1In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah.
2He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
3He walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him, and his heart was not wholly true with Yahweh his God, like the heart of David his father.
4Yet for David’s sake Yahweh his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by raising up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem,
5because David had done what was right in the eyes of Yahweh and had not turned aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
6And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
7Now the 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.
8And Abijam lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place.
9In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah.
10And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
11And Asa did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, like David his father.
12He drove out the cult prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
13And he even removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image for the Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid image and burned it in the Wadi Kidron.
14But the high places were not removed; nevertheless Asa’s heart was wholly true with Yahweh all his days.
15And he brought into the house of Yahweh the holy gifts of his father and his own holy gifts — silver, gold, and vessels.
16And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
17And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built up Ramah, so as not to allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
18Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and the treasuries of the king’s house, and gave them into the hand of his servants; and King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying,
19“There is a covenant between me and you, between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
20And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of the armies that he had against the cities of Israel, and he struck Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, along with all the land of Naphtali.
21And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building up Ramah and stayed in Tirzah.
22Then King Asa summoned all Judah — none was exempt — and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timbers, with which Baasha had been building; and with them King Asa built up Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.
23Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, and 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? Only, in the time of his old age, he became diseased in his feet.
24And Asa lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Jehoshaphat his son became king in his place.
25Now Nadab son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.
26And he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in the way of his father and in his sin by which he had made Israel to sin.
27And Baasha son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon.
28So Baasha put him to death in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.
29And it came about, when he became king, that he struck down the whole house of Jeroboam. He left to Jeroboam no living being, until he had destroyed him — according to the word of Yahweh that he had spoken by the hand of his servant Ahijah the Shilonite —
30because of the sins of Jeroboam which he had committed and by which he had made Israel to sin, in his provoking by which he had provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger.
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.
33In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty-four years.
34And he did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin by which he caused Israel to sin.
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