Verse Lens · Concise explanation
2 Chronicles 15:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence: “Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Azariah interprets seeking, forsaking, and return.”
Read It With
- 2 Chronicles 15:1–7
Read 2 Chronicles 15:3 with 15:1–7. The selected wording supplies one step in the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: The Spirit comes upon Azariah, who tells Asa that God is with those who seek, recalls disorder without teaching priests or law, and urges courageous work with reward.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Azariah interprets seeking, forsaking, and return,” 2 Chronicles 15:3 advances the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence through the wording “Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: The oracle interprets the preceding deliverance and calls for durable reform rather than confidence in one victory. 2 Chronicles 14:9–15 has just established this prior movement: A vast Cushite army advances, Asa appeals to God rather than numbers, Judah prevails, and the pursuit devastates Gerar and surrounding settlements. Together those details explain why “Azariah interprets seeking, forsaking, and return” belongs here rather than merely following a database record.
Read 2 Chronicles 15:1–7 together
Why these verses belong together: 2 Chronicles 15:1–7 forms the complete movement “Azariah interprets seeking, forsaking, and return”: The Spirit comes upon Azariah, who tells Asa that God is with those who seek, recalls disorder without teaching priests or law, and urges courageous work with reward.
Verse 1. 1 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:
Verse 2. 2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
Verse 3. 3 Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
Verse 4. 4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.
Verse 5. 5 And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.
Verse 6. 6 And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.
Verse 7. 7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
What Remains True
Reform, prayer, victory, and prosperity never remove the need to hear correction, protect dissenters, reject coercion, and respond responsibly to illness and failure. This unit tests that truth through the narrated movement: The Spirit comes upon Azariah, who tells Asa that God is with those who seek, recalls disorder without teaching priests or law, and urges courageous work with reward. In 2 Chronicles 15:3, the concrete line “Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and….” Test reform and success by truthfulness, noncoercion, protection of critics, and responsible care; do not turn victory, wealth, or illness into a formula about someone's faith. This response follows from the unit's own movement: The Spirit comes upon Azariah, who tells Asa that God is with those who seek, recalls disorder without teaching priests or law, and urges courageous work with reward.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Chronicles 15:1–7 — Azariah interprets seeking, forsaking, and returnSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 2 Chronicles 15:1–7, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Chronicles
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clauses, regnal formulas, temple vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Chr.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 15:1–7
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Full Notes: 2 Chronicles
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; STEP Bible presentation, 2019 edition; current web presentation
Supports: Unit-bounded translation comparisons and only those lexical, textual, grammatical, numerical, historical, and parallel-passage notes attached to these verses.
Exact location: STEP Bible NET2full, 2 Chronicles 15:1–7, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗