11. Twice every day they offer sacrifices and burn incense to the Lord. They set out the sacred loaves of bread on a table that has been purified, and they light the lamps in the gold lampstand every day at sunset. We follow the commands of the Lord our God—you have rejected him!
12. That's why God is on our side and will lead us into battle when the priests sound the signal on the trumpets. It's no use, Israelites. You might as well give up. There's no way you can defeat the Lord, the God your ancestors worshipped.
13. But while Abijah was talking, Jeroboam had sent some of his troops to attack Judah's army from behind, while the rest attacked from the front.
14. Judah's army realized they were trapped, and so they prayed to the Lord. The priests blew the signal on the trumpet,
15. and the troops let out a battle cry. Then with Abijah leading them into battle, God defeated Jeroboam and Israel's army.
16. The Israelites ran away, and God helped Judah's soldiers slaughter
17. five hundred thousand enemy troops.
18. Judah's army won because they had trusted the Lord God of their ancestors.
19. Abijah kept up his attack on Jeroboam's army and captured the Israelite towns of Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, as well as the villages around them.
20. Jeroboam never regained his power during the rest of Abijah's rule. The Lord punished Jeroboam, and he died, but Abijah became more powerful.
21. Abijah had a total of fourteen wives, twenty-two sons, and sixteen daughters.