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

2 For three years he was king in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom.

3 And he did the same sins which his father had done before him: his heart was not completely true to the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father.

4 But because of David, the Lord gave him a light in Jerusalem, making his sons king after him, so that Jerusalem might be safe;

5 Because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and never in all his life went against his orders, but only in the question of Uriah the Hittite.

6 ...

7 Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

8 Then Abijam went to rest with his fathers, and they put him into the earth in the town of David: and Asa his son became king in his place.

9 In the twentieth year that Jeroboam was king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah.

10 And he was king for forty-one years in Jerusalem; his mother's name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom.

11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father did.

12 Those used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods he sent out of the country, and he took away all the images which his fathers had made.

13 And he would not let Maacah his mother be queen, because she had made a disgusting image for Asherah; and Asa had the image cut down and burned by the stream Kidron.

14 The high places, however, were not taken away: but still the heart of Asa was true to the Lord all his life.

15 He took into the house of the Lord all the things which his father had made holy, and those which he himself had made holy, silver and gold and vessels.

16 Now there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.

17 And Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah, building Ramah, so that no one was able to go out or in to Asa, king of Judah.

18 Then Asa took all the silver and gold which was still stored in the Lord's house, and in the king's house, and sent them, in the care of his servants, to Ben-hadad, son of Tabrimmon, son of Rezon, king of Aram, at Damascus, saying,

19 Let there be an agreement between me and you as there was between my father and your father: see, I have sent you an offering of silver and gold; go and put an end to your agreement with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he may give up attacking me.

20 So Ben-hadad did as King Asa said, and sent the captains of his armies against the towns of Israel, attacking Ijon and Dan and Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth as far as all the land of Naphtali.

21 And Baasha, hearing of it, put a stop to the building of Ramah, and was living in Tirzah.

22 Then King Asa got all Judah together, making every man come; and they took away the stones and the wood with which Baasha was building Ramah, and King Asa made use of them for building Geba in the land of Benjamin, and Mizpah.

23 Now the rest of the acts of Asa, and his power, and all he did, and the towns of which he was the builder, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah? But when he was old he had a disease of the feet.

24 So Asa went to rest with his fathers and was put into the earth in the town of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son became king in his place.

25 Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, became king over Israel in the second year that Asa was king of Judah; and he was king of Israel for two years.

26 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the evil ways of his father, and the sin which he did and made Israel do.

27 And Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the family of Issachar, made a secret design against him, attacking him at Gibbethon, a town of the Philistines; for Nadab and the armies of Israel were making war on Gibbethon.

28 In the third year of the rule of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha put him to death, and became king in his place.

29 And straight away when he became king, he sent destruction on all the offspring of Jeroboam; there was not one living person of all the family of Jeroboam whom he did not put to death, so the word of the Lord, which he said by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite, came about;

30 Because of the sins which Jeroboam did and made Israel do, moving the Lord, the God of Israel, to wrath.

31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

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

33 In the third year of the rule of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha, the son of Ahijah, became king over all Israel in Tirzah, and was king for twenty-four years.

34 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the evil ways of Jeroboam and the sin which he made Israel do.

1 Abião começou o seu reinado de apenas três anos como rei de Judá, em Jerusalém, dezoito anos após o início do reinado de Jeroboão rei de Israel. (A mãe de Abião chamava-se Maacá; era filha de Absalão.)

3 Pecou ainda mais do que o seu pai; o seu coração não foi recto para com Deus, como tinha sido o do rei David.

4 Apesar do pecado de Abião, o Senhor lembrou-se do amor que tinha por David e não fez terminar a sua linhagem real,

5 visto que David obedecera a Deus todo o tempo da sua vida, excepto naquele assunto de Urias, o heteu.

6 Durante o reinado de Abião continuou a haver sempre guerra entre os dois reinos de Judá e de Israel.

7 O resto da história deste reinado está relatado nas Crónicas dos Reis de Judá.

8 Quando morreu, foi enterrado em Jerusalém e o seu filho Asa reinou em seu lugar.

9 Asa tornou-se rei de Judá em Jerusalém vinte anos depois de Jeroboão ter começado a reinar sobre Israel. Reinou quarenta e um anos. (A sua avó era Maacá, filha de Absalão.) Asa agradou ao Senhor à semelhança do seu antepassado David. Mandou executar os prostitutos, e retirar todos os ídolos que o seu pai mandara fazer. Destituíu a sua avó Maacá como rainha-mãe por ela ter mandado fazer um ídolo, que o monarca deitou abaixo e queimou no ribeiro de Cedrom. Contudo mantiveram-se os nichos sobre as colinas, apesar do coração de Asa se manter fiel ao Senhor toda a sua vida. Fez que estivessem expostos permanentemente no templo os escudos que o seu pai tinha mandado fazer e que tinha consagrado, ao mesmo tempo que os objectos de prata e de ouro que ele próprio dedicou.

16 Houve guerra permanente entre o rei Asa de Judá e o rei Basha de Israel. O rei Basha construiu a cidade fortaleza de Ramá numa tentativa de cortar todas as relações com Jerusalém. Então Asa pegou em toda a prata e todo o ouro que ficara no templo e no palácio real e entregou-o aos líderes do seu reino para que levassem a Damasco como presente ao rei da Síria, Ben-Hadade, com esta mensagem:

19 Tornemo-nos aliados tal como os nossos pais foram. Esta mensagem acompanha um presente de prata e de ouro. Anula, peço-te, a aliança que tens com Basha, o rei de Israel, para que me deixe em paz.

20 Ben-Hadade concordou e mandou os seus exércitos contra algumas das povoações de Israel; destruiu Ijom, Dan, Abel-Bete-Maacá, toda a Quinerete e todas as povoações de Naftali. Quando Basha recebeu a notícia do ataque, deixou de construir Ramá e voltou para Tirza. O rei Asa fez circular em toda Judá uma proclamação pedindo a cada homem fisicamente apto que viesse ajudar a destruir Ramá e deitassem abaixo todas as construções de pedra e de madeira. O rei Asa empregou esses materiais para construir Geba, em Benjamim, e a cidade de Mizpá.

23 O resto da biografia de Asa - as suas conquistas e feitos, mais os nomes das povoações que mandou construir - encontra-se nas Crónicas dos Reis de Judá. Na sua velhice o rei começou a padecer dos pés. Quando morreu foi sepultado no cemitério real em Jerusalém. Seu filho Jeosafá tornou-se o novo rei de Judá.

25 Entretanto em Israel, Nadabe, filho de Jeroboão, tornara-se rei. Reinou dois anos, começando no segundo ano do reinado de Asa, rei de Judá. Não foi um bom rei. À semelhança do seu pai, adorou muito ídolos e levou Israel a pecar.

27 Foi então que Basha (filho de Aías da tribo de Issacar) conspirou contra Nadabe e o assassinou quando, com o exército de Israel, estava a sitiar a cidade filistéia de Gibetom.

28 Assim Basha substituiu Nadabe como rei de Israel, em Tirza, durante o terceiro ano do reinado de Asa, rei de Judá. Imediatamente matou todos os descendentes do rei Jeroboão, de tal forma que mais ninguém da família real ficou em vida, tal como o Senhor dissera que havia de acontecer quando falou por intermédio de Aías, o profeta de Silo. Isto foi assim porque Jeroboão acendeu a ira do Senhor Deus de Israel, pecando e levando o resto de Israel a pecar. Mais informações sobre o reinado de Basha estão registados nas Crónicas dos Reis de Israel.

32 Houve continuamente guerra entre o rei Asa de Judá e o rei Basha de Israel. Basha reinou vinte e quatro anos, mas em todo esse tempo continuamente desobedeceu ao Senhor. Seguiu os maus caminhos de Jeroboão, levando Israel ao pecado da adoração de ídolos.