The Reign of Abijam in Judah

¹ In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah.

² Three years he reigned in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

³ He walked in all the sins of his father that he had done before him, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father.

⁴ For the sake of David, Yahweh his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by establishing his son after him and by causing Jerusalem to exist;

⁵ because David did right in the eyes of Yahweh and he didn’t turn aside from all that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

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

⁷ The remainder of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? There was also war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

⁸ Abijam slept with his ancestors,¹ and they buried him in the city of David, and Asa his son became king in his place.

1. Or “fathers”

The Reign of Asa in Judah

⁹ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa became the king of Judah.

¹⁰ He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

¹¹ Asa did right in the eyes of Yahweh, like David his ancestor.¹

1. Or “father”

¹² He put away the male shrine prostitutes from the land, and he removed all of the idols that his ancestors¹ made.

1. Or “fathers”

¹³ Also, he had Maacah his mother removed from the office of queen mother, as she had made a repulsive image for the Asherah. Asa also cut down her repulsive image and burned it in the Wadi¹ Kidron.

1. Or “valley”; a wadi is a valley that is dry most of the year, but contains a stream during the rainy season

¹⁴ But the high places he did not remove. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was completely with Yahweh all of his days.

¹⁵ He brought the holy objects of his father and his own holy objects to the house of Yahweh, silver and gold and utensils.

¹⁶ There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all of their days.

¹⁷ Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and he built Ramah ⌞to hinder the coming and going of anyone to Asa⌟¹ king of Judah.

1. Literally “to not give going and coming to Asa”

¹⁸ Asa took all of the silver and gold remaining in the storerooms of the house of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the house of the king, and he gave them into the hand of his servants; so King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying,

¹⁹ “Let there be 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 that he may go up away from me.”

²⁰ Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa, and he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and he attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-Beth-Maacah, and all of Kinnereth, in addition to all the land of Naphtali.

²¹ When Baasha heard, he stopped building Ramah, and he lived in Tirzah.

²² Then King Asa proclaimed among all of Israel that there was no one free from obligation, so they carried the stones of Ramah and its wood with which Baasha had built, and King Asa rebuilt Geba in Benjamin with them, and the Mizpah.

²³ The remainder of the acts of Asa, all of his achievements, all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? But at the time of his old age, ⌞he developed a foot disease⌟.¹

1. Literally “he became ill in his feet”

²⁴ Asa slept with his ancestors¹ and was buried with his ancestors² in the city of David his ancestor;³ Jehoshaphat his son became king in his place.

1. Or “fathers”
2. Or “fathers”
3. Or “father”

The Reign of Nadab in Israel

²⁵ Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.

²⁶ He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in the way of his father and in his sin that he caused Israel to commit.

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

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

²⁹ It happened that as soon as he became king, he killed all of the house of Jeroboam. There was no one left of Jeroboam who breathed, until he had destroyed him according to the word of Yahweh that he had spoken by the hand of his servant, Ahijah the Shilonite,

³⁰ because of the sins of Jeroboam that he had committed and that he had caused Israel to commit and because of his anger with which he had provoked Yahweh the God of Israel.

³¹ Now the remainder of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

The Reign of Baasha in Israel

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

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah had become king over all of Israel; he lived in Tirzah twenty-four years.

³⁴ He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin that he caused Israel to commit.