13 In the eighteenth year of King Yaraveam’s (Jeroboam’s) reign, Aviyah started his reign over Yehudah (Judah). 2 He ruled from Yerushalem for three years. (His mother was Uriel’s daughter Mikayah from Giveah.)

However, war started between Aviyah and Yaraveam.

3 Aviyah launched the attack with four-hundred thousand strong warriors, and Yaraveam drew up in formation against him with eight-hundred thousand strong warriors in his army.

4 Aviyah stood on the top of Mt. Tsemarayim in the Efrayim hill-country and shouted, “Yaraveam and all of Yisrael, listen to me. 5 Don’t you all understand that Yisrael’s god Yahweh made a formal agreement that the kingdom of Yisrael was given forever to David and his descendants? 6 But Nevat’s son Yaraveam, who was a servant of David’s son Shelomoh, took action and rebelled against his master, 7 and a bunch of wicked good-for-nothings gathered around Yaraveam and created a force against Shelomoh’s son, Rehaveam, when Rehaveam was still an inexperienced, young man and couldn’t stand up to them. 8 So now you Israelis are saying that you’ll stand against the kingdom that Yahweh established through David’s descendants. There are certainly many of you, and you have the gold calves that Yaraveam made as gods for you. 9 Didn’t you people drive out the Levites, as well as Yahweh’s priests who were Aharon’s descendants? Then you appointed for yourselves ‘priests’ like they have in other countries, so that anyone who comes to consecrate himself by bringing a young bull from the herd and seven rams can become a ‘priest’ of your non-gods.

10 “But as for us, Yahweh is our god and we haven’t abandoned him. Our priests who minister to Yahweh are Aharon’s descendants, and the Levites assist them. 11 Every morning and every evening, they sacrifice burnt offerings to Yahweh, and spiced incense. There’s sacred bread on the display table, and the lamps in the gold lampstand give light every evening because we’re following our god Yahweh’s instructions, but you people have abandoned him. 12 So listen! God is guiding us, and his priests will blast their trumpets to signal battle against you people. Listen, you Israelis: don’t fight against Yahweh, your ancestors’ god, because you won’t succeed.”

13 But meanwhile, Yaraveam had sent some men around to ambush them from behind, so they were both in front of the army from Yehudah and in ambush behind them.

14 When the warriors from Yehudah turned, wow, they realised they were being attacked from in front and from behind. They called out to Yahweh for help while the priests blew their trumpets. 15 Then the men from Yehudah shouted a loud battle cry, and God defeated Yaraveam and all of Yisrael in front of Aviyah and Yehudah. 16 Yisrael’s soldiers fled away from Yehudah’s army, and God enabled Yehudah to defeat them. 17 Aviyah and his men thrashed them badly, and some five-hundred thousand of their chosen warriors were killed. 18 So the Israelis were subdued at that time, and the people from Yehudah were victorious because they trusted in Yahweh, their ancestors’ god.

19 Aviyah chased after Yaraveam and they captured from Yisrael the cities of Beyt-El, Yeshanah, and Efron, and their surrounding villages. 20 Yaraveam never regained military strength during Aviyah’s reign, and after a time Yahweh struck him with sickness and he died.

21 Meanwhile, Aviyah became more powerful. He took fourteen wives for himself, and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 The rest of what Aviyah did, including his sayings and his behaviour, was written down by the prophet Iddo.