1 The spirit of God came upon Azariah, son of Oded.
2 He went forth to meet Asa and said to him: “Hear me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The Lord is with you when you are with him, and if you seek him he will be found; but if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
3 For a long time Israel was without a true God, without a priest-teacher, without instruction,
4 but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.
5 At that time there was no peace for anyone to go or come; rather, there were many terrors upon the inhabitants of the lands.
6 Nation crushed nation and city crushed city, for God overwhelmed them with every kind of distress.