1 Kings 15

Abijam king of Judah

¹In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah.^{a 2}He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.^{b 3}He walked in all the sins his father had committed before him, and his heart was not wholly given to the LORD his God, as the heart of his ancestor David had been. ⁴Yet for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son to rule after him and keeping Jerusalem secure, ⁵because David had done what was right in the sight of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything he commanded him as long as he lived, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ⁶There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of Abijam’s life.^{cd 7}The rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are written in the Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. ⁸Then Abijam rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Asa became king in his place.

Asa king of Judah

⁹In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah. ¹⁰He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.^{e 11}Asa did what was right in the sight of the LORD, as his ancestor David had done. ¹²He drove the male shrine prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols his ancestors had made. ¹³He even deposed his mother Maacah as queen mother, because she had made a horrid image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it in the Kidron Valley.^{f 14}The high places, however, were not taken away. Even so, Asa’s heart was wholly given to the LORD all his life. ¹⁵He brought into the house of the LORD the gifts his father had dedicated and the gifts he himself had dedicated: silver, gold and utensils.^{g 16}There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel as long as they both lived. ¹⁷Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah, to keep anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸Then Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the treasuries of the king’s palace, and handed it over to his officials. King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who ruled in Damascus, with this message: ¹⁹“Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. I am sending you a bribe of silver and gold. Go and break off your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, and he will withdraw from me.”^{hi 20}Ben-hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces out against the cities of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah and all Chinneroth, as well as all the land of Naphtali. ²¹When Baasha heard about it, he stopped building Ramah and stayed in Tirzah. ²²Then King Asa called up all Judah, with no one exempt, and they carried away the stones and timber Baasha had used to build Ramah. With them King Asa fortified Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah. ²³The rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, all that he did and the cities he built, are written in the Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. But in his old age he had a disease in his feet.^{j 24}Then Asa rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David his ancestor. His son Jehoshaphat became king in his place.

Nadab king of Israel

²⁵Nadab son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in his sin, by which he had led Israel to sin. ²⁷Baasha son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, plotted against him and struck him down at Gibbethon, a town of the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. ²⁸Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and became king in his place. ²⁹As soon as he became king, he struck down the whole house of Jeroboam. He did not leave Jeroboam a single living soul, but destroyed them all, as the LORD had said through his servant Ahijah of Shiloh, ³⁰because of Jeroboam’s sins, the sins he had committed and by which he had led Israel to sin, and by which he had provoked the LORD the God of Israel to anger. ³¹The rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are written in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. ³²There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel as long as they both lived.

Baasha king of Israel

³³In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin, by which he had led Israel to sin.