3 And Abijah set the battle in order with an army of valiant men of war, four hundred thousand chosen men; and Jeroboam set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.
4 And Abijah stood up upon Mount Zemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel;
5 do ye not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, unto him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?
6 Yet Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, the slave of Solomon the son of David, is risen up and has rebelled against his lord.
7 And there are gathered unto him vain men, the sons of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted and could not withstand them.
8 And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David because ye are a great multitude, and ye have with you the golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods.
9 Have ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the peoples of other lands, so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may become a priest of those that are not gods.