^12:1After Rehoboam’s rule was established and solidified, he and all Israel rejected the law of the Lord. ^12:2Because they were unfaithful to the Lord, in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. ^12:3He had 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and an innumerable number of soldiers who accompanied him from Egypt, including Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites. ^12:4He captured the fortified cities of Judah and marched against Jerusalem.

^12:5Shemaiah the prophet visited Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who were assembled in Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have rejected me, so I have rejected you and will hand you over to Shishak.’ ”¹^12:6The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is just.”²^12:7When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, he gave this message to Shemaiah:³ “They have humbled themselves, so I will not destroy them. I will deliver them soon.⁴ My anger will not be unleashed against⁵ Jerusalem through⁶ Shishak. ^12:8Yet they will become his subjects, so they can experience how serving me differs from serving the surrounding nations.”⁷

^12:9King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made. ^12:10King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard⁸ who protected the entrance to the royal palace. ^12:11Whenever the king visited the Lord’s temple, the royal guards carried them and then brought them back to the guardroom.⁹

^12:12So when Rehoboam¹⁰ humbled himself, the Lord relented from his anger and did not annihilate him;¹¹ Judah experienced some good things.¹²^12:13King Rehoboam solidified his rule in Jerusalem;¹³ he¹⁴ was forty-one years old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home.¹⁵ Rehoboam’s¹⁶ mother was an Ammonite named Naamah. ^12:14He did evil because he was not determined to follow the Lord.¹⁷

^12:15The events of Rehoboam’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded¹⁸ in the Annals of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer that include genealogical records. ^12:16Then Rehoboam passed away¹⁹ and was buried in the City of David.²⁰ His son Abijah replaced him as king.

Abijah’s Reign

^13:1In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. ^13:2He ruled for three years in Jerusalem.¹ His mother was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah.²

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ^13:3Abijah launched the attack with 400,000 well-trained warriors,³ while Jeroboam deployed against him 800,000 well-trained warriors.⁴

^13:4Abijah ascended Mount Zemaraim, in the Ephraimite hill country, and said: “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel! ^13:5Don’t you realize that the Lord God of Israel has given David and his dynasty lasting dominion over Israel by a formal agreement?⁵^13:6Jeroboam son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master. ^13:7Lawless good-for-nothing men⁶ gathered around him and conspired⁷ against Rehoboam son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was an inexperienced young man⁸ and could not resist them. ^13:8Now you are declaring that you will resist the Lord’s rule through the Davidic dynasty.⁹ You have a huge army,¹⁰ and bring with you the gold calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods. ^13:9But you banished¹¹ the Lord’s priests, Aaron’s descendants, and the Levites, and appointed your own priests just as the surrounding nations do! Anyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of these fake gods!¹²^13:10But as for us, the Lord is our God and we have not rejected him. Aaron’s descendants serve as the Lord’s priests and the Levites assist them with the work.¹³^13:11They offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord every morning and every evening, along with fragrant incense. They arrange the Bread of the Presence on a ritually clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. Certainly¹⁴ we are observing the Lord our God’s regulations, but you have rejected him. ^13:12Now look, God is with us as our leader. His priests are ready to blow the trumpets to signal the attack against you.¹⁵ You Israelites, don’t fight against the Lord God of your ancestors,¹⁶ for you will not win!”

^13:13Now Jeroboam had sent some men to ambush the Judahite army from behind.¹⁷ The main army was in front of the Judahite army;¹⁸ the ambushers were behind it. ^13:14The men of Judah turned around and realized they were being attacked from the front and the rear.¹⁹ So they cried out for help to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets, ^13:15and the men of Judah gave²⁰ the battle cry. As the men of Judah gave the battle cry, the Lord struck down Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ^13:16The Israelites fled from before the Judahite army,²¹ and God handed them over to the men of Judah.²²^13:17Abijah and his army thoroughly defeated them;²³ 500,000 well-trained Israelite men fell dead.²⁴^13:18That day²⁵ the Israelites were defeated; the men of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord God of their ancestors.

^13:19Abijah chased Jeroboam; he seized from him these cities: Bethel²⁶ and its surrounding towns, Jeshanah and its surrounding towns, and Ephron and its surrounding towns. ^13:20Jeroboam did not regain power during the reign of Abijah.²⁷ The Lord struck him down and he died. ^13:21Abijah’s power grew; he had²⁸ fourteen wives and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

^13:22The rest of the events of Abijah’s reign, including his deeds and sayings,²⁹ are recorded in the writings of the prophet Iddo.

^{14:1 (13:23)}¹Abijah passed away² and was buried in the City of David.³ His son Asa replaced him as king. During his reign⁴ the land had rest for ten years.

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Footnotes

1 Heb “also I have rejected you into the hand of Shishak.”
2 Or “fair,” meaning the Lord’s punishment of them was just or fair.
3 Heb “the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying.”
4 Heb “and I will give to them soon deliverance.”
5 Or “gush forth upon.”
6 Heb “by the hand of.”
7 Heb “so they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the lands.”
8 Heb “runners” (also in v. 11).
9 Heb “to the chamber of the runners.”
10 Heb “he”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 Heb “the anger of the Lord turned from him and did not destroy completely.”
12 Heb “and also in Judah there were good things.”
13 Heb “and the king, Rehoboam, strengthened himself in Jerusalem and ruled.”
14 Heb “Rehoboam.” The recurrence of the proper name here is redundant in terms of contemporary English style, so the pronoun has been used in the translation instead.
15 Heb “the city where the Lord chose to place his name from all the tribes of Israel.”
16 Heb “his”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 Heb “because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.”
18 Heb “As for the events of Rehoboam, the former and the latter, are they not written?”
19 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
20 The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
1 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
2 The parallel text in 1 Kgs 15:1 identifies his mother as “Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom” [=Absalom, 2 Chr 11:20). Although most English versions identify the mother’s father as Uriel of Gibeah, a number of English versions substitute the name “Maacah” here for the mother (e.g., , , , ).
3 Heb “and Abijah bound [i.e., began] the battle with a force of warriors, four hundred thousand chosen men.”
4 Heb “and Jeroboam arranged with him [for] battle with eight hundred thousand chosen men, strong warrior[s].”
5 Heb “Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel has given kingship to David over Israel permanently, to him and to his sons [by] a covenant of salt?” For other references to a “covenant of salt,” see Lev 2:13 and Num 18:19.
6 Heb “empty men, sons of wickedness.”
7 Heb “strengthened themselves.”
8 Heb “a young man and tender of heart.”
9 Heb “the kingdom of the Lord by the hand of the sons of David.”
10 Or “horde”; or “multitude.”
11 In the Hebrew text this is phrased as a rhetorical question, “Did you not banish?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you did,” the force of which is reflected in the translation “But you banished.”
12 Heb “whoever comes to fill his hand with a bull of a son of cattle, and seven rams, and he is a priest to no-gods.”
13 Heb “and priests serving the Lord [are] the sons of Aaron and the Levites in the work.”
14 Or “for.”
15 Heb “and his priests and the trumpets of the war alarm [are ready] to sound out against you.”
16 Heb “fathers” (also in v. 18).
17 Heb “and Jeroboam had caused to circle around an ambush to come from behind them.”
18 Heb “Judah.”
19 Heb “and Judah turned, and, look, to them [was] the battle in front and behind.”
20 Heb “shouted out.”
21 Heb “Judah.”
22 Heb “them”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
23 Heb “struck them down with a great striking down.”
24 Heb “and [the] slain from Israel fell, five hundred thousand chosen men.”
25 Heb “at that time.”
26 For location see ; ; ; ; .
27 Heb “and the strength of Jeroboam was not retained again in the days of Abijah.”
28 Heb “lifted up for himself.”
29 Heb “and his ways and his words.”
1 Beginning with 14:1, the verse numbers through 14:15 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (), with 14:1 = 13:23 , 14:2 = 14:1 , 14:3 = 14:2 , etc., through 14:15 = 14:14 . Beginning with 15:1 the verse numbers in the and are again the same.
2 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
3 The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
4 Heb “in his days.”