5 Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for
ever, evento him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?
6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath
rebelled against his lord.
7 And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened
themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted,
and could not withstand them.
8 And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and
ye bea great multitude, and there arewith you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for
gods.
9 Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have
made you priests after the manner of the nations of otherlands? so that whosoever cometh to
consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the samemay be a priest of them that
areno gods.
10 But as for us, the LORD isour God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which
minister unto the LORD, arethe sons of Aaron, and the Levites waitupon theirbusiness:
11 And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet
incense: the shewbread also set they in orderupon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold
with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but
ye have forsaken him.
12 And, behold, God himself iswith us for ourcaptain, and his priests with sounding trumpets
to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers;
for ye shall not prosper.
13 But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah,
and the ambushment wasbehind them.
14 And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle wasbefore and behind: and they cried unto
the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.
15 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.
16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.
17 And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of
Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.
18 Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah
prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of their fathers.
19 And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns
thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof.
20 Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD struck him,
and he died.
21 But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and
sixteen daughters.
22 And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, arewritten in the story of
the prophet Iddo.
1 So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son
reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.
2 And Asa did that which wasgood and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:
3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the
images, and cut down the groves:
4 And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the
commandment.

5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the
kingdom was quiet before him.
6 And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years;
because the LORD had given him rest.
7 Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about themwalls, and
towers, gates, and bars, whilethe land isyet before us; because we have sought the LORD our
God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.
8 And Asa had an army of menthat bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred
thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore
thousand: all these weremighty men of valour.
9 And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and
three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.
10 Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at
Mareshah.
11 And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it isnothing with thee to help, whether
with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in
thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou artour God; let not man prevail against
thee.
12 So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.
13 And Asa and the people that werewith him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians
were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the
LORD, and before his host; and they carried away very much spoil.
14 And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the LORD came upon them:
and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them.
15 They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and
returned to Jerusalem.
1 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:
2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin;
The LORD iswith you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye
forsake him, he will forsake you.
3 Now for a long season Israel hath beenwithout the true God, and without a teaching priest,
and without law.
4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was
found of them.
5 And in those times there wasno peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but
great vexations wereupon all the inhabitants of the countries.
6 And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.
7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
8 And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and
put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities
which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that wasbefore the
porch of the LORD.
9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and
Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that
the LORD his God waswith him.
10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year
of the reign of Asa.
11 And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil whichthey had brought, seven
hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart
and with all their soul;
13 That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small
or great, whether man or woman.
14 And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and
with cornets.
15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him
with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.
16 And also concerningMaachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from beingqueen,
because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it
at the brook Kidron.
17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was
perfect all his days.
18 And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he
himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.
19 And there was no morewar unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.
1 In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah,
and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
2 Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the
king's house, and sent to Benhadad king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,
3 There isa league between me and thee, as there wasbetween my father and thy father:
behold, I have sent thee silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he
may depart from me.
4 And Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities
of Israel; and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abelmaim, and all the store cities of Naphtali.
5 And it came to pass, when Baasha heard it, that he left off building of Ramah, and let his
work cease.
6 Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber
thereof, wherewith Baasha was building; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.
7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou
hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the
king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.
8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen?
yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand.
9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in
the behalf of themwhose heart isperfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore
from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
10 Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he wasin a rage with
him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed someof the people the same time.
11 And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they arewritten in the book of the kings of
Judah and Israel.
12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease
wasexceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.
13 And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.
14 And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of
David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices
prepared by the apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him.
1 And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel.
2 And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah,