King Abijah of Judah

¹Abijah became king of Judah in Jeroboam's eighteenth year as king of Israel,[#13.1 In 1 Kings 15.1-8 his name is spelled “Abijam.”]

²and he ruled from Jerusalem for three years. His mother was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah.

Some time later, Abijah and King Jeroboam of Israel went to war against each other.

³Abijah's army had 400,000 troops, and Jeroboam met him in battle with 800,000 troops.

⁴Abijah went to the top of Mount Zemaraim in the hills of Ephraim and shouted:[#13.4 Probably located on the northern border of the territory of Benjamin.]

¹³But while Abijah was talking, Jeroboam had sent some of his troops to attack Judah's army from behind, while the rest attacked from the front.

¹⁴Judah's army realized they were trapped, and so they prayed to the Lord . The priests blew the signal on the trumpet,

¹⁵and the troops let out a battle cry. Then with Abijah leading them into battle, God defeated Jeroboam and Israel's army.

¹⁶The Israelites ran away, and God helped Judah's soldiers slaughter

¹⁷500,000 enemy troops.

¹⁸Judah's army won because they had trusted the Lord God of their ancestors.

¹⁹Abijah kept up his attack on Jeroboam's army and captured the Israelite towns of Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, as well as the villages around them.

²⁰Jeroboam never regained his power during the rest of Abijah's rule. The Lord punished Jeroboam, and he died, but Abijah became more powerful.

²¹Abijah had a total of 14 wives, 22 sons, and 16 daughters.

²²Everything Abijah said and did while he was king is written in the records of Iddo the prophet.