2 Chronicles 13 – 14 (EHV)

1 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. 2 He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah, [1] the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah. [2]

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah got ready for battle with an army of four hundred thousand strong warriors, each man specially chosen. [3] Jeroboam lined up for battle against him with eight hundred thousand strong warriors, each man specially chosen.

4 Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the hill country of Ephraim and said this to them:

Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel. 5 You should know that the Lord, the God of Israel, gave the kingship over Israel to David forever, to him and to his sons, with a covenant of salt. 6 But Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official who served Solomon, the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master. 7 Worthless, good-for-nothing men gathered around him. They strongly opposed Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, when he was young and indecisive and not strong enough to stand up against them. 8 Now you are planning to take your stand against the kingdom of the Lord, which is under the control of the sons of David. You are a great horde, and you have the golden calves with you, which Jeroboam made to be your gods.

9 But haven’t you driven out the priests of the Lord, who are the descendants of Aaron, as well as the Levites? You have made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands. Anyone who comes with a young bull and seven rams can ordain himself—but only as a priest to nonexistent gods!

10 As for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not abandoned him, and we have not abandoned the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who minister to the Lord, or the Levites, who serve with them. 11 They send burnt offerings up to the Lord in smoke, every morning and every evening, along with incense made of sweet spices. They arrange the bread on the pure table and take care of the gold lampstand, lighting its lamps every evening. We are fulfilling our duties to the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him.

12 Look! God is with us as our head, and his priests with their trumpets are sounding the call to battle against you. People of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.

13 However, Jeroboam had set up an ambush to come around them from behind. So the main enemy forces were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 14 When Judah turned and saw that the battle line was in front of them and behind them, they cried out to the Lord while the priests kept blowing the trumpets.

15 The men of Judah raised a battle cry. When they raised the battle cry, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 The men of Israel fled from Judah, and God gave them into their hand. 17 Abijah and his people inflicted very heavy casualties on them. Five hundred thousand specially chosen men of Israel fell in battle.

18 So the men of Israel were subdued at that time. The men of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. 19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took these cities from him: Bethel and its villages, Jeshanah and its villages, and Ephron and its villages. 20 Jeroboam never recovered his power during the days of Abijah. Then the Lord struck Jeroboam, and he died.

21 But Abijah grew strong. He took for himself fourteen wives and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

22 The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his words, are written in the notes of the prophet Iddo.

1 Abijah rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. His son Asa became king in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years. [4]

2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He removed the foreign altars and the high places. He demolished the sacred memorial stones and chopped down the Asherah poles. 4 He told Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to obey his law and command. 5 He removed the high places and the sun pillars [5] from all the cities of Judah. The kingdom enjoyed peace and quiet under him.

6 He built fortified cities in Judah because the land was quiet. He had no wars in those years because the Lord gave him rest.

7 Asa said to Judah, “We will build these cities and surround them with walls, towers, and barred gates. The land before us is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We sought him, and he has given us peace all around.”

So they built and prospered.

8 Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, who carried large shields and spears, and two hundred eighty thousand men from Benjamin, who carried shields and were armed with bows. These were all strong, powerful warriors.

9 Zerah the Cushite [6] came out against them with an army of a million [7] men and three hundred chariots and advanced as far as Mareshah. 10 Asa went out to confront him, and they formed battle lines in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

11 Asa cried to the Lord his God, “Lord, there is no one except you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O Lord our God, because we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this horde. [8] Lord, you are our God. Men will not prevail against you.”

12 The Lord defeated the Cushites before Asa and Judah, and the Cushites fled. 13 Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell until none of them were left alive, because they were broken before the Lord and before his army, who carried away a large amount of plunder. 14 They struck all the cities around Gerar, because the dread of the Lord was upon them. They looted all the cities because there was a great deal of plunder in them. 15 Also they struck the tents of the herdsmen and carried off very many sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

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