1 Kings 15:9-24

New International Reader's Version

Asa King of Judah

⁹ Asa became king of Judah. It was in the 20th year that Jeroboam was king of Israel. ¹⁰ Asa ruled in Jerusalem for 41 years. His grandmother’s name was Maakah. She was Abishalom’s daughter.

¹¹ Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord. That’s what King David had done. ¹² Asa threw out of the land the male prostitutes who were at the temples. He got rid of all the statues of gods made by his people of long ago. ¹³ He even removed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother. That’s because she had made a pole used to worship the female god named Asherah. The Lord hated it. So Asa cut it down. He burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁴ Asa didn’t remove the high places from Israel. But he committed his whole life completely to the Lord. ¹⁵ He and his father had set apart silver, gold and other things to the Lord. Asa brought them into the Lord’s temple.

¹⁶ There was war between Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel. It lasted the whole time they were kings. ¹⁷ Baasha was king of Israel. He marched out against Judah. Baasha built up the walls of Ramah. He did it to keep people from leaving or entering the territory of Asa, the king of Judah.

¹⁸ Asa took all the silver and gold left among the treasures of the Lord’s temple and his own palace. He put his officials in charge of it. He sent the officials to Ben-Hadad. Ben-Hadad was king of Aram. He was ruling in Damascus. He was the son of Tabrimmon and the grandson of Hezion. ¹⁹ “Let’s make a peace treaty between us,” Asa said. “My father and your father had made a peace treaty between them. Now I’m sending you a gift of silver and gold. So break your treaty with Baasha, the king of Israel. Then he’ll go back home.”

²⁰ Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa. He sent his army commanders against the towns of Israel. He captured Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maakah and the whole area of Kinnereth in addition to Naphtali. ²¹ Baasha heard about it. So he stopped building up Ramah. He went back home to Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa gave an order to all the men of Judah. Everyone was required to help. They carried away from Ramah the stones and wood Baasha had been using there. King Asa used them to build up Geba in the territory of Benjamin. He also used them to build up Mizpah.

²³ All the other events of Asa’s rule are written down, including the cities he built. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Judah. But when Asa became old, his feet began to give him trouble. ²⁴ He joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in his family tomb. It was in the city of King David. Asa’s son Jehoshaphat became the next king after him.