2 Chronicles 13:1-14

International Standard Version

“Listen to me, Jeroboam and Israel! ⁵ Don’t you know that the Lord God of Israel assigned the kingship over Israel to David and his descendants forever by a salt covenant?^{[b] 6} Even so, Nebat’s son Jeroboam, who used to serve David’s son Solomon, rose in rebellion against his own master! ⁷ Useless troublemakers^[c] soon gathered around him, who turned out to be too strong for Rehoboam, because he was young, timid, and unable to withstand them.

⁸ “So now you think you’ll be able to withstand the Lord’s kingdom as controlled by David’s descendants, just because you have a large crown and have brought with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods. ⁹ Haven’t you already driven away the Lord’s priests, the descendants of Aaron and the descendants of Levi? Haven’t you established your own priests like the people of other^[d] lands?

¹⁰ “Now as far as we’re concerned, the Lord is our God, and we haven’t abandoned him. The descendants of Aaron are ministering to the Lord as priests, and the descendants of Levi continue their work. ¹¹ Every morning and evening, they’re offering burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the Lord, the showbread is set out on the pure table, and they take care of the golden lamp stand so its lamps can continue to burn every evening. We continue to be faithful over what the Lord our God entrusted to us, but you have abandoned him. ¹² Now listen! God is with us to lead us, and his priests are about to sound their battle trumpets against you. Descendants of Israel, don’t fight against the Lord God of your ancestors, because you won’t succeed!”