In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah.
Three years reigned he in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
And Abijah joined battle with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: and Jeroboam set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, who were mighty men of valor.
And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill-country of Ephraim, and said, Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel:
Ought ye not to know that Jehovah, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?
Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up, and rebelled against his lord.
And there were gathered unto him worthless men, base fellows, that strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tender-hearted, and could not withstand them.
And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of Jehovah in the hand of the sons of David; and ye are a great multitude, and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods.
Have ye not driven out the priests of Jehovah, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made you priests after the manner of the peoples 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.
But as for us, Jehovah is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and we have priests ministering unto Jehovah, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work:
and they burn unto Jehovah every morning and every evening burnt-offerings and sweet incense: the showbread 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 Jehovah our God; but ye have forsaken him.
And, behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against Jehovah, the God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.
But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.
And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried unto Jehovah, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.
Then 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.
And the children of Israel fled before Judah; and God delivered them into their hand.
And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.
Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon Jehovah, the God of their fathers.
And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and {Another reading is, Ephrain.}Ephron with the towns thereof.
Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and Jehovah smote him, and he died.
But Abijah waxed mighty, and took unto himself fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.
And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the commentary of the prophet Iddo.
Querverweise zu 2. Chronika 13,5 2Chr 13,5
Also I said, The thing that ye do is not good: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies?
And Jehovah, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
And they possessed all the border of the Amorites, from the Arnon even unto the Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto the Jordan.
So now Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess them?
Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever Jehovah our God hath dispossessed from before us, them will we possess.
And Jehovah said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and go: I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite; for I have provided me a king among his sons.
And every oblation of thy meal-offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meal-offering: with all thine oblations thou shalt offer salt.
For that they hated knowledge,And did not choose the fear of Jehovah:
I have made the earth, the men and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it unto whom it seemeth right unto me.
And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him.
And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land come: and then many nations and great kings shall make him their bondman.
And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal {Hebrew: fair of eyes.}of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look upon. And Jehovah said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he.
All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto Jehovah, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, as a portion for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before Jehovah unto thee and to thy seed with thee.
For this they wilfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and {Or, through}amidst water, by the word of God;
that thou shalt be driven from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and thou shalt be made to eat grass as oxen, and shalt be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee; till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.
Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and {Or, redeem}break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if there may be {Or, as otherwise read, a healing of thine error}a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.
At the end of twelve months he was walking {Aramaic: upon.}in the royal palace of Babylon.
The king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling-place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?
While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken: The kingdom is departed from thee:
and thou shalt be driven from men; and they dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; thou shalt be made to eat grass as oxen; and seven times shall pass over thee; until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, that shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
I will be his father, and he shall be my son: if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;
but my lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
And thy house and thy kingdom shall be made sure for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
And thou shalt bring them near before Jehovah, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt-offering unto Jehovah.
O thou king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty:
And Jehovah hath established his word that he spake; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah promised, and have built the house for the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel.
For every one shall be salted with fire {Many ancient authorities add and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. See Leviticus 2:13.}.
And it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will set up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
Salt is good: but if the salt have lost its saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another.
but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom for ever; and his throne shall be established for ever.
Howbeit Jehovah, the God of Israel, chose me out of all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be {Or, leader}prince; and in the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel;
and of all my sons (for Jehovah hath given me many sons), he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of Jehovah over Israel.
Then thou spakest in vision to thy {Or, as otherwise read, saint.}saints,And saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty;I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
I have found David my servant;With my holy oil have I anointed him:
With whom my hand shall be established;Mine arm also shall strengthen him.
The enemy shall not {Or, do him violence}exact from him,Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
And I will beat down his adversaries before him,And smite them that hate him.
But my faithfulness and my lovingkindness shall be with him;And in my name shall his horn be exalted.
I will set his hand also on the sea,And his right hand on the rivers.
He shall cry unto me, Thou art my Father,My God, and the rock of my salvation.
I also will make him my first-born,The highest of the kings of the earth.
My lovingkindness will I keep for him for evermore;And my covenant shall {Or, be faithful}stand fast with him.
His seed also will I make to endure for ever,And his throne as the days of heaven.
If his children forsake my law,And walk not in mine ordinances;
If they {Hebrew: profane.}break my statutes,And keep not my commandments;
Then will I visit their transgression with the rod,And their iniquity with stripes.
But my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him,Nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
My covenant will I not {Hebrew: profane.}break,Nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
{Or, One thing}Once have I sworn by my holiness:I will not lie unto David:
His seed shall endure for ever,And his throne as the sun before me.
{Or, As the moon which is established for ever}It shall be established for ever as the moon, {Or, And the witness in the sky is faithful}And as the faithful witness in the sky. [Selah
then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will {Or, return to their captivity}cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.
And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
and he shall reign over the house of Jacob {Greek: unto the ages.}for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.