Abijah Is King of Judah
2 Chronicles 13, verse 1. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 2. He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 3. Abijah set a battle in array with an army of valiant warriors, four hundred thousand mighty men. Jeroboam also drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand mighty men of valor. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 4. Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel, 2 Chronicles 13, verse 5. do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David and his sons forever by a covenant of salt? 2 Chronicles 13, verse 6. Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 7. Then worthless rogues gathered to him and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and inexperienced and could not withstand them. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 8. And now you think you can stand against the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hand of the sons of David. You are a great multitude, and you have as gods the golden calves Jeroboam made for you. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 9. Did you not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves from the peoples of the land, so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of things that are not gods? 2 Chronicles 13, verse 10. “But we have not forsaken the Lord our God. And the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 11. And every morning and every evening they offer burnt sacrifices and sweet incense to the Lord, and they set the showbread in order on the pure gold table, and the golden lamp stand with its lamps to burn every evening. For we keep the command of the Lord God of our fathers, but you have forsaken Him. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 12. Listen, Israel, God Himself is with us as our head, and so are His priests, with trumpets to sound the alarm over us. Children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!” 2 Chronicles 13, verse 13. And Jeroboam sent men to slip behind Judah, so Jeroboam would be in front of Judah with an ambush being behind them. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 14. Judah looked back, and behold, a battle line was behind them and in front of them. And they cried out to the Lord, and the priests sounded the trumpets. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 15. Then the men of Judah shouted. And as the men of Judah shouted, God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 16. And the sons of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 17. Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter, and five hundred thousand mighty men of Israel fell slain. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 18. Thus the sons of Israel were subdued on that day, because Judah relied on the Lord God of their fathers. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 19. Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephrain with its villages. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 20. So Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah. And the Lord struck him, and he died. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 21. However, Abijah grew mighty. He married fourteen wives and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 22. Now the rest of the acts of Abijah and his ways and his sayings are written in the annals of the prophet Iddo. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 23. And Abijah died and rested with his fathers. They buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days, the land of Judah was quiet for ten years.