1 Kings 15:8–15

⁸Abijah joined the members of his family who had already died. His body was buried in the City of David. His son Asa became the next king after him.

Asa Becomes King of Judah

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

¹¹Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. That’s what King David had done.

¹²Asa threw out of the land the male prostitutes who were at the temples. He got rid of all of the statues of gods his people before him had made. ¹³He even removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother. That’s because she had made a pole that was used to worship the goddess Asherah. The Lord hated it. So Asa cut it down. He burned it in the Kidron Valley.

¹⁴Asa didn’t remove the high places from Israel. But he committed his whole life completely to the Lord. ¹⁵He and his father had set apart silver, gold and other articles to the Lord. He brought them into the Lord’s temple.