2 Chronicles 12–13

CHAPTER 12

Shishak of Egypt Comes Against Judah

^1aNow it happened that when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, ^bhe and all Israel with him forsook the law of Yahweh.

^2aNow it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to Yahweh, that ^bShishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem

³with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt were without number: ^athe Lubim, the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians.

⁴And he captured ^athe fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

⁵Now ^aShemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘^bYou have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you ¹to Shishak.’”

⁶So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “^aYahweh is righteous.”

⁷When Yahweh saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah, saying, “^aThey have humbled themselves so I will not bring them to ruin, but I will grant them some measure of escape, and ^bMy wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

⁸“But they will become his slaves so ^athat they may know the difference between My slavery and the slavery of the kingdoms of the countries.”

Shishak Takes from Yahweh’s House

^9aSo Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures of the house of Yahweh and the treasures of the king’s house. He took everything; ^bhe even took the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

¹⁰Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the hand of the commanders of the ¹guard who kept the door of the king’s house.

¹¹Now it happened that as often as the king entered the house of Yahweh, the ¹guards would come and carry them and then bring them back into the ²guards’ room.

¹²And ^awhen he humbled himself, the anger of Yahweh turned away from him, so as not to ruin him completely; and also conditions ^bwere good in Judah.

^13aSo King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which Yahweh had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

¹⁴And he did evil ^abecause he did not set his heart to seek Yahweh.

^15aNow the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the ¹records of ^bShemaiah the prophet and of ^cIddo the seer, according to genealogical record? Now there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.

¹⁶And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David; and ^aAbijah his son became king in his place.

CHAPTER 13

Abijah Reigns over Judah

^1aIn the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah.

²He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

^aNow there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

³And Abijah began the battle with a military force of mighty men, 400,000 chosen men, while Jeroboam arranged them all for battle against him with 800,000 chosen men who were mighty men of valor.

God Smites Israel Before Judah

⁴Then Abijah rose up on Mount ^aZemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel:

⁵“Do you not know that ^aYahweh, the God of Israel, gave the rule over Israel forever to David ¹and his sons by ^ba covenant of salt?

⁶“Yet ^aJeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his ¹master,

⁷and worthless men gathered about him, vile men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon; ^1ahe was young and timid and could not exert his strength before them.

⁸“So now you ¹intend to exert your strength before the kingdom of Yahweh by the hand of the sons of David, ²being a great multitude and having with you ^athe golden calves which Jeroboam made for gods for you.

⁹“^aHave you not driven out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes ^bto ordain himself with a bull from the herd and seven rams, even he may become a priest of what are ^cno gods.

¹⁰“But as for us, Yahweh is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the sons of Aaron are ministering to Yahweh as priests, and the Levites are in their work.

¹¹“And every morning and evening ^athey ¹burn to Yahweh burnt offerings and fragrant incense, and ^bthe showbread is set on the clean table, and the golden lampstand with its lamps is ready to light every evening; for we keep the responsibility given by Yahweh our God, but you have forsaken Him.

¹²“And behold, God is with us at our head and ^aHis priests with the signal trumpets to raise the shout of war against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against Yahweh, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”

¹³But Jeroboam ^ahad encircled an ambush to come from the rear, so that Israel was in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them.

¹⁴So Judah turned around, and behold, ¹they were attacked both front and rear; so ^athey cried to Yahweh, and the priests blew the trumpets.

¹⁵Then the men of Judah raised a shout of war, and when the men of Judah raised the shout of war, then it was that God ^asmote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

¹⁶So the sons of Israel fled before Judah, and ^aGod gave them into their hand.

¹⁷And Abijah and his people struck them down with a great slaughter, and 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain.

¹⁸Thus the sons of Israel were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah were strong ^abecause they leaned upon Yahweh, the God of their fathers.

¹⁹And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured from him several cities, Bethel with its towns, Jeshanah with its towns, and ¹Ephron with its towns.

Death of Jeroboam

²⁰Now Jeroboam did not again recover power in the days of Abijah; and ^aYahweh smote him and ^bhe died.

²¹But Abijah became stronger; and he took fourteen wives to himself, and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

²²Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his words are written in ^athe ¹treatise of ^bthe prophet Iddo.