1 Kings 15:9-25

⁹Asa became king of Judah in the twentieth year of the reign of Jeroboam, king of Israel.

¹⁰He reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother's name was Maakah, daughter of Abishalom.

¹¹Asa did what was right in the Lord's sight, as his forefather David had done.

¹²He expelled the cult prostitutes from the land and got rid of all of the idols that his forefathers had made.

¹³He even dismissed his grandmother Maacah as queen mother, because she had made a disgusting idol. Asa had the idol chopped down and burned in the Kidron Valley.

¹⁴Though the high places were not removed, Asa was completely committed to the Lord all his life.

¹⁵He brought into the house of the Lord the silver and gold and the other items that he and his father had dedicated.

¹⁶Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, were always at war with each other.

¹⁷Baasha, king of Israel, attacked Judah and fortified Ramah to stop people coming from or going to Asa, king of Judah.

¹⁸So Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord's Temple and of the royal palace. He handed it over to his servants and sent them to Ben-hadad, son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, along with this message:

¹⁹“Let us make a treaty between us, just as there was between my father and your father. Look, I've sent you a gift of silver and gold. Go and break your treaty with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he will retreat and leave me alone.”

²⁰Ben-hadad accepted Asa's proposal and sent his army with its commanders to attack the towns of Israel. They captured the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Kinnereth, including all the land of Naphtali.

²¹When Baasha heard about this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and retreated to Tirzah.

²²Then King Asa issued a proclamation throughout all Judah, with no exception. The people obeyed, and carried away the stones and the timbers Baasha had used for building up Ramah. King Asa used these building materials to strengthen Geba of Benjamin, as well as Mizpah.

²³The rest of what happened in Asa's reign, all his achievements, everything that he did, and the towns he built, are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. But when he grew old he had disease in his feet.

²⁴Asa died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king.

²⁵Nadab, son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of the reign of King Asa of Judah. He reigned in Israel for two years.