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's Reforms
1 The spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded, 2 and he went to meet King Asa. He called out, “Listen to me, King Asa, and all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The Lord is with you as long as you are with him. If you look for him, he will let you find him, but if you turn away, he will abandon you. 3 For a long time Israel lived without the true God, without priests to teach them, and without a law. 4 But when trouble came, they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel. They searched for him and found him. 5 In those days no one could come and go in safety, because there was trouble and disorder in every land. 6 One nation oppressed another nation, and one city oppressed another city, because God was bringing trouble and distress on them. 7 But you must be strong and not be discouraged. The work that you do will be rewarded.”
8 When Asa heard the prophecy that Azariah son of Oded had spoken, he was encouraged. He did away with all the idols in the land of Judah and Benjamin and all the idols in the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He also repaired the altar of the Lord that stood in the Temple courtyard.
9 Many people had come over to Asa's side from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, and were living in his kingdom, because they had seen that the Lord was with him. Asa summoned all of them and the people of Judah and Benjamin. 10 They assembled in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year that Asa was king. 11 On that day they offered sacrifices to the Lord from the loot they had brought back: seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep. 12 They made a covenant in which they agreed to worship the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. 13 Anyone, young or old, male or female, who did not worship him was to be put to death. 14 In a loud voice they took an oath in the Lord's name that they would keep the covenant, and then they shouted and blew trumpets. 15 All the people of Judah were happy because they had made this covenant with all their heart. They took delight in worshiping the Lord, and he accepted them and gave them peace on every side.
16 King Asa removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene idol of the fertility goddess Asherah. Asa cut down the idol, chopped it up, and burned the pieces in Kidron Valley. 17 Even though Asa did not destroy all the pagan places of worship in the land, he remained faithful to the Lord all his life. 18 He placed in the Temple all the objects his father Abijah had dedicated to God, as well as the gold and silver objects that he himself dedicated. 19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of his reign.