Abijah Succeeds Rehoboam

13 ^(A)In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. ² He reigned in Jerusalem for three years; and his mother’s name was ^[a]Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

^(B)Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah began the battle with an army of warriors, four hundred thousand chosen men, while Jeroboam drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men who were valiant warriors.

Civil War

⁴ Then Abijah stood on Mount ^(C)Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel: ⁵ Do you not know that ^(D)the Lord God of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David ^[b]and his sons by ^(E)a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet ^(F)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his ^[c]master, ⁷ and worthless men gathered to him, wicked men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, when ^[d](G)he was young and timid and could not hold his own against them.

⁸ “So now you intend to assert yourselves against the kingdom of the Lord ^[e]through the sons of David, ^[f]being a great multitude and having with you ^(H)the golden calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods. ^9 (I)Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes ^(J)to consecrate himself with a bull and seven rams, even he may become a priest of things that are ^(K)not gods. ¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not abandoned Him; and the sons of Aaron are ministering to the Lord as priests, and the Levites ^[g]attend to their work. ¹¹ Every morning and evening ^(L)they ^[h]burn to the Lord burnt offerings and fragrant incense, and ^(M)the showbread is set on the clean table, and the golden lampstand with its lamps is ready to light every evening; for we perform our duty to the Lord our God, but you have abandoned Him. ¹² Now behold, God is with us at our head, and ^(N)His priests with the signal trumpets to sound the war cry against you. Sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”

¹³ But Jeroboam ^(O)had set an ambush to come from behind, so that Israel was in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ When Judah turned around, behold, ^[i]they were attacked both from front and rear; so ^(P)they cried out to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah raised a war cry, and when the men of Judah raised the war cry, God ^[j](Q)defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ When the sons of Israel fled from Judah, ^(R)God handed them over to them. ¹⁷ Abijah and his people defeated them with a great slaughter, so that five hundred thousand chosen men of Israel fell slain. ¹⁸ The sons of Israel were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah ^[k]conquered ^(S)because they trusted in the Lord, the God of their fathers. ¹⁹ Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured from him several cities, Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and ^[l]Ephron with its villages.

Death of Jeroboam

²⁰ Jeroboam did not again recover strength in the days of Abijah; and the ^(T)Lord struck him and ^(U)he died.

²¹ But Abijah became powerful, and he took fourteen wives for himself, and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his words are written in ^(V)the ^[m]treatise of ^(W)Iddo the prophet.

Message to Sardis

3 “To the angel of the church in ^(A)Sardis write:

He who has ^[a](B)the seven spirits of God and ^(C)the seven stars, says this: ‘^(D)I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, and yet you are ^(E)dead. ² Be constantly alert, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. ³ So ^(F)remember ^[b]what you have received and heard; and ^[c]keep it, and ^(G)repent. Then if you are not alert, ^(H)I will come ^(I)like a thief, and you will not know at ^(J)what hour I will come to you. ⁴ But you have a few ^[d](K)people in ^(L)Sardis who have not ^(M)soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me ^(N)in white, for they are worthy. ^5 (O)The one who overcomes will be clothed the same way, in ^(P)white garments; and I will not ^(Q)erase his name from the book of life, and ^(R)I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. ^6 (S)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Message to Philadelphia

⁷ “And to the angel of the church in ^(T)Philadelphia write:

^(U)He who is holy, ^(V)who is true, who has ^(W)the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:

⁸ ‘^(X)I know your ^[e]deeds. Behold, I have put before you ^(Y)an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have followed My word, and ^(Z)have not denied My name. ⁹ Behold, I ^[f]will make those of ^(AA)the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them ^(AB)come and bow down before your feet, and make them know that ^(AC)I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have ^(AD)kept ^(AE)My ^[g]word of perseverance, ^(AF)I also will keep you from the hour of the ^[h](AG)testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole ^[i](AH)world, to ^[j]test ^(AI)those who live on the earth. ^11 (AJ)I am coming quickly; ^(AK)hold firmly to what you have, so that no one will take your ^(AL)crown. ^12 (AM)The one who overcomes, I will make him a ^(AN)pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the ^(AO)name of My God, and ^(AP)the name of the city of My God, ^(AQ)the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My ^(AR)new name. ^13 (AS)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Message to Laodicea

¹⁴ “To the angel of the church in ^(AT)Laodicea write:

^(AU)The Amen, ^(AV)the faithful and true Witness, ^(AW)the ^[k]Origin of the creation of God, says this:

¹⁵ ‘^(AX)I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; ^(AY)I wish that you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷ Because you say, “^(AZ)I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have no need of anything,” and you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, ¹⁸ I advise you to ^(BA)buy from Me ^(BB)gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and ^(BC)white garments so that you may clothe yourself and ^(BD)the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to apply to your eyes so that you may see. ^19 (BE)Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline; therefore be zealous and ^(BF)repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand ^(BG)at the door and ^(BH)knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, ^(BI)I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. ^21 (BJ)The one who overcomes, I will grant to him ^(BK)to sit with Me on My throne, as ^(BL)I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne. ^22 (BM)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”