2 Chronicles 13–16

CHAPTER 13

Abijah Reigns over Judah

^1aIn the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah.

²He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

^aNow there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

³And Abijah began the battle with a military force of mighty men, 400,000 chosen men, while Jeroboam arranged them all for battle against him with 800,000 chosen men who were mighty men of valor.

God Smites Israel Before Judah

⁴Then Abijah rose up on Mount ^aZemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel:

⁵“Do you not know that ^aYahweh, the God of Israel, gave the rule over Israel forever to David ¹and his sons by ^ba covenant of salt?

⁶“Yet ^aJeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his ¹master,

⁷and worthless men gathered about him, vile men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon; ^1ahe was young and timid and could not exert his strength before them.

⁸“So now you ¹intend to exert your strength before the kingdom of Yahweh by the hand of the sons of David, ²being a great multitude and having with you ^athe golden calves which Jeroboam made for gods for you.

⁹“^aHave you not driven out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes ^bto ordain himself with a bull from the herd and seven rams, even he may become a priest of what are ^cno gods.

¹⁰“But as for us, Yahweh is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the sons of Aaron are ministering to Yahweh as priests, and the Levites are in their work.

¹¹“And every morning and evening ^athey ¹burn to Yahweh burnt offerings and fragrant incense, and ^bthe showbread is set on the clean table, and the golden lampstand with its lamps is ready to light every evening; for we keep the responsibility given by Yahweh our God, but you have forsaken Him.

¹²“And behold, God is with us at our head and ^aHis priests with the signal trumpets to raise the shout of war against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against Yahweh, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”

¹³But Jeroboam ^ahad encircled an ambush to come from the rear, so that Israel was in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them.

¹⁴So Judah turned around, and behold, ¹they were attacked both front and rear; so ^athey cried to Yahweh, and the priests blew the trumpets.

¹⁵Then the men of Judah raised a shout of war, and when the men of Judah raised the shout of war, then it was that God ^asmote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

¹⁶So the sons of Israel fled before Judah, and ^aGod gave them into their hand.

¹⁷And Abijah and his people struck them down with a great slaughter, and 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain.

¹⁸Thus the sons of Israel were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah were strong ^abecause they leaned upon Yahweh, the God of their fathers.

¹⁹And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured from him several cities, Bethel with its towns, Jeshanah with its towns, and ¹Ephron with its towns.

Death of Jeroboam

²⁰Now Jeroboam did not again recover power in the days of Abijah; and ^aYahweh smote him and ^bhe died.

²¹But Abijah became stronger; and he took fourteen wives to himself, and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

²²Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his words are written in ^athe ¹treatise of ^bthe prophet Iddo.

CHAPTER 14

Asa Reigns over Judah

^11aSo Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place. The land was quiet for ten years during his days.

²¹And Asa did what was good and right in the sight of Yahweh his God,

³for he removed ^athe foreign altars and ^bhigh places, shattered the sacred pillars, cut the ^1cAsherim in pieces,

⁴and said for Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.

⁵He also ¹removed the high places and the ^aincense altars from all the cities of Judah. And the kingdom was quiet before him.

^6aAnd he built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was quiet, and ¹there was no one at war with him during those years, ^bbecause Yahweh had given him rest.

⁷And he said to Judah, “^aLet us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ¹ours because we have sought Yahweh our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and succeeded.

⁸Now Asa had a military force of ^a300,000 from Judah, bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, bearing shields and wielding bows; all of them were mighty men of valor.

⁹Then Zerah the Ethiopian ^awent out against them with a military force of one million men and 300 chariots, and he came to ^bMareshah.

¹⁰So Asa went out ¹to meet him, and they arranged themselves for battle in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

¹¹Then Asa ^acalled to Yahweh his God and said, “Yahweh, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between those of abundant power and those who have no power; so help us, O Yahweh our God, ^bfor we lean on You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O Yahweh, You are our God; let not mortal man prevail against You.”

¹²So ^aYahweh smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.

¹³And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^aGerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that ¹they could not recover, for they were shattered before Yahweh and before His ²army. And they carried away very much spoil.

¹⁴And they struck down all the cities around Gerar, ^afor the dread of Yahweh had fallen on them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.

¹⁵They also struck down ¹those who owned livestock, and they carried away large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

CHAPTER 15

The Spirit of God Comes on Azariah

¹Now ^athe Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded,

²and he went out ¹to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^aYahweh is with you when you are with Him. And ^bif you seek Him, He will be found; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

³“^aNow for many days Israel was without the true God and without ^ba teaching priest and without law.

⁴“But ^ain their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and they searched for Him, and He was found by them.

⁵“^aNow in those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for much confusion was upon all the inhabitants of the lands.

⁶“^aAnd nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God threw them into confusion with every kind of distress.

⁷“But you, ^abe strong and do not let your hands fall limp, for there is ^breward for your work.”

Asa Takes Away Detestable Idols

⁸Now when Asa heard these words and the ¹prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he strengthened himself and took away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from ^athe cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. ^bHe then renewed the altar of Yahweh which was in front of the porch of Yahweh.

⁹And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon ^awho sojourned with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him.

¹⁰So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.

^11aAnd they sacrificed to Yahweh that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought.

^12aThey entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul;

¹³and whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, ^ashould be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.

¹⁴Moreover, they swore an oath to Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns.

¹⁵All Judah was glad concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had searched for Him with all their desire, and He was found by them. So ^aYahweh gave them rest on every side.

^16aHe also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image ¹as ^ban Asherah; and ^cAsa cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron.

¹⁷But the high places were not ¹removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was wholly devoted all his days.

¹⁸And he brought into the house of God the holy things of his father and his own holy things: silver and gold and utensils.

¹⁹And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

CHAPTER 16

Asa Wars Against Baasha

¹In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign ^aBaasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built up Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.

²Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and the king’s house, and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying,

³“Let there be a covenant between ¹you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.”

⁴So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his military forces against the cities of Israel, and they struck down Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all ^athe ¹store cities of Naphtali.

⁵Now it happened that when Baasha heard of it, he ceased building up Ramah and stopped his work.

⁶Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

Asa Imprisons a Seer

⁷Now at that time ^aHanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “^bBecause you have leaned on the king of Aram and have not leaned on Yahweh your God, therefore the military force of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand.

⁸“Were not …