2 Chronicles 15:7 is a call to courage and steady effort. The prophet Azariah tells King Asa and the people of Judah to stay strong and keep working, because their faithful labor will not go unrewarded. The words come from the prophet Azariah, son of Oded, who spoke to Asa as the king was recovering the nation after years of spiritual decline and internal strife.
But you be strong, and don’t let your hands be slack; for your work will be rewarded.”
2 Chronicles 15:7 (WEB)
What 2 Chronicles 15:7 Means
The verse opens with “be strong,” a command that treats courage as something chosen and acted on rather than a feeling you wait to have. The phrase “don’t let your hands be slack” pictures hands hanging limp, the posture of someone who has given up on a task. Together they say that God’s people are not to drift into discouragement but to keep their hands busy with the work in front of them.
The final clause, “your work will be rewarded,” is the promise. It means that effort offered in faithfulness to God is not wasted. What the verse does not promise is an easy path, a quick result, or that every effort will look successful by human standards. The reward it points to is tied to faithfulness and to God’s own timing and purposes.
The Context of 2 Chronicles 15:7
Second Chronicles is a historical book that retells the reigns of Judah’s kings from the perspective of the temple and the covenant with the LORD. Its audience is the post-exile community of Israel, who needed to see that obedience brings blessing and that turning back to God restores a people. The author is traditionally identified as Ezra, though the book itself does not name him.
Just before the verse, verses 4 through 6 describe a period when Israel and the surrounding peoples were torn apart by conflict, and when the nation’s distress drove them back toward the LORD, who was found by them. The verse after it, verse 8, shows Asa responding by removing idols and repairing the altar. Read in that sequence, the call to strength is not a generic pep talk. It is the moment when a people who have suffered begin to act on their renewed trust in God.
Key Phrases in 2 Chronicles 15:7
Galatians 6:9
Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up.
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Paul’s words in Galatians echo the promise in 2 Chronicles that doing good is not in vain. Both passages call believers not to grow weary in faithful action, because a harvest or reward is coming in God’s time.
1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
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This verse urges steadfastness and the continual work of the Lord, reminding readers that their labor in the Lord is never wasted. It shares the same conviction that faithful effort carries lasting worth.
A Short Prayer From 2 Chronicles 15:7
Lord, you know how tired I am and how often I want to stop trying. Give me the strength to keep my hands busy with what you have placed in front of me today. Where I feel discouraged, remind me that you see my faithfulness and that nothing offered to you is wasted. Help me to trust your timing and to keep going in obedience, one step at a time. Amen.
