1. Abijam became king of Judah in Jeroboam's eighteenth year as king of Israel,
2. and he ruled from Jerusalem for three years. His mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
3. Abijam did not truly obey the Lord his God as his ancestor David had done. Instead, he was sinful just like his father Rehoboam.
8. Abijam died and was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Asa became king.
9. Asa became king of Judah in the twentieth year of Jeroboam's rule in Israel,
10. and he ruled forty-one years from Jerusalem. His grandmother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
11. Asa obeyed the Lord, as David had done.
12. He forced the prostitutes at the shrines to leave the country, and he got rid of the idols his ancestors had made.
13. His own grandmother Maacah had made an idol of Asherah, and Asa took it and burnt it in Kidron Valley. Then he removed Maacah from her position as queen mother.
14. As long as Asa lived, he was completely faithful to the Lord, even though he did not destroy the local shrines.