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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
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1 Kings 15
Common English Bible

Abijam rules Judah

15 Abijam[a] became king of Judah in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Nebat’s son. 2 He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, and she was Abishalom’s daughter. 3 Abijam followed all the sinful ways of his father before him. He didn’t follow the Lord his God with all his heart like his ancestor David. 4 Even so, on account of David, the Lord his God gave Abijam a lamp in Jerusalem by supporting his son who succeeded him and by preserving Jerusalem. 5 This was because David did the right thing in the Lord’s eyes. David didn’t deviate from anything the Lord commanded him throughout his life—except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 6 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam as long as Abijam lived. 7 The rest of Abijam’s deeds and all that he did, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 Abijam lay down with his ancestors; he was buried in David’s City. His son Asa succeeded him as king.

Asa rules Judah

9 In the twentieth year of Israel’s King Jeroboam, Asa became king of Judah. 10 He ruled in Jerusalem for forty-one years. His grandmother’s[b] name was Maacah; she was Abishalom’s daughter. 11 Asa did the right things in the Lord’s eyes, just like his father David. 12 He removed the consecrated workers[c] from the land, and he did away with all the worthless idols that his predecessors had made. 13 He even removed his grandmother Maacah from the position of queen mother because she had made an image of Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 Though the shrines weren’t eliminated, nevertheless Asa remained committed with all his heart to the Lord throughout his life. 15 He brought into the Lord’s temple the silver and gold equipment that he and his father had dedicated. 16 There was war between Asa and Israel’s King Baasha throughout their lifetimes. 17 Israel’s King Baasha attacked Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent Judah’s King Asa from moving into that area.

18 Asa took all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace, and he gave them to his officials. Then King Asa sent them with the following message to Aram’s King Ben-hadad, Tabrimmon’s son and Hezion’s grandson, who ruled from Damascus: 19 “Let’s make a covenant similar to the one between our fathers. Since I have already sent you a gift of silver and gold, break your covenant with Israel’s King Baasha so that he will leave me alone.” 20 Ben-hadad agreed with King Asa and sent his army commanders against the cities of Israel, attacking Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, along with all the land of Naphtali. 21 As soon as Baasha learned this, he stopped building Ramah and stayed in Tirzah. 22 King Asa issued an order to every Judean without exception: all the people carried away the stone and timber that Baasha was using to build Ramah, and King Asa used it to build Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah. 23 The rest of Asa’s deeds, his strength, and all that he did, as well as the towns that he built, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? When he was old, Asa developed a severe foot disease. 24 He died and was buried with his ancestors in David’s City.[d] His son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king.

Nadab rules Israel

25 Jeroboam’s son Nadab became king of Israel in the second year of Judah’s King Asa. He ruled over Israel for two years. 26 He did evil in the Lord’s eyes by walking in the way of his father Jeroboam and the sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit. 27 Baasha, Ahijah’s son from the house of Issachar, plotted against him and attacked him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. Nadab and all Israel were laying siege against Gibbethon. 28 Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Judah’s King Asa and ruled in Nadab’s place.

29 When he became king, Baasha attacked the entire house of Jeroboam. He didn’t allow any living person to survive in Jeroboam’s family; he wiped them out according to the Lord’s word spoken by the Lord’s servant Ahijah of Shiloh. 30 This happened because of Jeroboam’s sins that he committed and that he caused Israel to commit, and because he angered the Lord, Israel’s God. 31 The rest of Nadab’s deeds and all that he did, aren’t they written in the official records of Israel’s kings? 32 There was war between Asa and Israel’s King Baasha throughout their lifetimes.

Baasha rules Israel

33 In the third year of Judah’s King Asa, Baasha, Ahijah’s son, became king over all Israel. He ruled in Tirzah for twenty-four years. 34 He did evil in the Lord’s eyes by walking in Jeroboam’s ways and the sin he had caused Israel to commit.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 15:1 Spelled Abijah in 2 Chron 12
  2. 1 Kings 15:10 Or mother; also in 15:13; cf 2 Chron 13:2
  3. 1 Kings 15:12 Traditionally cultic prostitutes
  4. 1 Kings 15:24 Heb adds his father.
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