Shanduka kwa Asa
1 Meya ye Ndzimu ikazha muna Azariya nkololo wa Odedi, 2 ngono kayenda kunoshanganidza Asa ngono kati, “Munditeedze, iwe Asa ne Bajuta ne Babhenjamini! Yahwe banamwi ha imwi munabo. Amubashaka banowothama kuti mubabone koga amubafupatila banowomufupatilabo. 3 Kwakabe tjibaka tjilefu Baiziraela basina Ndzimu we lebeswa kakale basina bapirisiti kubadiya kakale basina nlayo. 4 Koga bakati mu mang'oni abo bakashandukila kuna Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela, beshaka Yahwe ngono bakabawana. 5 Mu mazhuba iyawo kwakabe kusina mbakiso kuna unobhuda kene unongina ngoti kwakabe kuna zwinoloba zebe pamwe ne pamwe mu bagali bose be shango. 6 Bakabe bakathubukana, itjaba tjakabe tjilobesa tjimwe itjaba, nzi nkulu naiwo ulobesa mmwe nzi nkulu ngoti Ndzimu wakabe ubadziyidza nge mang'oni wose koga. 7 Koga makafanila kuti musime musitongo temeka mafupa. Nshingo wamunoshinga unowobe ne mbhailo.”
8 Asa wakati ehwa matama iyawa ne bulebesambeli gwa Azariya nkololo wa Odedi kabe ne tjilopa ngono kadusila kutjena midzimu inoshimisa mu shango yose ye Juda ne Bhenjamini ne mu mizi mikulu yaakabe atapa ye shango ye matombo ye Ifureimi. Ipapo kamusa tjibeso tjinopisigwa zwibhayilo tja Yahwe tjakabe tjili mbeli kwe ng'umba ye kutanga ye Ng'umba ya Yahwe.
9 Wakakubunganya Bajuda ne Babhenjamini bose bakabe bedwa ku Ifureimi ne Manase ne Simiyoni bakabe begala nabo ngoti bunji gwe Baiziraela bakabe banyelukila kuna Asa bebona kuti Yahwe Ndzimu uwe banaye. 10 Bakanokubungana ku Jerusalema mu mwedzi we butatu we gole le bugumi lina bushanu le mbuso wa Asa. 11 Ngono mu zhuba ilelo bakadusila Yahwe zwibhayilo bezwitola mu thundu yabakatapa ngono bakadusa ngabe dzili mazana ali kutendeka (700) ne pkhwizi ne mbudzi dzili zwiwulu zwili kutendeka (7 000). 12 Ngono bakathama tjidumano tjekuti bashake Yahwe Ndzimu wa bobatategulu babo nge mimoyo yabo yose nenge meya dzabo dzose. 13 Ngono ani kene ani unowolamba shaka Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela wakabe akafanila kuti abulawe hwola kene ntjetjana ali nlume kene nkadzi. 14 Ngono bakamilidzila mahwi abo pezhugwi bakatuna kuna Yahwe kuti banowolondolodza tjidumano itjetji ngono bakamilidza mahwi belidza nyanga. 15 Bose be Juda bakabe bakashatha ngoti bathama tjidumano itjetji nge mimoyo yabo yose. Bakashathila kunamata Yahwe ngono Yahwe bakabaamutjila ngono bakabapa kunyalala mu magalo wose, shango dzikasitjagwe nabo.
16 Nanga kuku babe Maaka, Asa wakabadusa mu bumambokadzi ngoti bakabe bathama kunoshimisa ngothama ifano tje ndzimukadzi Ashera. Asa kakolomola ifano katji pkhwanya katjitemelela zwipithu pithu, katjipisila mu nkuku we Kidironi. 17 Nenguba Asa asakakolomodza magalo wose magalo apezhugwi ekunamata e midzimu mu Iziraela, moyo uwe wakabe wakatambunuka mu mazhuba awe wose. 18 Ngono wakazhisa ku Ng'umba ye Ndzimu zwipo zwakayengemala zwa tate babe kose ne zwizwe, zwipo zwe siliva ne golide ne zwimwe zwija. 19 Kwakagala makole angabe makumi matatu ana bushanu (35) e mbuso wa Asa kusina ngwa.
Asa Destroys the Idols in Judah
1 Some time later, God spoke to Azariah son of Oded. 2 At once, Azariah went to Asa and said:
Listen to me, King Asa and you people of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord will be with you and help you, as long as you obey and worship him. But if you disobey him, he will desert you.
3 For a long time, the people of Israel did not worship the true God or listen to priests who could teach them about God. They refused to obey God's Law. 4 But whenever trouble came, Israel turned back to the Lord their God and worshiped him.
5 There was so much confusion in those days that it wasn't safe to go anywhere in Israel. 6 Nations were destroying each other, and cities were wiping out other cities, because God was causing trouble and unrest everywhere.
7 So you must be brave. Don't give up! God will honor you for obeying him.
8 As soon as Asa heard what Azariah the prophet said, he gave orders for all the idols in Judah and Benjamin to be destroyed, including those in the towns he had captured in the territory of Ephraim. He also repaired the Lord's altar that was in front of the temple porch.
9 Asa called together the people from Judah and Benjamin, as well as the people from the territories of Ephraim, West Manasseh, and Simeon who were living in Judah. Many of these people were now loyal to Asa, because they had seen that the Lord was with him.
10 In the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's rule, they all met in Jerusalem. 11 That same day, they took 700 bulls and 7,000 sheep and goats from what they had brought back from Gerar and sacrificed them as offerings to the Lord. 12 They made a solemn promise to faithfully worship the Lord God their ancestors had worshiped, 13 and to put to death anyone who refused to obey him. 14 The crowd solemnly agreed to keep their promise to the Lord, then they celebrated by shouting and blowing trumpets and horns. 15 Everyone was happy because they had made this solemn promise, and in return, the Lord blessed them with peace from all their enemies.
16 Asa's grandmother Maacah had made a disgusting idol of the goddess Asherah, so he cut it down, crushed it, and burned it in Kidron Valley. Then he removed Maacah from her position as queen mother. 17 As long as Asa lived, he was faithful to the Lord, even though he did not destroy the local shrines in Israel. 18 He placed in the temple all the silver and gold objects that he and his father had dedicated to God.
19 There was peace in Judah until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's rule.