2 Chronicles 12

English Standard Version

Egypt Plunders Jerusalem

12 ^(A)When the rule of Rehoboam was established ^(B)and he was strong, ^(C)he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. ²^(D)In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, ^(E)Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem ³with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt—^(F)Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. ⁴And he took ^(G)the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. ⁵Then ^(H)Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, ^(I)‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” ⁶Then the princes of ^(J)Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, ^(K)“The Lord is righteous.” ⁷When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: ^(L)“They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, ^(M)and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, ^(N)that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

⁹^(O)So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away ^(P)the shields of gold that Solomon had made, ¹⁰and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. ¹¹And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom. ¹²And when ^(Q)he humbled himself the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, ^(R)conditions were good^[a] in Judah.

¹³^(S)So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. ¹⁴And he did evil, ^(T)for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

¹⁵^(U)Now the acts of Rehoboam, ^(V)from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of ^(W)Shemaiah the prophet and of ^(X)Iddo ^(Y)the seer?^[b] There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¹⁶And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and ^(Z)Abijah^[c] his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 12:12 Hebrew good things were found
2 Chronicles 12:15 After seer, Hebrew adds according to genealogy
2 Chronicles 12:16 Spelled Abijam in 1 Kings 14:31

Isaiah 42

English Standard Version

The Lord's Chosen Servant

42 ^(A)Behold ^(B)my servant, whom I uphold,
    my chosen, ^(C)in whom my soul delights;
^(D)I have put my Spirit upon him;
    ^(E)he will bring forth justice to the nations.
²He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
    or make it heard in the street;
³^(F)a bruised reed he will not break,
    and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
    ^(G)he will faithfully bring forth justice.
⁴He will not grow faint or be discouraged^[a]
    till he has established justice in the earth;
    and ^(H)the coastlands wait for his law.

⁵Thus says God, the Lord,
    who created the heavens ^(I)and stretched them out,
    who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
^(J)who gives breath to the people on it
    and spirit to those who walk in it:
⁶“I am the Lord; ^(K)I have called you^[b] in righteousness;
    I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you ^(L)as a covenant for the people,
    ^(M)a light for the nations,
⁷    ^(N)to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
    ^(O)from the prison those who sit in darkness.
⁸I am the Lord; that is my name;
    ^(P)my glory I give to no other,
    nor my praise to carved idols.
⁹Behold, the former things have come to pass,
    ^(Q)and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
    I tell you of them.”

Sing to the Lord a New Song

¹⁰^(R)Sing to the Lord a new song,
    his praise from the end of the earth,
^(S)you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
    ^(T)the coastlands and their inhabitants.
¹¹Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
    the villages that ^(U)Kedar inhabits;
let the habitants of ^(V)Sela sing for joy,
    let them shout from the top of the mountains.
¹²Let them give glory to the Lord,
    and declare his praise in ^(W)the coastlands.
¹³^(X)The Lord goes out like a mighty man,
    like a man of war ^(Y)he stirs up his zeal;
he cries out, ^(Z)he shouts aloud,
    he shows himself mighty against his foes.

¹⁴For a long time I have held my peace;
    I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out ^(AA)like a woman in labor;
    I will gasp and pant.
¹⁵^(AB)I will lay waste mountains and hills,
    and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into islands,^[c]
    and dry up the pools.
¹⁶^(AC)And I will lead the blind
    in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
    I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
    ^(AD)the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
    and I do not forsake them.
¹⁷^(AE)They are turned back and utterly put to shame,
    who trust in carved idols,
who say to metal images,
    “You are our gods.”

Israel's Failure to Hear and See

¹⁸Hear, you deaf,
    and look, you blind, that you may see!
¹⁹Who is blind but my servant,
    or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one,^[d]
    or blind as the servant of the Lord?
²⁰^(AF)He sees many things, but does not observe them;
    ^(AG)his ears are open, but he does not hear.
²¹The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness' sake,
    to magnify his law and make it glorious.
²²But this is a people plundered and looted;
    they are all of them trapped in holes
    ^(AH)and hidden in prisons;
they have become plunder with none to rescue,
    spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
²³Who among you will give ear to this,
    will attend and listen for the time to come?
²⁴Who gave up Jacob to the looter,
    and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
    in whose ways they would not walk,
    and whose law they would not obey?
²⁵So he poured on him the heat of his anger
    and the might of battle;
it set him on fire all around, ^(AI)but he did not understand;
    it burned him up, ^(AJ)but he did not take it to heart.