11. On that day they offered sacrifices to the Lord from the loot they had brought back: 700 head of cattle and 7,000 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 worshipping 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 burnt the pieces in the valley of the Kidron.
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 35th year of his reign.