King Abijah of Judah

¹In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Abijah became king of Judah,

²and he ruled three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom.

³He committed the same sins as his father and was not completely loyal to the Lord his God, as his great-grandfather David had been.

⁴But for David's sake the Lord his God gave Abijah a son to rule after him in Jerusalem and to keep Jerusalem secure.

⁵The Lord did this because David had done what pleased him and had never disobeyed any of his commands, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

⁶The war which had begun between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continued throughout Abijah's lifetime.

⁷And everything else that Abijah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.

⁸Abijah died and was buried in David's City, and his son Asa succeeded him as king.

King Asa of Judah

⁹In the twentieth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Asa became king of Judah,

¹⁰and he ruled forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom.

¹¹Asa did what pleased the Lord, as his ancestor David had done.

¹²He expelled from the country all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan places of worship, and he removed all the idols his predecessors had made.

¹³He removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene idol of the fertility goddess Asherah. Asa cut down the idol and burned it in Kidron Valley.

¹⁴Even though Asa did not destroy all the pagan places of worship, he remained faithful to the Lord all his life.

¹⁵He placed in the Temple all the objects his father had dedicated to God, as well as the gold and silver objects that he himself dedicated.

¹⁶King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel were constantly at war with each other as long as they were in power.

¹⁷Baasha invaded Judah and started to fortify Ramah in order to cut off all traffic in and out of Judah.

¹⁸So King Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the Temple and the palace, and sent it by some of his officials to Damascus, to King Benhadad of Syria, the son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion, with this message:

¹⁹“Let us be allies, as our fathers were. This silver and gold is a present for you. Now break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel, so that he will have to pull his troops out of my territory.”

²⁰King Benhadad agreed to Asa's proposal and sent his commanding officers and their armies to attack the cities of Israel. They captured Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, the area near Lake Galilee, and the whole territory of Naphtali.

²¹When King Baasha heard what had happened, he stopped fortifying Ramah and went to Tirzah.

²²Then King Asa sent out an order throughout all of Judah requiring everyone, without exception, to help carry away from Ramah the stones and timber that Baasha had been using to fortify it. With this material Asa fortified Mizpah and Geba, a city in the territory of Benjamin.

²³Everything else that King Asa did, his brave deeds and the towns he fortified, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. But in his old age he was crippled by a foot disease.

²⁴Asa died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king.

King Nadab of Israel

²⁵In the second year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, King Jeroboam's son Nadab became king of Israel, and he ruled for two years.

²⁶Like his father before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin.

²⁷Baasha son of Ahijah, of the tribe of Issachar, plotted against Nadab and killed him as Nadab and his army were besieging the city of Gibbethon in Philistia.

²⁸This happened during the third year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. And so Baasha succeeded Nadab as king of Israel.

²⁹At once he began killing all the members of Jeroboam's family. In accordance with what the Lord had said through his servant, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh, all of Jeroboam's family were killed; not one survived.

³⁰This happened because Jeroboam aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by the sins that he committed and that he caused Israel to commit.

³¹Everything else that Nadab did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

³²King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel were constantly at war with each other as long as they were in power.

King Baasha of Israel

³³In the third year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel, and he ruled in Tirzah for twenty-four years.

³⁴Like King Jeroboam before him, he sinned against the Lord and led Israel into sin.

¹The Lord spoke to the prophet Jehu son of Hanani and gave him this message for Baasha:

²“You were a nobody, but I made you the leader of my people Israel. And now you have sinned like Jeroboam and have led my people into sin. Their sins have aroused my anger,

³and so I will do away with you and your family, just as I did with Jeroboam.

⁴Any members of your family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures.”

⁵Everything else that Baasha did and all his brave deeds are recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

⁶Baasha died and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah succeeded him as king.

⁷That message from the Lord against Baasha and his family was given by the prophet Jehu because of the sins that Baasha committed against the Lord. He aroused the Lord's anger not only because of the evil he did, just as King Jeroboam had done before him, but also because he killed all of Jeroboam's family.

King Elah of Israel

⁸In the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he ruled in Tirzah for two years.

⁹Zimri, one of his officers who was in charge of half of the king's chariots, plotted against him. One day in Tirzah, Elah was getting drunk in the home of Arza, who was in charge of the palace.

¹⁰Zimri entered the house, assassinated Elah, and succeeded him as king. This happened in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah.

¹¹As soon as Zimri became king he killed off all the members of Baasha's family. Every male relative and friend was put to death.

¹²And so, in accordance with what the Lord had said against Baasha through the prophet Jehu, Zimri killed all the family of Baasha.

¹³Because of their idolatry and because they led Israel into sin, Baasha and his son Elah had aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹⁴Everything else that Elah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

King Zimri of Israel

¹⁵In the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Zimri ruled in Tirzah over Israel for seven days. The Israelite troops were besieging the city of Gibbethon in Philistia,

¹⁶and when they heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and assassinated him, then and there they all proclaimed their commander Omri king of Israel.

¹⁷Omri and his troops left Gibbethon and went and besieged Tirzah.

¹⁸When Zimri saw that the city had fallen, he went into the palace's inner fortress, set the palace on fire, and died in the flames.

¹⁹This happened because of his sins against the Lord. Like his predecessor Jeroboam, he displeased the Lord by his own sins and by leading Israel into sin.

²⁰Everything else that Zimri did, including the account of his conspiracy, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

King Omri of Israel

²¹The people of Israel were divided: some of them wanted to make Tibni son of Ginath king, and the others were in favor of Omri.

²²In the end, those in favor of Omri won out; Tibni died and Omri became king.

²³So in the thirty-first year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he ruled for twelve years. The first six years he ruled in Tirzah,

²⁴and then he bought the hill of Samaria for six thousand pieces of silver from a man named Shemer. Omri fortified the hill, built a town there, and named it Samaria, after Shemer, the former owner of the hill.

²⁵Omri sinned against the Lord more than any of his predecessors.

²⁶Like Jeroboam before him, he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by his sins and by leading the people into sin and idolatry.

²⁷Everything else that Omri did and all his accomplishments are recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

²⁸Omri died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab succeeded him as king.

King Ahab of Israel

²⁹In the thirty-eighth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for twenty-two years.

³⁰He sinned against the Lord more than any of his predecessors.

³¹It was not enough for him to sin like King Jeroboam; he went further and married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon, and worshiped Baal.

³²He built a temple to Baal in Samaria, made an altar for him, and put it in the temple.

³³He also put up an image of the goddess Asherah. He did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel before him.

³⁴During his reign Hiel from Bethel rebuilt Jericho. As the Lord had foretold through Joshua son of Nun, Hiel lost his oldest son Abiram when he laid the foundation of Jericho, and his youngest son Segub when he built the gates.

Troubles with Israel

¹In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and started to fortify Ramah in order to cut off all traffic in and out of Judah.

²So Asa took silver and gold from the treasuries of the Temple and the palace and sent it to Damascus, to King Benhadad of Syria, with this message:

³“Let us be allies, as our fathers were. This silver and gold is a present for you. Now break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel so that he will have to pull his troops out of my territory.”

⁴Benhadad agreed to Asa's proposal and sent his commanding officers and their armies to attack the cities of Israel. They captured Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, and all the cities of Naphtali where supplies were stored.

⁵When King Baasha heard what was happening, he stopped fortifying Ramah and abandoned the work.

⁶Then King Asa gathered men from throughout Judah and had them carry off the stones and timbers that Baasha had been using at Ramah, and they used them to fortify the cities of Geba and Mizpah.

The Prophet Hanani

⁷At that time the prophet Hanani went to King Asa and said, “Because you relied on the king of Syria instead of relying on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Israel has escaped from you.

⁸Didn't the Ethiopians and the Libyans have large armies with many chariots and cavalry troops? But because you relied on the Lord, he gave you victory over them.

⁹The Lord keeps close watch over the whole world, to give strength to those whose hearts are loyal to him. You have acted foolishly, and so from now on you will always be at war.”

¹⁰This made Asa so angry with the prophet that he had him put in chains. It was at this same time that Asa began treating some of the people cruelly.

The End of Asa's Reign

¹¹All the events of Asa's reign from beginning to end are recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

¹²In the thirty-ninth year that Asa was king, he was crippled by a severe foot disease; but even then he did not turn to the Lord for help, but to doctors.

¹³Two years later he died

¹⁴and was buried in the rock tomb which he had carved out for himself in David's City. They used spices and perfumed oils to prepare his body for burial, and they built a huge bonfire to mourn his death.

Jehoshaphat Becomes King

¹Jehoshaphat succeeded his father Asa as king and strengthened his position against Israel.

²He stationed troops in the fortified cities of Judah, in the Judean countryside, and in the cities which Asa had captured in the territory of Ephraim.

³The Lord blessed Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father's early life and did not worship Baal.

⁴He served his father's God, obeyed God's commands, and did not act the way the kings of Israel did.

⁵The Lord gave Jehoshaphat firm control over the kingdom of Judah, and all the people brought him gifts, so that he became wealthy and highly honored.

⁶He took pride in serving the Lord and destroyed all the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah in Judah.

⁷In the third year of his reign he sent out the following officials to teach in the cities of Judah: Benhail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah.

⁸They were accompanied by nine Levites and two priests. The Levites were Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; and the priests were Elishama and Jehoram.

⁹They took the book of the Law of the Lord and went through all the towns of Judah, teaching it to the people.

Jehoshaphat's Greatness

¹⁰The Lord made all the surrounding kingdoms afraid to go to war against King Jehoshaphat.

¹¹Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat a large amount of silver and other gifts, and some Arabs brought him 7,700 sheep and 7,700 goats.

¹²So Jehoshaphat continued to grow more and more powerful. Throughout Judah he built fortifications and cities,

¹³where supplies were stored in huge amounts. In Jerusalem he stationed outstanding officers,

¹⁴according to their clans. Adnah was the commander of the troops from the clans of Judah, and he had 300,000 soldiers under him.

¹⁵Second in rank was Jehohanan, with 280,000 soldiers,

¹⁶and third was Amasiah son of Zichri, with 200,000. (Amasiah had volunteered to serve the Lord.)

¹⁷The commander of the troops from the clans of Benjamin was Eliada, an outstanding soldier, in command of 200,000 men armed with shields and bows.

¹⁸His second in command was Jehozabad with 180,000 men, well-equipped for battle.

¹⁹These soldiers served the king in Jerusalem, and in addition he stationed others in the other fortified cities of Judah.

¹How beautiful you are, my love! How your eyes shine with love behind your veil. Your hair dances like a flock of goats bounding down the hills of Gilead.

²Your teeth are as white as sheep that have just been shorn and washed. Not one of them is missing; they are all perfectly matched.

³Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; how lovely they are when you speak. Your cheeks glow behind your veil.

⁴Your neck is like the tower of David, round and smooth, with a necklace like a thousand shields hung around it.

⁵Your breasts are like gazelles, twin deer feeding among lilies.

⁶I will stay on the hill of myrrh, the hill of incense, until the morning breezes blow and the darkness disappears.

⁷How beautiful you are, my love; how perfect you are!

⁸Come with me from the Lebanon Mountains, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Come down from the top of Mount Amana, from Mount Senir and Mount Hermon, where the lions and leopards live.

⁹The look in your eyes, my sweetheart and bride, and the necklace you are wearing have stolen my heart.

¹⁰Your love delights me, my sweetheart and bride. Your love is better than wine; your perfume more fragrant than any spice.

¹¹The taste of honey is on your lips, my darling; your tongue is milk and honey for me. Your clothing has all the fragrance of Lebanon.

¹²My sweetheart, my bride, is a secret garden, a walled garden, a private spring;

¹³there the plants flourish. They grow like an orchard of pomegranate trees and bear the finest fruits. There is no lack of henna and nard,

¹⁴of saffron, calamus, and cinnamon, or incense of every kind. Myrrh and aloes grow there with all the most fragrant perfumes.

¹⁵Fountains water the garden, streams of flowing water, brooks gushing down from the Lebanon Mountains.

The Woman

¹⁶Wake up, North Wind. South Wind, blow on my garden; fill the air with fragrance. Let my lover come to his garden and eat the best of its fruits.