1 ^yThe Spirit of God came¹ upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^zThe Lord is with you while you are with him. ^aIf you seek him, he will be found by you, ^bbut if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 ^cFor a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, 4 ^dbut when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. 5 In those times there was no peace ^eto him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. 7 ^fBut you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, ^gfor your work shall be rewarded.”