1. Abijah became king of Judah. It was in the 18th year of Jeroboam's rule over Israel.
2. Abijah ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother's name was Maacah. She was a daughter of Uriel. Uriel was from Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
3. Abijah went into battle with an army of 400,000 able fighting men. Jeroboam lined up his soldiers against them. He had 800,000 able troops.
4. Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim. It's in the hill country of Ephraim. Abijah said, "Jeroboam and all you men of Israel, listen to me!
5. The Lord is the God of Israel. Don't you know that he has placed David and his sons after him on Israel's throne forever? The Lord made a covenant of salt with David. The salt means the covenant will last for all time to come.
6. "Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was an official of David's son Solomon. But he refused to obey his master.
7. Some worthless and evil men gathered around him. They opposed Solomon's son Rehoboam. At that time Rehoboam was young. He couldn't make up his mind. He wasn't strong enough to stand up against those men.
8. "Now you plan to stand up against the kingdom of the Lord. His kingdom is in the hands of men in David's family line. It's true that you have a huge army. You have the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.
9. "But you drove out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron. You also drove out the Levites. You appointed your own priests. That's what the people of other nations do. Anyone can come and set himself apart. All he has to do is sacrifice a young bull and seven rams. Then he becomes a priest of gods that aren't really gods at all!
10. "But the Lord is our God. We haven't deserted him. The priests who serve the Lord belong to the family line of Aaron. The Levites help them.
11. Every morning and evening the priests bring burnt offerings and sweet-smelling incense to the Lord. They set out the holy bread on the table. That table is 'clean.' They light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. "We always do what the Lord our God requires in his law. But you have deserted him.