II Chronicles 13 · דברי הימים ב

Now in the eighteenth year of king Yorov῾am Aviyya began to reign over Yehuda.

He reigned three years in Yerushalayim. And his mother’s name was Mikhayahu the daughter of Uri᾽el of Giv῾a. And there was war be­tween Aviyya and Yorov῾am.

And Aviyya set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, four hundred thousand chosen men: and Yorov῾am ranged himself in battle against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, mighty men at arms.

And Aviyya stood up upon mount Żemarayim, which is in mount Efrayim, and said, Hear me, thou Yorov῾am, and all Yisra᾽el;

ought you not to know that the Lord God of Yisra᾽el gave the kingdom over Yisra᾽el to David for ever, to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

Yet Yorov῾am the son of Nevat, the servant of Shelomo the son of David, rose up, and rebelled against his lord.

And there gathered about him worthless men, wicked people, and they strengthened themselves against Reĥav῾am the son of Shelomo, when Reĥav῾am was young and tender-hearted, and could not withstand them.

And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Yorov῾am made you for gods.

Have you not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aharon, and the Levites, and have made yourselves priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bullock or seven rams, may become a priest of what are no gods.

But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aharon, and the Levites do their work:

and they burn to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: and set out the showbread upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with its lamps to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God; but you have forsaken him.

And, behold, God himself is with us at our head, and his priests with sounding trumpets to sound an alarm against you. O children of Yisra᾽el, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers; for you shall not prosper.

But Yorov῾am had set an ambush party to come on them from behind: so they were in front of Yehuda and the ambush party was behind them.

And when Yehuda looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried to the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.

Then the men of Yehuda gave a shout: and as the men of Yehuda shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Yorov῾am and all Yisra᾽el before Aviyya and Yehuda.

And the children of Yisra᾽el fled before Yehuda: and God delivered them into their hand.

And Aviyya and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Yisra᾽el five hundred thousand chosen men.

Thus the children of Yisra᾽el were brought under at that time, and the children of Yehuda prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers.

And Aviyya pursued after Yorov῾am, and took cities from him, Bet-el with its hamlets, and Yeshana with its hamlets, and ῾Efrayin with its hamlets.

Nor did Yorov῾am recover strength again in the days of Aviyyahu: and the Lord struck him, and he died.

But Aviyyahu grew mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begot twenty two sons, and sixteen daughters.

And the rest of the acts of Aviyya, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the commentary of the prophet ῾Iddo.

So Aviyya 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 for ten years.