2 Chronicles 12–13

Egypt Attacks Judah

12Now ^ait came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that ^bhe forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel along with him. ^2cAnd it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, ³with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and people without number who came with him out of Egypt—^dthe Lubim and the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians. ⁴And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.

⁵Then ^eShemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord: ‘You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.’ ”

⁶So the leaders of Israel and the king ^fhumbled themselves; and they said, ^g“The Lord is righteous.”

⁷Now when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, ^hthe word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸Nevertheless ⁱthey will be his servants, that they may distinguish ^jMy service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.”

^9kSo Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also carried away the gold shields which Solomon had ^lmade. ¹⁰Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them ^mto the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. ¹¹And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guard would go and bring them out; then they would take them back into the guardroom. ¹²When he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and things also went well in Judah.

The End of Rehoboam’s Reign

¹³Thus King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now ⁿRehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, ^othe city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah, an ^pAmmonitess. ¹⁴And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.

¹⁵The acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, ^qand of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? ^rAnd there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. ¹⁶So Rehoboam ¹rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David. Then ^sAbijah ²his son reigned in his place.

Abijah Reigns in Judah

13In ^athe eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over ^bJudah. ²He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ¹Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³Abijah set the battle in order with an army of valiant warriors, four hundred thousand choice men. Jeroboam also drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand choice men, mighty men of valor.

⁴Then Abijah stood on Mount ^cZemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel: ⁵Should you not know that the Lord God of Israel ^dgave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, ^eby a covenant of salt? ⁶Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and ^frebelled against his lord. ⁷Then ^gworthless rogues gathered to him, and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was ^hyoung and inexperienced and could not withstand them. ⁸And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam ⁱmade for you as gods. ^9jHave you not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands, ^kso that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of ^lthings that are not gods? ¹⁰But as for us, the Lord is our ^mGod, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties. ¹¹ⁿAnd they burn to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; they also set the ^oshowbread in order on the pure gold table, and the lampstand of gold with its lamps ^pto burn every evening; for we keep the command of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken Him. ¹²Now look, God Himself is with us as our ^qhead, ^rand His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!”

¹³But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they ^scried out to the Lord, and the priests sounded the trumpets. ¹⁵Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God ^tstruck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. ¹⁷Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; so five hundred thousand choice men of Israel fell slain. ¹⁸Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, ^ubecause they relied on the Lord God of their fathers.

¹⁹And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and ^vEphrain ²with its villages. ²⁰So Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and the Lord ^wstruck him, and ^xhe died.

²¹But Abijah grew mighty, married fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²²Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways, and his sayings are written in ^ythe ³annals of the prophet Iddo.