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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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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1 Kings 15
15
Abijah of Judah
1-6In the eighteenth year of the rule of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah took over the throne of Judah. He ruled in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah daughter of Absalom. He continued to sin just like his father before him. He was not truehearted to God as his great-grandfather David had been. But despite that, out of respect for David, his God graciously gave him a lamp, a son to follow him and keep Jerusalem secure. For David had lived an exemplary life before God all his days, not going off on his own in willful defiance of God’s clear directions (except for that time with Uriah the Hittite). But war continued between Abijah and Jeroboam the whole time.
7-8The rest of Abijah’s life, everything he did, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. But the war with Jeroboam was the dominant theme. Abijah died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Asa was king after him.
Asa of Judah
9-10In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began his rule over Judah. He ruled for forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother’s name was Maacah.
11-15Asa conducted himself well before God, reviving the ways of his ancestor David. He cleaned house: He got rid of the sacred prostitutes and threw out all the idols his predecessors had made. Asa spared nothing and no one; he went so far as to remove Queen Maacah from her position because she had built a shockingly obscene memorial to the whore goddess Asherah. Asa tore it down and burned it up in the Kidron Valley. Unfortunately, he didn’t get rid of the local sex-and-religion shrines. But he was well-intentioned—his heart was in the right place, in tune with God. All the gold and silver vessels and artifacts that he and his father had consecrated for holy use he installed in The Temple.
16-17But through much of his reign there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel. Baasha king of Israel started it by building a fort at Ramah and closing the border between Israel and Judah so no one could enter or leave Judah.
18-19Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of The Temple of God and the royal palace, gave it to his servants, and sent them to Ben-Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, with this message: “Let’s make a treaty like the one between our fathers. I’m showing my good faith with this gift of silver and gold. Break your deal with Baasha king of Israel so he’ll quit fighting against me.”
20-21Ben-Hadad went along with King Asa and sent out his troops against the towns of Israel. He attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, and the entire region of Kinnereth, including Naphtali. When Baasha got the report he quit fortifying Ramah and pulled back to Tirzah.
22Then King Asa issued orders to everyone in Judah—no exemptions—to haul away the logs and stones Baasha had used in the fortification of Ramah and use them to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah.
23-24A full account of Asa’s life, all the great things he did and the fortifications he constructed, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. In his old age he developed severe gout. Then Asa died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Jehoshaphat became king after him.
Nadab of Israel
25-26Nadab son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa’s rule in Judah. He was king of Israel two years. He was openly evil before God—he followed in the footsteps of his father who both sinned and made Israel sin.
27-28Baasha son of Ahijah of the tribe of Issachar ganged up on him and attacked him at the Philistine town of Gibbethon while Nadab and the Israelites were doing battle there. Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah and became Israel’s next king.
29-30As soon as he was king he killed everyone in Jeroboam’s family. There wasn’t a living soul left to the name of Jeroboam; Baasha wiped them out totally, just as God’s servant Ahijah of Shiloh had prophesied—punishment for Jeroboam’s sins and for making Israel sin, for making the God of Israel thoroughly angry.
31-32The rest of Nadab’s life, everything else he did, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. There was continuous war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel.
Baasha of Israel
33-34In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king in Tirzah over all Israel. He ruled twenty-four years. He was openly evil before God, walking in the footsteps of Jeroboam, who both sinned and made Israel sin.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.