2 Chronicles 11-12

New English Translation

11 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from Judah and Benjamin^[a] to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ² But the Lord’s message came to the prophet^[b] Shemaiah, ³ “Say this to King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah and to all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin, ⁴ ‘The Lord says this: “Do not attack and make war with your brothers. Each of you go home, for I have caused this to happen.”’”^[c] They obeyed the Lord and called off the attack against Jeroboam.^[d]

Rehoboam’s Reign

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem; he built up these fortified cities throughout Judah: ⁶ Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These were the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹ He fortified these cities and placed officers in them, as well as storehouses of food, olive oil, and wine. ¹² In each city there were shields and spears; he strongly fortified them.^[e] Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

¹³ The priests and Levites who lived throughout Israel supported him, no matter where they resided.^{[f] 14} The Levites even left their pasturelands and their property behind and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons prohibited them from serving as the Lord’s priests. ¹⁵ Jeroboam^[g] appointed his own priests to serve at the worship centers^[h] and to lead in the worship of the goat idols and calf idols he had made.^{[i] 16} Those among all the Israelite tribes who were determined to worship the Lord God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem^[j] to sacrifice to the Lord God of their ancestors.^{[k] 17} They supported^[l] the kingdom of Judah and were loyal to^[m] Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years; they followed the edicts of^[n] David and Solomon for three years.

¹⁸ Rehoboam married^[o] Mahalath the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of^[p] Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. ¹⁹ She bore him sons named Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ He later married Maacah the daughter of Absalom. She bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than his other wives and concubines.^[q] He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines; he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

²² Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as the leader over his brothers, for he intended to name him his successor.^{[r] 23} He wisely placed some of his many sons throughout the regions of Judah and Benjamin in the various fortified cities.^[s] He supplied them with abundant provisions and acquired many wives for them.^[t]

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

⁵ Shemaiah 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.’”^{[u] 6} The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is just.”^{[v] 7} When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the Lord’s message came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves, so I will not destroy them. I will deliver them soon.^[w] My anger will not be unleashed against^[x] Jerusalem through Shishak. ⁸ Yet they will become his subjects, so they can experience how serving me differs from serving the surrounding nations.”^[y]

⁹ King 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. ¹⁰ King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard^[z] who protected the entrance to the royal palace. ¹¹ Whenever the king visited the Lord’s temple, the royal guards carried them and then brought them back to the guardroom.^[aa]

¹² So when Rehoboam^[ab] humbled himself, the Lord relented from his anger and did not annihilate him;^[ac] Judah experienced some good things.^{[ad] 13} King Rehoboam solidified his rule in Jerusalem;^[ae] he^[af] 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.^[ag] Rehoboam’s^[ah] mother was an Ammonite named Naamah. ¹⁴ He did evil because he was not determined to follow the Lord.^[ai]

¹⁵ The events of Rehoboam’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded^[aj] in the Annals of Shemaiah the Prophet and of Iddo the Seer that include genealogical records. There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. ¹⁶ Then Rehoboam passed away^[ak] and was buried in the City of David.^[al] His son Abijah replaced him as king.