Abijah Reigns in Judah

2 Chronicles 13

1 z In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, y Abijah began to reign over Judah.

2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was a Micaiah 1 the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. b Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam c drew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. 4 Then Abijah stood up on Mount d Zemaraim that is in e the hill country of Ephraim and said, "Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! 5 Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel f gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by g a covenant of salt? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up h and rebelled against his lord, 7 and certain i worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was j young and irresolute 2 and could not withstand them.

8 "And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you k the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. 9 l Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes m for ordination 3 with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are n no gods. 10 But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. 11 They offer to the Lord o every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out p the showbread on the table of pure gold, q and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may r burn every evening. For we s keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him. 12 Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests t with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, u do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed."

13 Jeroboam had sent v an ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops 4 were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 14 And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. w And they cried to the Lord, and the priests t blew the trumpets. 15 Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, x God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 The men of Israel fled before Judah, y and God gave them into their hand. 17 Abijah and his people struck them with great force, so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men. 18 Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, z because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. 19 And Abijah pursued Jeroboam a and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and b Ephron 5 with its villages. 20 Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah. c And the Lord struck him down, d and he died. 21 But Abijah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the e story of the prophet f Iddo.

  1. Cross References
    1 Kings 15:1 - 2
    Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah.
  2. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 12:16
    And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and Abijah his son reigned in his place.
  3. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 11:20
    After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.
  4. Cross References
    1 Kings 15:7
    The rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
  5. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 14:10
    And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.
    Judges 20:22
    But the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day.
    1 Samuel 17:2
    And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines.
  6. Cross References
    Joshua 18:22
    Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel.
  7. Cross References
    Joshua 24:33
    And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of Phinehas his son, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim.
  8. Cross References
    2 Samuel 7:12 - 13
    When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
    2 Samuel 7:16
    And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.'
  9. Cross References
    Numbers 18:19
    All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you.
  10. Cross References
    1 Kings 11:26
    Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king.
    1 Kings 12:19 - 20
    So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
  11. Cross References
    Judges 9:4
    And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him.
  12. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 12:13
    So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite.
    1 Kings 14:21
    Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite.
  13. Cross References
    1 Kings 12:28
    So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
  14. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 11:14 - 15
    For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord.
  15. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 29:31
    Then Hezekiah said, "You have now consecrated yourselves to the Lord. Come near; bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord." And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.
  16. Cross References
    Jeremiah 5:7
    How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores.
  17. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 2:4
    Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him, and for the regular arrangement of the showbread, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the Lord our God, as ordained forever for Israel.
  18. Cross References
    Leviticus 24:5 - 9
    You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf.
  19. Cross References
    Exodus 25:31 - 39
    You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it.
  20. Cross References
    Exodus 27:20 - 21
    You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn.
    Leviticus 24:2 - 4
    Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly.
  21. Cross References
    Numbers 1:53
    But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.
  22. Cross References
    Numbers 10:9
    And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.
  23. Cross References
    Acts 5:39
    But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!" So they took his advice.
  24. Cross References
    Joshua 8:9
    So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people.
  25. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 14:11
    And Asa cried to the Lord his God, "O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.
  26. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 13:12
    Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.
  27. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 14:12
    So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.
  28. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 16:8
    Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand.
  29. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 14:11
    And Asa cried to the Lord his God, "O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.
    2 Chronicles 16:7 - 8
    At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, "Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you.
  30. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 15:8
    As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.
    2 Chronicles 17:2
    He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim that Asa his father had captured.
  31. Cross References
    Joshua 15:9
    Then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron. Then the boundary bends around to Baalah ( that is, Kiriath-jearim).
  32. Cross References
    1 Samuel 25:38
    And about ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
  33. Cross References
    1 Kings 14:20
    And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.
  34. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 24:27
    Accounts of his sons and of the many oracles against him and of the rebuilding of the house of God are written in the Story of the Book of the Kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
  35. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 9:29
    Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, are they not written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?
    2 Chronicles 12:15
    Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer? There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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