2 Chronicles 12:1–14:1

Shishak of Egypt Invades Jerusalem

12And when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and when he was strengthened, he forsook the law of Yahweh, and all Israel with him. ²And it happened that in the fifth year of King Rehoboam (for they had acted unfaithfully against Yahweh), Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem ³with one thousand two hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And there was no number to the people who came up with him from Egypt—Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites. ⁴And he took the fortified cities that belonged to Judah, and he came up to Jerusalem.

⁵Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem from before Shishak. And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘You yourselves have abandoned me, and I myself have surely abandoned you into the hand of Shishak.’ ” ⁶Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “Yahweh is righteous.” ⁷And when Yahweh saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy. I will give to them some way of escape, that my anger not be poured out against Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸However, they shall be his servants, that they might know my service and the service of the kingdoms of other countries.”

⁹Then Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and he took the treasures out of the house of Yahweh and the treasures out of the king’s house. He took everything. He also took the small shields of gold that Solomon had made. ¹⁰And King Rehoboam made small shields of bronze in their place and committed them into the hand of the commanders of the guards who were keeping the entrance of the house of the king. ¹¹And whenever the king went into the house of Yahweh, the guards came and carried them, and then they returned them to the alcove of the guards. ¹²And when he humbled himself, the anger of Yahweh was turned away from him, so that he did not destroy the city completely. Moreover, matters were well in Judah.

The Death of Rehoboam

¹³So King Rehoboam was strengthened in Jerusalem, and he reigned there. Now, Rehoboam was forty-one years old^a when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city where Yahweh had chosen to put his name out of all the tribes of Israel. And the name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonite. ¹⁴And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek Yahweh.

¹⁵Now the words of Rehoboam from the first to the last, are they not written in the chronicles^b of Shemaiah the prophet and Iddo the seer as a record? And there were battles between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their^c days. ¹⁶And Rehoboam slept with his ancestors,^d and he was buried in the city of David, and Abijah his son reigned in his place.

Abijah and Civil War

13In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah reigned over Judah. ²He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah.

Now there was war between Abijah and between Jeroboam. ³And Abijah joined in the battle with an army of four hundred thousand battle-hardened warriors,^a chosen men, and Jeroboam put the battle in order against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, an army of mighty warriors.

⁴Then Abijah stood up on top of Mount Zemaraim that is in the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! ⁵Do you not all know that Yahweh the God of Israel gave the kingdom to David over Israel forever, to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? ⁶But Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master, ⁷and worthless men, sons of wickedness,^b were gathered about him and became hostile against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was a boy and gentle of heart and was not strong enough to stand before them. ⁸So now you yourselves are considering that you are strong before the kingdom of Yahweh which is in the hand of the sons of David, since you yourselves are a great multitude and you have bull calves of gold that Jeroboam has made for idols. ⁹Did you not drive out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, the Levites? Have you not made for yourselves priests like all the peoples of the lands? All who come to be consecrated for priestly service^c with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what is not a god. ¹⁰But as for us, Yahweh is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests serving Yahweh are the sons of Aaron, the Levites, according to their service. ¹¹They offer burnt offerings to Yahweh every morning^d and every evening,^e sweet spices of incense, and the rows of bread upon the pure table. And the golden lampstand with its lamps they keep kindled every evening,^f for we are keeping the requirement of Yahweh our God, but you yourselves have forsaken him. ¹²And look, God is with us at the head, and his priests have the trumpets for sounding blasts against you, O sons of Israel. Do not fight against Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,^g for you will not succeed.”

¹³Then Jeroboam sent around an ambush to come behind them. So they were in front of Judah, but the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴When Judah turned, then behold, the battle against them was in front and behind, and they cried to Yahweh, and the priests blew on the trumpets. ¹⁵Then the men of Judah shouted, and it happened that when the men of Judah were shouting, then God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶And the Israelites^h fled from before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. ¹⁷And Abijah and his people struck a great blow against them, and the dead from Israel that fell were five hundred thousand chosen men. ¹⁸And the Israelitesⁱ were subdued at that time, and the people^j of Judah were victorious, for they relied upon Yahweh the God of their ancestors.^k

¹⁹And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephron with its villages. ²⁰And Jeroboam did not regain strength again in the days of Abijah. And Yahweh plagued him and he died. ²¹But Abijah became strong, and he took to himself fourteen wives and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²²Now the rest of the words of Abijah and his ways and his words are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.

The Reign of Asa in Judah

14^a And Abijah slept with his ancestors,^b and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son became king in his place. In his days the land was at rest ten years.