1 Kings 15

Chapter 15

Abijam Reigns over Judah

^1aNow in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah.

²He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^1aMaacah the daughter of ^2bAbishalom.

³He walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him; and ^ahis heart was not ¹wholly devoted to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father David.

⁴But for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a ^alamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem;

^5abecause David did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, ^bexcept in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

^6aThere was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.

⁷Now ^athe 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? ^bAnd there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

Asa Succeeds Abijam

^8aAnd Abijam slept with his fathers and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place.

⁹So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa began to reign as king of Judah.

¹⁰He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem; and ^ahis mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

^11aAsa did what was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father.

^12aHe also put away the male cult prostitutes from the land and ^bremoved all the idols which his fathers had made.

^131aHe also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image ²as an Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid image and ^bburned it at the brook Kidron.

^14aBut the high places were not taken away; nevertheless ^bthe heart of Asa was ¹wholly devoted to the Lord all his days.

^15aHe brought into the house of the Lord the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver and gold and utensils.

^16aNow there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

^17aBaasha king of Israel went up against Judah and ^1bfortified Ramah ^cin order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.

¹⁸Then ^aAsa took all the silver and the gold which were left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And ^bKing Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived in ^cDamascus, saying,

¹⁹“Let there be a ^atreaty between ¹you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you a present of silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.”

²⁰So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and ¹conquered ^aIjon, ^bDan, ^cAbel-beth-maacah and all ^dChinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali.

²¹When Baasha heard of it, ^ahe ceased ¹fortifying Ramah and remained in ^bTirzah.

²²Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah—none was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had built. And King Asa built with them ^aGeba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa

^23aNow 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.

²⁴And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and ^aJehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

Nadab, then Baasha, Rules over Israel

²⁵Now ^aNadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.

²⁶He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and ^awalked in the way of his father and ^bin his sin which he made Israel sin.

²⁷Then ^aBaasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at ^bGibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.

²⁸So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his place.

²⁹It came about as soon as he was king, he struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam ¹any persons alive, until he had destroyed them, ^aaccording to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite,

³⁰and because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and ^awhich he made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.

^31aNow 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

^32aThere was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

³³In 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.

³⁴He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and ^awalked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel sin.