Abija unogwa na Jeroboamu
(1 Bomambo 15:1-8)1 Mu makole ali gumi lina ali zhanakadzi (18) Jeroboamu, Abija katangisa kubusa Juda. 2 Wakabusa makole ali matatu mu Jerusalema. Zina la mmeyabe lakabe liyi Maakha ali nkololokadzi wa Urieli we nzi nkulu we Gibiya. Ngono ngwa ikamuka pakati kwa Abija na Jeroboamu. 3 Abija wakayenda ne babhayani bakashalugwa bakasima bali zwiwulu zwili mazana manna (400 000) ngono Jeroboamu iye kayenda ne babhayani bakashalugwa bali zwiwulu zwili mazana ali zhanakadzi (800 000).
4 Ngono Abija katatha Dombo le Zemarayimi limu shango ye matombo ye Ifureimi ngono kabe eti, “Jeroboamu ne Iziraela yose wee munditeedze! 5 Apa amutoziba kuti Yahwe Ndzimu we Iziraela bakathama tjidumano tje mwenyu tjisingapele na Dafite, tjekumpa iye ne zwizekugwana zwizwe bushe gwe Iziraela kene? 6 Ngono Jeroboamu nkololo wa Nebati nlanda wa Solomoni nkololo wa Dafite kapandukila tetshi uwe. 7 Kudwapo kanokubunganya makupo asinapura e batjinyi bakakulila Rehoboamu nkololo wa Solomoni atji ntukununu kakale asina luzibo asingake kamililana nabo. 8 Ngono ngwenu imwi mozwidwa muti mungamililana ne bushe gwa Yahwe gumu maboko e bakololo ba Dafite ngoti muli mbunga muna zwifano zwe phulu zwe golide zwamakathamigwa ndi Jeroboamu kube midzimu yenyu. 9 Apa amuzotatila kutjena bapirisiti ba Yahwe ibo bakololo ba Aroni kose ne Balevi mu bumo gwabo mukabiga bapirisiti nge zila ye be zwitjaba kene? Makabe mutola mmwe ne mmwe koga wazha ne nkono kene pkhwizi dzili kutendeka mumbiga mpirisiti we zwithu zwisi midzimu.
10 “Koga iswi titjashingila Yahwe Ndzimu wedu atizobafupatila. Tina bapirisiti banoshingila Yahwe ibo bakololo ba Aroni ne Balevi banoshingabo nshingo wabo. 11 Banodusila Yahwe zwibhayilo zwinopisiwa mangwanana mamwe ne mamwe ne madekwana mamwe ne mamwe bepisa zwinonuhwa zwinozipa, banozhisa tjiwunga pa tafuli ye golide mbuyanana, betjengeta zwigadziko zwe mavone zwe golide kuti ndizo mavone azo adwilile ethuta madekwana. Tolondolodza zwinoshakiwa ndi Yahwe Ndzimu wedu koga makaulashila kutjena. 12 Bonani Ndzimu ndiwo ntungamili wedu ngono bapirisiti bawo bapano bakabhata nyanga bakazwilulwamisila kudzilidza kuti ngwa itangise. Baiziraela wee, musigwe na Yahwe Ndzimu wa bobatategulu benyu ngobe amungatubule!”
13 Jeroboamu katumila babhayani be balalili kuti bapoteleke tja shule. Bakabe bakalingisana ne Bajuta koga balalili ibo bakabe bali shule kwabo. 14 Ngono Bajuta bakati belinga bakazwiwana bakakombiwa mbeli na shule. Bakamimila belilila kuna Yahwe beshaka bhatsho ngono bapirisiti bakalidza nyanga. 15 Ipapo balume be Juda bakamimila kwazo, bakabanginilila, ngono balume be Juda bakati bemimila, Ndzimu ukakunda Jeroboamu ne Baiziraela bose mbeli kwa Abija na Juda. 16 Baiziraela bakatizha mbeli kwe bajuta, ngono Ndzimu ukabalonga mu maboko abo. 17 Abija ne babhayani babe bakabulaya Baiziraela bali banjinji kwazo, ndizo kwakabulawa Baiziraela bali zwiwulu zwili mazana mashanu (500 000) zwe balume bakashalugwa. 18 Ndizo Baiziraela bayesiwa pasi nge kwaka jalo mu tjibaka itjetjo ngono Bajuta ibo bakasima, ngoti bakabe bakabiga kose muna Yahwe Ndzimu wa bobatategulu babo.
19 Ngono Abija katatana na Jeroboamu ngono katola mizi mikulu munli, wakatola nzi nkulu we Bhetele ne mizana yakaupoteleka ne Jeshana ne mizana yayo ne Efuroni ne mizana yakaipoteleka. 20 Masimba a Jeroboamu kapelela tjose kasitongo tjamuka mu misi ya Abija ngono kukati ku bupelo Yahwe bakanloba ngono kafa.
21 Abija iye simba lile likakula. Kalobola bakadzi bali gumi lina bali banna (14) ngono kabe ne bakololo bali makumi mabili ana babili (22) ne bakololokadzi bali gumi lina tathatu (16). 22 Mishingo yose ya Abija ne zila dzidze dzose ne mapeswa awe zwakakwagwa mu Thawu dza Ido Nlebesambeli.
Abijah's War with Jeroboam
(1 Kings 15.1-8)1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Abijah became king of Judah, 2 and he ruled three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Micaiah daughter of Uriel, from the city of Gibeah.
War broke out between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah raised an army of 400,000 soldiers, and Jeroboam opposed him with an army of 800,000.
4 The armies met in the hill country of Ephraim. King Abijah went up Mount Zemaraim and called out to Jeroboam and the Israelites: “Listen to me!” he said. 5 “Don't you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, made an unbreakable covenant with David, giving him and his descendants kingship over Israel forever? 6 Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against Solomon, his king. 7 Later he gathered together a group of worthless scoundrels, and they forced their will on Rehoboam son of Solomon, who was too young and inexperienced to resist them. 8 Now you propose to fight against the royal authority that the Lord gave to David's descendants. You have a huge army and have with you the gold bull-calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. 9 You drove out the Lord's priests, the descendants of Aaron, and you drove out the Levites. In their place you appointed priests in the same way that other nations do. Anybody who comes along with a bull or seven sheep can get himself consecrated as a priest of those so-called gods of yours.
10 “But we still serve the Lord our God and have not abandoned him. Priests descended from Aaron perform their duties, and Levites assist them. 11 Every morning and every evening they offer him incense and animal sacrifices burned whole. They present the offerings of bread on a table that is ritually clean, and every evening they light the lamps on the gold lampstand. We do what the Lord has commanded, but you have abandoned him. 12 God himself is our leader and his priests are here with trumpets, ready to blow them and call us to battle against you. People of Israel, don't fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors! You can't win!”
13 Meanwhile Jeroboam had sent some of his troops to ambush the Judean army from the rear, while the rest faced them from the front. 14 The Judeans looked around and saw that they were surrounded. They cried to the Lord for help, and the priests blew the trumpets. 15 The Judeans gave a loud shout, and led by Abijah, they attacked; God defeated Jeroboam and the Israelite army. 16 The Israelites fled from the Judeans, and God let the Judeans overpower them. 17 Abijah and his army dealt the Israelites a crushing defeat—half a million of Israel's best soldiers were killed. 18 And so the people of Judah were victorious over Israel, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.
19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam's army and occupied some of his cities: Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, and the villages near each of these cities. 20 Jeroboam never regained his power during Abijah's reign. Finally the Lord struck him down, and he died.
21 Abijah, however, grew more powerful. He had fourteen wives and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 The rest of the history of Abijah, what he said and what he did, is written in The History of Iddo the Prophet.