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2 Chronicles 13
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Chapter 13
13. ABIJAH AND LOYALTY TO THE LEGITIMATE PRIESTHOOD
War
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In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah
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and reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah, daughter of Uriel, from Gibeah. Abijah and Jeroboam were at war.
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Abijah went into battle with an army of brave fighters, four hundred thousand picked men, while Jeroboam drew up his battle line against him with eight hundred thousand picked men, stout fighters.
Abijah addresses the Israelites
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Abijah took his stand on Mount Zemaraim, in the highlands of Ephraim. ‘Jeroboam and all Israel’ he cried ‘listen to me!
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Do you not know that Yahweh the God of Israel has given the sovereignty of Israel to David for ever? It is an inviolable covenant for him and for his sons.
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Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon son of David, has risen in revolt against his lord;
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worthless men, scoundrels, have rallied to him and forced their will on Rehoboam the son of Solomon, on Rehoboam, then a young man and timid, powerless to resist them.
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Now you talk of resisting the sovereignty of Yahweh, which belongs to the sons of David, and you stand there in a great horde, with your golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods!
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Have you not driven out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, to make priests of your own like the peoples of foreign countries? Anyone who comes with a bull and seven rams to get himself consecrated can become priest of what is no god at all!
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But for our part, our God is Yahweh, and we have not abandoned him: our priests are sons of Aaron who minister to Yahweh, and those who serve are Levites.
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Every morning, every evening, we burn holocausts to Yahweh our God; we have the incense of sweet spices, the loaves set out in rows on the pure table, the golden lamp-stand with its lamps that burn each evening; for we observe the ritual of Yahweh our God, but you have abandoned him.
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See how God is with us, at our head; see his priests with the trumpets, who will sound them to raise the war cry against you. Sons of Israel, do not fight against Yahweh, the God of our ancestors, for you will not succeed.’
The battle
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Jeroboam outflanked the Judaeans by setting an ambush in their rear; the Judaeans were facing the Israelites with the ambush in their rear.
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The Judaeans, turning about, found themselves attacked in front and rear. They called on Yahweh, the priests sounded the trumpets,
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and the men of Judah raised the war cry, and as they raised the cry God scattered Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
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The Israelites fled before Judah and God delivered them into the power of the Judaeans.
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Abijah and his army inflicted a crushing defeat on them: five hundred thousand of Israel’s chosen men fell killed.
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So the sons of Israel were humbled on that occasion, and the sons of Judah reassured since they had relied on Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.
The end of the reign of Abijah
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Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured certain towns from him: Bethel with its outlying villages, Jeshanah with its outlying villages and Ephron with its outlying villages.
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So in the lifetime of Abijah, Jeroboam could no longer maintain his power; and Yahweh struck him down, and he died.
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But Abijah grew in strength; he took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
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The rest of the history of Abijah, his conduct and his deeds, is not all this recorded in the Midrash of the prophet Iddo?
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Then Abijah slept with his fathers and they buried him in the Citadel of David; his son Asa succeeded him.
Chapters of 2 Chronicles
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4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
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18
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21
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