1 Kings 15

1 Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah.

After Jeroboam had been the king of Israel for almost 18 years, Abijah became the king of Judah.

2 Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name [was] Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, the granddaughter of [David’s son] Absalom.

3 And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.

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 Nevertheless for David’s sake did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:

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 Because David did [that which was] right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any [thing] that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

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 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.

There were wars between [the armies of] Rehoboam and Jeroboam all during the time that Abijah ruled.

7 Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

Everything else that Abijah did is written [RHQ] in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.

8 And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.

Abijah died [EUP] and was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’, and his son Asa became king.

9 And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.

After Jeroboam had been the king of Israel for almost 20 years, Asa started to rule Judah.

10 And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name [was] Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

He ruled in Jerusalem for 41 years. His grandmother was Maacah, the granddaughter of Absalom.

11 And Asa did [that which was] right in the eyes of the LORD, as [did] David his father.

Asa did what was pleasing to Yahweh, as his ancestor David had done.

12 And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

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 And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from [being] queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt [it] by the brook Kidron.

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 But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.

He was not able to destroy all the places where the people worshiped [idols] on the high hills, but he continued to be dedicated/committed to Yahweh his entIre life.

15 And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver, and gold, and vessels.

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 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

There were wars between [the armies of] Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel, all during the time that they ruled.

17 And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

Baasha’s army invaded Judah. They captured Ramah [town north of Jerusalem]. Then they started to build a wall around it in order to prevent people from entering or leaving the area in Judah that was ruled by King Asa.

18 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold [that were] left in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants: and king Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,

So Asa [told] his workers [to] take all the silver and gold that was still in the storerooms in the temple and in the palace. He told them to take it to Damascus and give it to King Ben-Hadad who ruled Syria. Ben-Hadad was the son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion. He told the workers to say this to Ben-Hadad:

19 [There is] a league between me and thee, [and] between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold; come and break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

“I want there to be a peace treaty between you and me, like there was between your father and my father. For that reason, I am giving you this silver and gold. So now please cancel the treaty that you made with Baasha, the king of Israel, in order that he will take his soldiers away from attacking mine, [because he will be afraid of your army].”

20 So Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.

[So the workers went and gave the message to] Ben-Hadad, [and he] did what Asa suggested. He sent his army commanders [and their soldiers] to attack some of the towns in Israel. They captured Ijon, Dan, Abel-Beth-Maacah, the area near Galilee Lake, and all the land of [the tribe of] Naphtali.

21 And it came to pass, when Baasha heard [thereof], that he left off building of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.

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 made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none [was] exempted: and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.

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 build a wall around 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 The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.

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] written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’. But when Asa became old, he got a disease in his feet.

24 And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead.

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 And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.

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 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.

He did things that Yahweh considered to be evil. His behavior was sinful like his father’s behavior had been, and what he did led the people of Israel to sin.

27 And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which [belonged] to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon.

[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 Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead.

That [DOU] was when Asa had been [the king ruling] Judah for almost three years. Then Baasha became the king of Israel.

29 And it came to pass, when he reigned, [that] he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite:

As soon as Baasha 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 Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.

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 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Everything else that Nadab did is written [RHQ] in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.

32 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

There were wars between [the armies of] King Asa and King Baasha all the time that they ruled.

33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.

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 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.

He did things that Yahweh considered to be evil, and his behavior was sinful like his father’s had been, and he led the people of Israel to sin.