2 Chronicles 13:8-18

13:8 Now you are declaring that you will resist the Lord’s rule through the Davidic dynasty.¹ You have a huge army,² and bring with you the gold calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods. 13:9 But you banished³ the Lord’s priests, Aaron’s descendants, and the Levites, and appointed your own priests just as the surrounding nations do! Anyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of these fake gods!⁴ 13:10 But as for us, the Lord is our God and we have not rejected him. Aaron’s descendants serve as the Lord’s priests and the Levites assist them with the work.⁵ 13:11 They offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord every morning and every evening, along with fragrant incense. They arrange the Bread of the Presence on a ritually clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. Certainly⁶ we are observing the Lord our God’s regulations, but you have rejected him. 13:12 Now look, God is with us as our leader. His priests are ready to blow the trumpets to signal the attack against you.⁷ You Israelites, don’t fight against the Lord God of your ancestors,⁸ for you will not win!”

13:13 Now Jeroboam had sent some men to ambush the Judahite army from behind.⁹ The main army was in front of the Judahite army;¹⁰ the ambushers were behind it. 13:14 The men of Judah turned around and realized they were being attacked from the front and the rear.¹¹ So they cried out for help to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets, 13:15 and the men of Judah gave¹² the battle cry. As the men of Judah gave the battle cry, the Lord struck down Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 13:16 The Israelites fled from before the Judahite army,¹³ and God handed them over to the men of Judah.¹⁴ 13:17 Abijah and his army thoroughly defeated them;¹⁵ 500,000 well-trained Israelite men fell dead.¹⁶ 13:18 That day¹⁷ the Israelites were defeated; the men of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord God of their ancestors.

¹tn Heb “the kingdom of the Lord by the hand of the sons of David.”

²tn Or “horde”; or “multitude.”

³tn In the Hebrew text this is phrased as a rhetorical question, “Did you not banish?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you did,” the force of which is reflected in the translation “But you banished.”

⁴tn Heb “whoever comes to fill his hand with a bull of a son of cattle, and seven rams, and he is a priest to no-gods.”

⁵tn Heb “and priests serving the Lord [are] the sons of Aaron and the Levites in the work.”

⁶tn Or “for.”

⁷tn Heb “and his priests and the trumpets of the war alarm [are ready] to sound out against you.”

⁸tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 18).

⁹tn Heb “and Jeroboam had caused to circle around an ambush to come from behind them.”

¹⁰tn Heb “Judah.”

¹¹tn Heb “and Judah turned, and, look, to them [was] the battle in front and behind.”

¹²tn Heb “shouted out.”

¹³tn Heb “Judah.”

¹⁴tn Heb “them”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵tn Heb “struck them down with a great striking down.”

¹⁶tn Heb “and [the] slain from Israel fell, five hundred thousand chosen men.”

¹⁷tn Heb “at that time.”