Abijah's War with Jeroboam
(1 Kings 15.1-8)1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Abijah became king of Judah, 2 and he ruled three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Micaiah daughter of Uriel, from the city of Gibeah.
War broke out between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah raised an army of 400,000 soldiers, and Jeroboam opposed him with an army of 800,000.
4 The armies met in the hill country of Ephraim. King Abijah went up Mount Zemaraim and called out to Jeroboam and the Israelites: “Listen to me!” he said. 5 “Don't you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, made an unbreakable covenant with David, giving him and his descendants kingship over Israel forever? 6 Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against Solomon, his king. 7 Later he gathered together a group of worthless scoundrels, and they forced their will on Rehoboam son of Solomon, who was too young and inexperienced to resist them. 8 Now you propose to fight against the royal authority that the Lord gave to David's descendants. You have a huge army and have with you the gold bull-calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. 9 You drove out the Lord's priests, the descendants of Aaron, and you drove out the Levites. In their place you appointed priests in the same way that other nations do. Anybody who comes along with a bull or seven sheep can get himself consecrated as a priest of those so-called gods of yours.
10 “But we still serve the Lord our God and have not abandoned him. Priests descended from Aaron perform their duties, and Levites assist them. 11 Every morning and every evening they offer him incense and animal sacrifices burned whole. They present the offerings of bread on a table that is ritually clean, and every evening they light the lamps on the gold lampstand. We do what the Lord has commanded, but you have abandoned him. 12 God himself is our leader and his priests are here with trumpets, ready to blow them and call us to battle against you. People of Israel, don't fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors! You can't win!”
13 Meanwhile Jeroboam had sent some of his troops to ambush the Judean army from the rear, while the rest faced them from the front. 14 The Judeans looked around and saw that they were surrounded. They cried to the Lord for help, and the priests blew the trumpets. 15 The Judeans gave a loud shout, and led by Abijah, they attacked; God defeated Jeroboam and the Israelite army. 16 The Israelites fled from the Judeans, and God let the Judeans overpower them. 17 Abijah and his army dealt the Israelites a crushing defeat—half a million of Israel's best soldiers were killed. 18 And so the people of Judah were victorious over Israel, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.
19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam's army and occupied some of his cities: Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, and the villages near each of these cities. 20 Jeroboam never regained his power during Abijah's reign. Finally the Lord struck him down, and he died.
21 Abijah, however, grew more powerful. He had fourteen wives and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 The rest of the history of Abijah, what he said and what he did, is written in The History of Iddo the Prophet.
Epangelo laAbia noita yaye
1 Momudo omutimulongo nomutihetatu wepangelo lohamba Jerobeam, Abia a ninga ohamba yaJuda. 2 Okwa pangela omido nhatu muJerusalem. Nedina laina la li Mikaia, omona omukainhu waUriel womuGibea. Ndele pa li oita pokati kaAbia naJerobeam. 3 Ndele Abia okwa hovela oita, a fikama nomatanga ovakwaita ovaladi omayovi omafele ane ovalumenhu ovanyasha. Ndele Jerobeam okwe mu tandela ombinga novalumenhu ovaladi omayovi omavele ahetatu. 4 Opo nee Abia a ya komhunda yaSemaraim yomeemhunda daEfraim, ndele ta ti: “Pwilikinei nge Jerobeam nOvaisraeli aveshe! 5 Mu shi shii nokutya, Omwene Kalunga kaIsrael a pa David epangelo lokupangela Ovaisraeli fiyo alushe, Ye e li pa David novana vaye ovalumenhu, la pama ngaashi ehangano lomongwa? 6 Ndelenee Jerobeam yaNebat, omupiya waSalomo yaDavid, okwa fikama, ndele ta twifa omwene waye eemhata. 7 Novalumenhu vehe nelipulo novakolokoshi va ongala puye ndele va dula Rehabeam yaSalomo. Ndele Rehabeam okwa li omunyasha e nomutima u noumbada, onghee hano a nyengwa okulipopila. 8 Ndele paife tamu diladila okutwa ondubo nepangelo lOmwene li li momake oludalo laDavid, shaashi nye ongudu inene ndele mu neenhana doshingoldo odo Jerobeam e mu ningila oikalunga. 9 Nye inamu taataa ovapristeli vOmwene, oludalo laAron, nOvalevi, ndele mwe likongela ovapristeli ngaashi oiwana yoikwailongo? Keshe ou e uya nongobe onona yomhedi needi heyali deemhedi a tambulwa, ye a ninga omupristeli woikalunga. 10 Ndelenee Kalunga ketu Oye Omwene, ndele inatu mu efa. Otu na ovapristeli, Ovaaron nOvalevi, ava tava longele Omwene. 11 Ndele vo ohava yambele Omwene omaxwikiloyambo ongula keshe nonguloshi keshe, noitwiminifo yedimba liwa, ndele hava kala noshisho shomingome detaliko dokoshitaafula shoshingoldoelela noshoshikwatelwalamba shoshingoldo neelamba dasho, opo di temwe onguloshi keshe. Osheshi fye hatu diinine eenghedimhango dOmwene Kalunga ketu, ndelenee nye mwe mu efa. 12 Ndele taleni, pamwe nafye, heeno, omupitili komesho yetu Oye Kalunga, novapristeli pamwe nomanghuma onghuwo oku mu shikila onghuwo. Ovana vaIsrael, inamu lwifa Omwene Kalunga kooxo, osheshi itamu ka kala nelao.”
13 Ndelenee Jerobeam okwa tula ovanhu mekulwila, konima yavenya; Osho ngaha vamwe va kala komesho yovalumenhu Ovajuda, ndele vakwao mekulwila konima yavo. 14 NOvajuda eshi va punguluka, olwoodi la li komesho yavo nokonima yavo. Ndele va kuwa kOmwene, fimbo ovapristeli va shika omanghuma. 15 Opo nee ovakwaita Ovajuda va yelula onghuwo yolwoodi. Novakwaita Ovajuda eshi va yelula onghuwo yolwoodi, Kalunga okwa taataa Jerobeam nOvaIsraeli aveshe komesho yaAbia nOvajuda. 16 Novana vaIsrael va ya onhapo Ovajuda, ndele Kalunga e va yandja momake avo. 17 Ndele Abia novakwaita vaye, va lwa olwoodi linene navo, onghee hano mOvaisraeli mwa dipawa ovalumenhu ovanyasha omayovi omafele atano. 18 Ndele mefimbo linya ovana vaIsrael va ninipikwa, ndelenee ovana vaJuda va mona eenghono, shaashi ve liameka kOmwene Kalunga kooxe. 19 Ndele Abia okwa shikula Jerobeam nokwa kufa oilando yaye: Betel naJesana naEfron nomikunda dayo. 20 Ndele Jerobeam ina mona vali eenghono pomafiku aAbia. NOmwene e mu denga fiyo a fya.
21 Ndelenee Abia okwa ehena komesho meenghono. Nokwe likongela ovalikadi omulongo navane, ndele a ninga xe yovana ovalumenhu omilongo mbali navavali noyoukadona omulongo navahamano. 22 Noinima imwe tai hepaulula Abia, eendjila daye neendjovo daye, oya shangelwa membo lomafatululo lomuxunganeki Iddo.
