2 Tawarikh 13:8-11

13:8 Now you are declaring that you will resist the Lord’s rule through the Davidic dynasty. ¹  You have a huge army, ²  and bring with you the gold calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods. 13:9 But you banished ³  the Lord’s priests, Aaron’s descendants, and the Levites, and appointed your own priests just as the surrounding nations do! Anyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of these fake gods! ⁴  13:10 But as for us, the Lord is our God and we have not rejected him. Aaron’s descendants serve as the Lord’s priests and the Levites assist them with the work. ⁵  13:11 They offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord every morning and every evening, along with fragrant incense. They arrange the Bread of the Presence on a ritually clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. Certainly ⁶  we are observing the Lord our God’s regulations, but you have rejected him.

[13:8]  ¹ tn Heb “the kingdom of the Lord by the hand of the sons of David.”

[13:8]  ² tn Or “horde”; or “multitude.”

[13:9]  ³ tn In the Hebrew text this is phrased as a rhetorical question, “Did you not banish?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you did,” the force of which is reflected in the translation “But you banished.”

[13:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “whoever comes to fill his hand with a bull of a son of cattle, and seven rams, and he is a priest to no-gods.”

[13:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “and priests serving the Lord [are] the sons of Aaron and the Levites in the work.”

[13:11]  ⁶ tn Or “for.”