1In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah.
2He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
3He lived in all the sins his father had done before him. His heart was not fully true to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.
4But for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem. He raised up his son after him, and kept Jerusalem standing.
5For David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. He did not turn aside from anything the LORD commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
6There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
7The rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
8Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. His son Asa became king in his place.
9In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah.
10He ruled for forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
11Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as David his forefather had done.
12He drove the male prostitutes out of the land, and took away all the idols his fathers had made.
13He even removed his mother Maachah from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove. Asa cut down her idol and burned it by the brook Kidron.
14But the high places were not taken away. Still, Asa's heart was fully true to the LORD all his days.
15He brought into the house of the LORD the things his father had set apart, and the things he himself had set apart: silver, and gold, and vessels.
16There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
17Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built up Ramah, so that he would not let anyone go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
18Then 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 king's house, and handed them to his servants. King Asa sent them to Benhadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived at Damascus. He said,
19"There is a treaty between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Look, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Come and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will go away and leave me alone."
20Benhadad listened to king Asa. He sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel. They struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abelbethmaachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
21When Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and stayed in Tirzah.
22Then king Asa sent out an order through all Judah. No one was excused. They carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, which Baasha had been building with. And king Asa used them to build Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
23The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities he built, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. But in his old age he had a disease in his feet.
24Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his forefather. His son Jehoshaphat became king in his place.
25Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to rule over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he ruled over Israel two years.
26He did evil in the sight of the LORD. He walked in the way of his father, and in the sin his father had led Israel into.
27Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, made a plot against him. Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.
28In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha killed him and became king in his place.
29As soon as he was king, he struck down all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breathed, until he had destroyed them all. This was what the LORD had said through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite.
30It was because of the sins Jeroboam had sinned, and the sins he had led Israel into, by which he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.
31The rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
32There 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 began to rule over all Israel in Tirzah, for twenty-four years.
34He did evil in the sight of the LORD. He walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in the sin he had led Israel into.