2 Chronicles 13
1 Yn the eiytenthe yeer of kyng Jeroboam Abia regnede on Juda;
In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah.
2 he regnede thre yeer in Jerusalem; and the name of hise modir was Mychaie, the douyter of Vriel of Gabaa. And batel was bitwixe Abia and Jeroboam.
He ruled for three years in Jerusalem; his mother's name was Macaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
3 And whanne Abia hadde bigunne batel, and hadde most chyualrouse men, and four hundrid thousynde of chosun men, Jeroboam arayede ayenward the scheltroun with eiyte hundrid thousynde of men, and thei weren chosun men and most stronge to batels.
Abijah went into battle with an army of strong, courageous soldiers, 400,000 chosen men. Jeroboam placed battle lines against him with 800,000 chosen men, strong, courageous soldiers.
4 Therfor Abia stood on the hil Semeron, that was in Effraym, and seide, Here thou, Jeroboam and al Israel;
Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel!
5 whether ye knowen not, that the Lord God of Israel yaf to Dauid the rewme on Israel with outen ende, to hym and to hise sones in to the couenaunt of salt, `that is, stidefast and stable?
Do you not know that Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave the rule over Israel to David forever, to him and to his sons by a formal covenant?
6 And Jeroboam, the sone of Nabath, the seruaunt of Salomon, sone of Dauid, roos, and rebellide ayens his lord.
Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master.
7 And most veyn men and the sones of Belial weren gaderid to hym, and thei hadden myyt ayens Roboam, the sone of Salomon. Certis Roboam was buystuouse, `ether fonne, and of feerdful herte, and myyte not ayenstonde hem.
Worthless men, base fellows, gathered to him. They came against Rehoboam son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and inexperienced and could not withstand them.
8 Now therfor ye seien, that ye moun ayenstonde the rewme of the Lord, which he holdith in possessioun bi the sones of Dauid; and ye han a greet multitude of puple, and goldun caluys, whiche Jeroboam made in to goddis to you.
So now you plan to resist the kingdom of Yahweh that is held within the hand of the descendants of David, because you are a large army, and you have the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.
9 And ye han caste a wei the preestis of the Lord, the sones of Aaron, and dekenes, and ye han maad preestis to you, as alle the puplis of londis han preestis; who euer cometh and halewith his hond in a bole, in oxis, and in seuene wetheris, anoon he is maad preest of hem that ben not goddis.
But did you not drive out the priests of Yahweh, the descendants of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own in the same way as the people of other lands do? Whoever comes to serve as a priest, sacrificing a young bullock and seven rams, he becomes a priest of what are not gods.
10 But oure Lord is God, whom we forsaken not; and preestis of the sones of Aaron mynystren to the Lord, and dekenes ben in her ordre;
But as for us, Yahweh is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests, descendants of Aaron, serving Yahweh, and the Levites, who are at their work.
11 and thei offren brent sacrifices to the Lord bi ech dai in the morewtid and euentid, and encense maad bi comaundementis of the lawe; and loues ben set forth in a moost clene boord; and at vs is the goldun candilstik and his lanterne, that it be teendid euere at euentid; forsothe we kepen the comaundementis of our God, whom ye han forsake.
Every morning and evening they burn for Yahweh burnt offerings and sweet incense. They also arrange the bread of the presence on the pure table; they also tend the lampstand of gold with its lamps, for them to burn every evening. We keep the commandments of Yahweh, our God, but you have forsaken him.
12 Therfor God is duyk in oure oost, and hise preestis, that trumpen and sownen ayens you; nyle ye, sones of Israel, fiyte ayens the Lord God of youre fadris, for it spedith not to you.
See, God is with us at our head, and his priests are here with the trumpets to sound an alarm against you. People of Israel, do not fight against Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.”
13 While he spak these thingis, Jeroboam made redi tresouns bihynde; and whanne he stood euene ayens the enemyes, he cumpasside with his oost Juda vnwitynge.
But Jeroboam prepared an ambush behind them; his army was in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them.
14 And Juda bihelde, and siy batel neiy euene ayens, and bihynde the bak; and he criede to the Lord, and preestis bigunnen for to trumpe.
When Judah looked back, behold, the fighting was both in front of them and behind them. They cried out to Yahweh, and the priests blew the trumpets.
15 And alle the men of Juda crieden, and, lo! while thei crieden, God made aferd Jeroboam and al Israel, that stood euen ayens Juda and Abia.
Then the men of Judah gave a shout; as they shouted, it came about that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
16 And the men of Israel fledden fro Juda, and God bitook hem in to the hondis of men of Juda.
The people of Israel fled before Judah, and God gave them into the hand of Judah.
17 Therfor Abia and his puple smoot hem with a greet wounde, and there felden doun of hem fyue hundrid thousynde of stronge men woundid.
Abijah and his army killed them with great slaughter; 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell dead.
18 And the sones of Israel weren maad lowe in that tyme, and the sones of Juda weren coumfortid ful greetli, for thei hadden hopid in the Lord God of her fadris.
In this way, the people of Israel were subdued at that time; the people of Judah won because they relied on Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.
19 Forsothe Abia pursuede Jeroboam fleynge, and took hise cytees, Bethel and hise vilagis, and Jesana with hise vilagis, and Ephron and hise vilagis;
Abijah pursued Jeroboam; he took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephron with its villages.
20 and Jeroboam miyte no more ayenstonde in the daies of Abia, whom the Lord smoot, and he was deed.
Jeroboam never recovered power again during the days of Abijah; Yahweh struck him, and he died.
21 Therfor Abia, whanne his empire was coumforted, took fourtene wyues, and he gendride two and twenti sones, and sixtene douytris.
But Abijah became powerful; he took fourteen wives for himself and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
22 The residue of wordis of Abia and of his weyes and werkis, ben writun ful diligentli in the book of Abdo, the profete.
The rest of Abijah's deeds, his behavior, and words are written in the history of the prophet Iddo.
