2 Chronicles 12:1–13:22

Shishak of Egypt Invades Judah

^1aWhen the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, ^bhe and all Israel with him forsook the law of the Lord.

^2aAnd it came about in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, 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.

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

⁵Then ^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 the Lord, ‘^bYou have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you ¹to Shishak.’ ”

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

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

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

Plunder Impoverishes Judah

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

¹⁰Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the ¹care of the commanders of the ²guard who guarded the door of the king’s house.

¹¹As often as the king entered the house of the Lord, the ¹guards came and carried them and then brought them back into the guards’ room.

¹²And ^awhen he humbled himself, the anger of the Lord turned away from him, so as not to destroy 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 began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

¹⁴He did evil ^abecause he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

^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 enrollment? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

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

Chapter 13

Abijah Succeeds Rehoboam

^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.

³Abijah began the battle with an army of valiant warriors, 400,000 chosen men, while Jeroboam drew up in battle formation against him with 800,000 chosen men who were valiant warriors.

Civil War

⁴Then Abijah stood 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 ^athe Lord 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, scoundrels, who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, when ^1ahe was young and timid and could not hold his own against them.

⁸“So now you intend to resist the kingdom of the Lord ¹through 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 the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes ^bto consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, even he may become a priest of what are ^cno gods.

¹⁰“But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the sons of Aaron are ministering to the Lord as priests, and the Levites ¹attend to their work.

¹¹“Every morning and evening ^athey ¹burn to the Lord 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 charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken Him.

¹²“Now behold, God is with us at our head and ^aHis priests with the signal trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”

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

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

¹⁵Then the men of Judah raised a war cry, and when the men of Judah raised the war cry, then it was that God ^1arouted Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

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

¹⁷Abijah and his people defeated them with a great slaughter, so that 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain.

¹⁸Thus the sons of Israel were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah ¹conquered ^abecause they trusted in the Lord, the God of their fathers.

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

Death of Jeroboam

²⁰Jeroboam did not again recover strength in the days of Abijah; and the ^aLord struck him and ^bhe died.

²¹But Abijah became powerful; and 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.