2 Chronicles 13:9-22

13:9 But you banished¹ the Lord’s priests, Aaron’s descendants, and the Levites, and appointed your own priests just as the surrounding nations do! Anyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of these fake gods!² 13:10 But as for us, the Lord is our God and we have not rejected him. Aaron’s descendants serve as the Lord’s priests and the Levites assist them with the work.³ 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. Certainly⁴ 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.⁵ You Israelites, don’t fight against the Lord God of your ancestors,⁶ for you will not win!”

13:13 Now Jeroboam had sent some men to ambush the Judahite army from behind.⁷ The main army was in front of the Judahite army;⁸ 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.⁹ So they cried out for help to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets, 13:15 and the men of Judah gave¹⁰ 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,¹¹ and God handed them over to the men of Judah.¹² 13:17 Abijah and his army thoroughly defeated them;¹³ 500,000 well-trained Israelite men fell dead.¹⁴ 13:18 That day¹⁵ 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: Bethel¹⁶ 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.¹⁷ The Lord struck him down and he died. 13:21 Abijah’s power grew; he had¹⁸ 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,¹⁹ are recorded in the writings of the prophet Iddo.

¹tn In the Hebrew text this is phrased as a rhetorical question, “Did you not banish?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you did,” the force of which is reflected in the translation “But you banished.”

²tn Heb “whoever comes to fill his hand with a bull of a son of cattle, and seven rams, and he is a priest to no-gods.”

³tn Heb “and priests serving the Lord [are] the sons of Aaron and the Levites in the work.”

⁴tn Or “for.”

⁵tn Heb “and his priests and the trumpets of the war alarm [are ready] to sound out against you.”

⁶tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 18).

⁷tn Heb “and Jeroboam had caused to circle around an ambush to come from behind them.”

⁸tn Heb “Judah.”

⁹tn Heb “and Judah turned, and, look, to them [was] the battle in front and behind.”

¹⁰tn Heb “shouted out.”

¹¹tn Heb “Judah.”

¹²tn Heb “them”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹³tn Heb “struck them down with a great striking down.”

¹⁴tn Heb “and [the] slain from Israel fell, five hundred thousand chosen men.”

¹⁵tn Heb “at that time.”

¹⁶map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

¹⁷tn Heb “and the strength of Jeroboam was not retained again in the days of Abijah.”

¹⁸tn Heb “lifted up for himself.”

¹⁹tn Heb “and his ways and his words.”