1. Abijam began to rule over Judah in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam’s reign in Israel.
2. He reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah, the granddaughter of Absalom.
3. He 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.
4. But 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.
5. For 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.
6. There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam throughout Abijam’s reign.
7. The 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.
8. When Abijam died, he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Asa became the next king.
9. Asa began to rule over Judah in the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign in Israel.
10. He reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother was Maacah, the granddaughter of Absalom.
11. Asa did what was pleasing in the lord’s sight, as his ancestor David had done.
12. He banished the male and female shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his ancestors had made.
13. He 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.
14. Although the pagan shrines were not removed, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful to the lord throughout his life.
15. He brought into the Temple of the lord the silver and gold and the various items that he and his father had dedicated.