1 And in the eighteenth yeere of King Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat, reigned Abiiam ouer Iudah. 2 Three yeere reigned hee in Ierusalem, and his mothers name was Maachah the daughter of Abishalom. 3 And hee walked in all the sinnes of his father, which hee had done before him: and his heart was not perfit with the Lord his God as the heart of Dauid his father. 4 But for Dauids sake did the Lord his God giue him a light in Ierusalem, and set vp his sonne after him, and established Ierusalem, 5 Because Dauid did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and turned from nothing that he commanded him, all the dayes of his life, saue onely in the matter of Vriah the Hittite. 6 And there was warre betweene Rehoboam and Ieroboam as long as he liued. 7 The rest also of the actes of Abiiam, and all that he did, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah? there was also warre betweene Abiiam, and Ieroboam. 8 And Abiiam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the citie of Dauid: and Asa his sonne reigned in his steade. 9 And in the twentie yeere of Ieroboam King of Israel reigned Asa ouer Iudah. 10 He reigned in Ierusalem one and fourtie yeere, and his mothers name was Maachah the daughter of Abishalom. 11 And Asa did right in the eyes of the Lord, as did Dauid his father. 12 And he tooke away the Sodomites out of the lande, and put away all the idoles that his fathers had made. 13 And he put downe Maachah his mother also from her estate, because shee had made an idole in a groue: and Asa destroyed her idoles, and burnt them by the brooke Kidron. 14 But they put not downe the hie places. Neuertheles Asas heart was vpright with the Lord all his dayes. 15 Also he brought in the holy vessels of his father, and the things that he had dedicated vnto ye house of the Lord, siluer, and golde, and vessels. 16 And there was warre betweene Asa and Baasha King of Israel all their dayes. 17 Then Baasha king of Israel went vp against Iudah, and buylt Ramah, so that he woulde let none go out or in to Asa King of Iudah. 18 Then Asa tooke all the siluer and the gold that was left in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the kings house, and deliuered them into the handes of his seruantes, and King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the sonne of Tabrimon, the sonne of Hezion king of Aram that dwelt at Damascus, saying, 19 There is a couenant betweene me and thee, and betweene my father and thy father: behold, I haue sent vnto thee a present of siluer and golde: come, breake thy couenant with Baasha King of Israel, that he may depart from me. 20 So Ben-hadad hearkened vnto King Asa, and sent the captaines of the hosts, which he had, against the cities of Israel, and smote lion, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. 21 And when Baasha heard thereof, hee left buylding of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah. 22 Then king Asa assembled al Iudah, none excepted. and they tooke the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had buylt, and King Asa built with them Geba of Beniamin and Mizpah. 23 And the rest of all the actes of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he buylt, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah? but in his olde age he was diseased in his feete. 24 And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the citie of Dauid his father. And Iehoshaphat his sonne reigned in his steade. 25 And Nadab the sonne of Ieroboam began to reigne ouer Israel the second yere of Asa King of Iudah, and reigned ouer Israel two yeere. 26 And he did euill in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of his father, and in his sinne wherewith he made Israel to sinne. 27 And Baasha the sonne of Ahijah of ye house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha slue him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistims: for Nadab and all Israel layde siege to Gibbethon. 28 Euen in the third yeere of Asa King of Iudah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his steade. 29 And when he was King, he smote all the house of Ieroboam, he left none aliue to Ieroboam, vntill hee had destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord which he spake by his seruant Ahijah the Shilonite, 30 Because of the sinnes of Ieroboam which he committed, and wherewith he made Israel to sinne, by his prouocation, wherewith he prouoked the Lord God of Israel. 31 And the residue of the actes of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 32 And there was warre betweene Asa and Baasha King of Israel, all their dayes. 33 In the thirde yeere of Asa King of Iudah, began Baasha the sonne of Ahijah to reigne ouer all Israel in Tirzah, and reigned foure and twentie yeeres. 34 And he did euill in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Ieroboam, and in his sinne, wherewith he made Israel to sinne.
King Abijah of Judah
(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Abijah became king of Judah, 2 and he ruled three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. 3 He committed the same sins as his father and was not completely loyal to the Lord his God, as his great-grandfather David had been. 4 But for David's sake the Lord his God gave Abijah a son to rule after him in Jerusalem and to keep Jerusalem secure. 5 The Lord did this because David had done what pleased him and had never disobeyed any of his commands, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. 6 The war which had begun between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continued throughout Abijah's lifetime. 7 And everything else that Abijah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.
8 Abijah died and was buried in David's City, and his son Asa succeeded him as king.
King Asa of Judah
(2 Chronicles 14.1-52 15.16—16.6,11-14)9 In the twentieth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, 10 and he ruled forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. 11 Asa did what pleased the Lord, as his ancestor David had done. 12 He expelled from the country all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan places of worship, and he removed all the idols his predecessors had made. 13 He removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene idol of the fertility goddess Asherah. Asa cut down the idol and burned it in Kidron Valley. 14 Even though Asa did not destroy all the pagan places of worship, he remained faithful to the Lord all his life. 15 He placed in the Temple all the objects his father had dedicated to God, as well as the gold and silver objects that he himself dedicated.
16 King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel were constantly at war with each other as long as they were in power. 17 Baasha invaded Judah and started to fortify Ramah in order to cut off all traffic in and out of Judah. 18 So King Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the Temple and the palace, and sent it by some of his officials to Damascus, to King Benhadad of Syria, the son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion, with this message: 19 “Let us be allies, as our fathers were. This silver and gold is a present for you. Now break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel, so that he will have to pull his troops out of my territory.”
20 King Benhadad agreed to Asa's proposal and sent his commanding officers and their armies to attack the cities of Israel. They captured Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, the area near Lake Galilee, and the whole territory of Naphtali. 21 When King Baasha heard what had happened, he stopped fortifying Ramah and went to Tirzah.
22 Then King Asa sent out an order throughout all of Judah requiring everyone, without exception, to help carry away from Ramah the stones and timber that Baasha had been using to fortify it. With this material Asa fortified Mizpah and Geba, a city in the territory of Benjamin.
23 Everything else that King Asa did, his brave deeds and the towns he fortified, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. But in his old age he was crippled by a foot disease. 24 Asa died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king.
King Nadab of Israel
25 In the second year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, King Jeroboam's son Nadab became king of Israel, and he ruled for two years. 26 Like his father before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin.
27 Baasha son of Ahijah, of the tribe of Issachar, plotted against Nadab and killed him as Nadab and his army were besieging the city of Gibbethon in Philistia. 28 This happened during the third year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. And so Baasha succeeded Nadab as king of Israel. 29 At once he began killing all the members of Jeroboam's family. In accordance with what the Lord had said through his servant, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh, all of Jeroboam's family were killed; not one survived. 30 This happened because Jeroboam aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by the sins that he committed and that he caused Israel to commit.
31 Everything else that Nadab did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. 32 King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel were constantly at war with each other as long as they were in power.
King Baasha of Israel
33 In the third year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel, and he ruled in Tirzah for twenty-four years. 34 Like King Jeroboam before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin.