13Abijah became the king of Judah during the eighteenth year Jeroboam was king of Israel. ²Abijah ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother was Maacah daughter of Uriel from the town of Gibeah.

And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³Abijah led an army of four hundred thousand capable soldiers into battle, and Jeroboam prepared to fight him with eight hundred thousand capable soldiers.

⁴Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the mountains of Ephraim and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! ⁵You should know that the Lord, the God of Israel, gave David and his sons the right to rule Israel forever by an agreement of salt. ⁶But Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of the officers of Solomon, David’s son, turned against his master. ⁷Then worthless, evil men joined Jeroboam against Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. He was young and didn’t know what to do, so he could not stop them.

⁸“Now you people are making plans against the Lord’s kingdom, which belongs to David’s sons. There are many of you, and you have the gold calves Jeroboam made for you as gods. ⁹You have thrown out the Levites and the Lord’s priests, Aaron’s sons. You have chosen your own priests as people in other countries do. Anyone who comes with a young bull and seven male sheep can become a priest of idols that are not gods.

¹⁰“But as for us, the Lord is our God; we have not left him. The priests who serve the Lord are Aaron’s sons, and the Levites help them. ¹¹They offer burnt offerings and sweet-smelling incense to the Lord every morning and evening. They put the bread on the special table in the Temple. And they light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We obey the command of the Lord our God, but you have left him. ¹²God himself is with us as our ruler. His priests blow the trumpet to call us to war against you. Men of Israel, don’t fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, because you won’t succeed.”

¹³But Jeroboam had sent some troops to sneak behind Judah’s army. So while Jeroboam was in front of Judah’s army, Jeroboam’s soldiers were behind them. ¹⁴When the soldiers of Judah turned around, they saw Jeroboam’s army attacking both in front and back. So they cried out to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵Then the men of Judah gave a battle cry. When they shouted, God caused Jeroboam and the army of Israel to run away from Abijah and the army of Judah. ¹⁶When the army of Israel ran away from the men of Judah, God handed them over to Judah. ¹⁷Abijah’s army struck Israel so that five hundred thousand of Israel’s best men were killed. ¹⁸So at that time the people of Israel were defeated. And the people of Judah won, because they depended on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

¹⁹Abijah’s army chased Jeroboam’s army and captured from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, and the small villages near them. ²⁰Jeroboam never became strong again while Abijah was alive. The Lord struck Jeroboam, and he died.

²¹But Abijah became strong. He married fourteen women and was the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²²Everything else Abijah did—what he said and what he did—is recorded in the writings of the prophet Iddo.

14Abijah died and was buried in Jerusalem. His son Asa became king in his place, and there was peace in the country for ten years during Asa’s time.

Asa King of Judah

²Asa did what the Lord his God said was good and right. ³He removed the foreign altars and the places where gods were worshiped. He smashed the stone pillars that honored other gods, and he tore down the Asherah idols. ⁴Asa commanded the people of Judah to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his teachings and commandments. ⁵He also removed the places where gods were worshiped and the incense altars from every town in Judah. So the kingdom had peace while Asa was king. ⁶Asa built strong, walled cities in Judah during the time of peace. He had no war in these years, because the Lord gave him peace.

⁷Asa said to the people of Judah, “Let’s build up these towns and put walls around them. Let’s make towers, gates, and bars in the gates. This country is ours, because we have obeyed the Lord our God. We have followed him, and he has given us peace all around.” So they built and had success.

⁸Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah and two hundred eighty thousand men from Benjamin. The men from Judah carried large shields and spears. The men from Benjamin carried small shields and bows and arrows. All of them were brave fighting men.

⁹Then Zerah from Cush came out to fight them with an enormous army and three hundred chariots. They came as far as the town of Mareshah. ¹⁰So Asa went out to fight Zerah and prepared for battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

¹¹Asa called out to the Lord his God, saying, “Lord, only you can help weak people against the strong. Help us, Lord our God, because we depend on you. We fight against this enormous army in your name. Lord, you are our God. Don’t let anyone win against you.”

¹²So the Lord defeated the Cushites when Asa’s army from Judah attacked them, and the Cushites ran away. ¹³Asa’s army chased them as far as the town of Gerar. So many Cushites were killed that the army could not fight again; they were crushed by the Lord and his army. Asa and his army carried many valuable things away from the enemy. ¹⁴They destroyed all the towns near Gerar, because the people living in these towns were afraid of the Lord. Since these towns had many valuable things, Asa’s army took them away. ¹⁵Asa’s army also attacked the camps where the shepherds lived and took many sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Read in Logos