2 Chronicles 12

SHISHAK’S INVASION

12When Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power,^v he abandoned the law of the Lord—he and all Israel with him. ²Because they were unfaithful to the Lord, in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak^w of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem^{a 3}with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 cavalrymen, and countless people who came with him from Egypt—Libyans,^b Sukkiim, and Cushites. ⁴He captured the fortified cities^c of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

⁵Then the prophet Shemaiah^d went to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who were gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them, “This is what the Lord says: You have abandoned me; therefore, I have abandoned you to Shishak.”^e

⁶So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.”^f

⁷When the Lord saw that they had humbled themselves, the Lord’s message came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them but will grant them a little deliverance.^g My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak.^{h 8}However, they will become his servants so that they may recognize the difference between serving me and serving the kingdoms of other lands.”ⁱ

⁹So King Shishak of Egypt went to war^j against Jerusalem.^k He seized the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the treasuries of the royal palace. He took everything. He took the gold shields that Solomon had made.^{l 10}King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and committed them into the care of the captains of the guards^A who protected the entrance to the king’s palace. ¹¹Whenever the king entered the Lord’s temple, the guards would carry the shields and take them back to the armory.^{B 12}When Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger turned away from him, and he did not destroy him completely.^m Besides that, conditions were good in Judah.ⁿ

REHOBOAM’S LAST DAYS

¹³King Rehoboam^o established his royal power in Jerusalem. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put his name.^p Rehoboam’s mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. ¹⁴Rehoboam did what was evil, because he did not determine in his heart to seek the Lord.^q

¹⁵The events^r of Rehoboam’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the Events of the Prophet Shemaiah^s and of the Seer Iddo concerning genealogies.^t There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their reigns. ¹⁶Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David. His son Abijah^u became king in his place.