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

He reigned three years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

And Abijah began the battle with an army of valiant men of war, four hundred thousand choice men. And Jeroboam set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand choice men, mighty men of valor.

And Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel:

Do you not know that Jehovah the God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, to him and to his sons, by a  ¹covenant of salt?

But Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord.

And worthless men, just scoundrels, gathered around him and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tender in heart and could not withstand them.

And now you think that you can withstand the kingdom of Jehovah in the hand of the sons of David because you are a great multitude and with you are the golden calves that Jeroboam made as gods for you.

Have you not cast out the priests of Jehovah, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites? And you made for yourselves priests like those of the peoples of other lands, so that anyone who comes to  ¹consecrate himself with a bull of the herd and seven rams becomes a priest of what are not gods.

But as for us, Jehovah is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to Jehovah are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites are in their work.

And they offer in smoke to Jehovah burnt offerings morning by morning and evening by evening as well as fragrant incense, and they set the rows of bread upon the pure table, and they care for the golden lampstand and its lamps that it may burn evening by evening; for we keep the charge of Jehovah our God, but you have forsaken Him.

And here with us is God at our head and His priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound out against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against Jehovah, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.

Now Jeroboam had sent an ambush around to come up from behind them. So they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them.

And when Judah looked back, the battle was right on them, before and behind; and they cried out to Jehovah, and the priests sounded the trumpets.

And the men of Judah shouted; and when the men of Judah shouted, God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hand.

And Abijah and his people struck a great blow on them, so that five hundred thousand choice men from Israel fell slain.

Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on Jehovah, the God of their fathers.

And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel and its villages, and Jeshanah and its villages, and Ephron and its villages.

And Jeroboam never regained power during the days of Abijah; but Jehovah struck him, and he died.

And Abijah grew stronger; and he took to himself  ¹fourteen wives and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

And the rest of the acts of Abijah and his ways and his words are written in the commentary of the prophet Iddo.

And Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David.

And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.

And Asa did what was good and upright in the sight of Jehovah his God;

For he removed the foreign altars and the high places and smashed the pillars and hewed down the Asherahs,

And he commanded Judah to pursue Jehovah, the God of their fathers, and perform the law and the commandment.

And from all the cities of Judah he removed the  ¹high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom was quiet before him.

And he built fortress cities in Judah; for the land was quiet and there was no war against him during those years, because Jehovah had given him rest.

For he said to Judah, Let us build these cities and put around them walls with towers, gates, and bars. The land is still before us because we have pursued Jehovah our God; we have pursued Him, and He has given us rest all around. So they built and prospered.

And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who bore shields and spears and of two hundred eighty thousand from Benjamin who bore hand shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor.

And Zerah the  ¹Cushite went out to them with an army of one million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah.

And Asa went out before him and set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

And Asa called out to Jehovah his God and said, O Jehovah, there is none besides You to help us, between the mighty and those without strength. Help us, O Jehovah our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name we have come against this multitude. O Jehovah, You are our God; do not let mortal man prevail against You.

And Jehovah struck the Cushites before Asa and before Judah, and the Cushites fled.

And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar; and so many of the Cushites fell that  ¹they could not recover, for they were shattered before Jehovah and before His army. And they carried away very much spoil.

And they struck all the cities surrounding Gerar, for the fear of Jehovah was upon them. And they plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.

And they also struck the cattle tents and carried away sheep in abundance and camels, and they returned to Jerusalem.

And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.

And he went out to meet Asa and said to him, Hear me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin: Jehovah is with you while you are with Him; and if you pursue Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

Now for a long time Israel has been without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law.

But in their distress they turned to Jehovah the God of Israel and sought Him, and He was found by them.

For in those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great afflictions were upon all the inhabitants of the lands.

For they were crushed, nation against nation and city against city, for God afflicted them with every distress.

But you be strong and do not let your hands fail, for there is reward for your labor.

And when Asa heard these words, that is, the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he strengthened himself and put away the  ¹detestable things from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim. And he restored the altar of Jehovah, which was before the portico of Jehovah.

And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and the sojourners with them from Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon, for many from Israel threw in their lot with him when they saw that Jehovah his God was with him.

So they gathered themselves at Jerusalem in the third month in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

And they sacrificed to Jehovah on that day from the spoil they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

And they entered into a covenant to pursue Jehovah, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul,

And covenanted that anyone who did not pursue Jehovah the God of Israel would be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

And they swore to Jehovah with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns.

And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for with all their heart they swore and with all their desire they sought Him. And He was found by them, and Jehovah gave them rest all around.

And he also removed Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother because she had made for  ¹Asherah an abominable image; and Asa cut down her abominable image and crushed it to powder and burned it at the brook Kidron.

But the high places were not taken away from Israel; otherwise Asa's heart was perfect all his days.

And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had sanctified and that he had sanctified—silver and gold and vessels.

And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.