2 Chronicles 13-14

English Standard Version

Abijah Reigns in Judah

13 ^(A)In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, ^(B)Abijah began to reign over Judah. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was ^(C)Micaiah^[a] the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

^(D)Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam ^(E)drew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. ⁴ Then Abijah stood up on Mount ^(F)Zemaraim that is in ^(G)the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! ⁵ Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel ^(H)gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by ^(I)a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up ^(J)and rebelled against his lord, ⁷ and certain ^(K)worthless scoundrels^[b] gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was ^(L)young and irresolute^[c] and could not withstand them.

⁸ “And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you ^(M)the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. ^9 (N)Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes ^(O)for ordination^[d] with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are ^(P)not gods. ¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. ¹¹ They offer to the Lord ^(Q)every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out ^(R)the showbread on the table of pure gold, ^(S)and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may ^(T)burn every evening. For we ^(U)keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him. ¹² Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests ^(V)with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, ^(W)do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”

¹³ Jeroboam had sent ^(X)an ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops^[e] were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. ^(Y)And they cried to the Lord, and the priests ^(Z)blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, ^(AA)God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The men of Israel fled before Judah, ^(AB)and God gave them into their hand. ¹⁷ Abijah and his people struck them with great force, so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men. ¹⁸ Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, ^(AC)because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. ¹⁹ And Abijah pursued Jeroboam ^(AD)and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and ^(AE)Ephron^[f] with its villages. ²⁰ Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah. ^(AF)And the Lord struck him down, ^(AG)and he died. ²¹ But Abijah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the ^(AH)story of the prophet ^(AI)Iddo.

Asa Reigns in Judah

14 ^{[g] (AJ)}Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. ^2 [h] And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. ³ He took away the foreign altars ^(AK)and the high places and broke down ^(AL)the pillars and cut down the ^(AM)Asherim ⁴ and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. ⁵ He also took out of all the cities of Judah ^(AN)the high places and the ^(AO)incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. ⁶ He built ^(AP)fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, ^(AQ)for the Lord gave him peace. ⁷ And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with ^(AR)walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, ^(AS)and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸ And Asa had an army of ^(AT)300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.

⁹ Zerah ^(AU)the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as ^(AV)Mareshah. ¹⁰ And Asa went out to meet him, and ^(AW)they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at ^(AX)Mareshah. ¹¹ And Asa ^(AY)cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, ^(AZ)for we rely on you, ^(BA)and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” ^12 (BB)So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^(BC)Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah^[i] carried away very much spoil. ¹⁴ And they attacked all the cities around ^(BD)Gerar, ^(BE)for the fear of the Lord was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.