Beginning
Abijah Reigns over Judah
13 (A)In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.
(B)Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 And Abijah began the battle with a military force of mighty men, 400,000 chosen men, while Jeroboam arranged them all for battle against him with 800,000 chosen men who were mighty men of valor.
God Smites Israel Before Judah
4 Then Abijah rose up 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)Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave the rule over Israel forever to David [a]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 [b]master, 7 and worthless men gathered about him, vile men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon; [c](G)he was young and timid and could not exert his strength before them.
8 “So now you [d]intend to exert your strength before the kingdom of Yahweh by the hand of the sons of David, [e]being a great multitude and having with you (H)the golden calves which Jeroboam made for gods for you. 9 (I)Have you not driven out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes (J)to ordain himself with a bull from the herd and seven rams, even he may become a priest of what are (K)no gods. 10 But as for us, Yahweh is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the sons of Aaron are ministering to Yahweh as priests, and the Levites are in their work. 11 And every morning and evening (L)they [f]burn to Yahweh 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 keep the responsibility given by Yahweh our God, but you have forsaken Him. 12 And behold, God is with us at our head and (N)His priests with the signal trumpets to raise the shout of war against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against Yahweh, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”
13 But Jeroboam (O)had encircled an ambush to come from the rear, so that Israel was in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them. 14 So Judah turned around, and behold, [g]they were attacked both front and rear; so (P)they cried to Yahweh, and the priests blew the trumpets. 15 Then the men of Judah raised a shout of war, and when the men of Judah raised the shout of war, then it was that God (Q)smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 So the sons of Israel fled before Judah, and (R)God gave them into their hand. 17 And Abijah and his people struck them down with a great slaughter, and 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain. 18 Thus the sons of Israel were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah were strong (S)because they leaned upon Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 19 And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured from him several cities, Bethel with its towns, Jeshanah with its towns, and [h]Ephron with its towns.
Death of Jeroboam
20 Now Jeroboam did not again recover power in the days of Abijah; and (T)Yahweh smote him and (U)he died.
21 But Abijah became stronger; and he took fourteen wives to himself, and became the father of 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 [i]treatise of (W)the prophet Iddo.
Asa Reigns over Judah
14 [j](X)So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place. The land was quiet for ten years during his days.
2 [k]And Asa did what was good and right in the sight of Yahweh his God, 3 for he removed (Y)the foreign altars and (Z)high places, shattered the sacred pillars, cut the [l](AA)Asherim in pieces, 4 and said for Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. 5 He also [m]removed the high places and the (AB)incense altars from all the cities of Judah. And the kingdom was quiet before him. 6 (AC)And he built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was quiet, and [n]there was no one at war with him during those years, (AD)because Yahweh had given him rest. 7 And he said to Judah, “(AE)Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still [o]ours because we have sought Yahweh our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and succeeded. 8 Now Asa had a military force of (AF)300,000 from Judah, bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, bearing shields and wielding bows; all of them were mighty men of valor.
9 Then Zerah the Ethiopian (AG)went out against them with a military force of one million men and 300 chariots, and he came to (AH)Mareshah. 10 So Asa went out [p]to meet him, and they arranged themselves for battle in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 Then Asa (AI)called to Yahweh his God and said, “Yahweh, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between those of abundant power and those who have no power; so help us, O Yahweh our God, (AJ)for we lean on You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O Yahweh, You are our God; let not mortal man prevail against You.” 12 So (AK)Yahweh smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as (AL)Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that [q]they could not recover, for they were shattered before Yahweh and before His [r]army. And they carried away very much spoil. 14 And they struck down all the cities around Gerar, (AM)for the dread of Yahweh had fallen on them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. 15 They also struck down [s]those who owned livestock, and they carried away large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
The Spirit of God Comes on Azariah
15 Now (AN)the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out [t]to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: (AO)Yahweh is with you when you are with Him. And (AP)if you seek Him, He will be found; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 3 (AQ)Now for many days Israel was without the true God and without (AR)a teaching priest and without law. 4 But (AS)in their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and they searched for Him, and He was found by them. 5 (AT)Now in those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for much confusion was upon all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 (AU)And nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God threw them into confusion with every kind of distress. 7 But you, (AV)be strong and do not let your hands fall limp, for there is (AW)reward for your work.”
Asa Takes Away Detestable Idols
8 Now when Asa heard these words and the [u]prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he strengthened himself and took away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from (AX)the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. (AY)He then renewed the altar of Yahweh which was in front of the porch of Yahweh. 9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon (AZ)who sojourned with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him. 10 So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 (BA)And they sacrificed to Yahweh that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought. 12 (BB)They entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; 13 and whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, (BC)should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14 Moreover, they swore an oath to Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns. 15 All Judah was glad concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had searched for Him with all their desire, and He was found by them. So (BD)Yahweh gave them rest on every side.
16 (BE)He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image [v]as (BF)an Asherah; and (BG)Asa cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17 But the high places were not [w]removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was wholly devoted all his days. 18 And he brought into the house of God the holy things of his father and his own holy things: silver and gold and utensils. 19 And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
Asa Wars Against Baasha
16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign (BH)Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built up Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and the king’s house, and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, 3 “Let there be a covenant between [x]you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” 4 So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his military forces against the cities of Israel, and they struck down Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all (BI)the [y]store cities of Naphtali. 5 Now it happened that when Baasha heard of it, he ceased building up Ramah and stopped his work. 6 Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.
Asa Imprisons a Seer
7 Now at that time (BJ)Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “(BK)Because you have leaned on the king of Aram and have not leaned on Yahweh your God, therefore the military force of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. 8 Were not (BL)the Ethiopians and the Lubim (BM)a vast military force with an exceedingly vast number of chariots and horsemen? Yet (BN)because you leaned on Yahweh, He gave them into your hand. 9 For (BO)the eyes of Yahweh move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those (BP)whose heart is wholly devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.” 10 Then Asa was vexed with the seer and put him in [z]prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.
11 (BQ)Now behold, the acts of Asa from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12 And Asa became diseased in his feet in the thirty-ninth year of his reign. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he (BR)did not seek Yahweh, but the physicians. 13 So Asa slept with his fathers. And he died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 And they buried him in his own tomb which he had [aa]cut out for himself in the city of David, and they laid him in the resting place which he had filled (BS)with spices of various kinds blended by the perfumers’ art; and (BT)they made a very great fire for him.
Jehoshaphat Reigns over Judah
17 (BU)Jehoshaphat his son then became king in his place, and strengthened himself over Israel. 2 And he put military forces in all (BV)the fortified cities of Judah, and put garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim (BW)which Asa his father had captured.
Jehoshaphat’s Kingdom Established
3 And Yahweh was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the ways of his father David’s earlier days and did not seek the Baals, 4 but sought the God of his father, walked in His commandments, (BX)and did not act as Israel did. 5 So Yahweh established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought presents to Jehoshaphat, and (BY)he had great riches and honor. 6 And [ab]his heart took great pride in the ways of Yahweh, and again he (BZ)took away the high places and the [ac]Asherim from Judah.
7 Then in the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah, (CA)to teach in the cities of Judah; 8 and with them (CB)the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. 9 And they taught in Judah, having (CC)the book of the law of Yahweh with them; and they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.
10 Now (CD)the dread of Yahweh was on all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. 11 Indeed, some of the Philistines (CE)brought presents and silver as their tax burden to Jehoshaphat; the Arabians also brought him flocks, 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats. 12 So Jehoshaphat grew greater and greater, and he built fortresses and store cities in Judah. 13 And he had large supplies in the cities of Judah, and men of war, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. 14 This was their muster according to their fathers’ households:
of Judah, commanders of thousands, Adnah was the commander, and with him 300,000 mighty men of valor;
15 and next to him was Johanan the commander, and with him 280,000;
16 and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, (CF)who volunteered for Yahweh, and with him 200,000 mighty men of valor;
17 and of Benjamin, Eliada a mighty man of valor, and with him 200,000 equipped with bow and shield;
18 and next to him Jehozabad, and with him 180,000 armed for military duty.
19 These are they who attended on the king, apart from (CG)those whom the king put in the fortified cities through all Judah.
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