מלכים א 15
| ובשנת שמנה עשרה למלך ירבעם בן נבט מלך אבים על יהודה׃ | 1 |
After Jeroboam had been the king of Israel for almost 18 years, Abijah became the king of Judah.
| שלש שנים מלך בירושלם ושם אמו מעכה בת אבישלום׃ | 2 |
He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, the granddaughter of [David’s son] Absalom.
| וילך בכל חטאות אביו אשר עשה לפניו ולא היה לבבו שלם עם יהוה אלהיו כלבב דוד אביו׃ | 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.
| כי למען דוד נתן יהוה אלהיו לו ניר בירושלם להקים את בנו אחריו ולהעמיד את ירושלם׃ | 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].
| אשר עשה דוד את הישר בעיני יהוה ולא סר מכל אשר צוהו כל ימי חייו רק בדבר אוריה החתי׃ | 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].
| ומלחמה היתה בין רחבעם ובין ירבעם כל ימי חייו׃ | 6 |
There were wars between [the armies of] Rehoboam and Jeroboam all during the time that Abijah ruled.
| ויתר דברי אבים וכל אשר עשה הלוא הם כתובים על ספר דברי הימים למלכי יהודה ומלחמה היתה בין אבים ובין ירבעם׃ | 7 |
Everything else that Abijah did is written [RHQ] in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.
| וישכב אבים עם אבתיו ויקברו אתו בעיר דוד וימלך אסא בנו תחתיו׃ | 8 |
Abijah died [EUP] and was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’, and his son Asa became king.
| ובשנת עשרים לירבעם מלך ישראל מלך אסא מלך יהודה׃ | 9 |
After Jeroboam had been the king of Israel for almost 20 years, Asa started to rule Judah.
| וארבעים ואחת שנה מלך בירושלם ושם אמו מעכה בת אבישלום׃ | 10 |
He ruled in Jerusalem for 41 years. His grandmother was Maacah, the granddaughter of Absalom.
| ויעש אסא הישר בעיני יהוה כדוד אביו׃ | 11 |
Asa did what was pleasing to Yahweh, as his ancestor David had done.
| ויעבר הקדשים מן הארץ ויסר את כל הגללים אשר עשו אבתיו׃ | 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.
| וגם את מעכה אמו ויסרה מגבירה אשר עשתה מפלצת לאשרה ויכרת אסא את מפלצתה וישרף בנחל קדרון׃ | 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.
| והבמות לא סרו רק לבב אסא היה שלם עם יהוה כל ימיו׃ | 14 |
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.
| ויבא את קדשי אביו וקדשו בית יהוה כסף וזהב וכלים׃ | 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.
| ומלחמה היתה בין אסא ובין בעשא מלך ישראל כל ימיהם׃ | 16 |
There were wars between [the armies of] Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel, all during the time that they ruled.
| ויעל בעשא מלך ישראל על יהודה ויבן את הרמה לבלתי תת יצא ובא לאסא מלך יהודה׃ | 17 |
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.
| ויקח אסא את כל הכסף והזהב הנותרים באוצרות בית יהוה ואת אוצרות בית מלך ויתנם ביד עבדיו וישלחם המלך אסא אל בן הדד בן טברמן בן חזיון מלך ארם הישב בדמשק לאמר׃ | 18 |
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:
| ברית ביני ובינך בין אבי ובין אביך הנה שלחתי לך שחד כסף וזהב לך הפרה את בריתך את בעשא מלך ישראל ויעלה מעלי׃ | 19 |
“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].”
| וישמע בן הדד אל המלך אסא וישלח את שרי החילים אשר לו על ערי ישראל ויך את עיון ואת דן ואת אבל בית מעכה ואת כל כנרות על כל ארץ נפתלי׃ | 20 |
[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.
| ויהי כשמע בעשא ויחדל מבנות את הרמה וישב בתרצה׃ | 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.
| והמלך אסא השמיע את כל יהודה אין נקי וישאו את אבני הרמה ואת עציה אשר בנה בעשא ויבן בם המלך אסא את גבע בנימן ואת המצפה׃ | 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 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.
| ויתר כל דברי אסא וכל גבורתו וכל אשר עשה והערים אשר בנה הלא המה כתובים על ספר דברי הימים למלכי יהודה רק לעת זקנתו חלה את רגליו׃ | 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] written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’. But when Asa became old, he got a disease in his feet.
| וישכב אסא עם אבתיו ויקבר עם אבתיו בעיר דוד אביו וימלך יהושפט בנו תחתיו׃ | 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.
| ונדב בן ירבעם מלך על ישראל בשנת שתים לאסא מלך יהודה וימלך על ישראל שנתים׃ | 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.
| ויעש הרע בעיני יהוה וילך בדרך אביו ובחטאתו אשר החטיא את ישראל׃ | 26 |
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.
| ויקשר עליו בעשא בן אחיה לבית יששכר ויכהו בעשא בגבתון אשר לפלשתים ונדב וכל ישראל צרים על גבתון׃ | 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.
| וימתהו בעשא בשנת שלש לאסא מלך יהודה וימלך תחתיו׃ | 28 |
That [DOU] was when Asa had been [the king ruling] Judah for almost three years. Then Baasha became the king of Israel.
| ויהי כמלכו הכה את כל בית ירבעם לא השאיר כל נשמה לירבעם עד השמדו כדבר יהוה אשר דבר ביד עבדו אחיה השילני׃ | 29 |
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).
| על חטאות ירבעם אשר חטא ואשר החטיא את ישראל בכעסו אשר הכעיס את יהוה אלהי ישראל׃ | 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.
| ויתר דברי נדב וכל אשר עשה הלא הם כתובים על ספר דברי הימים למלכי ישראל׃ | 31 |
Everything else that Nadab did is written [RHQ] in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.
| ומלחמה היתה בין אסא ובין בעשא מלך ישראל כל ימיהם׃ | 32 |
There were wars between [the armies of] King Asa and King Baasha all the time that they ruled.
| בשנת שלש לאסא מלך יהודה מלך בעשא בן אחיה על כל ישראל בתרצה עשרים וארבע שנה׃ | 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.
| ויעש הרע בעיני יהוה וילך בדרך ירבעם ובחטאתו אשר החטיא את ישראל׃ | 34 |
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.
