Abijah King of Judah(A)
13 Abijah became the king of Judah during the eighteenth year Jeroboam was king of Israel. 2 Abijah ·ruled [reigned] in Jerusalem for three years. His mother was Maacah daughter of Uriel from the town of Gibeah.
And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah led an army of four hundred thousand ·capable [skilled; valiant] soldiers into battle, and Jeroboam prepared to fight him with eight hundred thousand ·capable [skilled; valiant] soldiers.
4 Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the mountains of Ephraim and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! 5 ·You should know [L Do you not know/realize…?] that the Lord, the God of Israel, gave David and his sons the right to ·rule [reign over] Israel forever by an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] of salt [Lev. 2:13; Num. 18:19]. 6 But Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of the ·officers [officials] of Solomon, David’s son, ·turned [rebelled] against his master. 7 Then ·worthless [L empty], ·evil men [scoundrels] joined Jeroboam against Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. He was young and ·didn’t know what to do [inexperienced; indecisive], so he could not ·stop [resist; stand up to] them.
8 “Now you ·people are making plans against [propose to resist/stand against] the Lord’s kingdom, which belongs to David’s sons. ·There are many of you [You are a vast army], and you have the gold calves Jeroboam made for you as gods. 9 ·You have [Have you not…?] thrown out the Levites and the Lord’s priests, Aaron’s sons. You have ·chosen [appointed] your own priests [C rather than God appointing them] as people in other ·countries [lands; nations] do. Anyone who comes with a young bull and seven ·male sheep [rams] can become a priest of idols that are not gods [C that is, they buy or bribe their way into the priesthood].
10 “But as for us, the Lord is our God; we have not ·left [abandoned; forsaken] him. The priests who serve the Lord are Aaron’s ·sons [descendants], and the Levites ·help [assist; attend] them. 11 They ·offered [sacrificed] burnt offerings and ·sweet-smelling [fragrant] incense to the Lord every morning and evening. They put the ·bread [T showbread] on the ·special [holy; ritually clean] table [C in the Temple]. And they light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We obey the command of the Lord our God, but you have ·left [abandoned; forsaken] him. 12 God himself is with us as our ·ruler [head]. His priests blow the trumpet to ·call us to war [sound the alarm] against you. Men of Israel, don’t fight against the Lord, the God of your ·ancestors [fathers], because you won’t succeed.”
13 But Jeroboam had sent some troops to ·sneak behind Judah’s army [ambush from behind]. So while Jeroboam was ·in front of [confronting] Judah’s army, ·Jeroboam’s soldiers [the ambushers] were behind them. 14 When the soldiers of Judah turned around, they saw Jeroboam’s army attacking both in front and back. So they cried out to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. 15 Then the men of Judah ·gave [shouted out] a battle cry. When they shouted, God ·caused Jeroboam and the army of Israel to run away from [routed/defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before] Abijah and the army of Judah. 16 When the army of Israel ·ran away from the men of [fled before] Judah, God handed them over to Judah. 17 Abijah’s army ·struck [inflicted a great slaughter on] Israel so that five hundred thousand of Israel’s ·best [select] men were killed. 18 So at that time the people of Israel were ·defeated [subdued]. And the people of Judah ·won [conquered; prevailed], because they ·depended on [trusted] the Lord, the God of their ·ancestors [fathers].
19 Abijah’s army chased Jeroboam’s army and captured from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, and the small villages near them. 20 Jeroboam never ·became strong [regained his power] again while Abijah was alive. The Lord struck Jeroboam, and he died.
21 But Abijah ·became strong [grew more powerful]. He married fourteen women and was the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 ·Everything else Abijah did [The rest of the events/acts/history of Abijah]—what he said and what he did—is recorded in the ·writings [commentary; treatise] of the prophet Iddo.