Abijah, king of Judah
1 Abijah became king of Judah after Nebat's son Jeroboam had been king of Israel for 18 years. 2 Abijah ruled in Jerusalem as king for three years. His mother's name was Maakah. She was the daughter of Abishalom. 3 Abijah did the same bad things that his father had done before him. He did not serve the Lord his God faithfully, as his ancestor King David had done. 4 But the Lord his God gave Abijah a son to rule after him in Jerusalem. He also made Jerusalem a strong city. The Lord did that because of his promise to David. 5 David had always done things that pleased the Lord. David had obeyed the Lord's commands in his whole life, except what he did to Uriah, the Hittite man.
15:2Abishalom may be another way to write Absalom, who was King David's son. So maybe Maakah was the granddaughter of King David.
15:5David sent Uriah to his death, so that he could marry Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. See 2 Samuel 11. 6 In Abijah's whole life, there was a war between the armies of Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
7 The other things that happened while Abijah was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of Judah's kings’. It tells about all the things that Abijah did. While Abijah was king, there was war between his army and Jeroboam's army.
8 Abijah died and they buried him beside his ancestors in the City of David. Abijah's son Asa became king after him.