2 Chronicles 13:11-22

13:11 They offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord every morning and every evening, along with fragrant incense. They arrange the Bread of the Presence on a ritually clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. Certainly ¹  we are observing the Lord our God’s regulations, but you have rejected him. 13:12 Now look, God is with us as our leader. His priests are ready to blow the trumpets to signal the attack against you. ²  You Israelites, don’t fight against the Lord God of your ancestors, ³  for you will not win!”

13:13 Now Jeroboam had sent some men to ambush the Judahite army from behind. ⁴  The main army was in front of the Judahite army; ⁵  the ambushers were behind it. 13:14 The men of Judah turned around and realized they were being attacked from the front and the rear. ⁶  So they cried out for help to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets, 13:15 and the men of Judah gave ⁷  the battle cry. As the men of Judah gave the battle cry, the Lord struck down Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 13:16 The Israelites fled from before the Judahite army, ⁸  and God handed them over to the men of Judah. ⁹  13:17 Abijah and his army thoroughly defeated them; ¹⁰  500,000 well-trained Israelite men fell dead. ¹¹  13:18 That day ¹²  the Israelites were defeated; the men of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord God of their ancestors.

13:19 Abijah chased Jeroboam; he seized from him these cities: Bethel ¹³  and its surrounding towns, Jeshanah and its surrounding towns, and Ephron and its surrounding towns. 13:20 Jeroboam did not regain power during the reign of Abijah. ¹⁴  The Lord struck him down and he died. 13:21 Abijah’s power grew; he had ¹⁵  fourteen wives and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

13:22 The rest of the events of Abijah’s reign, including his deeds and sayings, ¹⁶  are recorded in the writings of the prophet Iddo.

¹ tn Or “for.”

² tn Heb “and his priests and the trumpets of the war alarm [are ready] to sound out against you.”

³ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 18).

⁴ tn Heb “and Jeroboam had caused to circle around an ambush to come from behind them.”

⁵ tn Heb “Judah.”

⁶ tn Heb “and Judah turned, and, look, to them [was] the battle in front and behind.”

⁷ tn Heb “shouted out.”

⁸ tn Heb “Judah.”

⁹ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Heb “struck them down with a great striking down.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and [the] slain from Israel fell, five hundred thousand chosen men.”

¹² tn Heb “at that time.”

¹³ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

¹⁴ tn Heb “and the strength of Jeroboam was not retained again in the days of Abijah.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “lifted up for himself.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “and his ways and his words.”