2 Chronicles 13–14

13TH CHAPTER

King Abijah’s War with King Jeroboam—1 Kings 15:1–8

¹In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah began to rule Judah. ²He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Micaiah, daughter of Uriel from Gibeah. 

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 

³Abijah prepared for battle with an army of 400,000 of the best soldiers, while Jeroboam arranged to oppose him with 800,000 of the best professional soldiers. 

⁴Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the mountains of Ephraim. He called out, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! ⁵Don’t you know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom of Israel to David and his descendants forever in a permanent promise?^a6But Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) rebelled against his master. He had been the servant of David’s son Solomon. ⁷Worthless, good-for-nothing men gathered around him. They opposed Rehoboam, son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was too young and inexperienced to challenge them. ⁸Do you now intend to challenge the Lord’s kingdom, which has been placed in the hands of David’s descendants? You are a large crowd, and you have the gold calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. ⁹You forced out the Lord’s priests who were Aaron’s descendants, and you forced out the Levites so that you could appoint your own priests, as the people in foreign countries do. Anyone who has a young bull and seven rams can be ordained as a priest of nonexistent gods. 

¹⁰“However, the Lord is our God. We haven’t abandoned him. The priests who serve the Lord are Aaron’s descendants, and the Levites assist them. ¹¹They sacrifice burnt offerings to the Lord every morning and every evening. They offer sweet-smelling incense and rows of bread on the clean^btable. The lamps on the gold lamp stand burn every evening. We’re following the instructions the Lord our God gave us, but you have abandoned him. ¹²God is with us as our leader. His priests will sound their trumpets to call ⸤the army⸥ to fight you. Men of Israel, don’t wage war against the Lord God of your ancestors. You won’t succeed.” 

¹³But Jeroboam had set an ambush to attack them from behind. So Jeroboam’s army was in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴When Judah’s soldiers looked around, the battle was in front of them and behind them. They cried out to the Lord, the priests blew the trumpets, ¹⁵and the men of Judah shouted. When they shouted, God attacked Jeroboam and all Israel in front of Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶The Israelites fled from Judah’s ⸤army⸥, and God handed them over to Judah. ¹⁷So Abijah and his men defeated them decisively, and 500,000 of the best men of Israel were killed. ¹⁸So the Israelites were humbled at that time, and the men of Judah won because they trusted the Lord God of their ancestors. ¹⁹Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured some of his cities: Bethel and its villages, Jeshanah and its villages, and Ephron and its villages. 

²⁰Jeroboam never regained power during Abijah’s time. The Lord caused Jeroboam to become sick, and Jeroboam died. 

²¹But Abijah became strong. He married 14 wives and fathered 22 sons and 16 daughters. 

²²Everything else about Abijah—how he lived and what he said—is written in the history by the prophet Iddo. 

14TH CHAPTER^a

¹Abijah lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Asa succeeded him as king. In Asa’s time the land had peace for ten years. 

King Asa of Judah—1 Kings 15:9–15

²Asa did what the Lord his God considered good and right. 

³He got rid of the altars of foreign gods, broke down the sacred stones, and cut down the poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah. ⁴He told the people of Judah to dedicate their lives to serving the Lord God of their ancestors and follow his teachings and commands. ⁵He got rid of the illegal places of worship and the altars for incense in all the cities of Judah. The kingdom was at peace during his reign. 

⁶He built fortified cities in Judah because the land had peace. There was no war during those years because the Lord gave him a time of peace. ⁷So Asa told Judah, “Let’s build these cities and make walls around them with towers and doors that can be barred. The country is still ours because we have dedicated our lives to serving the Lord our God. We have dedicated our lives to him, and he has surrounded us with peace.” So they built the cities, and everything went well. 

⁸Asa had an army of 300,000 Judeans who were armed with large shields and spears and 280,000 Benjaminites who were armed with small shields and bows. All of these men were good fighting men. 

⁹Then Zerah from Sudan came with 1,000,000 men and 300 chariots to attack Asa. Zerah got as far as Mareshah. ¹⁰Asa went to confront him, and the two armies set up their battle lines in the Zephathah Valley at Mareshah. 

¹¹Asa called on the Lord his God. He said, “Lord, there is no one except you who can help those who are not strong so that they can fight against a large ⸤army⸥. Help us, Lord our God, because we are depending on you. In your name we go against this large crowd. You are the Lord our God. Don’t let anyone successfully oppose you.” 

¹²The Lord attacked the Sudanese army in front of Asa and Judah. The Sudanese army fled. ¹³Asa and his troops pursued them as far as Gerar. Many of the Sudanese died in battle. As a result, the Sudanese army couldn’t fight again. It was crushed in front of the Lord and his army. The Lord’s army captured a lot of goods. ¹⁴It attacked all the cities around Gerar because the cities were afraid of the Lord. The army looted all the cities because there were many things to take. ¹⁵It also attacked those who were letting their cattle graze and captured many sheep and camels. Then it returned to Jerusalem.