| New King James Version | International Standard Version |
| 1In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. | 1During the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. |
| 2He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. | 2He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Uriel's daughter Micaiah from Gibeah. A war started between Abijah and Jeroboam. |
| 3Abijah set the battle in order with an army of valiant warriors, four hundred thousand choice men. Jeroboam also drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand choice men, mighty men of valor. | 3Abijah started the battle with an army of 400,000 specially chosen valiant soldiers, but Jeroboam opposed him with 800,000 specially chosen valiant soldiers. |
| 4Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel: | 4Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the hill country of Ephraim and announced: "Listen to me, Jeroboam and Israel! |
| 5Should you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt? | 5Don't you know that the LORD God of Israel assigned the kingship over Israel to David and his descendants forever by a salt covenant? |
| 6Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord. | 6Even so, Nebat's son Jeroboam, who used to serve David's son Solomon, rose in rebellion against his own master! |
| 7Then worthless rogues gathered to him, and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and inexperienced and could not withstand them. | 7Useless troublemakers soon gathered around him, who turned out to be too strong for Rehoboam, because he was young, timid, and unable to withstand them. |
| 8And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods. | 8"So now you think you'll be able to withstand the LORD's kingdom as controlled by David's descendants, just because you have a large crown and have brought with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods. |
| 9Have you not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands, so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of things that are not gods? | 9Haven't you already driven away the LORD's priests, the descendants of Aaron and the descendants of Levi? Haven't you established your own priests like the people of other lands? |
| 10But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the LORD are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties. | 10"Now as far as we're concerned, the LORD is our God, and we haven't abandoned him. The descendants of Aaron are ministering to the LORD as priests, and the descendants of Levi continue their work. |
| 11And they burn to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; they also set the showbread in order on the pure gold table, and the lampstand of gold with its lamps to burn every evening; for we keep the command of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken Him. | 11Every morning and evening, they're offering burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the LORD, the showbread is set out on the pure table, and they take care of the golden lamp stand so its lamps can continue to burn every evening. We continue to be faithful over what the LORD our God entrusted to us, but you have abandoned him. |
| 12Now look, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the LORD God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!” | 12Now listen! God is with us to lead us, and his priests are about to sound their battle trumpets against you. Descendants of Israel, don't fight against the LORD God of your ancestors, because you won't succeed!" |
| 13But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. | 13But Jeroboam had sent an ambush to attack from the rear, so Israel was in front of Judah, with the ambush set in place behind them. |
| 14And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they cried out to the LORD, and the priests sounded the trumpets. | 14When the army of Judah turned around to look, they were being attacked from both front and rear, so they cried out to the LORD while the priests sounded their trumpets. |
| 15Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. | 15Then the army of Judah sounded a war cry, and God routed Jeroboam and the entire army of Israel in front of Abijah and Judah. |
| 16And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. | 16When the descendants of Israel ran away from the army of Judah, God handed them over to the army of Judah. |
| 17Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; so five hundred thousand choice men of Israel fell slain. | 17Abijah and his army defeated them in a tremendous slaughter that resulted in 500,000 special forces from Israel being slain. |
| 18Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the LORD God of their fathers. | 18And so the descendants of Israel were defeated at that time. The descendants of Judah were victorious because they trusted in the LORD God of their ancestors. |
| 19And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephrain with its villages. | 19After this Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured Bethel and its villages, Jeshanah and its villages, and Ephron and its villages. |
| 20So Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and the LORD struck him, and he died. | 20Jeroboam never recovered his strength for the rest of Abijah's life. The LORD struck Jeroboam, and he died, |
| 21But Abijah grew mighty, married fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. | 21but Abijah continued to grow more powerful. He took fourteen wives for himself and fathered 22 sons and sixteen daughters. |
| 22Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways, and his sayings are written in the annals of the prophet Iddo. | 22The rest of Abijah's accomplishments, his lifestyle and his memoirs are recorded in the Midrash of the Prophet Iddo. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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