CHAPTER 15

¹And in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam was king over Judah. ²Three years he was king in Jerusalem, and his mother’s name was Maachah daughter of Absalom. ³And he went in all the offenses of his father that he had done before him, and his heart was not whole with the LORD his God like the heart of David his forefather. ⁴For the LORD his God for David’s sake had given him a lamp in Jerusalem to raise up his son after him and to make Jerusalem stand, ⁵as David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not swerved from all that He charged him all the days of his life, except for the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ⁶And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. ⁷And the rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. ⁸And Abijam lay with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David, and Asa his son was king in his stead.

⁹And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa king of Judah became king. ¹⁰And forty-one years he was king in Jerusalem, and his mother’s name was Maachah daughter of Absalom. ¹¹And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD like David his forefather. ¹²And he rid the land of male cult-harlots and removed the vile idols that his fathers had made. ¹³And Maachah his mother, too, he removed from being queen mother, as she had made a horror for Asherah. And Asa cut down her horror, and burned it in the Kidron Wadi. ¹⁴But the high places did not disappear, only the heart of Asa was whole with the LORD all his days. ¹⁵And he brought his father’s consecrated things and his own consecrated things into the house of the LORD—silver and gold and vessels. ¹⁶And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. ¹⁷And Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah so as not to allow anyone to come or go who belonged to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸And Asa took all the silver and the gold remaining in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the king’s treasuries and put them in the hand of his servants, and King Asa sent them to King Ben-Hadad son of Tabrimmon son of Hezion of Aram, who dwelled in Damascus, saying, ¹⁹“There is a pact between you and me, between your father and my father. Look, I have sent you a payment of silver and gold. Go, revoke your pact with Baasha king of Israel, that he withdraw from me.” ²⁰And Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa and sent the commanders of the troops that he had against the towns of Israel, and he struck down Ijon and Dan and all Abel-Beth-Maacah and all Kinroth, with all the land of Naphtali. ²¹And it happened, when Baasha heard, that he left off building Ramah, and he stayed in Tirzah. ²²And King Asa had mustered all Judah, none was exempt. And they bore off the stones of Ramah and its timbers with which Baasha had built, and King Asa built with them Geba-Benjamin and Mizpah. ²³And the rest of all the acts of Asa and all his valor and all that he did and the towns that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of the Kings of Judah? Only in his old age he was ailing in his feet. ²⁴And Asa lay with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his forefather. And Jehoshaphat his son was king in his stead.

²⁵And Nadab son of Jeroboam had become king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he was king over Israel two years. ²⁶And he did evil in the eyes of the LORD and went in the way of his father and his offense that he had led Israel to offend. ²⁷And Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar plotted against him, and Baasha struck him down in Gibethon, which was the Philistines’, when Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibethon. ²⁸And Baasha put him to death in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and he became king in his stead. ²⁹And it happened when he became king that he struck down the whole house of Jeroboam, he did not leave Jeroboam any breathing creature, until he destroyed him, according to the words of the LORD which He had spoken through His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ³⁰for the offenses of Jeroboam that he committed and that he led Israel to commit, through the vexation through which he vexed the LORD God of Israel. ³¹And the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of the Kings of Israel? ³²And there was constant war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel. ³³In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah, for twenty-four years. ³⁴And he did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and he went in the way of Jeroboam and in his offense that he had led Israel to commit.