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But for David's sake the Lord his God gave Abijah a son to rule after him in Jerusalem and to keep Jerusalem secure.
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The Lord did this because David had done what pleased him and had never disobeyed any of his commands, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.
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The war which had begun between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continued throughout Abijah's lifetime.
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And everything else that Abijah did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]
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Abijah died and was buried in David's City, and his son Asa succeeded him as king.
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In the twentieth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Asa became king of Judah,
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and he ruled forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom.
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Asa did what pleased the Lord, as his ancestor David had done.
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He expelled from the country all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan places of worship, and he removed all the idols his predecessors had made.
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He removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene idol of the fertility goddess Asherah. Asa cut down the idol and burned it in Kidron Valley.
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Even though Asa did not destroy all the pagan places of worship, he remained faithful to the Lord all his life.