1 Kings 15

1 And in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam has reigned over Judah;

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

2 he has reigned three years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Maachah 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 walks in all the sins of his father that he did before him, and his heart has not been perfect with his God YHWH, as the heart of his father David;

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 for David’s sake his God YHWH has given to him a lamp in Jerusalem, to raise 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 in that David did that which [is] right in the eyes of YHWH, and did not turn aside from all that He commanded him all [the] days of his life—except 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 has been 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 And the rest of the matters of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there has been 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 lies with his fathers, and they bury him in the City of David, and his son Asa reigns 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, Asa has reigned over Judah,

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

10 and he has reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Maachah daughter of Abishalom.

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

11 And Asa does that which [is] right in the eyes of YHWH, like his father David,

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

12 and removes the whoremongers out of the land, and turns aside all the idols that his fathers 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 his mother Maachah—he turns her aside from being mistress, in that she made a horrible thing for an Asherah, and Asa cuts down her horrible thing, and burns [it] by the Brook of 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 have not been removed; only, the heart of Asa has been perfect with YHWH [for] 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 brings in the sanctified things of his father, and his own sanctified things, to the house of YHWH: 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 has been war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel [for] 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 goes up against Judah, and builds Ramah, not to permit anyone going out and coming 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 And Asa takes all the silver and the gold that are left in the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the house of the king, and gives them into the hand of his servants, and King Asa sends them to Ben-Hadad, son of Tabrimmon, son of Hezion king of Aram, who is dwelling in 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 “A covenant [is] between me and you, between my father and your father; behold, I have sent a reward of silver and gold to you; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, and he goes up from off 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 And Ben-Hadad listens to King Asa, and sends the heads of the forces that he has against cities of Israel, and strikes Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-Beth-Maachah, and all Chinneroth, besides 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 comes to pass at Baasha’s hearing, that he ceases from building Ramah, and dwells 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 And King Asa has summoned all Judah—there is none exempt—and they lift up the stones of Ramah, and its wood, that Baasha has built, and King Asa builds 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 And the rest of all the matters of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? Only, at 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 lies with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoshaphat reigns 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 son of Jeroboam has reigned over Israel, in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigns 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 does evil in the eyes of YHWH, and goes in the way of his father, and in his sin that 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 son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspires against him, and Baasha strikes him in Gibbethon, which [belonged] to the Philistines—and Nadab and all Israel are laying siege against 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 indeed, Baasha puts him to death in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigns 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 comes to pass, at his reigning, he has struck the whole house of Jeroboam, he has not left any breathing to Jeroboam until his destroying him, according to the word of YHWH, that He spoke by the hand of 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 that he sinned, and that he caused Israel to sin, by his provocation with which he provoked YHWH, 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 And the rest of the matters of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll 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 has been war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel [for] 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, Baasha son of Ahijah has reigned over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty-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 does evil in the eyes of YHWH, and walks in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin that he caused 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.