Egypt Attacks Judah

12 Now 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. 2 cAnd 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, 3 with 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. 4 And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.

5 Then 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.’ ”

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

7 Now 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. 8 Nevertheless ithey will be his servants, that they may distinguish jMy service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.”

9 kSo 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. 10 Then 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. 11 And 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. 12 When 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

13 Thus 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. 14 And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.

15 The 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. 16 So 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

13 In athe eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over bJudah. 2 He 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. 3 Abijah 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.

4 Then Abijah stood on Mount cZemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel: 5 Should 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? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and frebelled against his lord. 7 Then 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. 8 And 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. 9 jHave 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? 10 But 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. 11 nAnd 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. 12 Now 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!”

13 But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 14 And 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. 15 Then 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. 16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. 17 Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; so five hundred thousand choice men of Israel fell slain. 18 Thus 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.

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

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

14 So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then aAsa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.

Asa Reigns in Judah

2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, 3 for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and bthe 1high places, and cbroke down the sacred pillars dand cut down the wooden images. 4 He commanded Judah to eseek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment. 5 He also removed the 2high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him. 6 And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him frest. 7 Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8 And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried 3shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew gbows; all these were mighty men of hvalor.

9 iThen Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to jMareshah. 10 So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa kcried out to the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, it is lnothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and min Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”

12 So the Lord nstruck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to oGerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the Lord and His army. And they carried away very much 4spoil. 14 Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for pthe fear of the Lord came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much 5spoil in them. 15 They also 6attacked the livestock enclosures, and carried off sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

The Reforms of Asa

15 Now athe Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. 2 And he went out 1to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. bThe Lord is with you while you are with Him. cIf you seek Him, He will be found by you; but dif you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 3 eFor a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a fteaching priest, and without glaw; 4 but hwhen in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. 5 And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 iSo nation was 2destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. 7 But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”

8 And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of 3Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities jwhich he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the Lord that was before the vestibule of the Lord. 9 Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and kthose who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.