1
Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah.
2
For three years he was king in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom.
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
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 eyes of the Lord, and never in all his life went against his orders, but only in the question of Uriah the Hittite.
7
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
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 that Jeroboam was king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah.
10
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 eyes of the Lord, as David his father did.
12
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
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
The high places, however, were not taken away: but still the heart of Asa was true to the Lord all his life.
15
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
Now there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.
17
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 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 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
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.