1 Kings 15
Legacy 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 three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was [a](B)Maacah the daughter of [b](C)Abishalom. 3 And 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 Yahweh his God, like the heart of his father David. 4 But for David’s sake Yahweh 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 Yahweh, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, (G)except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. 6 (H)Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
7 Now (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. 8 (K)And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place.
Asa Reigns over Judah
9 Now in the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa began to reign as king of Judah. 10 And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem; and (L)his mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 11 (M)And Asa did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, like David his father. 12 (N)He also put away the male cult prostitutes from the land and (O)removed all the idols which his fathers had made. 13 [d](P)He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image [e]for Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid image and (Q)burned it at the brook Kidron. 14 (R)But the high places were not removed; nevertheless (S)the heart of Asa was [f]wholly devoted to Yahweh all his days. 15 (T)And he brought into the house of Yahweh the holy things of his father and his own holy things: silver and gold and utensils.
Asa Wars Against Baasha
16 (U)Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 17 (V)And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and (W)built up 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 which were left in the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and the treasuries of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of 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 there be a (AB)covenant between [g]you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, 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.” 20 So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his military force against the cities of Israel, and struck down (AC)Ijon, (AD)Dan, (AE)Abel-beth-maacah and all (AF)Chinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali. 21 Now it happened that when Baasha heard of it, (AG)he ceased building up Ramah and remained in (AH)Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa caused an announcement to be heard throughout all Judah—none was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building. And King Asa built with them (AI)Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.
23 (AJ)Now 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 slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and (AK)Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.
Nadab Reigns 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 two years. 26 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and (AM)walked in the way of his father and (AN)in his sin which he made Israel sin. 27 Then (AO)Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at (AP)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.
28 So Baasha put him to death in the third year of Asa king of Judah and became king in his place. 29 Now it happened that as soon as he was king, he struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone who drew breath, until he had destroyed them, (AQ)according to the word of Yahweh, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, 30 and because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and (AR)which he made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger.
31 (AS)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 (AT)Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
Baasha Reigns over Israel
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel at Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years. 34 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and (AU)walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel sin.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 15:2 In 2 Chr 13:2, Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel
- 1 Kings 15:2 In 2 Chr 11:20, Absalom
- 1 Kings 15:3 Lit complete with
- 1 Kings 15:13 Lit Also Maacah his mother and he removed her
- 1 Kings 15:13 Or as an Asherah
- 1 Kings 15:14 Lit complete with
- 1 Kings 15:19 Lit me and you
1 Kings 15
Living Bible
15 1-2 Abijam began his three-year reign as king of Judah in Jerusalem during the eighteenth year of Jeroboam’s reign in Israel. (Abijam’s mother was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom.) 3 He was as great a sinner as his father was, and his heart was not right with God, as King David’s was. 4 But despite Abijam’s sin, the Lord remembered David’s love[a] and did not end the line of David’s royal descendants. 5 For David had obeyed God during his entire life except for the affair concerning Uriah the Hittite. 6 During Abijam’s reign there was constant war between Israel and Judah.[b] 7 The rest of Abijam’s history is recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Judah. 8 When he died he was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Asa reigned in his place.
9 Asa became king of Judah, in Jerusalem, in the twentieth year of the reign of Jeroboam over Israel, 10 and reigned forty-one years. (His grandmother was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom.) 11 He pleased the Lord like his ancestor King David. 12 He executed the male prostitutes and removed all the idols his father had made. 13 He deposed his grandmother Maacah as queen mother because she had made an idol—which he cut down and burned at Kidron Brook. 14 However, the shrines on the hills were not removed, for Asa did not realize that these were wrong.[c] 15 He made permanent exhibits in the Temple of the bronze shields his grandfather had dedicated,[d] along with the silver and gold vessels he himself had donated.
16 There was lifelong war between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel. 17 King Baasha built the fortress city of Ramah in an attempt to cut off all trade with Jerusalem. 18 Then Asa took all the silver and gold left in the Temple treasury and all the treasures of the palace, and gave them to his officials to take to Damascus, to King Ben-hadad of Syria, with this message:
19 “Let us be allies just as our fathers were. I am sending you a present of gold and silver. Now break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone.”
20 Ben-hadad agreed and sent his armies against some of the cities of Israel; and he destroyed Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, all of Chinneroth, and all the cities in the land of Naphtali. 21 When Baasha received word of the attack, he discontinued building the city of Ramah and returned to Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, asking every able-bodied man to help demolish Ramah and haul away its stones and timbers. And King Asa used these materials to build the city of Geba in Benjamin and the city of Mizpah.
23 The rest of Asa’s biography—his conquests and deeds and the names of the cities he built—is found in The Annals of the Kings of Judah. In his old age his feet became diseased, 24 and when he died, he was buried in the royal cemetery in Jerusalem. Then his son Jehoshaphat became the new king of Judah.
25 Meanwhile over in Israel, Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, had become king. He reigned two years, beginning in the second year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. 26 But he was not a good king; like his father, he worshiped many idols and led all of Israel into sin.
27 Then Baasha (the son of Ahijah, from the tribe of Issachar) plotted against him and assassinated him while he was with the Israeli army laying siege to the Philistine city of Gibbethon. 28 So Baasha replaced Nadab as the king of Israel in Tirzah during the third year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. 29 He immediately killed all of the descendants of King Jeroboam, so that not one of the royal family was left, just as the Lord had said would happen when he spoke through Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh. 30 This was done because Jeroboam had angered the Lord God of Israel by sinning and leading the rest of Israel into sin.
31 Further details of Baasha’s reign are recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
32-33 There was continuous warfare between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel. Baasha reigned for twenty-four years, 34 but all that time he continually disobeyed the Lord. He followed the evil paths of Jeroboam, for he led the people of Israel into the sin of worshiping idols.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 15:4 the Lord remembered David’s love, literally, “for David’s sake.”
- 1 Kings 15:6 between Israel and Judah, literally, “between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.”
- 1 Kings 15:14 Asa did not realize that these were wrong, literally, “the heart of Asa was perfect toward Jehovah all his days.”
- 1 Kings 15:15 the bronze shields his grandfather had dedicated, literally, “the dedicated objects of his grandfather,” see 14:27.
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