12Rehoboam had made his position as king secure. He had become very strong. Then he turned away from the law of the Lord. So did all of the people of Judah.

²They hadn’t been faithful to the Lord. So Shishak attacked Jerusalem. It was in the fifth year that Rehoboam was king. Shishak was king of Egypt. ³He came with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. Troops of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites came with him from Egypt. There were so many of them they couldn’t be counted. ⁴Shishak captured the cities of Judah that had high walls around them. He came all the way to Jerusalem.

⁵Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah. They had gathered together in Jerusalem. They were afraid of Shishak. Shemaiah said to them, “The Lord says, ‘You have left me. So now I am leaving you to Shishak.’ ”

⁶The king and the leaders of Israel made themselves low in the Lord’s sight. They said, “The Lord does what is right and fair.”

⁷The Lord saw they had made themselves low. So he gave a message to Shemaiah. It said, “They have made themselves low in my sight. So I will not destroy them. Instead, I will soon save them. I will not pour out my burning anger on Jerusalem through Shishak. ⁸But its people will be brought under his control. Then they will learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands.”

⁹Shishak, the king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem. He carried away the treasures of the Lord’s temple. He also carried the treasures of the royal palace away. He took everything. That included the gold shields Solomon had made.

¹⁰So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to take their place. He gave them to the commanders of the guards who were on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. ¹¹Every time the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards went with him. They carried the shields. Later, they took them back to the room where they were kept.

¹²Rehoboam had made himself low in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord turned his anger away from him. Rehoboam wasn’t totally destroyed. In fact, some good things happened in Judah.

¹³King Rehoboam had made his position secure in Jerusalem. He continued as king. He was 41 years old when he became king. He ruled for 17 years in Jerusalem. It was the city the Lord had chosen out of all of the cities in the tribes of Israel. He wanted to put his Name there. The name of Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah from Ammon.

¹⁴Rehoboam did what was evil. That’s because he hadn’t worshiped the Lord with all his heart.

¹⁵The events of Rehoboam’s rule from beginning to end are written down. They are written in the records of the prophets Shemaiah and Iddo. The records deal with family histories. Rehoboam and Jeroboam were always at war with each other.

¹⁶Rehoboam joined the members of his family who had already died. His body was buried in the City of David. His son Abijah became the next king after him.

Abijah Becomes King of Judah

13Abijah became king of Judah. It was in the 18th year of Jeroboam’s rule over Israel. ²Abijah ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother’s name was Maacah. She was a daughter of Uriel. Uriel was from Gibeah.

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³Abijah went into battle with an army of 400,000 able fighting men. Jeroboam lined up his soldiers against them. He had 800,000 able troops.

⁴Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim. It’s in the hill country of Ephraim. Abijah said, “Jeroboam and all you men of Israel, listen to me! ⁵The Lord is the God of Israel. Don’t you know that he has placed David and his sons after him on Israel’s throne forever? The Lord made a covenant of salt with David. The salt means the covenant will last for all time to come.

⁶“Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was an official of David’s son Solomon. But he refused to obey his master. ⁷Some worthless and evil men gathered around him. They opposed Solomon’s son Rehoboam. At that time Rehoboam was young. He couldn’t make up his mind. He wasn’t strong enough to stand up against those men.

⁸“Now you plan to stand up against the kingdom of the Lord. His kingdom is in the hands of men in David’s family line. It’s true that you have a huge army. You have the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.

⁹“But you drove out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron. You also drove out the Levites. You appointed your own priests. That’s what the people of other nations do. Anyone can come and set himself apart. All he has to do is sacrifice a young bull and seven rams. Then he becomes a priest of gods that aren’t really gods at all!

¹⁰“But the Lord is our God. We haven’t deserted him. The priests who serve the Lord belong to the family line of Aaron. The Levites help them. ¹¹Every morning and evening the priests bring burnt offerings and sweet-smelling incense to the Lord. They set out the holy bread on the table. That table is ‘clean.’ They light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening.

“We always do what the Lord our God requires in his law. But you have deserted him. ¹²God is with us. He’s our leader. His priests will blow their trumpets. They will sound the battle cry against you. Men of Israel, don’t fight against the Lord. He’s the God of your people who lived long ago. You can’t possibly succeed.”

¹³Jeroboam had sent some troops behind Judah’s battle lines. He told them to hide and wait there. He and his men stayed in front of Judah’s lines.

¹⁴Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked from the front and from the back. Then they cried out to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets. ¹⁵The men of Judah shouted the battle cry. When they did, God drove Jeroboam and all of Israel’s men away from Abijah and Judah.

¹⁶The men of Israel ran away from them. God handed Israel over to Judah. ¹⁷Abijah and his men wounded and killed large numbers of them. In fact, 500,000 of Israel’s able men lay dead or wounded.

¹⁸So at that time the men of Israel were brought under Judah’s control. The men of Judah won the battle over them. That’s because they trusted in the Lord. He’s the God of their people.

¹⁹Abijah chased Jeroboam. He took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron. He also took the villages that were around them. ²⁰Jeroboam didn’t get his power back during the time of Abijah. In fact, the Lord struck him down. And he died.

²¹But Abijah grew stronger. He got married to 14 wives. He had 22 sons and 16 daughters.

²²The other events of Abijah’s rule are written down. The things he did and said are written in the notes of the prophet Iddo.

14Abijah joined the members of his family who had already died. His body was buried in the City of David. His son Asa became the next king after him. While Asa was king, the country had peace and rest for ten years.

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