1 Kings 15 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Abijam Rules in Judah

(2Ch 13:1—14:1 )

1Ki 15:1Abijam[fn] began to rule over Judah in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam’s reign in Israel.

1Ki 15:2He reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom.[fn]

1Ki 15:3He committed the same sins as his father before him, and he was not faithful to the LORD his God, as his ancestor David had been.

1Ki 15:4

1Ki 15:4But for David’s sake, the LORD his God allowed his descendants to continue ruling, shining like a lamp, and he gave Abijam a son to rule after him in Jerusalem.

1Ki 15:5

1Ki 15:5For David had done what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight and had obeyed the LORD’s commands throughout his life, except in the affair concerning Uriah the Hittite.

1Ki 15:6

1Ki 15:6There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam[fn] throughout Abijam’s reign.

1Ki 15:7

1Ki 15:7The rest of the events in Abijam’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. There was constant war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

1Ki 15:8

1Ki 15:8When Abijam died, he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Asa became the next king.

Asa Rules in Judah

(2Ch 14:1—16:14 )

1Ki 15:9

1Ki 15:9Asa began to rule over Judah in the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign in Israel.

1Ki 15:10

1Ki 15:10He reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother[fn] was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom.

1Ki 15:11

1Ki 15:11Asa did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight, as his ancestor David had done.

1Ki 15:12

1Ki 15:12He banished the male and female shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols[fn] his ancestors had made.

1Ki 15:13

1Ki 15:13He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down her obscene pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

1Ki 15:14

1Ki 15:14Although the pagan shrines were not removed, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful to the LORD throughout his life.

1Ki 15:15

1Ki 15:15He brought into the Temple of the LORD the silver and gold and the various items that he and his father had dedicated.

1Ki 15:16

1Ki 15:16There was constant war between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel.

1Ki 15:17

1Ki 15:17King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Asa’s territory in Judah.

1Ki 15:18

1Ki 15:18Asa responded by removing all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Temple of the LORD and the royal palace. He sent it with some of his officials to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, along with this message:

1Ki 15:19

1Ki 15:19“Let there be a treaty[fn] between you and me like the one between your father and my father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone.”

1Ki 15:20

1Ki 15:20Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa’s request and sent the commanders of his army to attack the towns of Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Kinnereth, and all the land of Naphtali.

1Ki 15:21

1Ki 15:21As soon as Baasha of Israel heard what was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah.

1Ki 15:22

1Ki 15:22Then King Asa sent an order throughout Judah, requiring that everyone, without exception, help to carry away the building stones and timbers that Baasha had been using to fortify Ramah. Asa used these materials to fortify the town of Geba in Benjamin and the town of Mizpah.

1Ki 15:23

1Ki 15:23The rest of the events in Asa’s reign—the extent of his power, everything he did, and the names of the cities he built—are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. In his old age his feet became diseased.

1Ki 15:24

1Ki 15:24When Asa died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David.
Then Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became the next king.

Nadab Rules in Israel

1Ki 15:25

1Ki 15:25Nadab son of Jeroboam began to rule over Israel in the second year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Israel two years.

1Ki 15:26

1Ki 15:26But he did what was evil in the LORD’s sight and followed the example of his father, continuing the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.

1Ki 15:27

1Ki 15:27Then Baasha son of Ahijah, from the tribe of Issachar, plotted against Nadab and assassinated him while he and the Israelite army were laying siege to the Philistine town of Gibbethon.

1Ki 15:28

1Ki 15:28Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of King Asa’s reign in Judah, and he became the next king of Israel.

1Ki 15:29

1Ki 15:29He immediately slaughtered all the descendants of King Jeroboam, so that not one of the royal family was left, just as the LORD had promised concerning Jeroboam by the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh.

1Ki 15:30

1Ki 15:30This was done because Jeroboam had provoked the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, by the sins he had committed and the sins he had led Israel to commit.

1Ki 15:31

1Ki 15:31The rest of the events in Nadab’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

Baasha Rules in Israel

1Ki 15:32

1Ki 15:32There was constant war between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel.

1Ki 15:33

1Ki 15:33Baasha son of Ahijah began to rule over all Israel in the third year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. Baasha reigned in Tirzah twenty-four years.

1Ki 15:34

1Ki 15:34But he did what was evil in the LORD’s sight and followed the example of Jeroboam, continuing the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(15:1)

Also known as Abijah.

(15:2)

Hebrew Abishalom (also in 15:10), a variant spelling of Absalom; compare 2 Chr 11:20.

(15:6)

As in a few Hebrew and Greek manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts read between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

(15:10)

Or The queen mother; Hebrew reads His mother (also in 15:13); compare 15:2.

(15:12)

The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.

(15:19)

As in Greek version; Hebrew reads There is a treaty.

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