Abijah Reigns in Judah^(A)

13 In ^(B)the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over ^(C)Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^[a]Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah set the battle in order with an army of valiant warriors, four hundred thousand choice men. Jeroboam also drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand choice men, mighty men of valor.

⁴ Then Abijah stood on Mount ^(D)Zemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel: ⁵ Should you not know that the Lord God of Israel ^(E)gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, ^(F)by a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and ^(G)rebelled against his lord. ⁷ Then ^(H)worthless rogues gathered to him, and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was ^(I)young and inexperienced and could not withstand them. ⁸ And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam ^(J)made for you as gods. ^9 (K)Have you not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands, ^(L)so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of ^(M)things that are not gods? ¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our ^(N)God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties. ^11 (O)And they burn to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; they also set the ^(P)showbread in order on the pure gold table, and the lampstand of gold with its lamps ^(Q)to burn every evening; for we keep the command of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken Him. ¹² Now look, God Himself is with us as our ^(R)head, ^(S)and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!”

¹³ But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they ^(T)cried out to the Lord, and the priests sounded the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God ^(U)struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. ¹⁷ Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; so five hundred thousand choice men of Israel fell slain. ¹⁸ Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, ^(V)because they relied on the Lord God of their fathers.

¹⁹ And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and ^(W)Ephrain^[b] with its villages. ²⁰ So Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and the Lord ^(X)struck him, and ^(Y)he died.

²¹ But Abijah grew mighty, married fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways, and his sayings are written in ^(Z)the ^[c]annals of the prophet Iddo.

Asa Reigns over Judah

14 So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then ^(AA)Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.

Asa Reigns in Judah^(AB)

² Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, ³ for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and ^(AC)the ^[d]high places, and ^(AD)broke down the sacred pillars ^(AE)and cut down the wooden images. ⁴ He commanded Judah to ^(AF)seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment. ⁵ He also removed the ^[e]high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him. ⁶ And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him ^(AG)rest. ⁷ Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸ And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried ^[f]shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew ^(AH)bows; all these were mighty men of ^(AI)valor.

^9 (AJ)Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to ^(AK)Mareshah. ¹⁰ So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹ And Asa ^(AL)cried out to the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, it is ^(AM)nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and ^(AN)in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”

¹² So the Lord ^(AO)struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to ^(AP)Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the Lord and His army. And they carried away very much ^[g]spoil. ¹⁴ Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for ^(AQ)the fear of the Lord came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much ^[h]spoil in them. ¹⁵ They also ^[i]attacked the livestock enclosures, and carried off sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.