1 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah.
2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
3 He followed all the sins his father had committed before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as the heart of his father David had been.
4 Still, for David's sake, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, raising up his son to succeed him and keeping Jerusalem secure.
5 For David had done what was right in the sight of the LORD and had not turned away from anything he commanded him all his life, except in the affair of Uriah the Hittite.
6 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam as long as he lived.
7 As for the rest of the deeds of Abijam and all 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.
8 And Abijam lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place.
9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah,
10 and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
11 Asa did what was right in the sight of the LORD, like his father David.
12 He drove the male cult prostitutes out of the land and got rid of all the idols his fathers had made.
13 He even deposed his mother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for Asherah. Asa cut her image down and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
14 The high places, though, were not removed. Even so, Asa's heart was wholly true to the LORD all his days.
15 Into the LORD's house he brought the holy gifts of his father and his own holy gifts: silver, gold and vessels.
16 Asa and Baasha king of Israel were at war throughout their reigns.
17 Baasha king of Israel marched up against Judah and fortified Ramah, to keep anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.
18 Asa then took all the silver and gold remaining in the treasuries of the LORD's house and the treasuries of the king's house and handed it to his servants. King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon son of Hezion, king of Syria, who ruled in Damascus, with this message:
19 "Let there be a covenant between me and you, as between my father and your father. I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Go and break off your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will pull back from me."
20 Ben-hadad agreed with King Asa and sent his army commanders against the towns of Israel. He struck Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah and all Chinneroth, together with the whole land of Naphtali.
21 When Baasha heard about it, he left off fortifying Ramah and stayed in Tirzah.
22 King Asa summoned all Judah, with no one exempted, and they hauled off the stones and timber of Ramah that Baasha had been building with. With them King Asa fortified Geba in Benjamin, and Mizpah.
23 As for the rest of all the deeds of Asa, all his might, all he did and the towns he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in his old age he suffered from a disease of the feet.
24 Asa lay down with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of his father David. His son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.
25 Nadab son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.
26 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, walking in the way of his father and in the sin by which he had caused Israel to sin.
27 Baasha son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, plotted against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, a Philistine town, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.
28 Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and took the throne in his place.
29 The moment he became king, he struck down all Jeroboam's house. He did not leave Jeroboam a single living soul, but wiped them out, as the LORD had said through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite.
30 This was because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and caused Israel to commit, and because of how he had provoked the LORD, the God of Israel.
31 As for the rest of the deeds of Nadab and all he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
32 Asa and Baasha king of Israel were at war throughout their reigns.
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years.
34 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, walking in Jeroboam's way and in the sin by which he had caused Israel to sin.