1. Abijah became king of Judah. It was in the 18th year of Jeroboam's rule over Israel. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat.
2. Abijah ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother's name was Maacah. She was Abishalom's daughter.
3. Abijah committed all of the sins his father had committed before him. Abijah didn't follow the Lord his God with all his heart. He didn't do what King David had done.
4. But the Lord still kept the lamp of Abijah's kingdom burning brightly in Jerusalem. He did it by giving him a son to be the next king after him. He also did it by making Jerusalem strong. The Lord did those things because of David.
5. David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He had kept all of the Lord's commands. He had obeyed them all the days of his life. But he hadn't obeyed the Lord in the case of Uriah, the Hittite.
6. There was war between Jeroboam and Abijah's father Rehoboam. The war continued all through Abijah's life.
7. The other events of Abijah's rule are written down. Everything he did is written down. All of those things are written in the official records of the kings of Judah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
8. Abijah joined the members of his family who had already died. His body was buried in the City of David. His son Asa became the next king after him.
9. Asa became king of Judah. It was in the 20th year that Jeroboam was king of Israel.
10. Asa ruled in Jerusalem for 41 years. His grandmother's name was Maacah. She was Abishalom's daughter.
11. Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. That's what King David had done.
12. Asa threw out of the land the male prostitutes who were at the temples. He got rid of all of the statues of gods his people before him had made.
13. He even removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother. That's because she had made a pole that was used to worship the goddess Asherah. The Lord hated it. So Asa cut it down. He burned it in the Kidron Valley.
14. Asa didn't remove the high places from Israel. But he committed his whole life completely to the Lord.
15. He and his father had set apart silver, gold and other articles to the Lord. He brought them into the Lord's temple.