Abijah

¹⁰ Solomon’s son was Rehoboam: Abijah was his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,

¹¹ Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,

And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David; his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And his son Abijam reigned in his place.

¹ In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam became king of Judah,

² and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.

⁷ As for the rest of the acts of Abijam, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

⁸ And Abijam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, and his son Asa reigned in his place.

²⁰ After her, he married Maacah daughter of Absalom, and she bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.

²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

²² Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, intending to make him king.

And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And his son Abijah reigned in his place.

¹ In the eighteenth year of Jeroboam’s reign, Abijah became king of Judah,

² and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Micaiah daughter of Uriel; she was from Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

³ Abijah went into battle with an army of 400,000 chosen men, while Jeroboam drew up in formation against him with 800,000 chosen and mighty men of valor.

⁴ Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel!

¹⁴ When Judah turned and discovered that the battle was both before and behind them, they cried out to the LORD. Then the priests blew the trumpets,

¹⁵ and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. And when they raised the cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

¹⁶ So the Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands.

¹⁷ Then Abijah and his people struck them with a mighty blow, and 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain.

¹⁸ Thus the Israelites were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers.

¹⁹ Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured some cities from him: Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, along with their villages.

²⁰ Jeroboam did not again recover his power during the days of Abijah, and the LORD struck him down and he died.

²¹ But Abijah grew strong, married fourteen wives, and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

²² Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, along with his ways and his words, are written in the Treatise of the Prophet Iddo.

Then Abijah rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And his son Asa reigned in his place, and in his days the land was at peace for ten years.