New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah.
1
Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah.
2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
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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 that his father did before him; his heart was not true to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father David.
3
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 the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem;
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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 because David did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
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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 The war begun between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continued all the days of his life.
6
...
7 The rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
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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 Abijam slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David. Then his son Asa succeeded him.
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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 In the twentieth year of King Jeroboam of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah;
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In the twentieth year that Jeroboam was king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah.
10 he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
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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 in the sight of the Lord, as his father David had done.
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Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father did.
12 He put away the male temple prostitutes out of the land, and removed all the idols that 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 removed his mother Maacah from being queen mother, because she had made an abominable image for Asherah; Asa cut down her image and burned it at the Wadi 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 taken away. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was true to the Lord all his days.
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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 the Lord the votive gifts of his father and his own votive gifts—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 King Baasha of Israel all their days.
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Now there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.
17 King Baasha of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to King Asa of Judah.
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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 the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house, and gave them into the hands of his servants. King Asa sent them to King Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon son of Hezion of Aram, who resided in Damascus, saying,
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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 "Let there be an alliance between me and you, like that between my father and your father: I am sending you a present of silver and gold; go, break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel, so that he may withdraw from me."
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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 listened to King Asa, and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
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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 When Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and lived in Tirzah.
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And Baasha, hearing of it, put a stop to the building of Ramah, and was living in Tirzah.
22 Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, none was exempt: they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building; with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.
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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 Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his power, all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? But in his old age he was diseased in his feet.
23
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 Then Asa slept with his ancestors, and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his father David; his son Jehoshaphat succeeded him.
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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 Nadab son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of King Asa of Judah; he reigned over Israel 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 in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of his ancestor and in the sin that he caused Israel to commit.
26
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 Baasha son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.
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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 So Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of King Asa of Judah, and succeeded him.
28
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 was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam; he left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite—
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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 because of the sins of Jeroboam that he committed and that he caused Israel to commit, and because of the anger to which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.
30
Because of the sins which Jeroboam did and made Israel do, moving the Lord, the God of Israel, to wrath.
31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?
31
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 King Baasha of Israel all their days.
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And there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.
33 In the third year of King Asa of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah; he reigned 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 evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin that he caused Israel to commit.
34
He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the evil ways of Jeroboam and the sin which he made Israel do.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.