2 Chronicles 13–14

13^*Now ^ain the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah. ²He reigned three years in Jerusalem. ^*His mother’s name also was ^bMichaiah the daughter of Uriel of ^cGibeah. ^dAnd there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³And Abijah ^†set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also ^eset the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.

⁴And Abijah stood up upon mount ^fZemaraim, which is in ^gmount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel; ⁵Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel ^hgave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by ⁱa covenant of salt? ⁶Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath ^krebelled against his lord. ⁷And there are gathered unto him ^lvain men, ^mthe children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was ⁿyoung and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. ⁸And now ye think to withstand ^othe kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you ^pgolden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. ^9qHave ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh ^†to consecrate himself with ^ra young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are ^sno gods. ^10tBut as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business: ¹¹And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening ^uburnt sacrifices and ^usweet incense: the ^uwshewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and ^xthe candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, ^yto burn every evening: for we ^zkeep the charge of the Lord our God; but ye have forsaken him. ¹²And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests ^awith sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, ^bfight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

¹³But Jeroboam caused ^can ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them. ¹⁴And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the Lord, and ^dthe priests sounded with the trumpets. ¹⁵Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God ^esmote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and ^fGod delivered them into their hand. ¹⁷And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. ¹⁸Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they ^grelied upon the Lord God of their fathers. ¹⁹And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, ^hBeth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and ⁱEphrain with the towns thereof. ²⁰Neither did Jeroboam ^krecover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the Lord ^lstruck him, and ^mhe died. ²¹But Abijah ⁿwaxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters. ²²And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the ^||story of the prophet ^oIddo.

14^*So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and ^aAsa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.

^2*And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God: ³For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and ^bthe high places, and brake down the ^†images, and ^ccut down the groves: ⁴And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. ⁵Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah ^bthe high places and the ^†images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. ⁶And he built ^dfenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in ^ethose years; because the Lord had given him rest. ⁷Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them ^fwalls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the Lord our God, we have sought him, and ^ghe hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered. ⁸And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah ^hthree hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and ⁱdrew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.

⁹And there came out against them Zerah ^jthe Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto ^kMareshah. ¹⁰Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of ^lZephathah at ^kMareshah. ¹¹And Asa ^mcried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is ⁿnothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we ^orest on thee, and ^pin thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not ^||man ^qprevail against thee. ¹²So the Lord ^rsmote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto ^sGerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not ^trecover themselves; for they were ^†destroyed before the Lord, and before his host; and they carried away very much spoil. ¹⁴And they smote all the cities round about ^sGerar; for ^uthe fear of the Lord came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them. ¹⁵They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.