¹Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat , Abijam began to reign over Judah .

²He reigned three years in Jerusalem . His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

³He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him ; and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God , as the heart of David his father.

⁴Nevertheless for David ’s sake , the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem , to set up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem ;

⁵because David did that which was right in the LORD ’s eyes , and didn’t turn away from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life , except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite .

⁶Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life .

⁷The rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did , aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam .

⁸Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in David ’s city ; and Asa his son reigned in his place .

⁹In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel , Asa began to reign over Judah .

¹⁰He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem . His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

¹¹Asa did that which was right in the LORD ’s eyes , as David his father did .

¹²He put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made .

¹³He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen , because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burnt it at the brook Kidron .

¹⁴But the high places were not taken away . Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with the LORD all his days .

¹⁵He brought into the LORD ’s house the things that his father had dedicated , and the things that he himself had dedicated : silver , gold , and utensils .

¹⁶There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days .

¹⁷Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah , and built Ramah , that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah .

¹⁸Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that was left in the treasures of the LORD ’s house , and the treasures of the king ’s house , and delivered it into the hand of his servants . Then King Asa sent them to Ben Hadad, the son of Tabrimmon , the son of Hezion , king of Syria, who lived at Damascus , saying,

¹⁹“Let there be a treaty between me and you , like that between my father and your father. Behold , I have sent to you a present of silver and gold . Go , break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel , that he may depart from me .”

²⁰Ben Hadad listened to King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel , and struck Ijon , and Dan , and Abel Beth Maacah, and all Chinneroth , with all the land of Naphtali .

²¹When Baasha heard of it , he stopped building Ramah , and lived in Tirzah .

²²Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah . No one was exempted . They carried away the stones of Ramah , and its timber , with which Baasha had built ; and King Asa used it to build Geba of Benjamin , and Mizpah .

²³Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might , and all that he did , and the cities which he built , aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet .

²⁴Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in his father David ’s city ; and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place .

²⁵Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah ; and he reigned over Israel two years .

²⁶He did that which was evil in the LORD ’s sight , and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin .

²⁷Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar , conspired against him ; and Baasha struck him at Gibbethon , which belonged to the Philistines ; for Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon .

²⁸Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah , Baasha killed him and reigned in his place .

²⁹As soon as he was king , he struck all the house of Jeroboam . He didn’t leave to Jeroboam any who breathed , until he had destroyed him , according to the saying of the LORD , which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite ;

³⁰for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned , and with which he made Israel to sin , because of his provocation with which he provoked the LORD , the God of Israel , to anger .

³¹Now the rest of the acts of Nadab , and all that he did , aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ?

³²There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days .

³³In the third year of Asa king of Judah , Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel in Tirzah for twenty-four years .

³⁴He did that which was evil in the LORD ’s sight , and walked in the way of Jeroboam , and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin .