1 ARST After Jeroboam had been the king of Israel for almost eighteen years, Abijah became the king of Judah. BSB BSB: In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam became king of Judah,
2 ARST He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’ s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. BSB BSB: and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
3 ARST Abijah committed the same kind of sins that his father had committed. He was not fully dedicated to Yahweh his God, as his ancestor David had been. BSB BSB: And Abijam walked in all the sins that his father before him had committed, and his heart was not as fully devoted to the LORD his God as the heart of David his forefather had been.
4 ARST But, because of what Yahweh his God had promised to David, Yahweh gave Abijah a son to rule in Jerusalem after him, and in order to protect Jerusalem from their enemies. BSB BSB: Nevertheless, for the sake of David, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and to make Jerusalem strong.
5 ARST Yahweh did that because David had always done what pleased Yahweh and because David had always obeyed Yahweh. The only time when he disobeyed Yahweh was when he caused Uriah to be killed due to his sin with Bathsheba. BSB BSB: For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything the LORD commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
6 ARST There were wars between the armies of Rehoboam and Jeroboam all during the time that Abijah ruled. BSB BSB: And there was war between the houses of Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of Abijam’s life.
7 ARST Everything else that Abijah did is written in the book of the events of the Kings of Judah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. BSB BSB: As for the rest of the acts of Abijam, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
8 ARST Abijah died and was buried in the part of Jerusalem called the city of David, and his son Asa became king. BSB BSB: And Abijam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, and his son Asa reigned in his place.
9 ARST After Jeroboam had been the king of Israel for almost twenty years, Asa started to rule Judah. BSB BSB: In the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Asa became king of Judah,
10 ARST He ruled in Jerusalem for forty- one years. His grandmother was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. BSB BSB: and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
11 ARST Asa did what was pleasing to Yahweh, as his ancestor David had done. BSB BSB: And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done.
12 ARST He got rid of the male prostitutes who were at the places where the people worshiped idols, and he also got rid of all the idols that his ancestors had made. BSB BSB: He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
13 ARST He also removed his grandmother Maacah so that she no longer had influence in the government because of being the mother of a previous king. He did that because she had made a disgusting wooden statue of the goddess Asherah. Asa told his workers to cut down the statue and burned it in the Kidron Valley. BSB BSB: He also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
14 ARST He was not able to destroy all the places where the people worshiped Yahweh, but he continued to be dedicated to Yahweh all during the time that he lived. BSB BSB: The high places were not removed, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted to the LORD all his days.
15 ARST He told his workers to place in the temple all the items that his father had dedicated to God, and all the gold and silver things that he had dedicated to God. BSB BSB: And he brought into the house of the LORD the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.
16 ARST There were wars between the armies of Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel, all during the time that they ruled. BSB BSB: Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their days.
17 ARST Baasha’ s army invaded Judah. They captured the city of Ramah north of Jerusalem. Then they started to build a wall around it in order to prevent people from entering or leaving the area in Judah that King Asa ruled. BSB BSB: Baasha king of Israel went to war against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
18 ARST So Asa told his workers to take all the silver and gold that was still in the storerooms in the temple and in the palace and gave it to some of his officials. He told them to take it to Damascus and give it to King Ben Hadad who ruled Aram. Ben Hadad was son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion. He told the officials to say this to Ben Hadad: BSB BSB: So Asa withdrew all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace. He entrusted it to his servants and sent them with this message to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus:
19 ARST “I want there to be a peace treaty between me and you, like there was between my father and your father. For that purpose, I am giving you this silver and gold. So now please cancel the treaty that you made with Baasha, the king of Israel, in order that he will take his soldiers away from attacking mine, because he will be afraid of your army.” BSB BSB: “Let there be a treaty between me and you as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Now go and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
20 ARST So the officials went and gave the message to Ben Hadad, and he did what Asa suggested. He sent his army commanders and their soldiers to attack some of the towns in Israel. They captured Ijon, Dan, Abel of Beth Maacah, the area near the Sea of Galilee, and all the land of the tribe of Naphtali. BSB BSB: And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and the whole land of Naphtali, including the region of Chinnereth.
21 ARST When Baasha heard about that, he told his soldiers to stop working at Ramah. He and his soldiers returned to Tirzah and stayed there. BSB BSB: When Baasha learned of this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah.
22 ARST Then King Asa sent a message to all the people in the towns in Judah, stating that they all were required to go to Ramah and carry away the stones and timber that Baasha’ s soldiers had been using to build a wall around the city. With those stones and timber they fortified the city of Mizpah north of Jerusalem, and Geba, a town in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. BSB BSB: Then King Asa summoned all the men of Judah, with no exceptions, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had used for building. And with these materials King Asa built up Geba of Benjamin, as well as Mizpah.
23 ARST Everything else that Asa did, the armies that his soldiers defeated, and the names of the cities that he caused to be fortified, are all written in the book of the events of the Kings of Judah. But when Asa became old, he got a disease in his feet. BSB BSB: Now the rest of the acts of Asa, along with all his might, all his accomplishments, and the cities he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? In his old age, however, he became diseased in his feet.
24 ARST He died and was buried where his ancestors were buried in the part of Jerusalem called the city of David. Then his son Jehoshaphat became king. BSB BSB: And Asa rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.
25 ARST After Asa had been the king of Judah for almost two years, King Jeroboam’ s son Nadab started to rule Israel. He ruled for two years. BSB BSB: In the second year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel, and he reigned two years.
26 ARST He did many things that Yahweh said were evil. His behavior was sinful like his father’ s behavior had been, and what he did induced the people of Israel to sin. BSB BSB: And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit.
27 ARST A man named Baasha, from the tribe of Issachar, planned to harm him. He killed Nadab when Nadab and his army had surrounded the city of Gibbethon in the region of Philistia. BSB BSB: Then Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against Nadab, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon of the Philistines while Nadab and all Israel were besieging the city.
28 ARST That was when Asa had been the king ruling Judah for almost three years. Then Baasha became the king of Israel. BSB BSB: In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha killed Nadab and reigned in his place.
29 ARST As soon as he became king, he commanded his soldiers to kill all of Jeroboam’ s family. Doing what Yahweh had told the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh would happen, they killed all of Jeroboam’ s family. None of them were left. BSB BSB: As soon as Baasha became king, he struck down the entire household of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone who breathed, but destroyed them all according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servant Ahijah the Shilonite,
30 ARST That happened because Yahweh had become very angry with Jeroboam because of all the sins that Jeroboam had committed, and because of the sins that he had persuaded the people of Israel to commit. BSB BSB: because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he had provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger.
31 ARST Everything else that Nadab did is written in Book of the Events of the Kings of Israel. BSB BSB: As for the rest of the acts of Nadab, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
32 ARST There were wars between the armies of King Asa and King Baasha all the time that they ruled. BSB BSB: And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their days.
33 ARST After Asa had been the king of Judah for almost three years, Baasha son of Ahijah, started to rule Israel at the city of Tirzah. He ruled for twenty- four years. BSB BSB: In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah twenty-four years.
34 ARST Baasha did many things that Yahweh said were evil, and he lived a sinful life just like Jeroboam lived. Baasha’ s sinful life set an example for the people of Israel that encouraged them to commit sins that were like his sins. BSB BSB: And Baasha did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit.
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