“ Now you plan to stand up against the kingdom of the Lord. His kingdom is in the hands of men in David’s family line. It’s true that you have a huge army. You have the statues of the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.

“现在你们有意抗拒大卫子孙手下所治耶和华的国，你们的人也甚多，你们那里又有耶罗波安为你们所造当作神的金牛犊。

“现在你们说要抗拒大卫子孙手下所治理的耶和华的国，你们的人数众多，你们那里又有耶罗波安为你们所造当作神明的金牛犊。

“现在你们说要抗拒大卫子孙手下所治理的耶和华的国，你们的人数众多，你们那里又有耶罗波安为你们所造当作神明的金牛犊。

“现在你们仗着人多势众，又有耶罗波安制造的金牛犊作为你们的神明，便企图反抗大卫子孙所治理的耶和华的国度。

现在你们有意要反抗大卫子孙手下的耶和华的国；你们人数众多，你们那里也有金牛犊，就是耶罗波安为你们所做，当作神的。

「現在你們有意抗拒大衛子孫手下所治耶和華的國，你們的人也甚多，你們那裏又有耶羅波安為你們所造當作神的金牛犢。

「現在你們說要抗拒大衛子孫手下所治理的耶和華的國，你們的人數眾多，你們那裏又有耶羅波安為你們所造當作神明的金牛犢。

「現在你們說要抗拒大衛子孫手下所治理的耶和華的國，你們的人數眾多，你們那裏又有耶羅波安為你們所造當作神明的金牛犢。

「現在你們仗著人多勢眾，又有耶羅波安製造的金牛犢作為你們的神明，便企圖反抗大衛子孫所治理的耶和華的國度。

現在你們有意要反抗大衛子孫手下的耶和華的國；你們人數眾多，你們那裡也有金牛犢，就是耶羅波安為你們所做，當作神的。

『現在你們呢、你們心裏說要反抗大衛子孫手下所治的永恆主之國：你們有許多蜂擁軍兵；你們那裏又有耶羅波安為你們所造去當作神的金牛犢。

今爾有意敵大衛子孫所治耶和華之國、爾之人數甚多、且有耶羅波安為爾所製金犢、以為神者偕爾、

今爾有眾、奉耶羅破暗所作金犢、尊為上帝、意謂能拒耶和華所賜大闢子孫之國、

今爾曹意謂、能拒主所賜大衛子孫之國、因爾曹之人甚眾、又有金犢偕爾曹、即耶羅波安為爾曹所作以為神者、

“ And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.

“ And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods.

“ Do you really think you can stand against the kingdom of the Lord that is led by the descendants of David? You may have a vast army, and you have those gold calves that Jeroboam made as your gods.

“ And now you are saying you can assert yourselves against the LORD’s kingdom, which is in the hand of one of David’s sons. You are a vast number and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods.

“ So now you intend to assert yourselves against the kingdom of the Lord through the sons of David, being a great multitude and having with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods.

And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods.

And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of Jehovah in the hand of the sons of David; and ye are a great multitude, and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods.

“ And now you are saying you can assert yourselves against the Lord’s kingdom, which is in the hand of one of David’s sons. You are a vast number and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods.

And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye[ be] a great multitude, and[ there are] with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods.

Now you are declaring that you will resist the LORD’s rule through the Davidic dynasty. You have a huge army, and bring with you the gold calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods.

“ Now you intend to withstand the kingdom of Yahweh in the hand of the sons of David. You are a great multitude, and the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods are with you.

So King Jeroboam asked for advice. Then he made two golden statues that looked like calves. He said to the people,“ It’s too hard for you to go up to Jerusalem. Israel, here are your gods who brought you up out of Egypt.”

Jeroboam had appointed his own priests to serve at the high places. He had made statues of gods that looked like goats and calves. His priests served those gods.

Zerah marched out against them. He was from Cush. He had a huge army of thousands. He also had 300 chariots. They came all the way to Mareshah.Asa went out to meet Zerah in battle. They took up their positions in the Valley of Zephathah. It’s near Mareshah.Then Asa called out to the Lord his God. He said,“ Lord, there isn’t anyone like you. You help the weak against the strong. Lord our God, help us. We trust in you. In your name we have come out to fight against this huge army. Lord, you are our God. Don’t let mere human beings win the battle over you.”

May the Lord your God be praised. He takes great delight in you. He placed you on his throne as king. He put you there to rule for him. Your God loves Israel very much. He longs to take good care of them forever. That’s why he has made you king over them. He knows that you will do what is fair and right.”

Why do the nations plan evil together? Why do they make useless plans?The kings of the earth rise up against the Lord. The rulers of the earth join together against his anointed king.“ Let us break free from their chains,” they say.“ Let us throw off their ropes.”The God who sits on his throne in heaven laughs. The Lord makes fun of those rulers and their plans.When he is angry, he warns them. When his anger blazes out, he terrifies them.He says to them,“ I have placed my king on my holy mountain of Zion.”

“ But those he ruled over hated him. They sent some messengers after him. They were sent to say,‘ We don’t want this man to be our king.’

Our God, won’t you please judge them? We don’t have the power to face this huge army that’s attacking us. We don’t know what to do. But we’re looking to you to help us.”

And what about my enemies who did not want me to be king over them? Bring them here! Kill them in front of me!’ ”

A king isn’t saved just because his army is big. A soldier doesn’t escape just because he is very strong.

“ Let’s march into Judah and attack it. Let’s tear everything down. Then we can share the land among ourselves. And we can make Tabeel’s son king over it.”But I am the Lord and King. I say,“‘ “That will not happen. It will not take place.

A child will be born to us. A son will be given to us. He will rule over us. And he will be called Wonderful Adviser and Mighty God. He will also be called Father Who Lives Forever and Prince Who Brings Peace.There will be no limit to how great his authority is. The peace he brings will never end. He will rule on David’s throne and over his kingdom. He will make the kingdom strong and secure. His rule will be based on what is fair and right. It will last forever. The Lord’ s great love will make sure that happens. He rules over all.

He said,“ Lord, you are the God of our people who lived long ago. You are the God who is in heaven. You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. You are strong and powerful. No one can fight against you and win.

You have done more evil things than all those who lived before you. You have made other gods for yourself. You have made statues of gods out of metal. You have made me very angry. You have turned your back on me.

The Lord says,“ People of Samaria, throw out your god that looks like a calf! I am very angry with them. How long will it be until they are able to remain faithful to me?Their calf is not God. A skilled worker from Israel made it. But that calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces.”