King Abijah of Judah
(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Abijah became king of Judah, 2 and he ruled three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. 3 He committed the same sins as his father and was not completely loyal to the Lord his God, as his great-grandfather David had been. 4 But for David's sake the Lord his God gave Abijah a son to rule after him in Jerusalem and to keep Jerusalem secure. 5 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. 6 The war which had begun between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continued throughout Abijah's lifetime. 7 And everything else that Abijah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.
8 Abijah died and was buried in David's City, and his son Asa succeeded him as king.
King Asa of Judah
(2 Chronicles 14.1-52 15.16—16.6,11-14)9 In the twentieth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, 10 and he ruled forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. 11 Asa did what pleased the Lord, as his ancestor David had done. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Even though Asa did not destroy all the pagan places of worship, he remained faithful to the Lord all his life. 15 He placed in the Temple all the objects his father had dedicated to God, as well as the gold and silver objects that he himself dedicated.
16 King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel were constantly at war with each other as long as they were in power. 17 Baasha invaded Judah and started to fortify Ramah in order to cut off all traffic in and out of Judah. 18 So King Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the Temple and the palace, and sent it by some of his officials to Damascus, to King Benhadad of Syria, the son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion, with this message: 19 “Let us be allies, as our fathers were. This silver and gold is a present for you. Now break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel, so that he will have to pull his troops out of my territory.”
20 King Benhadad agreed to Asa's proposal and sent his commanding officers and their armies to attack the cities of Israel. They captured Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, the area near Lake Galilee, and the whole territory of Naphtali. 21 When King Baasha heard what had happened, he stopped fortifying Ramah and went to Tirzah.
22 Then King Asa sent out an order throughout all of Judah requiring everyone, without exception, to help carry away from Ramah the stones and timber that Baasha had been using to fortify it. With this material Asa fortified Mizpah and Geba, a city in the territory of Benjamin.
23 Everything else that King Asa did, his brave deeds and the towns he fortified, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. But in his old age he was crippled by a foot disease. 24 Asa died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king.
King Nadab of Israel
25 In the second year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, King Jeroboam's son Nadab became king of Israel, and he ruled for two years. 26 Like his father before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin.
27 Baasha son of Ahijah, of the tribe of Issachar, plotted against Nadab and killed him as Nadab and his army were besieging the city of Gibbethon in Philistia. 28 This happened during the third year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. And so Baasha succeeded Nadab as king of Israel. 29 At once he began killing all the members of Jeroboam's family. In accordance with what the Lord had said through his servant, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh, all of Jeroboam's family were killed; not one survived. 30 This happened because Jeroboam aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by the sins that he committed and that he caused Israel to commit.
31 Everything else that Nadab did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. 32 King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel were constantly at war with each other as long as they were in power.
King Baasha of Israel
33 In the third year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel, and he ruled in Tirzah for twenty-four years. 34 Like King Jeroboam before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin.
King Abijam of Judah
(2 Chronicles 13.1-22)1 Abijam became king of Judah in Jeroboam's eighteenth year as king of Israel, 2 and he ruled from Jerusalem for three years. His mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
3 Abijam did not truly obey the Lord his God as his ancestor David had done. Instead, he was sinful just like his father Rehoboam. 4-5 David had always obeyed the Lord's commands by doing right, except in the case of Uriah. And since Abijam was David's great-grandson, the Lord kept Jerusalem safe and let Abijam have a son who would be the next king.
6-7 The war that had broken out between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continued during the time that Abijam was king.
Everything else Abijam did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 8 Abijam died and was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Asa became king.
King Asa of Judah
(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6,11-13)9 Asa became king of Judah in the twentieth year of Jeroboam's rule in Israel, 10 and he ruled 41 years from Jerusalem. His grandmother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
11 Asa obeyed the Lord, as David had done. 12 He forced the prostitutes at the shrines to leave the country, and he got rid of the idols his ancestors had made. 13 His own grandmother Maacah had made an idol of Asherah, and Asa took it and burned it in Kidron Valley. Then he removed Maacah from her position as queen mother.
14 As long as Asa lived, he was completely faithful to the Lord, even though he did not destroy the local shrines. 15 He placed in the temple all the silver and gold objects that he and his father had dedicated to the Lord.
16 Asa was always at war with King Baasha of Israel. 17 One time, Baasha invaded Judah and captured the town of Ramah. He started making the town stronger, so he could put troops there to stop people from going in and out of Judah.
18 When Asa heard about this, he took the silver and gold from his palace and from the Lord's temple. He gave it to some of his officials and sent them to Damascus with this message for King Benhadad of Syria: 19 “Our fathers signed a peace treaty. Why don't we do the same thing? This silver and gold is a present for you. So, would you please break your treaty with Baasha and force him to leave my country?”
20 Benhadad did what Asa asked and sent the Syrian army into Israel. They captured the towns of Ijon, Dan, and Abel-Bethmaacah, and the territories of Chinneroth and Naphtali. 21 When Baasha heard about it, he left Ramah and went back to Tirzah.
22 Asa ordered everyone in Judah to carry away the stones and wood Baasha had used to strengthen the town of Ramah. Then he used these same stones and wood to fortify the town of Geba in the territory of Benjamin and the town of Mizpah.
23 Everything else Asa did while he was king, including his victories and the towns he rebuilt, is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. When he got older, he had a foot disease. 24 Asa died and was buried in the tomb of his ancestors in Jerusalem. His son Jehoshaphat then became king.
King Nadab of Israel
25 Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Asa's second year as king of Judah, and he ruled two years. 26 Nadab disobeyed the Lord by following the evil example of his father, who had caused the Israelites to sin.
27-28 Baasha son of Ahijah was from the tribe of Issachar, and he made plans to kill Nadab. When Nadab and his army went to attack the town of Gibbethon in Philistia, Baasha killed Nadab there. So in the third year of Asa's rule, Baasha became king of Israel.
29 The Lord's prophet Ahijah had earlier said, “Not one man or boy in Jeroboam's family will be left alive.” And, as soon as Baasha became king, he killed everyone in Jeroboam's family, 30 because Jeroboam had made the Lord God of Israel angry by sinning and causing the Israelites to sin.
31 Everything else Nadab did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Israel.
32 King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel were always at war.
King Baasha of Israel
33 Baasha son of Ahijah became king of Israel in Asa's third year as king of Judah, and he ruled 24 years from Tirzah. 34 Baasha also disobeyed the Lord by acting like Jeroboam, who had caused the Israelites to sin.