1 Kings 15:9-15

GOD’S WORD Translation

King Asa of Judah^(A)

⁹ In Jeroboam’s twentieth year as king of Israel, Asa began to rule as king of Judah. ¹⁰ He ruled 41 years in Jerusalem. His grandmother was named Maacah, daughter of Abishalom.

¹¹ Asa did what the Lord considered right, as his ancestor David had done. ¹² He forced the male temple prostitutes out of the land and got rid of the idols his father had made. ¹³ He also removed his grandmother Maacah from the position of queen mother because she made a statue of the repulsive goddess Asherah. Asa cut the statue down and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁴ Although the illegal worship sites were not torn down, Asa remained committed to the Lord his entire life. ¹⁵ He brought into the Lord’s temple the silver, the gold, and the utensils he and his father had set apart as holy.