1Abijah became king of Judah. It was in the 18th year of Jeroboam’s rule over Israel. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat.2Abijah ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother’s name was Maakah. She was Abishalom’s daughter.3Abijah committed all the sins his father had committed before him. Abijah didn’t obey the LORD his God with all his heart. He didn’t do what King David had done.4But the LORD still kept the lamp of Abijah’s kingdom burning brightly in Jerusalem. He did it by giving him a son to be the next king after him. He also did it by making Jerusalem strong. The LORD did those things because of David.5David had done what was right in the sight of the LORD. He had kept all the LORD’s commands. He had obeyed them all the days of his life. But he hadn’t obeyed the LORD in the case of Uriah, the Hittite.6There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam all through Abijah’s life.7The other events of Abijah’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written down. All these things are written in the official records of the kings of Judah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.8Abijah joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the City of David. Abijah’s son Asa became the next king after him.
Asa king of Judah
9Asa became king of Judah. It was in the 20th year that Jeroboam was king of Israel.10Asa ruled in Jerusalem for 41 years. His grandmother’s name was Maakah. She was Abishalom’s daughter.11Asa did what was right in the sight of the LORD. That’s what King David had done.12Asa threw out of the land the male prostitutes who were at the temples. He got rid of all the statues of gods made by his people of long ago.13He even removed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother. That’s because she had made a pole used to worship the female god named Asherah. The LORD hated it. So Asa cut it down. He burned it in the Kidron Valley.14Asa didn’t remove the high places from Israel. But he committed his whole life completely to the LORD.15He and his father had set apart silver, gold and other things to the LORD. Asa brought them into the LORD’s temple.16There was war between Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel. It lasted the whole time they were kings.17Baasha was king of Israel. He marched out against Judah. Baasha built up the walls of Ramah. He did it to keep people from leaving or entering the territory of Asa, the king of Judah.18Asa took all the silver and gold left among the treasures of the LORD’s temple and his own palace. He put his officials in charge of it. He sent the officials to Ben-Hadad. Ben-Hadad was king of Aram. He was ruling in Damascus. He was the son of Tabrimmon and the grandson of Hezion.19‘Let’s make a peace treaty between us,’ Asa said. ‘My father and your father had made a peace treaty between them. Now I’m sending you a gift of silver and gold. So break your treaty with Baasha, the king of Israel. Then he’ll go back home.’20Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa. He sent his army commanders against the towns of Israel. He captured Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maakah and the whole area of Kinnereth in addition to Naphtali.21Baasha heard about it. So he stopped building up Ramah. He went back home to Tirzah.22Then King Asa gave an order to all the men of Judah. Everyone was required to help. They carried away from Ramah the stones and wood Baasha had been using there. King Asa used them to build up Geba in the territory of Benjamin. He also used them to build up Mizpah.23All the other events of Asa’s rule are written down, including the cities he built. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Judah. But when Asa became old, his feet began to give him trouble.24He joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in his family tomb. It was in the city of King David. Asa’s son Jehoshaphat became the next king after him.
Nadab king of Israel
25Nadab became king of Israel. It was in the second year that Asa was king of Judah. Nadab ruled over Israel for two years. He was the son of Jeroboam.26Nadab did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He lived the way his father had lived. He committed the same sin his father Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.27Baasha was from the tribe of Issachar. He was the son of Ahijah. Baasha made plans against Nadab and struck him down at Gibbethon. It was a Philistine town. Baasha struck him down while Nadab and all the men of Israel were getting ready to attack Gibbethon.28He killed Nadab in the third year that Asa was king of Judah. Baasha became the next king after Nadab.29As soon as Baasha became king, he killed Jeroboam’s whole family. He didn’t leave any of them alive. He destroyed every one of them. He did what the LORD had said would happen. The LORD had spoken that message through his servant Ahijah from Shiloh.30The LORD judged Jeroboam’s family because of the sins Jeroboam had committed. He had also caused Israel to commit those same sins. He had made the LORD very angry. The LORD is the God of Israel.31The other events of Nadab’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Israel.32There was war between Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel. It lasted the whole time they were kings.
Baasha king of Israel
33Baasha became king of Israel in Tirzah. It was in the third year that Asa was king of Judah. Baasha ruled for 24 years. He was the son of Ahijah.34Baasha did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He lived the way Jeroboam had lived. He committed the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.
1 Kings 15
English Standard Version
Abijam Reigns in Judah
1Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. (2Ch 13:1)2He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.3And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. (1Ki 8:61; 1Ki 11:4; 1Ki 15:14)4Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, (1Ki 11:36)5because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. (2Sa 11:4; 2Sa 11:15; 2Sa 12:9; 1Ki 9:4; 1Ki 14:8)6Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. (1Ki 14:30)7The rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. (2Ch 13:2; 2Ch 13:22)8And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. (2Ch 14:1)
Asa Reigns in Judah
9In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah,10and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.11And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done. (2Ch 14:2)12He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. (1Ki 14:24; 2Ch 15:8)13He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron. (Ex 32:20; 2Ch 15:16)14But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days. (1Ki 15:3; 1Ki 22:43; 2Ki 12:3; 2Ki 14:4)15And he brought into the house of the Lord the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. (1Ki 7:51)16And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. (1Ki 15:32)17Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. (1Ki 12:27; 1Ki 15:21; 2Ch 16:1)18Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house and gave them into the hands of his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, (1Ki 11:24; 1Ki 14:26; 2Ki 12:18)19“Let there be a covenant[1] between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” (2Ch 16:7)20And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. (Jos 11:2; Jud 18:29; 2Sa 20:14; 2Ki 15:29)21And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and he lived in Tirzah. (1Ki 14:17; 1Ki 15:17; 1Ki 16:6; 1Ki 16:9)22Then 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 been building, and with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah. (Jos 18:26; Jos 21:17)23Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But in his old age he was diseased in his feet. (2Ch 16:11)24And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place. (2Ch 17:1; Mt 1:8)
Nadab Reigns in Israel
25Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. (1Ki 14:20)26He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin. (1Ki 12:30; 1Ki 14:16; 1Ki 15:30; 1Ki 15:34)27Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. (Jos 19:44; Jos 21:23; 1Ki 14:14; 1Ki 16:15)28So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his place.29And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. (1Ki 14:10; 1Ki 14:14)30It was for the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and that he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel. (1Ki 15:26)31Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?32And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. (1Ki 15:16)
Baasha Reigns in Israel
33In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at 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 which he made Israel to sin. (1Ki 15:26)