Apr 11 - 2 Chronicles 13-17
2 Chronicles
1In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, Abijah reigned over Judah2He reigned for three years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel, from Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam3And when Abijah had undertaken the conflict, and he had with him four hundred thousand elect men, very fit for war, Jeroboam set up a battle line opposite him of eight hundred thousand men, who were also elect and very strong in warfare4Then Abijah stood upon mount Zemaraim, which was in Ephraim, and he said: "Listen to me, Jeroboam and all of Israel5Are you ignorant that the Lord, the God of Israel, gave David the kingship over Israel for all time, to him and to his sons, by a covenant of salt6But Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, the servant of Solomon, son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord7And there were gathered to him very vain men, and sons of Belial. And they prevailed against Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. For Rehoboam was inexperienced, and he had a fearful heart, and so he was unable to resist them8Now therefore, you say that you are able to resist the kingdom of the Lord, which he possesses through the sons of David, and you have a great multitude of people, and gold calves, which Jeroboam made for you as gods9And you have cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, as well as the Levites. And like all the peoples of the lands, you have made priests for yourselves. Anyone who is willing to come and perform the ritual by his hand, with a bull from the herd and with seven rams, is made a priest of those who are not gods10But the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. And the priests who minister to the Lord are from the sons of Aaron. And the Levites are in their proper order11Also, they offer holocausts to the Lord, each and every day, morning and evening, and incense composed according to the precept of the law, and the bread of the presence on a very pure table. And there is with us the gold lampstand with its lamps, so that they may burn continually in the evening. For certainly, we keep the precepts of the Lord our God, whom you have forsaken12Therefore, God is the commander of our army, with his priests, who sound the trumpets that ring out against you. O sons of Israel, do not choose to fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers. For it is not expedient for you.13While he was speaking these things, Jeroboam set in motion an ambush behind them. And while they stood facing the enemy, without Judah realizing it, his army circled around14And looking back, Judah saw the war threatening in front and behind, and they cried out to the Lord. And the priests began to sound the trumpets15And all the men of Judah shouted out. And behold, when they cried out, God terrified Jeroboam, and all of Israel who were standing in opposition to Abijah and Judah16And the sons of Israel fled from Judah, and the Lord delivered them into their hand17Therefore, Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter. And five hundred thousand strong men of Israel fell wounded18And the sons of Israel were humiliated at that time. And the sons of Judah were very greatly strengthened, because they had trusted in the Lord, the God of their fathers19Then Abijah pursued the fleeing Jeroboam. And he seized cities from him: Bethel and her daughters, and Jeshanah with her daughters, and also Ephron and her daughters20And Jeroboam no longer had the strength to resist, in the days of Abijah. And the Lord struck him, and he died21And so Abijah, having been strengthened in his authority, took fourteen wives. And he procreated twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters22Now the rest of the words of Abijah, and his ways and works, have been written very diligently in the book of Iddo, the prophet
1Then Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. And his son, Asa, reigned in his place. During his days, the land was quiet for ten years2Now Asa did what was good and pleasing in the sight of his God. And he overturned the altars of foreign worship, and the high places3And he broke apart the statues, and he cut down the sacred groves4And he instructed Judah that they should seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and that they should carry out the law and all the commandments5And he took away, from all the cities of Judah, the altars and the shrines. And he reigned in peace6Also, he built fortified cities in Judah. For it was quiet, and in his time no wars had arisen. For the Lord was generously granting peace7Then he said to Judah: "Let us build these cities, and strengthen them with walls, and fortify them with towers and gates and bars, while all things are at rest from wars. For we have sought the Lord, the God of our fathers, and he has granted to us peace on every side." And so they built, and there was nothing to impede them from building8Now Asa had in his army three hundred thousand men of Judah, carrying shields and spears, and truly, of Benjamin, two hundred eighty thousand men with shields and bows. All of these were very valiant men9Then Zerah, the Ethiopian, went forth against them with his army of one million men, and three hundred chariots. And he approached as far as Mareshah10And Asa traveled to meet him, and he set up a battle line for the war in the Valley of Zephathah, which is near Mareshah11And he called upon the Lord God, and he said: "O Lord, there is no difference to you, whether you assist by few, or by many. Help us, O Lord our God. For having faith in you and in your name, we have gone forth against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God. Do not allow man to prevail against you.12And so the Lord terrified the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah. And the Ethiopians fled13And Asa, and the people who were with him, pursued them as far as Gerar. And the Ethiopians fell, even unto utter destruction, for the Lord was striking, and his army was battling, and they were destroyed. Therefore, they took many spoils14And they struck all the cities surrounding Gerar. For indeed, a great fear had overwhelmed everyone. And they despoiled the cities, and they carried away much plunder15Then too, destroying the fencing for the sheep, they took an innumerable multitude of cattle and camels. And they returned to Jerusalem
1Now Azariah, the son of Oded, had the Spirit of God within him2And he went out to meet Asa, and he said to him: "Listen to me, Asa and all of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you, because you have been with him. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you3Then many days will pass in Israel, apart from the true God, and apart from a learned priest, and apart from the law4And when, in their anguish, they will have returned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and will have sought him, they shall find him5In that time, there will be no peace for those who depart and those who enter. Instead, there will be terror on every side, among all the inhabitants of the lands6For nation will fight against nation, and city against city. For the Lord will disturb them with every anguish7But as for you, be strengthened, and do not let your hands be weakened. For there will be a reward for your work.8And when Asa had heard these particular words, and the prophecy of the prophet Azariah, the son of Oded, he was strengthened, and he took away the idols from the entire land of Judah, and from Benjamin, and from the cities that he had seized of mount Ephraim, and he dedicated the altar of the Lord, which was before the portico of the Lord9And he gathered together all of Judah and Benjamin, and with them the new arrivals from Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon. For many had fled to him from Israel, seeing that the Lord his God was with him10And when they had arrived in Jerusalem, in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa11they immolated to the Lord on that day, from the best of the spoils and from the plunder that they had brought: seven hundred oxen and seven thousand rams12And he entered, according to custom, in order to confirm the covenant, so that they would seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with their whole heart and with their whole soul13"But if anyone," he said, "will not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, let him die, from the least even to the greatest, from man even to woman.14And they swore to the Lord, with a great voice, in jubilation, and with the blare of trumpets, and with the sound of horns15all who were in Judah swore with a curse. For with all their heart they swore, and with all their will they sought and found him. And the Lord granted rest on all sides to them16Then too, Maacah, the mother of king Asa, he deposed from the august authority, because she had made an idol of Priapus within a sacred grove. And he entirely crushed it, breaking it into pieces, and he burned it at the torrent Kidron17But some high places were left in Israel. Even so, the heart of Asa was perfect during all his days18And whatever his father or he himself had vowed, he brought into the house of the Lord: silver and gold, and vessels for various uses19Truly, there was no war, until the thirty-fifth year of the kingdom of Asa
1Then, in the thirty-sixth year of his reign, Baasha, the king of Israel, ascended against Judah. And he encircled Ramah with a wall, so that no one could safely depart or enter from the kingdom of Asa2Therefore, Asa brought forth silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord, and from the treasuries of the king. And he sent to Benhadad, the king of Syria, who was living in Damascus, saying3"There is a pact between me and you. Also, my father and your father had an agreement. For this reason, I have sent silver and gold to you, so that you may break the pact that you have with Baasha, the king of Israel, and so that you may cause him to withdraw from me.4And when he verified this, Benhadad sent the leaders of his armies to the cities of Israel. And they struck Ahion, and Dan, and Abelmaim, and all the walled cities of Naphtali5And when Baasha had heard of it, he ceased to build around Ramah, and he interrupted his work6Then king Asa took all of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and the wood that Baasha had prepared for the things to be built. And he built up Gibeah and Mizpah with them7In that time, the prophet Hanani went to Asa, the king of Judah, and he said to him: "Because you have faith in the king of Syria, and not in the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand8Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans much more numerous in chariots, and horsemen, and an exceedingly great multitude? Yet when you believed in the Lord, he delivered them into your hand9For the eyes of the Lord contemplate the entire earth, and offer fortitude to those who believe in him with a perfect heart. And so, you acted foolishly. And so, because of this, from the present time wars shall rise up against you.10And Asa was angry against the seer, and he ordered him to be sent into prison. For indeed, he had been very indignant over this. And in that time, he put to death very many of the people11But the works of Asa, the first and the last, have been written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel12And now Asa became ill, in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, with a very severe pain in his feet. And yet, in his infirmity, he did not seek the Lord. Instead, he trusted more in the skill of physicians13And he slept with his fathers. And he died in the forty-first year of his reign14And they buried him in his own sepulcher, which he had made for himself in the City of David. And they placed him upon his bed, full of the aromatics and ointments of courtesans, which were composed with the skill of the perfumers. And they burned these over him with very great ostentation
1Then Jehoshaphat, his son, reigned in his place. And he grew strong against Israel2And he appointed numbers of soldiers in all the cities of Judah that had been fortified with walls. And he placed garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had seized3And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father, David. And he did not trust in the Baals4but in the God of his father. And he advanced in his precepts, and not according to the sins of Israel5And the Lord confirmed the kingdom in his hand. And all of Judah gave gifts to Jehoshaphat. And innumerable riches were brought to him, and much glory6And when his heart had taken courage because of the ways of the Lord, he now also took away the high places and the sacred groves from Judah7Then, in the third year of his reign, he sent Benhail, and Obadiah, and Zechariah, and Nethanel, and Micaiah, from among his leaders, so that they might teach in the cites of Judah8And with them were the Levites Shemaiah and Nethaniah and Zebadiah, and also Asahel and Shemiramoth and Jehonathan, and the Levites Adonijah and Tobijah and Tobadonijah. And with them were the priests Elishama and Jehoram9And they were teaching the people in Judah, having with them the book of the law of the Lord. And they were traveling through all the cities of Judah, and were instructing the people10And so, the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah. And they did not dare to make war against Jehoshaphat11Moreover, the Philistines carried gifts to Jehoshaphat, and a tribute in silver. Also, the Arabians brought cattle: seven thousand seven hundred rams, and the same number of he-goats12Therefore, Jehoshaphat increased and was magnified, even on high. And in Judah, he built houses in the likeness of towers, and walled cities13And he prepared many works in the cities of Judah. Also, there were men experienced in warfare in Jerusalem14and this is the number of them, by each of the houses and families. In Judah, the leader of the army was Adnah, the commander; and with him were three hundred thousand very experienced men15After him, Jehohanan was the leader; and with him were two hundred eighty thousand16Also after him, there was Amasiah, the son of Zichri, who was consecrated to the Lord; and with him were two hundred thousand strong men17Following him, there was Eliada, who was experienced in battle; and with him were two hundred thousand, holding bow and shield18Then too, after him, there was Jehozabad; and with him were one hundred eighty thousand lightly-armed solders19All these were at the hand of the king, aside from the others, whom he had positioned in the walled cities, in all of Judah