) Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley.^{(O) 17} Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life.