1 Kings 15
15
Abijah King of Judah
1Abijah became king of Judah. It was in the 18th year of Jeroboam’s rule over Israel. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat. 2Abijah ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother’s name was Maakah. She was Abishalom’s daughter.
3Abijah committed all the sins his father had committed before him. Abijah didn’t obey the Lord his God with all his heart. He didn’t do what King David had done. 4But the Lord still kept the lamp of Abijah’s kingdom burning brightly in Jerusalem. He did it by giving him a son to be the next king after him. He also did it by making Jerusalem strong. The Lord did those things because of David. 5David had done what was right in the sight of the Lord. He had kept all the Lord’s commands. He had obeyed them all the days of his life. But he hadn’t obeyed the Lord in the case of Uriah, the Hittite.
6There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam all through Abijah’s life. 7The other events of Abijah’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written down. All these things are written in the official records of the kings of Judah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 8Abijah joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the City of David. Abijah’s son Asa became the next king after him.
Asa 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 Maakah. She was Abishalom’s daughter.
11Asa did what was right in the sight 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 the statues of gods made by his people of long ago. 13He even removed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother. That’s because she had made a pole used to worship the female god named 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 things to the Lord. Asa brought them into the Lord’s temple.
16There was war between Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel. It lasted the whole time they were kings. 17Baasha was king of Israel. He marched out against Judah. Baasha built up the walls of Ramah. He did it to keep people from leaving or entering the territory of Asa, the king of Judah.
18Asa took all the silver and gold left among the treasures of the Lord’s temple and his own palace. He put his officials in charge of it. He sent the officials to Ben-Hadad. Ben-Hadad was king of Aram. He was ruling in Damascus. He was the son of Tabrimmon and the grandson of Hezion. 19“Let’s make a peace treaty between us,” Asa said. “My father and your father had made a peace treaty between them. Now I’m sending you a gift of silver and gold. So break your treaty with Baasha, the king of Israel. Then he’ll go back home.”
20Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa. He sent his army commanders against the towns of Israel. He captured Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maakah and the whole area of Kinnereth in addition to Naphtali. 21Baasha heard about it. So he stopped building up Ramah. He went back home to Tirzah. 22Then King Asa gave an order to all the men of Judah. Everyone was required to help. They carried away from Ramah the stones and wood Baasha had been using there. King Asa used them to build up Geba in the territory of Benjamin. He also used them to build up Mizpah.
23All the other events of Asa’s rule are written down, including the cities he built. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Judah. But when Asa became old, his feet began to give him trouble. 24He joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in his family tomb. It was in the city of King David. Asa’s son Jehoshaphat became the next king after him.
Nadab King of Israel
25Nadab became king of Israel. It was in the second year that Asa was king of Judah. Nadab ruled over Israel for two years. He was the son of Jeroboam. 26Nadab did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He lived the way his father had lived. He committed the same sin his father Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.
27Baasha was from the tribe of Issachar. He was the son of Ahijah. Baasha made plans against Nadab and struck him down at Gibbethon. It was a Philistine town. Baasha struck him down while Nadab and all the men of Israel were getting ready to attack Gibbethon. 28He killed Nadab in the third year that Asa was king of Judah. Baasha became the next king after Nadab.
29As soon as Baasha became king, he killed Jeroboam’s whole family. He didn’t leave any of them alive. He destroyed every one of them. He did what the Lord had said would happen. The Lord had spoken that message through his servant Ahijah from Shiloh. 30The Lord judged Jeroboam’s family because of the sins Jeroboam had committed. He had also caused Israel to commit those same sins. He had made the Lord very angry. The Lord is the God of Israel.
31The other events of Nadab’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Israel. 32There was war between Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel. It lasted the whole time they were kings.
Baasha King of Israel
33Baasha became king of Israel in Tirzah. It was in the third year that Asa was king of Judah. Baasha ruled for 24 years. He was the son of Ahijah. 34Baasha did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He lived the way Jeroboam had lived. He committed the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.
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1 Kings 15: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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1 Kings 15
15
1And in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat began Abijam to reign over Judah. 2He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Maachah, a daughter of Abishalom. 3And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God#GodHebrew: Elohim as the heart of David his father. 4But for David's sake Jehovah his God#GodHebrew: Elohim gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem; 5because David did that which was right in the sight of Jehovah, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Urijah the Hittite. 6And there had been war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. 7And 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. 8And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his stead.
9And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah; 10and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Maachah, daughter of Abishalom. 11And Asa did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, as David his father. 12And he put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his father had made. 13And also Maachah his mother he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol for the Asherah; and Asa cut down her idol, and burned it in the valley of Kidron. 14But the high places were not removed; only, Asa's heart was perfect with Jehovah all his days. 15And he brought into the house of Jehovah the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which he himself had dedicated, silver and gold and vessels. 16And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 17And Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, in order to let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 18And Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house, 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 Syria, who dwelt at Damascus, saying, 19There is a league between me and thee, as between my father and thy father; behold, I send thee a present of silver and gold: go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me. 20And Ben-Hadad hearkened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his forces against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-Beth-Maachah, and all Kinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. 21And it came to pass when Baasha heard of it, that he left off building Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah. 22And king Asa called together all Judah: none was exempted; and they carried away the stones and the timber from Ramah, with which Baasha had been building; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah. 23And 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, in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. 24And 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.
25And 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. 26And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel sin. 27And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, when Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon. 28And Baasha slew him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead. 29And it came to pass when he was king, he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left to Jeroboam none that breathed; until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite, 30because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and wherewith he made Israel to sin; by his provocation with which he provoked Jehovah the God#GodHebrew: Elohim of Israel to anger. 31And 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? 32And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 33In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, for twenty-four years. 34And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin where with he made Israel to sin.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.