^aIn the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother was ^aMaacah granddaughter of ^bAbishalom (¹Absalom) . 3 He walked in all the sins of idol worship that his father Rehoboam committed before him; and ^ahis heart was not entirely devoted to the LORD his God, like the heart of his father (forefather) David. 4 Nevertheless, for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a ^alamp (descendant on the throne) in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him and establishing Jerusalem, 5 ^abecause David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, ^bexcept in the matter of the betrayal of Uriah the Hittite. 6 ^aThere was war between Rehoboam Abijam’s father and Jeroboam all the days of Rehoboam’s life.

7 ^aNow as for the rest of the acts of Abijam and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^bAnd there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

8 ^aAbijam slept with his fathers in death and they buried him in the City of David. Asa his son became king in his place.

9 So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign as king over Judah. 10 He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. ^aHis great-grandmother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom (Absalom) . 1+@Kin 15:2 11 ^aAsa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did his father (forefather) David. 12 ^aHe expelled the male cult prostitutes (sodomites) from the land and ^bremoved all the idols that his fathers Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijam had made. 1+@Kin 11:5-11; 14:22 13 ^aHe also deposed his great-grandmother Maacah from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid (obscene, vulgar) image for the goddess Asherah. Asa cut down her horrid image, and ^bburned it by the Brook Kidron. 14 ^aBut the high places of idol worship were not removed. Nevertheless, ^bAsa’s heart was entirely devoted to the LORD all his days. 15 ^aHe brought the things which his father had dedicated and the things which he had dedicated into the house of the LORD—silver, gold, and utensils and accessories.

16 ^aNow there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 17 ^aBaasha king of Israel went up against Judah and ^bfortified Ramah north of Jerusalem, ^cin order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. 18 Then ^aAsa took all the silver and gold left in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the treasuries of the palace of the king and handed them over to his servants. And ^bKing Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram (Syria) , who lived in ^cDamascus, saying, 19 “Let there be a ^atreaty between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will ¹withdraw from me.” 20 So Ben-hadad listened to king Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and conquered ^aIjon, ^bDan, ^cAbel-beth-maacah, and all ^dChinneroth the region of the Sea of Galilee, along with all the land of Naphtali. 21 When Baasha heard about it, ^ahe stopped ¹fortifying Ramah and stayed in ^bTirzah. 22 Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah—none was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had built the fortifications. And King Asa built with them border fortresses at ^aGeba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

23 ^aNow as for the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, everything that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But during the time of his old age he had a foot disease. 24 Asa slept with his fathers in death and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David. ^aJehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

25 ^aNow Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years. 26 He did evil in the sight of the LORD and ^awalked in the way of his father Jeroboam and ^bin his sin of idolatry, with which he made Israel sin. 27 ^aBaasha the son of Ahijah of the house (tribe) of Issachar conspired against Nadab, and Baasha struck him down at ^bGibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.

28 So Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. 29 As soon as he was king, Baasha struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave for Jeroboam anyone alive, but he destroyed them ^ain accordance with the word of the LORD which He had spoken through His servant Ahijah the Shilonite— 1+@Kin 14:9-16 30 because of the sins committed by Jeroboam and ^awhich he made Israel commit, and because he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.

31 ^aNow as for the rest of Nadab’s acts and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

32 ^aThere was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah the capital city, and reigned twenty-four years. 34 He did evil in the sight of the LORD and ^awalked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin of idolatry with which he made Israel sin.