12TH CHAPTER

King Shishak Takes the Temple Treasures—1 Kings 14:21–31

1 When Rehoboam had established his kingdom and made himself strong, he and all Israel abandoned the Lord’s teachings. 2 In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. This happened because all Israel was not loyal to the Lord. 3 Shishak had 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horses, and an army of countless Libyans, Sukkites, and Sudanese from Egypt. 

4 He captured the fortified cities in Judah and then came to Jerusalem. 

5 The prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who had gathered in Jerusalem because of Shishak. Shemaiah said to them, “This is what the Lord says: You have abandoned me, so I will abandon you. I will hand you over to Shishak.” 6 Then the commanders of Israel and the king humbled themselves. “The Lord is right!” they said. 

7 When the Lord saw that they had humbled themselves, he spoke his word to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them. In a little while I will give them an escape. I will not use Shishak to pour my anger on Jerusalem. 8 But they will become his servants so that they can learn the difference between serving me and serving foreign kings.” 

9 King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took the treasures from the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He took them all. He took the gold shields Solomon had made. 10 So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and put them by the entrance to the royal palace, where the captains of the guards were stationed. 11 Whenever the king went into the Lord’s temple, guards carried the shields and then returned them to the guardroom. 

12 After Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord was no longer angry with him and didn’t completely destroy him. So things went well in Judah. 

13 King Rehoboam strengthened his position in Jerusalem and ruled. He was 41 years old when he began to rule. He ruled for 17 years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel, the city where the Lord put his name. (Rehoboam’s mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah.) 14 He did evil things because he was not serious about dedicating himself to serving the Lord. 

15 Aren’t the events concerning Rehoboam from first to last written in the records of the prophet Shemaiah and the records of the seera Iddo in the genealogies? There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam as long as they lived. 16 Rehoboam lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Abijah succeeded him as king.