Abijam Reigns over Judah: Idolatry and War

15 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jerobo′am the son of Nebat, Abi′jam began to reign over Judah. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Ma′acah the daughter of Abish′alom. ³ And he walked in all the sins which his father did before him; and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. ⁴ Nevertheless for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem; ⁵ because 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 Uri′ah the Hittite. ⁶ Now there was war between Rehobo′am and Jerobo′am all the days of his life. ⁷ The rest of the acts of Abi′jam, 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 Abi′jam and Jerobo′am. ⁸ And Abi′jam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his stead.

Asa Reigns over Judah

⁹ In the twentieth year of Jerobo′am king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, ¹⁰ and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Ma′acah the daughter of Abish′alom. ¹¹ And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done. ¹² He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. ¹³ He also removed Ma′acah his mother from being queen mother because she had an abominable image made for Ashe′rah; and Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁴ But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days. ¹⁵ And he brought into the house of the Lord the votive gifts of his father and his own votive gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels.

Alliance with Aram against Israel

¹⁶ And there was war between Asa and Ba′asha king of Israel all their days. ¹⁷ Ba′asha 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. ¹⁸ Then 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-ha′dad the son of Tabrim′mon, the son of He′zi-on, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ “Let there be a league between me and you, as between my father and your father: behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold; go, break your league with Ba′asha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” ²⁰ And Ben-ha′dad hearkened to King Asa, and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and conquered Ijon, Dan, A′bel-beth-ma′acah, and all Chin′neroth, with all the land of Naph′tali. ²¹ And when Ba′asha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and he dwelt in Tirzah. 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 Ba′asha had been building; and with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah. ²³ Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, 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 his old age he was diseased in his feet. ²⁴ And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Jehosh′aphat his son reigned in his stead.

Nadab Reigns over Israel

²⁵ Nadab the son of Jerobo′am began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah; and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ He 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.

²⁷ Ba′asha the son of Ahi′jah, of the house of Is′sachar, conspired against him; and Ba′asha struck him down at Gib′bethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gib′bethon. ²⁸ So Ba′asha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead. ²⁹ And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jerobo′am; he left to the house of Jerobo′am not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by his servant Ahi′jah the Shi′lonite; ³⁰ it was for the sins of Jerobo′am which he sinned and which he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.

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? ³² And there was war between Asa and Ba′asha king of Israel all their days.

Second Dynasty: Baasha Reigns over Israel

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Ba′asha the son of Ahi′jah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jerobo′am and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

16 And the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hana′ni against Ba′asha, saying, ² “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jerobo′am, and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, ³ behold, I will utterly sweep away Ba′asha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jerobo′am the son of Nebat. ⁴ Any one belonging to Ba′asha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat; and any one of his who dies in the field the birds of the air shall eat.”

⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Ba′asha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁶ And Ba′asha slept with his fathers, and was buried at Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his stead. ⁷ Moreover the word of the Lord came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hana′ni against Ba′asha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jerobo′am, and also because he destroyed it.

Elah Reigns over Israel

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Ba′asha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. ⁹ But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, ¹⁰ Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.

¹¹ When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he killed all the house of Ba′asha; he did not leave him a single male of his kinsmen or his friends. ¹² Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Ba′asha, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Ba′asha by Jehu the prophet, ¹³ for all the sins of Ba′asha and the sins of Elah his son which they sinned, and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. ¹⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Third Dynasty: Zimri Reigns over Israel

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against Gib′bethon, which belonged to the Philistines, ¹⁶ and the troops who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king”; therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷ So Omri went up from Gib′bethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house, and burned the king’s house over him with fire, and died, ¹⁹ because of his sins which he committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jerobo′am, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. ²⁰ Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the conspiracy which he made, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Fourth Dynasty: Omri Reigns over Israel

²¹ Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts; half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. ²² But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath; so Tibni died, and Omri became king. ²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah. ²⁴ He bought the hill of Samar′ia^[a] from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he fortified the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, Samar′ia, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

²⁵ Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him. ²⁶ For he walked in all the way of Jerobo′am the son of Nebat, and in the sins which he made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols. ²⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸ And Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samar′ia; and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.

Ahab Reigns over Israel

²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samar′ia twenty-two years. ³⁰ And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all that were before him. ³¹ And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jerobo′am the son of Nebat, he took for wife Jez′ebel the daughter of Ethba′al king of the Sido′nians, and went and served Ba′al, and worshiped him. ³² He erected an altar for Ba′al in the house of Ba′al, which he built in Samar′ia. ³³ And Ahab made an Ashe′rah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ³⁴ In his days Hi′el of Bethel built Jericho; he laid its foundation at the cost of Abi′ram his first-born, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

The Call of Wisdom

Food Offered to Idols

8 Now concerning food offered to idols:^[a] we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” “Knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. ² If any one imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. ³ But if one loves God, one is known by him.

⁴ Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” ⁵ For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— ⁶ yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

⁷ However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through being hitherto accustomed to idols, eat food as really offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ⁸ Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. ⁹ Only take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. ¹⁰ For if any one sees you, a man of knowledge, at table in an idol’s temple, might he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? ¹¹ And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. ¹² Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother’s falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall.