II Chronicles 13

¹Yn the eiytenthe yeer of kyng Jeroboam Abia regnede on Juda;

²he regnede thre yeer in Jerusalem; and the name of hise modir was Mychaie, the douyter of Vriel of Gabaa. And batel was bitwixe Abia and Jeroboam.

³And whanne Abia hadde bigunne batel, and hadde most chyualrouse men, and four hundrid thousynde of chosun men, Jeroboam arayede ayenward the scheltroun with eiyte hundrid thousynde of men, and thei weren chosun men and most stronge to batels.

⁴Therfor Abia stood on the hil Semeron, that was in Effraym, and seide, Here thou, Jeroboam and al Israel;

⁵whether ye knowen not, that the Lord God of Israel yaf to Dauid the rewme on Israel with outen ende, to hym and to hise sones in to the couenaunt of salt, `that is, stidefast and stable?

⁶And Jeroboam, the sone of Nabath, the seruaunt of Salomon, sone of Dauid, roos, and rebellide ayens his lord.

⁷And most veyn men and the sones of Belial weren gaderid to hym, and thei hadden myyt ayens Roboam, the sone of Salomon. Certis Roboam was buystuouse, `ether fonne, and of feerdful herte, and myyte not ayenstonde hem.

⁸Now therfor ye seien, that ye moun ayenstonde the rewme of the Lord, which he holdith in possessioun bi the sones of Dauid; and ye han a greet multitude of puple, and goldun caluys, whiche Jeroboam made in to goddis to you.

⁹And ye han caste a wei the preestis of the Lord, the sones of Aaron, and dekenes, and ye han maad preestis to you, as alle the puplis of londis han preestis; who euer cometh and halewith his hond in a bole, in oxis, and in seuene wetheris, anoon he is maad preest of hem that ben not goddis.

¹⁰But oure Lord is God, whom we forsaken not; and preestis of the sones of Aaron mynystren to the Lord, and dekenes ben in her ordre;

¹¹and thei offren brent sacrifices to the Lord bi ech dai in the morewtid and euentid, and encense maad bi comaundementis of the lawe; and loues ben set forth in a moost clene boord; and at vs is the goldun candilstik and his lanterne, that it be teendid euere at euentid; forsothe we kepen the comaundementis of our God, whom ye han forsake.

¹²Therfor God is duyk in oure oost, and hise preestis, that trumpen and sownen ayens you; nyle ye, sones of Israel, fiyte ayens the Lord God of youre fadris, for it spedith not to you.

¹³While he spak these thingis, Jeroboam made redi tresouns bihynde; and whanne he stood euene ayens the enemyes, he cumpasside with his oost Juda vnwitynge.

¹⁴And Juda bihelde, and siy batel neiy euene ayens, and bihynde the bak; and he criede to the Lord, and preestis bigunnen for to trumpe.

¹⁵And alle the men of Juda crieden, and, lo! while thei crieden, God made aferd Jeroboam and al Israel, that stood euen ayens Juda and Abia.

¹⁶And the men of Israel fledden fro Juda, and God bitook hem in to the hondis of men of Juda.

¹⁷Therfor Abia and his puple smoot hem with a greet wounde, and there felden doun of hem fyue hundrid thousynde of stronge men woundid.

¹⁸And the sones of Israel weren maad lowe in that tyme, and the sones of Juda weren coumfortid ful greetli, for thei hadden hopid in the Lord God of her fadris.

¹⁹Forsothe Abia pursuede Jeroboam fleynge, and took hise cytees, Bethel and hise vilagis, and Jesana with hise vilagis, and Ephron and hise vilagis;

²⁰and Jeroboam miyte no more ayenstonde in the daies of Abia, whom the Lord smoot, and he was deed.

²¹Therfor Abia, whanne his empire was coumforted, took fourtene wyues, and he gendride two and twenti sones, and sixtene douytris.

²²The residue of wordis of Abia and of his weyes and werkis, ben writun ful diligentli in the book of Abdo, the profete.

II Chronicles 13

¹Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah.

²He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

³And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.

⁴And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel;

⁵Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

⁶Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord.

⁷And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.

⁸And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods.

⁹Have ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.

¹⁰But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:

¹¹And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God; but ye have forsaken him.

¹²And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

¹³But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.

¹⁴And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.

¹⁵Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

¹⁶And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.

¹⁷And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.

¹⁸Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers.

¹⁹And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Beth–el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof.

²⁰Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the Lord struck him, and he died.

²¹But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.

²²And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.