Asa Reigns in Judah^(A)

⁹ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah. ¹⁰ And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother’s name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom. ^11 (B)Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did his father David. ^12 (C)And he banished the ^[a]perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

³ for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and ^(A)the ^[a]high places, and ^(B)broke down the sacred pillars ^(C)and cut down the wooden images. ⁴ He commanded Judah to ^(D)seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment. ⁵ He also removed the ^[b]high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him.

Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he ^(A)made war and how he reigned, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ²⁰ The period that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. So he rested with his fathers. Then ^(B)Nadab his son reigned in his place.

Nadab Reigns in Israel

²⁵ Now ^(A)Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in ^(B)his sin by which he had made Israel sin.

^27 (C)Then Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha killed him at ^(D)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon. ²⁸ Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

³¹ Now 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?

Baasha Reigns in Israel

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years.

²⁹ And it was so, when he became king, that he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to ^(A)the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ^30 (B)because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he had provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.

³⁴ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in ^(A)the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin.

⁶ And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him ^(A)rest. ⁷ Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸ And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried ^[a]shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew ^(B)bows; all these were mighty men of ^(C)valor.

^9 (D)Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to ^(E)Mareshah. ¹⁰ So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹ And Asa ^(F)cried out to the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, it is ^(G)nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and ^(H)in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”

¹² So the Lord ^(I)struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to ^(J)Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the Lord and His army. And they carried away very much ^[b]spoil. ¹⁴ Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for ^(K)the fear of the Lord came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much ^[c]spoil in them. ¹⁵ They also ^[d]attacked the livestock enclosures, and carried off sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

The Reforms of Asa

15 Now ^(L)the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. ² And he went out ^[e]to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. ^(M)The Lord is with you while you are with Him. ^(N)If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but ^(O)if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. ^3 (P)For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a ^(Q)teaching priest, and without ^(R)law; ⁴ but ^(S)when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. ⁵ And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. ^6 (T)So nation was ^[f]destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. ⁷ But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”