Daily Bread

Abijah King of Judah^(A)

13 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah, ² and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakah,^[a](B) a daughter^[b] of Uriel of Gibeah.

There was war between Abijah^(C) and Jeroboam.^{(D) 3} Abijah went into battle with an army of four hundred thousand able fighting men, and Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with eight hundred thousand able troops.

⁴ Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim,^(E) in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel,^(F) listen to me! ⁵ Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever^(G) by a covenant of salt?^{(H) 6} Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled^(I) against his master. ⁷ Some worthless scoundrels^(J) gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive^(K) and not strong enough to resist them.

⁸ “And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hands of David’s descendants.^(L) You are indeed a vast army and have with you^(M) the golden calves^(N) that Jeroboam made to be your gods. ⁹ But didn’t you drive out the priests^(O) of the Lord,^(P) the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull^(Q) and seven rams^(R) may become a priest of what are not gods.^(S)

¹⁰ “As for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the Lord are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. ¹¹ Every morning and evening^(T) they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense^(U) to the Lord. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table^(V) and light the lamps^(W) on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the Lord our God. But you have forsaken him. ¹² God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you.^(X) People of Israel, do not fight against the Lord,^(Y) the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.”^(Z)

¹³ Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah the ambush^(AA) was behind them. ¹⁴ Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out^(AB) to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets ¹⁵ and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel^(AC) before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered^(AD) them into their hands. ¹⁷ Abijah and his troops inflicted heavy losses on them, so that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel’s able men. ¹⁸ The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied^(AE) on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

¹⁹ Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages. ²⁰ Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah. And the Lord struck him down and he died.

²¹ But Abijah grew in strength. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

²² The other events of Abijah’s reign, what he did and what he said, are written in the annotations of the prophet Iddo.