Abijam Reigns in Judah
And in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah.
Three years he reigned in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom.
And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not whole with the LORD his God, like the heart of David his father.
Yet for the sake of David, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem — raising up his son after him, and keeping Jerusalem standing;
because David did what was upright in the eyes of the LORD, and did not turn aside from all that he commanded him all the days of his life — except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
And 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? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
And Abijam lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place.
Asa Reigns in Judah
And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah.
And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom.
And Asa did what was upright in the eyes of the LORD, like David his father.
And he removed the male cult prostitutes from the land, and took away all the idols that his fathers had made.
And even Maacah his mother — he removed her from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid thing for the Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid thing and burned it in the brook Kidron.
But the high places were not removed; only, the heart of Asa was whole with the LORD all his days.
And he brought the holy things of his father, and his own holy things, into the house of the LORD — silver, and gold, and vessels.
War between Asa and Baasha
And there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.
And Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah and built Ramah, to allow no one going out or coming in to Asa, king of Judah.
And Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the treasuries of the house of the king, and gave them into the hand of his servants; and King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying:
“There is a covenant between me and you, between my father and your father. Look — I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he will go up away from me.”
And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa, and sent the commanders of his forces against the cities of Israel; and he struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, together with all the land of Naphtali.
And it was, when Baasha heard, that he stopped building Ramah, and stayed in Tirzah.
And King Asa summoned all Judah — none was exempt — and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had built; and with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa
And the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities that he built — are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Only, at the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
And Asa lay down with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Jehoshaphat his son became king in his place.
Nadab Reigns in Israel
And 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.
And he did the evil in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin by which he caused Israel to sin.
And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon.
And Baasha put him to death in the third year of Asa, king of Judah, and became king in his place.
And it was, as soon as he became king, that he struck down all the house of Jeroboam; he left to Jeroboam nothing that breathed, until he had destroyed it — according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by the hand of his servant Ahijah the Shilonite,
for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he caused Israel to sin — by his provocation with which he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel.
And 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?
And there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.
Baasha Reigns in Israel
In the third year of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel, at Tirzah — twenty-four years.
And he did the evil in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin by which he caused Israel to sin.