1 After Jeroboam had been the king of Israel for almost eighteen years, Abijah started to rule Judah. 2 He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah, the granddaughter of David's son Absalom.

3 Abijah committed the same kind of sins that his father had committed. He was not fully dedicated/committed to Yahweh his God, as his grandfather David had been. 4 But, because of what Yahweh his God had promised to David, Yahweh gave Abijah a son [MET] to rule in Jerusalem after him, and in order to protect Jerusalem from their enemies. 5 Yahweh did that because David had always done what pleased Yahweh and because David had always obeyed Yahweh. The only time when he disobeyed Yahweh was when he caused Uriah to be killed.

6 There were wars between the armies of Rehoboam and Jeroboam all during the time that Abijah ruled. 7 Everything else that Abijah did is written [RHQ] in the book named 'The History of the Kings of Judah.' 8 Abijah died [EUP] and was buried in the part of Jerusalem called 'the City of David,' and his son Asa became king.

9 After Jeroboam had been the king of Israel for almost twenty years, Asa started to rule Judah. 10 He ruled in Jerusalem for 41 years. His grandmother was Maacah, the granddaughter of Absalom.

11 Asa did what was pleasing to Yahweh, as his ancestor David had done. 12 He got rid of the male prostitutes that were at the places where the people worshiped idols, and he also got rid of all the idols that his ancestors had made. 13 He also removed his grandmother Maacah so that she no longer had influence in the government because of being the mother of a previous king. He did that because she had made a disgusting wooden statue of the goddess Asherah. Asa told his workers to cut down the statue and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 He was not able to destroy all the places where the people worshiped Yahweh on the high hills, but he continued to be dedicated/committed to Yahweh all during the time that he lived. 15 He told his workers to place in the temple all the items that his father had dedicated to God, and all the gold and silver things that he had dedicated to God.

16 There were wars between the armies of Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel, all during the time that they ruled. 17 Baasha's army invaded Judah and captured Ramah town north of Jerusalem. Then they built a high wall around it in order to prevent people from going north from Judah or south to Judah.

18 Then Asa took all the silver and gold that was still in the temple and in the palace and gave it to some of his officials. He told them to take it to Damascus and give it to King Benhadad who ruled Syria. Benhadad was the son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion. He told the officials to say this to Benhadad: 19 “I want us to be allies, as my father and your father were. For that purpose, I am giving you this silver and gold. So now please get rid of the agreement that you made with Baasha, the king of Israel, in order that he will be forced to take his troops away from my territory.” 20  So the officials went and gave the message to Benhadad, and he did what Asa wanted him to do. He sent his army commanders and their soldiers to attack some of the cities in Israel. They captured Ijon, Dan, Abel-Beth-Maacah, the area near Galilee Lake, and all the land of the tribe of Naphtali. 21 When Baasha heard about that, he told his soldiers to stop working at Ramah. He and his soldiers returned to Tirzah and stayed there. 22 Then King Asa sent a message to all the people in the towns in Judah, stating that they all were required to go to Ramah and carry away the stones and timber that Baasha's soldiers had been using to fortify the city. With those stones and timber they fortified Mizpah city north of Jerusalem, and Geba, a town in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin.

23 Everything else that Asa did, the armies that his soldiers defeated, and the names of the cities that he caused to be fortified, are [RHQ] all written in the book named 'The History of the Kings of Judah.' But when Asa became old, he got a disease in his feet. 24 He died [EUP] and was buried where his ancestors were buried in the part of Jerusalem called 'the City of David.' Then his son Jehoshaphat became king.

25 After Asa had been the king of Judah for almost two years, King Jeroboam's son Nadab started to rule Israel. He ruled for two years. 26 He did things that Yahweh said were evil. His behavior was sinful like his father's behavior had been, and what he did induced the people of Israel to sin.

27  A man named Baasha, from the tribe of Issachar, planned to harm him. He killed Nadab when Nadab and his army had surrounded Gibbethon city in the Philistia area. 28 That [DOU] was when Asa had been the king ruling Judah for almost three years. Then Baasha became the king of Israel.

29 As soon as he became king, he commanded his soldiers to kill all of Jeroboam's family. Doing what Yahweh had told the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh would happen, they killed all of Jeroboam's family. None of them ◄was left/remained alive►. 30 That happened because Yahweh had become very angry with Jeroboam because of all the sins that Jeroboam had committed, and because of the sins that he had persuaded the people of Israel to commit.

31 Everything else that Nadab did is written [RHQ] in the book named 'The History of the Kings of Israel.' 32 There were wars between the armies of King Asa and King Baasha all the time that they ruled.

33 After Asa had been the king of Judah for almost three years, Baasha, the son of Ahijah, started to rule Israel at Tirzah city. He ruled for 24 years. 34 He did things that Yahweh said were evil, and his behavior was sinful like his father's had been, and he induced the people of Israel to sin.