Abijah King of Judah

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

And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah led an army of 400,000 capable soldiers into battle. And Jeroboam prepared to fight him with 800,000 capable soldiers.

⁴ Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the mountains of Ephraim. He said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! ⁵ You should know this: The Lord, the God of Israel, gave David and his sons the right to be king over Israel forever. God gave this right to David with an agreement which will last forever. ⁶ But Jeroboam turned against his master. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s officers. Solomon was David’s son. ⁷ Then worthless, evil men became friends with Jeroboam. They were against Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. Rehoboam 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. The Lord’s kingdom belongs to David’s sons! There are many of you. And you have the gold calves Jeroboam made for you as gods. ⁹ You have thrown out the Lord’s priests and the Levites. The priests are Aaron’s sons. You have chosen your own priests as people in other countries do. Anyone who comes to make himself ready to serve the Lord with a young bull and seven male sheep can become a priest. He may 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 the priests serve the Lord. ¹¹ They offer burnt offerings and sweet-smelling incense to the Lord every morning and evening. They also 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 the Lord. ¹² God himself is with us. He is our ruler, and his priests are with us. The priests blow the trumpet to call us to war against you. Men of Israel, don’t fight against the Lord because you won’t succeed. He is the God of your ancestors.”

¹³ But Jeroboam had sent some troops to sneak behind Abijah’s army. So while Jeroboam was in front of Abijah’s army, Jeroboam’s soldiers were behind them. ¹⁴ The soldiers in Abijah’s army looked around. Then they saw Jeroboam’s army attacking both in front and back. They cried out to the Lord. And the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah gave a battle cry. When they shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and the army of Israel. They ran away from Abijah and the army of Judah. ¹⁶ The men of Israel ran away from the men of Judah. God let the army from Judah defeat them. ¹⁷ Abijah’s army killed many of Israel’s men. Of Israel’s best men 500,000 were killed. ¹⁸ So at that time the people of Israel were defeated. And the people of Judah won. They won because they depended on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

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

²¹ But Abijah became strong. He married 14 women. And he was the father of 22 sons and 16 daughters. ²² All the other things Abijah did as king are written down. What he said and did are recorded in what the prophet Iddo has written.

14 Abijah died and was buried in Jerusalem. Then Abijah’s son Asa became king in his place. There was peace in the country for 10 years in Asa’s time.

Asa King of Judah

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

⁷ Asa 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 tried to obey him, and he has given us peace all around.” So they built and had success.

⁸ Asa had an army of 300,000 men from the people of Judah. And he had 280,000 men from the people of Benjamin. The men from Judah carried large shields and spears. The men from Benjamin carried small shields and bows and arrows. All these men were brave fighting men.

⁹ Then Zerah from Cush came out to fight Asa’s army. Zerah had a large army and 300 chariots. They came as far as the town of Mareshah. ¹⁰ Asa went out to fight Zerah. Asa’s army prepared for battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

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

¹² Then the Lord defeated the Cushites when Asa’s army from Judah attacked them. And the Cushites ran away. ¹³ Asa’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. ¹⁴ They destroyed all the towns near Gerar. The people living in these towns were afraid of the Lord. These towns had many valuable things. So Asa’s army took these things away. ¹⁵ Asa’s army also attacked the camps where the shepherds lived. And they took many sheep and camels. Then they went back to Jerusalem.

Asa’s Changes

15 The Spirit of God entered Azariah son of Oded. ² Azariah went to meet Asa. Azariah said, “Listen to me, Asa and all you people of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you obey the Lord, you will find him. But if you leave him, he will leave you. ³ For a long time Israel was without the true God. And they were without a priest to teach them and without the teachings. ⁴ But when they were in trouble, they turned to the Lord again. He is the God of Israel. They looked for the Lord and found him. ⁵ In those days no one could travel safely. There was much trouble in all the nations. ⁶ One nation would destroy another nation. And one city would destroy another city. This happened because God troubled them with all kinds of trouble. ⁷ But you should be strong. Don’t give up, because you will get a reward for your good work.”

⁸ Asa felt brave when he heard these words and the message from Azariah. Azariah was the son of Oded the prophet. So he removed the hated idols from all of Judah and Benjamin. And he removed them from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the Lord’s altar that was in front of the porch of the Temple of the Lord.

⁹ Then Asa gathered all the people from Judah and Benjamin. He also gathered the people of the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who were living in Judah. Many people came to Asa from Israel. They came because they saw that the Lord, Asa’s God, was with him.

¹⁰ Asa and these people gathered in Jerusalem. This was in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s rule. ¹¹ At that time they sacrificed to the Lord 700 bulls and 7,000 sheep and goats. Asa’s army had taken these animals and other valuable things from their enemies. ¹² Then they made an agreement. They promised to obey the Lord with their whole being. He is the God their ancestors served. ¹³ Anyone who refused to obey the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be killed. It did not matter if that person was important or unimportant. It did not matter if that person was a man or woman. ¹⁴ Then Asa and the people made a promise before the Lord. They shouted with a loud voice. They also blew on trumpets and sheep’s horns. ¹⁵ All the people of Judah were happy about the promise. They had promised with all their heart. They looked for God and found him. So the Lord gave them peace in all the country.

¹⁶ King Asa also removed Maacah, his mother, from being queen mother. He did this because she had made an Asherah idol, which the Lord hated. Asa cut down that idol and smashed it into pieces. Then he burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ The places of worship to false gods were not removed from Judah. Asa desired very much to obey the Lord all his life.

¹⁸ And Asa put the holy gifts that he and his father had given into the Temple of God. These things were made of silver and gold.

¹⁹ There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s rule.