2 Chronicles 13

13 ¹In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah. ²He reigned three years in Jerusalem; his mother was Micaiah, Uriel of Gibeah's daughter. Abijah and Jeroboam went to war. ³Abijah joined battle with an army of 400,000 chosen warriors, mighty in war; Jeroboam lined up against him with 800,000 chosen, mighty warriors.

⁴Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in Ephraim's hill country and said, "Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel! ⁵Don't you know our Father, the God of Israel, gave David and his sons Israel's throne forever, by a covenant of salt? ^a a v5 A covenant of salt was a solemn, permanent agreement; salt preserved food and symbolized a lasting, unbreakable commitment. ⁶But Jeroboam son of Nebat—a servant of Solomon son of David—rose and rebelled against his master. ⁷Worthless men gathered around him, defying Solomon's son Rehoboam, young and timid, unable to resist them.

⁸Now you think you can resist our Father's kingdom in David's sons' hands, since you're a huge crowd with the golden calves Jeroboam made as your gods. ⁹Haven't you driven out our Father's priests, Aaron's sons and the Levites, and made your own priests like other nations? Anyone who comes with a young bull and seven rams can become a priest of things that aren't gods.

¹⁰But our Father is ours, and we haven't abandoned him. The priests serving him are Aaron's sons, and the Levites are at their work. ¹¹Every morning and evening they burn to our Father burnt offerings and fragrant incense; they set rows of bread on the pure gold table and tend the gold lampstand, lit every evening. We keep our Father's charge, but you have abandoned him. ¹²Look, our Father is with us at our head, and his priests have trumpets to sound alarm against you. Israelites, do not fight our Father, the God of your ancestors, for you will not prevail."

¹³Jeroboam had sent an ambush around, to come from behind them; his forces faced Judah, the ambush behind them. ¹⁴Judah turned, saw battle facing them front and back, cried to our Father; the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵Judah's men shouted the war cry, and as they shouted, our Father struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶The people of Israel fled before Judah, and our Father handed them over to Judah. ¹⁷Abijah and his army struck them a heavy blow; 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell dead. ¹⁸So Israel was humbled then, and Judah prevailed because they relied on our Father, God of their ancestors. ¹⁹Abijah chased Jeroboam, capturing cities from him — Bethel and its villages, Jeshanah and its villages, Ephron and its villages.

²⁰Jeroboam never regained his strength during Abijah's lifetime, and our Father struck him down, and he died. ²¹But Abijah grew strong. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²²The rest of Abijah's acts, his ways and sayings, are written in the prophet Iddo's commentary.