13 *Now ain the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah. 2 He 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. 3 And 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.

4 And Abijah stood up upon mount fZemaraim, which is in gmount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel; 5 Ought 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? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath krebelled against his lord. 7 And 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. 8 And 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. 9 qHave 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. 10 tBut 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: 11 And 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. 12 And, 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.

13 But Jeroboam caused can ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them. 14 And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the Lord, and dthe priests sounded with the trumpets. 15 Then 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. 16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and fGod delivered them into their hand. 17 And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. 18 Thus 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. 19 And 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. 20 Neither did Jeroboam krecover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the Lord lstruck him, and mhe died. 21 But Abijah nwaxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters. 22 And 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: 3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and bthe high places, and brake down the †images, and ccut down the groves: 4 And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. 5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah bthe high places and the †images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. 6 And 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. 7 Therefore 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. 8 And 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.

9 And there came out against them Zerah jthe Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto kMareshah. 10 Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of lZephathah at kMareshah. 11 And 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. 12 So the Lord rsmote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. 13 And 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. 14 And 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. 15 They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

15 And athe Spirit of God came upon bAzariah the son of Oded: 2 And he went out †to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and cif ye seek him, he will be found of you; but dif ye forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 Now efor a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without fa teaching priest, and without law. 4 But gwhen they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. 5 And hin those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. 6 And nation was †destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity. 7 Be iye strong therefore, and let not kyour hands be weak: for lyour work shall be rewarded.

8 And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of bOded the prophet, he took courage, and mput away the †abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities nwhich he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord, that was obefore the porch of the Lord. 9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and pthe strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the qthird month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 And they offered unto the Lord †the same time, of rthe spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. 12 And they sentered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel tshould be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14 And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with ucornets. 15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and csought him with their whole desire; and he was cfound of them: and the Lord vgave them rest round about.

16 wAnd also concerning Maachah the ||mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an †idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and xstamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron. 17 But ythe high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. 18 And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19 And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

16 *In the asix and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa bBaasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-hadad king of Syria, that dwelt at †Damascus, saying, 3 There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent thee silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me. 4 And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of †his armies against the cities of Israel; and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and cAbel-maim, and all dthe store cities of Naphtali. 5 And it came to pass, when Baasha heard it, that he left off building of Ramah, and let his work cease. 6 Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was building; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.

7 And at that time eHanani fthe seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, gBecause thou hast hrelied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the …