2 Chronicles 13–14

¹In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam—Abijah reigneth over Judah; ²three years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, (and the name of his mother is Michaiah daughter of Uriel, from Gibeah,) and war hath been between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³And Abijah directeth the war with a force of mighty men of war, four hundred thousand chosen men, and Jeroboam hath set in array with him battle, with eight hundred thousand chosen men, mighty of valour. ⁴And Abijah riseth up on the hill of Zemaraim that is in the hill-country of Ephraim, and saith, ‘Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel! ⁵Is it not for you to know that Jehovah, God of Israel, hath given the kingdom to David over Israel to the age, to him and to his sons—a covenant of salt? ⁶and rise up doth Jeroboam, son of Nebat, servant of Solomon son of David, and rebelleth against his lord!

⁷‘And there are gathered unto him vain men, sons of worthlessness, and they strengthen themselves against Rehoboam son of Solomon, and Rehoboam was a youth, and tender of heart, and hath not strengthened himself against them.

⁸‘And now, ye are saying to strengthen yourselves before the kingdom of Jehovah in the hand of the sons of David, and ye are a numerous multitude, and with you calves of gold that Jeroboam hath made to you for gods.

⁹‘Have ye not cast out the priests of Jehovah, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make to you priests like the peoples of the lands? every one who hath come to fill his hand with a bullock, a son of the herd, and seven rams, even he hath been a priest to No-gods!

¹⁰‘As for us, Jehovah is our God, and we have not forsaken Him, and priests are ministering to Jehovah, sons of Aaron and the Levites, in the work, ¹¹and are making perfume to Jehovah, burnt-offerings morning by morning, and evening by evening, and perfume of spices, and the arrangement of bread is on the pure table, and the candlestick of gold, and its lamps, to burn evening by evening, for we are keeping the charge of Jehovah our God, and ye—ye have forsaken Him.

¹²‘And lo, with us—at our head—is God, and His priests and trumpets of shouting to shout against you; O sons of Israel, do not fight with Jehovah, God of your fathers, for ye do not prosper.’

¹³And Jeroboam hath brought round the ambush to come in from behind them, and they are before Judah, and the ambush is behind them. ¹⁴And Judah turneth, and lo, against them is the battle, before and behind, and they cry to Jehovah, and the priests are blowing with trumpets, ¹⁵and the men of Judah shout—and it cometh to pass, at the shouting of the men of Judah, that God hath smitten Jeroboam, and all Israel, before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶And the sons of Israel flee from the face of Judah, and God giveth them into their hand, ¹⁷and Abijah and his people smite among them a great smiting, and there fall wounded of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. ¹⁸And the sons of Israel are humbled at that time, and the sons of Judah are strong, for they have leant on Jehovah, God of their fathers. ¹⁹And Abijah pursueth after Jeroboam, and captureth from him cities, Beth-El and its small towns, and Jeshanah and its small towns, and Ephraim and its small towns. ²⁰And Jeroboam hath not retained power any more in the days of Abijah, and Jehovah smiteth him, and he dieth. ²¹And Abijah strengtheneth himself, and taketh to him fourteen wives, and begetteth twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters, ²²and the rest of the matters of Abijah, and his ways, and his words, are written in the ‘Inquiry’ of the prophet Iddo.

Chapter 14

¹And Abijah lieth with his fathers, and they bury him in the city of David, and reign doth Asa his son in his stead: in his days was the land quiet ten years. ²And Asa doth that which is good, and that which is right, in the eyes of Jehovah his God, ³and turneth aside the altars of the stranger, and the high places, and breaketh the standing-pillars, and cutteth down the shrines, ⁴and saith to Judah to seek Jehovah, God of their fathers, and to do the law and the command; ⁵and he turneth aside out of all cities of Judah the high places and the images, and the kingdom is quiet before him. ⁶And he buildeth cities of bulwarks in Judah, for the land hath quiet, and there is no war with him in these years, because Jehovah hath given rest to him. ⁷And he saith to Judah, ‘Let us build these cities, and compass them with wall, and towers, two-leaved doors, and bars, while the land is before us, because we have sought Jehovah our God, we have sought, and He giveth rest to us round about;’ and they build and prosper. ⁸And there is to Asa a force bearing target and spear, out of Judah three hundred thousand, and out of Benjamin, bearing shield and treading bow, two hundred and eighty thousand: all these are mighty of valour.

⁹And come out unto them doth Zerah the Cushite with a force of a thousand thousand, and chariots three hundred, and he cometh in unto Mareshah, ¹⁰and Asa goeth out before him, and they set battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹And Asa calleth unto Jehovah his God, and saith, ‘Jehovah! it is nothing with Thee to help, between the mighty and those who have no power; help us, O Jehovah, our God, for on Thee we have leant, and in Thy name we have come against this multitude; O Jehovah, our God thou art; let him not prevail with Thee—mortal man! ¹²And Jehovah smiteth the Cushim before Asa, and before Judah, and the Cushim flee, ¹³and Asa and the people who are with him pursue them even to Gerar, and there fall of the Cushim, for they have no preserving, because they have been broken before Jehovah, and before His camp; and they bear away very much spoil, ¹⁴and smite all the cities round about Gerar, for a fear of Jehovah hath been upon them, and they spoil all the cities, for abundant spoil hath been in them; ¹⁵and also tents of cattle they have smitten, and they capture sheep in abundance, and camels, and turn back to Jerusalem.

Chapter 15