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
Evangelical Heritage Version
Abijam (Abijah) Son of Rehoboam, King of Judah
15 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam[a] became king over Judah. 2 He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Ma’akah, granddaughter of Abishalom.[b] 3 He walked in all the sins which his father had practiced before him, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord as the heart of his grandfather David had been. 4 But for the sake of David, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up his son after him and by making Jerusalem strong. 5 He did this because David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and he did not turn from all that the Lord commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
6 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. 7 As for the rest of Abijam’s acts and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 Abijam rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then his son Asa became king in his place.
Asa Son of Abijam, King of Judah
9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa king of Judah became king. 10 He ruled for forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother’s[c] name was Ma’akah granddaughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as his father David had done. 12 He drove the male shrine prostitutes out of the land, and he removed all the filthy idols which his fathers had made. 13 In addition, he also removed his grandmother Ma’akah from being queen mother because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his days. 15 He brought silver and gold and vessels and utensils into the House of the Lord as dedicated offerings for himself and his father.
16 There was war between Asa and Ba’asha king of Israel throughout all their days. 17 Ba’asha king of Israel attacked Judah, and he fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. 18 So Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the House of the Lord and the treasuries of the king’s palace, and he gave them to his officials. Then King Asa sent them to Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion king of Aram, who was living in Damascus. 19 He said, “There should be a treaty between you and me as there was between my father and your father. Look, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Come, break your treaty with Ba’asha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
20 Ben Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his army against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Ma’akah, and all of Kinneret, as well as all the land of Naphtali. 21 When Ba’asha heard about this, he stopped fortifying Ramah, and he stayed in Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa summoned all Judah—no one was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timber with which Ba’asha had been building, and King Asa used them to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah.
(2 Chronicles 16:11–17:1)
23 As for all the rest of Asa’s acts and all his mighty deeds and everything else he did and the cities he built, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? But in his old age his feet became diseased. 24 Asa rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then his son Jehoshaphat became king in his place.
Nadab Son of Jeroboam, King of Israel
25 Nadab son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah. He ruled over Israel for two years. 26 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the ways of his father and in the sin which he had caused Israel to commit. 27 Ba’asha son of Ahijah from the house of Issachar conspired against him and struck him down in Gibbethon, which belongs to the Philistines. (Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.) 28 Ba’asha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and became king in his place.
Ba’asha Son of Ahijah, King of Israel
29 When Ba’asha became king, he struck down the whole house of Jeroboam, until it was exterminated according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken through his servant Ahijah from Shiloh. For Jeroboam’s house he did not spare anyone who breathed, 30 because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he caused Israel to commit when he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger.
31 As for the rest of Nadab’s acts and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? 32 There was war between Asa and Ba’asha king of Israel all their days. 33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Ba’asha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah and reigned for twenty-four years. 34 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 15:1 He is called Abijah in 2 Chronicles 13.
- 1 Kings 15:2 Abishalom is a variant spelling of Absalom. Literally, the Hebrew reads daughter of Abishalom. Data in 2 Chronicles 13:2 implies that Ma’a kah was Absalom’s granddaughter rather than his daughter.
- 1 Kings 15:10 Literally mother’s. But see verses 2 and 13 as well as 2 Chronicles 11:20 and 13:2.
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