2 Chronicles 11:13–15:9

13 And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel †resorted to him out of all their coasts. 14 *For the Levites left stheir suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons thad cast them off from executing the priest’s office unto the Lord: 15 And he ordained him upriests for the high places, and for xthe devils, and for ythe calves which he had made. 16 zAnd after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers. 17 So they astrengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.

18 And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David to wife, and Abihail the daughter of bEliab the son of Jesse; 19 Which bare him children; Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham. 20 And after her he took cMaachah the daughter of dAbsalom; which bare him eAbijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.) 22 And fRehoboam made eAbijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king. 23 And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them gvictual in abundance. And he hdesired †many wives.

12 *And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and ahad strengthened himself, bhe forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. 2 *And it came to pass, that cin the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, 3 With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the dLubims, the Sukkiims, and the dEthiopians. 4 And he took ethe fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. 5 Then came fShemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, gYe have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak. 6 Whereupon the princes of hIsrael and the king humbled themselves; and they said, iThe Lord is righteous. 7 And when the Lord saw that they jhumbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them ||some deliverance; and kmy wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8 Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know lmy service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries. 9 mSo Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold nwhich Solomon had made. 10 Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king’s house. 11 And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber. 12 And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: ||and also in Judah things went well.

13 So king Rehoboam ostrengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for pRehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, qthe city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. 14 And he did evil, because he ||prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. 15 rNow the acts of Rehoboam, sfirst and last, are they not written in the †book of tShemaiah the prophet, and of uIddo the wseer concerning xgenealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and ||Abijah his son reigned in his stead.

13 *Now ain the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. *His mother’s name also was bMichaiah the daughter of Uriel of cGibeah. dAnd there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 And Abijah †set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also eset the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.

4 And Abijah stood up upon mount fZemaraim, which is in gmount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel; 5 Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel hgave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by ia covenant of salt? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath krebelled against his lord. 7 And there are gathered unto him lvain men, mthe children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was nyoung and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. 8 And now ye think to withstand othe kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you pgolden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. 9 qHave 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 nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh †to consecrate himself with ra young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are sno gods. 10 tBut as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business: 11 And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening uburnt sacrifices and usweet incense: the uwshewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and xthe candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, yto burn every evening: for we zkeep the charge of the Lord our God; but ye have forsaken him. 12 And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests awith sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, bfight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

13 But Jeroboam caused can ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them. 14 And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the Lord, and dthe priests sounded with the trumpets. 15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God esmote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and fGod delivered them into their hand. 17 And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. 18 Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they grelied upon the Lord God of their fathers. 19 And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, hBeth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and iEphrain with the towns thereof. 20 Neither did Jeroboam krecover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the Lord lstruck him, and mhe died. 21 But Abijah nwaxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters. 22 And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the ||story of the prophet oIddo.

14 *So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and aAsa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.

2 *And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God: 3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and bthe high places, and brake down the †images, and ccut down the groves: 4 And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. 5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah bthe high places and the †images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. 6 And he built dfenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in ethose years; because the Lord had given him rest. 7 Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them fwalls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the Lord our God, we have sought him, and ghe hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered. 8 And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah hthree hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and idrew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.

9 And there came out against them Zerah jthe Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto kMareshah. 10 Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of lZephathah at kMareshah. 11 And Asa mcried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nnothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we orest on thee, and pin thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not ||man qprevail against thee. 12 So the Lord rsmote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. 13 And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto sGerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not trecover themselves; for …