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1 Kings 15
New American Standard Bible

Abijam Reigns over Judah

15 (A)Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. 2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was [a](B)Maacah the daughter of [b](C)Abishalom. 3 He walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him; and (D)his heart was not [c]wholly devoted to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father David. 4 But for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a (E)lamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem, 5 (F)because David did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and did not deviate from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, (G)except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. 6 (H)And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.

7 Now as for (I)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? (J)And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

Asa Succeeds Abijam

8 (K)And Abijam [d]lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and his son Asa became king in his place.

9 So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa began to reign as king of Judah. 10 He reigned for forty-one years in Jerusalem; and (L)his mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 11 Now (M)Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord, like his father David. 12 (N)He also removed the male cult prostitutes from the land and (O)removed all the idols which his fathers had made. 13 And even his mother Maacah, (P)he also removed her from the position of queen mother, because she had made an abominable image [e]as an Asherah; and Asa cut down her abominable image and (Q)burned it at the brook Kidron. 14 (R)But the high places [f]were not eliminated; nevertheless (S)Asa’s heart was [g]wholly devoted to the Lord all his days. 15 And (T)he brought into the house of the Lord the [h]holy gifts of his father and his own [i]holy gifts: silver, gold, and valuable utensils.

16 (U)Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 17 (V)Baasha king of Israel marched against Judah and [j](W)fortified Ramah (X)in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. 18 Then (Y)Asa took all the silver and the gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the king’s house, and handed it over to his servants. And (Z)King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived in (AA)Damascus, saying, 19 “Let’s make a (AB)treaty between [k]you and me, 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 withdraw from me.” 20 So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and [l]conquered (AC)Ijon, (AD)Dan, (AE)Abel-beth-maacah, and all (AF)Chinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali. 21 When Baasha heard about it, (AG)he stopped [m]fortifying Ramah and remained in (AH)Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah—no one was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had built fortifications. And King Asa built with them (AI)Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa

23 (AJ)Now as for the rest of all the acts of Asa and all his might, and all 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 in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. 24 And Asa [n]lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David; and his son (AK)Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.

Nadab and Then Baasha Rule over Israel

25 Now (AL)Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king 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 (AM)walked in the way of his father and (AN)in his sin into which he misled Israel. 27 Then (AO)Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck and killed him at (AP)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.

28 So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. 29 And as soon as he was king, he struck and killed all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave Jeroboam any [o]persons alive, but kept killing until he had eliminated them, (AQ)in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, 30 and because of the sins of Jeroboam which he [p]committed, and into (AR)which he misled Israel, because of his provocation with which he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.

31 (AS)Now as for 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?

War with Judah

32 (AT)And there 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 at Tirzah, and he reigned for twenty-four years. 34 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and (AU)walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin into which he misled Israel.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 15:2 In 2 Chr 13:2, Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel
  2. 1 Kings 15:2 In 2 Chr 11:20, Absalom
  3. 1 Kings 15:3 Lit complete with
  4. 1 Kings 15:8 I.e., died
  5. 1 Kings 15:13 Or for Asherah; i.e., wooden symbol of a female deity
  6. 1 Kings 15:14 Lit did not cease
  7. 1 Kings 15:14 Lit complete with
  8. 1 Kings 15:15 Or votive offerings; i.e., gifts vowed
  9. 1 Kings 15:15 Or votive offerings; i.e., gifts vowed
  10. 1 Kings 15:17 Lit built
  11. 1 Kings 15:19 Lit me and you
  12. 1 Kings 15:20 Lit struck
  13. 1 Kings 15:21 Lit building
  14. 1 Kings 15:24 I.e., died
  15. 1 Kings 15:29 Lit breath
  16. 1 Kings 15:30 Lit sinned
Close NLT

1 Kings 15
New Living Translation

Abijam Rules in Judah

15 Abijam[a] began to rule over Judah in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam’s reign in Israel. 2 He reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah, the granddaughter of Absalom.[b]

3 He committed the same sins as his father before him, and he was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been. 4 But for David’s sake, the Lord his God allowed his descendants to continue ruling, shining like a lamp, and he gave Abijam a son to rule after him in Jerusalem. 5 For David had done what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight and had obeyed the Lord’s commands throughout his life, except in the affair concerning Uriah the Hittite.

6 There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam[c] throughout Abijam’s reign. 7 The rest of the events in Abijam’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. There was constant war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 When Abijam died, he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Asa became the next king.

Asa Rules in Judah

9 Asa began to rule over Judah in the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign in Israel. 10 He reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother[d] was Maacah, the granddaughter of Absalom.

11 Asa did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, as his ancestor David had done. 12 He banished the male and female shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols[e] his ancestors had made. 13 He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down her obscene pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 Although the pagan shrines were not removed, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful to the Lord throughout his life. 15 He brought into the Temple of the Lord the silver and gold and the various items that he and his father had dedicated.

16 There was constant war between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel. 17 King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Asa’s territory in Judah.

18 Asa responded by removing all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and the royal palace. He sent it with some of his officials to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, along with this message:

19 “Let there be a treaty[f] between you and me like the one between your father and my father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone.”

20 Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa’s request and sent the commanders of his army to attack the towns of Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Kinnereth, and all the land of Naphtali. 21 As soon as Baasha of Israel heard what was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa sent an order throughout Judah, requiring that everyone, without exception, help to carry away the building stones and timbers that Baasha had been using to fortify Ramah. Asa used these materials to fortify the town of Geba in Benjamin and the town of Mizpah.

23 The rest of the events in Asa’s reign—the extent of his power, everything he did, and the names of the cities he built—are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. In his old age his feet became diseased. 24 When Asa died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David.

Then Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became the next king.

Nadab Rules in Israel

25 Nadab son of Jeroboam began to rule over Israel in the second year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Israel two years. 26 But he did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of his father, continuing the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.

27 Then Baasha son of Ahijah, from the tribe of Issachar, plotted against Nadab and assassinated him while he and the Israelite army were laying siege to the Philistine town of Gibbethon. 28 Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of King Asa’s reign in Judah, and he became the next king of Israel.

29 He immediately slaughtered all the descendants of King Jeroboam, so that not one of the royal family was left, just as the Lord had promised concerning Jeroboam by the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh. 30 This was done because Jeroboam had provoked the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by the sins he had committed and the sins he had led Israel to commit.

31 The rest of the events in Nadab’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

Baasha Rules in Israel

32 There was constant war between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel. 33 Baasha son of Ahijah began to rule over all Israel in the third year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. Baasha reigned in Tirzah twenty-four years. 34 But he did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of Jeroboam, continuing the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.

Footnotes

  1. 15:1 Also known as Abijah.
  2. 15:2 Hebrew Abishalom (also in 15:10), a variant spelling of Absalom; compare 2 Chr 11:20.
  3. 15:6 As in a few Hebrew and Greek manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts read between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
  4. 15:10 Or The queen mother; Hebrew reads His mother (also in 15:13); compare 15:2.
  5. 15:12 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.
  6. 15:19 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads There is a treaty.
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