1 Kings 15

Abijah, King of Judah

1Abijah became the new king of Judah during the 18th year that Jeroboam son of Nebat ruled Israel. 2Abijah ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother’s name was Maacah. She was Absalom’s daughter.

3He did all the same sins that his father before him had done. Abijah was not faithful to the Lord his God. In this way he was not like his grandfather, David. 4But for David’s sake, the Lord gave Abijah a kingdom in Jerusalem and allowed him to have a son. He also kept Jerusalem safe. 5David had always done what the Lord said was right. He had always obeyed his commands. The only time David did not obey the Lord was when he sinned against Uriah the Hittite.

6Rehoboam and Jeroboam were always fighting against each other.#15:6 This is not in the ancient Greek version. 7The rest of what Abijah did is written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah.

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam during the whole time that Abijah was king. 8When Abijah died, he was buried in the City of David. Abijah’s son Asa became the new king after him.

Asa, King of Judah

9During Jeroboam’s 20th year as king over Israel, Asa became king of Judah. 10He ruled in Jerusalem for 41 years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah, and she was the daughter of Absalom.

11Asa did what the Lord said is right, as his ancestor David did. 12During Asa’s time there were men who served other gods by selling their bodies for sex. Asa forced them to leave the country. He took away the idols that his ancestors had made. 13King Asa also took away the right of his mother Maacah to be queen mother. He did this because she had set up one of those awful Asherah poles. Asa cut down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14Asa did not destroy the high places, even though he was faithful to the Lord all his life. 15Asa and his father had given some special gifts to God. Asa put these gifts of gold, silver, and other things in the Lord’s Temple.

16The whole time that King Asa was king of Judah, he fought a war against King Baasha of Israel. 17Once Baasha attacked Judah and then built up the city of Ramah to keep Asa from leaving Judah on any kind of military campaign. 18So Asa took gold and silver from the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and the king’s palace. He gave it to his officials and sent them to King Ben-Hadad of Aram. Ben-Hadad was the son of Tabrimmon. Tabrimmon was the son of Hezion. Damascus was Ben-Hadad’s capital city. 19Asa sent this message: “My father and your father had a peace agreement. Now I want to make a peace agreement with you. I am sending you this gift of gold and silver. Please break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel and make him leave us alone.”

20King Ben-Hadad made the agreement with King Asa and sent his army to fight against the Israelite towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, the towns near Lake Galilee, and the area of Naphtali. 21When Baasha heard about these attacks, he stopped building up Ramah and went back to Tirzah. 22Then King Asa gave an order to all the men in Judah. Everyone had to help. They had to go to Ramah and carry out all the stone and wood that Baasha was using to build up the city. They carried the material to Geba in Benjamin and to Mizpah and used it to strengthen those two cities.

23All the other things about Asa—the great things he did and the cities he built—are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah. When Asa became old, his feet became infected. 24He died and was buried in the City of David, his ancestor. Then Asa’s son Jehoshaphat became the new king after him.

Nadab, King of Israel

25During Asa’s second year as king of Judah, Jeroboam’s son Nadab became king of Israel. Nadab ruled over Israel for two years. 26He did what the Lord said was wrong. He sinned just as his father Jeroboam did when he caused the Israelites to sin.

27Baasha was the son of Ahijah. They were from the tribe of Issachar. Baasha made a plan to kill King Nadab. Nadab and all Israel were fighting against the Philistine town of Gibbethon. And that is where Baasha killed Nadab. 28This happened during Asa’s third year as king of Judah. So Baasha became the next king of Israel.

Baasha, King of Israel

29When Baasha became the new king, he killed everyone in Jeroboam’s family. He left no one in Jeroboam’s family alive. This happened just as the Lord said it would when he spoke through his servant Ahijah at Shiloh. 30This happened because King Jeroboam had committed many sins and had caused the Israelites to sin. This made the Lord, the God of Israel, very angry.

31The other things that Nadab did are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Israel. 32All during the time that Baasha ruled over Israel, he was fighting wars against King Asa of Judah.

33Ahijah’s son Baasha became king of Israel during the third year that Asa ruled over Judah. Baasha ruled in Tirzah for 24 years, 34but he did what the Lord said was wrong. He did the same sins that Jeroboam had done that caused the Israelites to sin.

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1 Kings 15

Abijam Rules in Judah

1Abijam#15:1 Also known as Abijah. began to rule over Judah in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam’s reign in Israel. 2He reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah, the granddaughter of Absalom.#15:2 Hebrew Abishalom (also in 15:10), a variant spelling of Absalom; compare 2 Chr 11:20.

3He committed the same sins as his father before him, and he was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been. 4But for David’s sake, the Lord his God allowed his descendants to continue ruling, shining like a lamp, and he gave Abijam a son to rule after him in Jerusalem. 5For David had done what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight and had obeyed the Lord’s commands throughout his life, except in the affair concerning Uriah the Hittite.

6There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam#15:6 As in a few Hebrew and Greek manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts read between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. throughout Abijam’s reign. 7The rest of the events in Abijam’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. There was constant war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8When Abijam died, he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Asa became the next king.

Asa Rules in Judah

9Asa began to rule over Judah in the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign in Israel. 10He reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother#15:10 Or The queen mother; Hebrew reads His mother (also in 15:13); compare 15:2. was Maacah, the granddaughter of Absalom.

11Asa did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, as his ancestor David had done. 12He banished the male and female shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols#15:12 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung. his ancestors had made. 13He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down her obscene pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14Although the pagan shrines were not removed, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful to the Lord throughout his life. 15He brought into the Temple of the Lord the silver and gold and the various items that he and his father had dedicated.

16There was constant war between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel. 17King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Asa’s territory in Judah.

18Asa responded by removing all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and the royal palace. He sent it with some of his officials to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, along with this message:

19“Let there be a treaty#15:19 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads There is a treaty. between you and me like the one between your father and my father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone.”

20Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa’s request and sent the commanders of his army to attack the towns of Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Kinnereth, and all the land of Naphtali. 21As soon as Baasha of Israel heard what was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah. 22Then King Asa sent an order throughout Judah, requiring that everyone, without exception, help to carry away the building stones and timbers that Baasha had been using to fortify Ramah. Asa used these materials to fortify the town of Geba in Benjamin and the town of Mizpah.

23The rest of the events in Asa’s reign—the extent of his power, everything he did, and the names of the cities he built—are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. In his old age his feet became diseased. 24When Asa died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David.

Then Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became the next king.

Nadab Rules in Israel

25Nadab son of Jeroboam began to rule over Israel in the second year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Israel two years. 26But he did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of his father, continuing the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.

27Then Baasha son of Ahijah, from the tribe of Issachar, plotted against Nadab and assassinated him while he and the Israelite army were laying siege to the Philistine town of Gibbethon. 28Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of King Asa’s reign in Judah, and he became the next king of Israel.

29He immediately slaughtered all the descendants of King Jeroboam, so that not one of the royal family was left, just as the Lord had promised concerning Jeroboam by the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh. 30This was done because Jeroboam had provoked the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by the sins he had committed and the sins he had led Israel to commit.

31The rest of the events in Nadab’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

Baasha Rules in Israel

32There was constant war between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel. 33Baasha son of Ahijah began to rule over all Israel in the third year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. Baasha reigned in Tirzah twenty-four years. 34But he did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of Jeroboam, continuing the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.

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