Abijah, king of Judah

15 Abijah became king of Judah after Nebat's son Jeroboam had been king of Israel for 18 years. ² Abijah ruled in Jerusalem as king for three years. His mother's name was Maakah. She was the daughter of Abishalom.^{[a] 3} Abijah did the same bad things that his father had done before him. He did not serve the Lord his God faithfully, as his ancestor King David had done. ⁴ But the Lord his God gave Abijah a son to rule after him in Jerusalem. He also made Jerusalem a strong city. The Lord did that because of his promise to David. ⁵ David had always done things that pleased the Lord. David had obeyed the Lord's commands in his whole life, except what he did to Uriah, the Hittite man.^[b]

⁶ In Abijah's whole life, there was a war between the armies of Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

⁷ The other things that happened while Abijah was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Judah's kings’. It tells about all the things that Abijah did. While Abijah was king, there was war between his army and Jeroboam's army.

⁸ Abijah died and they buried him beside his ancestors in the City of David. Abijah's son Asa became king after him.

Asa, king of Judah

⁹ Asa became king of Judah when Jeroboam had been king of Israel for 20 years. ¹⁰ Asa ruled in Jerusalem as king for 41 years. His grandmother was Maakah. She was the daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹ Asa did things that pleased the Lord, as his ancestor King David had done. ¹² He removed the male prostitutes from the altars on the hills. He sent them out of Judah. He removed all the useless idols that his ancestors had made. ¹³ He also told his grandmother Maakah that she could no longer have authority as the Queen Mother.^[c] This was because she had made a disgusting Asherah pole to worship. Asa cut down the Asherah pole and he burned it in the Kidron Valley.^{[d] 14} Asa did not remove the altars on all the hills, but he served the Lord faithfully for his whole life. ¹⁵ He brought into the Lord's temple the things that he and his father had made as gifts to the Lord. They used silver and gold to make some of these things.

¹⁶ There was always a war between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel while they ruled. ¹⁷ One time, Baasha attacked Judah. He put a group of his soldiers in Ramah and he made it a strong town. As a result, nobody could travel into Judah or out of Judah, where King Asa ruled.^{[e] 18} So Asa took all the silver and gold that they had stored in his palace and in the Lord's temple. He gave it to his servants. He told them to take it to Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus. Ben-Hadad's father was Tabrimmon and his grandfather was Hezion. ¹⁹ Asa sent this message to Ben-Hadad: ‘We should make an agreement to be friends, as our fathers did. I am sending you this gift of silver and gold. Please stop being friends with Baasha, king of Israel. If you no longer help him, he will have to take his soldiers out of my country.’ ²⁰ Ben-Hadad agreed to do what King Asa asked him to do. He sent his army with its leaders to attack towns in Israel. They won the battles at Ijon, Dan, Abel-Beth-Maakah, as well as the region of Kinnereth and the land of Naphtali. ²¹ When King Baasha heard this news, he stopped the work in Ramah. He left there and he went to live in Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa commanded all the men in Judah to do some hard work. Everyone had to do this: They must carry away from Ramah all the big stones and the wood that Baasha had been using there. Then King Asa used those things to make Geba (in Benjamin's land) and Mizpah strong towns again.

²³ The other things that happened while Asa was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Judah's kings’. It tells about Asa's power and all the great things that he did. It also tells about the cities that he built. When Asa became an old man he had a disease in his feet.

²⁴ Asa died and they buried him beside his ancestors in the City of David, his ancestor. Asa's son Jehoshaphat became king after him.

Nadab, king of Israel

²⁵ When Asa had been king of Judah for two years, Jeroboam's son became king of Israel. Nadab ruled Israel as king for two years. ²⁶ He did things that the Lord said were evil. He did the same bad things that his father had done. He also caused the Israelites to do bad things.

²⁷ Baasha decided to kill King Nadab. Baasha was Ahijah's son and he belonged to Issachar's tribe. This happened while Nadab and Israel's army were attacking Gibbethon, a town of the Philistines. ²⁸ Baasha killed King Nadab in the third year that Asa was king of Judah. Baasha became king of Israel instead of Nadab.

²⁹ When Baasha became king, he killed all Jeroboam's descendants. He did not leave anyone in Jeroboam's family alive. He killed them all. The Lord had already said that this would happen. He had given the message to his servant Ahijah, who was from Shiloh.^{[f] 30} This happened because of Jeroboam's sins, and the sins which he caused the Israelites to do. These sins had made the Lord, Israel's God, very angry.

³¹ The other things that happened while Nadab was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Israel's kings’. It tells about all the things that Nadab did. ³² There was always a war between the armies of King Asa and King Nadab.

Baasha, king of Israel

³³ In the third year that Asa was king of Judah, Ahijah's son Baasha became the king of all Israel. He was living in Tirzah. Baasha ruled as king for 24 years.^{[g] 34} Baasha did things that the Lord said were evil. He did the same sins that Jeroboam had done. He also caused the Israelites to do those bad things.

Abijah dies

14 Abijah died and they buried him beside his ancestors in the City of David. Abijah's son Asa became king after him. The country had peace for ten years while Asa was king.

Asa rules Judah as king

² Asa did things that pleased the Lord his God. ³ He removed the altars and other places where people worshipped foreign gods. He broke the stone pillars and he cut down the Asherah poles.^{[a] 4} Asa commanded the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of their ancestors. He told them to obey God's law and his commands. ⁵ He removed the altars on the hills. He also removed the altars in all Judah's cities where people burned incense. There was peace in his kingdom while he ruled.

⁶ While there was peace in the land, Asa made the cities of Judah strong and safe. No enemies fought wars against Judah during that time. The Lord gave Asa rest from any trouble.

⁷ Asa said to Judah's people, ‘We should build these towns and make them stronger. We must put walls around them, with towers and strong gates. Judah still belongs to us because we have obeyed the Lord our God. He has made us safe from our enemies all around us.’

So the people made these towns strong. Everything went well for them.

Zerah attacks Asa

⁸ Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah. They carried big shields and spears. He also had 280,000 men from Benjamin's tribe. Those men carried small shields and they could shoot arrows with their bows. They were all brave soldiers who could fight well.

⁹ A man from Ethiopia called Zerah marched out to attack Judah. He had a very big army of a million soldiers and 300 chariots. When he reached Mareshah, ¹⁰ Asa went out to fight against him. The two armies prepared to fight a battle in Zephathah valley, near Mareshah.

¹¹ Then Asa called out to the Lord his God to help him. He prayed, ‘There is nobody like you Lord. You have power to help a few weak people against many strong people. Help us, Lord our God, because we trust you. We want people to give honour to your name. That is why we have come to fight against this large army. Lord, you are our God. You cannot let these men win against you.’

¹² So the Lord knocked down Zerah's soldiers as Asa and Judah's army attacked them. The Ethiopian soldiers ran away. ¹³ Asa and his soldiers chased after them until they reached Gerar. So many Ethiopian soldiers died there that their army could not fight any more. The Lord and his army completely destroyed them. Judah's soldiers carried away lots of their enemies' things for themselves.

¹⁴ The Lord caused the people in the towns near Gerar to become very afraid. So Judah's soldiers were able to attack those towns. There were many valuable things in all those towns and Judah's men took them away for themselves. ¹⁵ They also attacked the tents of the people who took care of animals. They took away many sheep and camels from there. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Azariah speaks to Asa

15 God's Spirit came to Oded's son Azariah. ² Azariah went to meet King Asa. He said to him, ‘Listen to me Asa and all you people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord will be with you while you are faithful to him. If you ask him for help, he will answer you. But if you turn away from him, he will turn away from you. ³ For a long time, the Israelites did not serve the true God. They did not have any priests to teach them what was right. They did not know God's law. ⁴ But when they were in trouble, they turned to the Lord, Israel's God. They asked him to help them and he answered them. ⁵ At that time it was not safe to travel very far. There was too much trouble among the people of other countries. ⁶ One nation would attack and destroy another nation. The people of one city destroyed other cities. God caused all this trouble to happen to those people. ⁷ But you must be strong. Continue to be brave. God will make your work successful.’

⁸ Asa felt strong again when he heard God's message from Azariah, son of the prophet Oded. He removed the disgusting idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin. He also removed them from the towns that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim. He repaired the Lord's altar that was in the yard at the front of the Lord's temple.

Asa brings all the people together in Jerusalem

⁹ Then King Asa brought all the people together who belonged to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. He also brought people from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had come to live in Judah. Many people from the other tribes of Israel had come to Judah to serve King Asa. They had seen that the Lord his God was with him to help him.

¹⁰ All these people met together in Jerusalem in the 15th year after Asa had become king. They met in the third month of the year. ¹¹ At that time they offered many animals to the Lord as sacrifices. They were animals that they had taken from their enemies. There were 700 bulls and 7,000 sheep. ¹² They made a serious promise that they would faithfully serve the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ¹³ If anyone refused to worship the Lord, Israel's God, they would punish that person with death. They agreed to do that, whoever the person was, young or old, male or female. ¹⁴ As they made this promise to the Lord, they shouted loudly to show that they agreed. They also made a loud noise with trumpets and sheep's horns. ¹⁵ All Judah's people were happy to make this promise, because they truly wanted to serve the Lord. They wanted him to help them and he answered them.

After that, the Lord made them safe from their enemies all around them.

Asa punishes Maakah because she worshipped idols

¹⁶ King Asa also told his grandmother Maakah that she could no longer have authority as the Queen Mother.^[b] This was because she had made a disgusting Asherah pole to worship. Asa cut down the Asherah pole and he burned it in the Kidron Valley.^{[c] 17} Asa did not remove the altars on all the hills in Israel, but he served the Lord faithfully for his whole life. ¹⁸ He brought into God's temple the things that he and his father had made as gifts for God. They used silver and gold to make some of these things.

¹⁹ There were no more wars in Judah until Asa had been king for 35 years.

King Baasha of Israel attacks Judah

16 After Asa had been king of Judah for 36 years, King Baasha of Israel attacked Judah.^[d] He put a group of his soldiers in Ramah and he made it a strong town. As a result, nobody could travel into Judah or out of Judah, where King Asa ruled.^[e]

² Then Asa took all the silver and gold that they had stored in the Lord's temple and in the king's palace. He sent it to Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus. ³ He also sent this message to Ben-Hadad: ‘We should make an agreement to be friends, as our fathers did. I am sending you this silver and gold. Please stop being friends with Baasha, king of Israel. If you no longer help him, he will have to take his soldiers out of my country.’

⁴ Ben-Hadad agreed to do what King Asa asked him to do. He sent his army with its leaders to attack towns in Israel. They won the battles at Ijon, Dan, Abel-Maim and all the cities of Naphtali's tribe where they stored things. ⁵ When King Baasha heard this news, he stopped the work in Ramah and he went away. ⁶ Then King Asa told all the men in Judah to do some hard work. They had to carry away from Ramah all the big stones and the wood that Baasha had been using there. Then King Asa used those things to make Geba and Mizpah strong towns again.

Hanani warns King Asa

⁷ At that time, the prophet Hanani went to visit Asa, king of Judah. He said to him, ‘You asked the king of Syria to help you. You should have trusted the Lord your God to help you instead. Because of that, the army of Syria's king has escaped from your power. ⁸ The armies of Ethiopia and Libya were very large. They had lots of chariots and soldiers who rode on horses. But you trusted the Lord when they attacked you, and he put them under your power. ⁹ The Lord carefully watches over the whole earth. If people serve him faithfully, he makes them strong. But you have done a foolish thing. As a result, you will now always be fighting wars.’

¹⁰ Asa was angry with the prophet, so he put him in prison. At that time Asa also started to do cruel things to some people.

Asa dies

¹¹ All the things that happened while Asa was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of the kings of Judah and Israel’. ¹² When Asa had been king for 39 years, he had a disease in his feet. He became very ill, but he did not ask the Lord to help him. Instead, he asked doctors to make him better.

¹³ Asa died when he had been king for 41 years. ¹⁴ His people buried him in the grave that he had prepared for himself in the City of David. They put him on a special bed that had spices and different kinds of perfume on it. They burned a large fire to give him honour.