The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 It was in the eighteenth year of King Yarov'am the son of N'vat that Aviyam began his reign over Y'hudah.
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Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah.
2 He ruled three years in Yerushalayim; his mother's name was Ma'akhah the daughter of Avishalom.
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For three years he was king in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom.
3 He committed all the sins his father had committed before him; he was not wholehearted with ADONAI his God, as David his forefather had been.
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And he did the same sins which his father had done before him: his heart was not completely true to the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father.
4 Nevertheless, for David's sake ADONAI his God gave him a lamp burning in Yerushalayim by establishing his son after him and making Yerushalayim secure.
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But because of David, the Lord gave him a light in Jerusalem, making his sons king after him, so that Jerusalem might be safe;
5 For David had done what was right from ADONAI's perspective; he had not turned away from anything he had ordered him to do, as long as he lived, except in the matter of Uriyah the Hitti.
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Because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and never in all his life went against his orders, but only in the question of Uriah the Hittite.
6 There was war between Rechav'am and Yarov'am as long as he lived.
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...
7 Other activities of Aviyam and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah. But there was war between Aviyam and Yarov'am.
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Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
8 Aviyam slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son became king in his place.
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Then Abijam went to rest with his fathers, and they put him into the earth in the town of David: and Asa his son became king in his place.
9 It was in the twentieth year of Yarov'am king of Isra'el that Asa began his reign over Y'hudah.
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In the twentieth year that Jeroboam was king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah.
10 He ruled forty-one years in Yerushalayim; his [grand]mother's name was Ma'akhah the daughter of Avishalom.
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And he was king for forty-one years in Jerusalem; his mother's name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom.
11 Asa did what was right from the perspective of ADONAI, as David his ancestor had done.
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Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father did.
12 He rid the land of cult-prosti-tutes and removed all the idols his ancestors had made.
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Those used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods he sent out of the country, and he took away all the images which his fathers had made.
13 He also deposed Ma'akhah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a disgusting image as an asherah. Asa cut down this image of hers and burned it in Vadi Kidron.
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And he would not let Maacah his mother be queen, because she had made a disgusting image for Asherah; and Asa had the image cut down and burned by the stream Kidron.
14 But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa was wholehearted with ADONAI throughout his life.
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The high places, however, were not taken away: but still the heart of Asa was true to the Lord all his life.
15 He brought into the house of ADONAI all the articles his father had consecrated, also the things he himself had consecrated - silver, gold and utensils.
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He took into the house of the Lord all the things which his father had made holy, and those which he himself had made holy, silver and gold and vessels.
16 There was war between Asa and Ba'sha king of Isra'el as long as they both lived.
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Now there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.
17 Ba'sha attacked Y'hudah, and he fortified Ramah to prevent anyone's leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Y'hudah.
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And Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah, building Ramah, so that no one was able to go out or in to Asa, king of Judah.
18 Then Asa took all the silver and gold left among the treasures of the house of ADONAI and among the treasures of the royal palace; and, entrusting them to his servants, King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tavrimmon, the son of Hezyon, king of Aram, who lived in Dammesek, with this message:
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Then Asa took all the silver and gold which was still stored in the Lord's house, and in the king's house, and sent them, in the care of his servants, to Ben-hadad, son of Tabrimmon, son of Rezon, king of Aram, at Damascus, saying,
19 "There is a covenant between me and you, which existed already between my father and your father. Here, I am sending you a present of silver and gold; go, and break your covenant with Ba'sha king of Isra'el, so that he will leave me alone."
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Let there be an agreement between me and you as there was between my father and your father: see, I have sent you an offering of silver and gold; go and put an end to your agreement with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he may give up attacking me.
20 Ben-Hadad did as King Asa asked - he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Isra'el, attacking 'Iyon, Dan, Avel-Beit-Ma'akhah, all of Kinn'rot and all the land of Naftali.
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So Ben-hadad did as King Asa said, and sent the captains of his armies against the towns of Israel, attacking Ijon and Dan and Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth as far as all the land of Naphtali.
21 As soon as Ba'sha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and stayed in Tirtzah.
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And Baasha, hearing of it, put a stop to the building of Ramah, and was living in Tirzah.
22 King Asa then issued a proclamation requiring every man in Y'hudah, with no exception, to come and carry off the stones and timber Ba'sha had used to fortify Ramah. With them King Asa fortified Geva of Binyamin and Mitzpah.
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Then King Asa got all Judah together, making every man come; and they took away the stones and the wood with which Baasha was building Ramah, and King Asa made use of them for building Geba in the land of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
23 The other activities of Asa, all his power, all his accomplishments and the cities he fortified are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y'hudah. But in his old age he suffered from a disease in his legs.
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Now the rest of the acts of Asa, and his power, and all he did, and the towns of which he was the builder, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah? But when he was old he had a disease of the feet.
24 Asa slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David his ancestor. Then Y'hoshafat his son became king in his place.
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So Asa went to rest with his fathers and was put into the earth in the town of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son became king in his place.
25 It was in the second year of Asa king of Y'hudah that Nadav the son of Yarov'am began his reign over Isra'el, and he ruled Isra'el two years.
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Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, became king over Israel in the second year that Asa was king of Judah; and he was king of Israel for two years.
26 He did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, following the example of his father and the sin through which he had made Isra'el sin.
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He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the evil ways of his father, and the sin which he did and made Israel do.
27 Ba'sha the son of Achiyah, from the descendants of Yissakhar, conspired against him; and Ba'sha attacked him at Gib'ton, which belonged to the P'lishtim; for at the time Nadav and all Isra'el were besieging Gib'ton.
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And Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the family of Issachar, made a secret design against him, attacking him at Gibbethon, a town of the Philistines; for Nadab and the armies of Israel were making war on Gibbethon.
28 It was in the third year of Asa king of Y'hudah that Ba'sha killed Nadav and became king in his place.
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In the third year of the rule of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha put him to death, and became king in his place.
29 As soon as he had become king he killed off the entire house of Yarov'am, destroying every living soul and leaving not one survivor. This was in keeping with what ADONAI had said through his servant Achiyah from Shiloh;
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And straight away when he became king, he sent destruction on all the offspring of Jeroboam; there was not one living person of all the family of Jeroboam whom he did not put to death, so the word of the Lord, which he said by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite, came about;
30 it was the punishment for the sins Yarov'am had committed and through which he had made Isra'el sin, thereby angering ADONAI the God of Isra'el.
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Because of the sins which Jeroboam did and made Israel do, moving the Lord, the God of Israel, to wrath.
31 Other activities of Nadav and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra'el.
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Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?
32 There was war between Asa and Ba'sha king of Isra'el as long as they both lived.
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And there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.
33 It was in the third year of Asa king of Y'hudah that Ba'sha the son of Achiyah began his reign over all Isra'el in Tirtzah, and his rule lasted twenty-four years.
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In the third year of the rule of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha, the son of Ahijah, became king over all Israel in Tirzah, and was king for twenty-four years.
34 He did what was wrong from ADONAI's perspective, following the example of Yarov'am and committing the sin through which he had made Isra'el sin.
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He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the evil ways of Jeroboam and the sin which he made Israel do.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.