1 Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat
reigned Abijam over Judah.
2 Three
years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah,
the daughter of Abishalom.
3 And
he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his
heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.
4 Nevertheless
for David's sake did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up
his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:
5 Because
David did that which was right
in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that
he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the
Hittite.
6 And
there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
7 Now
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.
8 And
Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and
Asa his son reigned in his stead.
9 And
in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.
10 And
forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah,
the daughter of Abishalom.
11 And
Asa did that which was right
in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.
12 And
he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his
fathers had made.
13 And
also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen,
because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the
brook Kidron.
14 But
the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the
LORD all his days.
15 And
he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which
himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver, and gold, and
vessels.
16 And
there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
17 And
Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not
suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
18 Then
Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of
the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and delivered them into the
hand of his servants: and king Asa sent them to Benhadad, the son of Tabrimon,
the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,
19 There is a league between me and thee, and between
my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and
gold; come and break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart
from me.
20 So
Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he
had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abelbethmaachah,
and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
21 And
it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building
of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.
22 Then
king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted:
and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith
Baasha had builded; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
23 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? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he
was diseased in his feet.
24 And
Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of
David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead.
25 And
Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa
king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.
26 And
he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and
in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
27 And
Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and
Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all
Israel laid siege to Gibbethon.
28 Even
in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his
stead.
29 And
it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he
left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according
unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the
Shilonite:
30 Because
of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his
provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.
31 Now
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?
32 And
there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
33 In
the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign
over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.
34 And
he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in
his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
