2 Chronicles 13:9-22

13:9 But you banished ¹  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. Certainly ⁴  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 gave ¹⁰  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 day ¹⁵  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 ¹⁶  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 had ¹⁸  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.

[13:9]  ¹ tn 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.”

[13:9]  ² tn 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.”

[13:10]  ³ tn Heb “and priests serving the Lord [are] the sons of Aaron and the Levites in the work.”

[13:11]  ⁴ tn Or “for.”

[13:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “and his priests and the trumpets of the war alarm [are ready] to sound out against you.”

[13:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 18).

[13:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “and Jeroboam had caused to circle around an ambush to come from behind them.”

[13:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “Judah.”

[13:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Judah turned, and, look, to them [was] the battle in front and behind.”

[13:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “shouted out.”

[13:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Judah.”

[13:16]  ¹² tn Heb “them”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “struck them down with a great striking down.”

[13:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and [the] slain from Israel fell, five hundred thousand chosen men.”

[13:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “at that time.”

[13:19]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[13:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and the strength of Jeroboam was not retained again in the days of Abijah.”

[13:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “lifted up for himself.”

[13:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and his ways and his words.”