2. He reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah.Then war broke out between Abijah and Jeroboam.
3. Judah, led by King Abijah, fielded 400,000 select warriors, while Jeroboam mustered 800,000 select troops from Israel.
4. When the army of Judah arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim and shouted to Jeroboam and all Israel: “Listen to me!
5. Don’t you realize that the lord, the God of Israel, made a lasting covenant with David, giving him and his descendants the throne of Israel forever?
6. Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, a mere servant of David’s son Solomon, rebelled against his master.
7. Then a whole gang of scoundrels joined him, defying Solomon’s son Rehoboam when he was young and inexperienced and could not stand up to them.
8. “Do you really think you can stand against the kingdom of the lord that is led by the descendants of David? You may have a vast army, and you have those gold calves that Jeroboam made as your gods.
9. But you have chased away the priests of the lord (the descendants of Aaron) and the Levites, and you have appointed your own priests, just like the pagan nations. You let anyone become a priest these days! Whoever comes to be dedicated with a young bull and seven rams can become a priest of these so-called gods of yours!
10. “But as for us, the lord is our God, and we have not abandoned him. Only the descendants of Aaron serve the lord as priests, and the Levites alone may help them in their work.