Asa Akonza Chipembedzo
1Mzimu wa Mulungu unabwera pa Azariya mwana wa Odedi. 2Iye anapita kukakumana ndi Asa ndipo anati kwa iye, “Tandimverani, inu Asa ndi Ayuda onse ndi Benjamini. Yehova ali ndi inu, inunso mukakhala naye. Ngati inu mumufunafuna Iye mudzamupeza, koma ngati mumusiya, Iye adzakusiyani. 3Kwa nthawi yayitali Israeli anali wopanda Mulungu weniweni, wopanda wansembe wophunzitsa ndi wopanda malamulo. 4Koma pamene anali pa mavuto anatembenukira kwa Yehova, Mulungu wa Israeli ndi kufunafuna Iye, ndipo anamupeza. 5Masiku amenewo sikunali kwabwino kuyenda ulendo, pakuti anthu onse okhala mʼdziko anali pa mavuto aakulu. 6Mtundu umodzi umakanthidwa ndi mtundu wina ndipo mzinda wina umakanthidwa ndi mzinda wina, pakuti Mulungu amawasautsa ndi mazunzo a mtundu uliwonse. 7Koma inu, khalani amphamvu ndipo musataye mtima, pakuti mudzalandira mphotho ya ntchito yanu.”
8Asa atamva mawu awa ndiponso uneneri wa Azariya mwana wa Odedi, analimba mtima. Iye anachotsa mafano onse onyansa mʼdziko lonse la Yuda ndi Benjamini ndi mʼmizinda yonse imene analanda a ku mapiri a Efereimu. Iye anakonzetsa guwa lansembe la Yehova limene linali kutsogolo kwa khonde la Nyumba ya Mulungu.
9Kenaka anasonkhanitsa anthu onse a ku Yuda ndi Benjamini ndiponso anthu ochokera ku Efereimu, Manase ndi Simeoni amene ankakhala pakati pawo, pakuti gulu lalikulu linabwera kwa iye kuchokera ku Israeli litaona kuti anali ndi Yehova Mulungu wake.
10Iwo anasonkhana mu Yerusalemu mwezi wachitatu wa chaka cha 15 cha ulamuliro wa Asa. 11Pa nthawi imeneyi anapereka nsembe kwa Yehova, ngʼombe 700 ndiponso nkhosa ndi mbuzi 7,000 zochokera pa zolanda ku nkhondo zimene anabweretsa. 12Iwo anachita pangano loti azifunafuna Yehova, Mulungu wa makolo awo, ndi mtima ndi moyo wawo wonse. 13Aliyense wosafunafuna Yehova Mulungu wa Israeli aziphedwa, kaya ndi wamngʼono kapena wamkulu, mwamuna kapena mkazi. 14Iwo analumbira kwa Yehova, mokweza mawu, akuyimba malipenga ndi mbetete. 15Anthu onse a ku Yuda anakondwera pa kulumbirako chifukwa analumbira ndi mtima wawo wonse. Iwo anafunafuna Mulungu mwachidwi, ndipo anamupeza Iye. Kotero Yehova anawapatsa mpumulo mbali zonse.
16Mfumu Asa anachotsanso Maaka agogo ake pa udindo wa amayi a mfumu chifukwa anapanga fano lonyansa la Asera. Asa anagwetsa fanolo, naliswa ndipo kenaka anakaliwotcha ku chigwa cha Kidroni. 17Ngakhale kuti sanachotse malo opembedzerako mafano mu Israeli, mtima wa Asa unali wodzipereka kwathunthu kwa Yehova, masiku onse a moyo wake. 18Iye anabweretsanso mʼNyumba ya Mulungu zipangizo zasiliva, golide ndi ziwiya zina zimene iyeyo ndi abambo ake anazipatula.
19Panalibenso nkhondo mpaka chaka cha 35 cha ufumu wa Asa.
Asa Makes Judah a Better Nation
1The Spirit of God came on Azariah. He was the son of Oded. 2Azariah went out to meet Asa. He said to him, “Asa and all you people of Judah and Benjamin, listen to me. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you really look for him, you will find him. But if you desert him, he will desert you. 3For a long time Israel didn’t worship the true God. They didn’t have a priest who taught them. So they didn’t know God’s law. 4But when they were in trouble, they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel. When they did, they found him. 5In those days it wasn’t safe to travel around. The people who lived in all the areas of the land were having a lot of trouble. 6One nation was crushing another. One city was crushing another. That’s because God was causing them to suffer terribly. 7But be strong. Don’t give up. God will reward you for your work.”
8Asa heard that prophecy. He paid attention to the words of Azariah the prophet, the son of Oded. So Asa became bolder than ever. He removed the statues of gods from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin. He also removed them from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He did it because the Lord hated those gods. Asa repaired the altar of the Lord. It was in front of the porch of the Lord’s temple.
9Then Asa gathered together all the people of Judah and Benjamin. He also gathered together the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who were living among them. Large numbers of people had come over to him from Israel. They came because they saw that the Lord his God was with him.
10They gathered in Jerusalem. It was the third month of the 15th year of Asa’s rule. 11At that time they sacrificed to the Lord 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep and goats. The animals were among the things they had taken after the battle. 12They made a covenant to obey the Lord, the God of their people. They would obey him with all their heart and soul. 13All those who wouldn’t obey the Lord, the God of Israel, would be killed. It wouldn’t matter how important they were. It wouldn’t matter whether they were men or women. 14They made a promise to the Lord. They praised him out loud. They shouted. They blew trumpets and horns. 15All the people of Judah were happy about the promise they had made. They turned to God with all their heart. When they did, they found him. So the Lord gave them peace and rest on every side.
16King Asa also removed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother. That’s because she had made a pole used to worship the female god named Asherah. The Lord hated it. So Asa cut it down. He broke it up. He burned it in the Kidron Valley. 17Asa didn’t remove the high places from Israel. But he committed his whole life completely to the Lord. 18He and his father had set apart silver, gold and other things to the Lord. Asa brought them into God’s temple.
19There weren’t any more wars until the 35th year of Asa’s rule.
