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And Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

And Rehoboam set up Abijah the son of Maacah to be head and ruler among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.

And he acted with discernment and distributed some of his sons through all the lands of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and he gave them sustenance in abundance. And he sought a multitude of wives for them.

But they will become his slaves so that they may know the difference between My slavery and the slavery of the kingdoms of the countries."

So King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which Yahweh had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. And his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

And he did evil because he did not set his heart to seek Yahweh.

And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David; and Abijah his son became king in his place.

He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

Do you not know that Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave the rule over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?

Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master,

and worthless men gathered about him, vile men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon; he was young and timid and could not exert his strength before them.

And behold, God is with us at our head and His priests with the signal trumpets to raise the shout of war against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against Yahweh, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed."

And Abijah and his people struck them down with a great slaughter, and 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain.

Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his words are written in the treatise of the prophet Iddo.

So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place. The land was quiet for ten years during his days.

And Asa did what was good and right in the sight of Yahweh his God,

Then Asa called to Yahweh his God and said, "Yahweh, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between those of abundant power and those who have no power; so help us, O Yahweh our God, for we lean on You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O Yahweh, You are our God; let not mortal man prevail against You."

And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that they could not recover, for they were shattered before Yahweh and before His army. And they carried away very much spoil.

And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who sojourned with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him.

But the high places were not removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa's heart was wholly devoted all his days.