埃及侵犯犹大

12 罗波安王位稳定、国势强盛后,就离弃耶和华的律法,以色列人也都随从他。 罗波安王执政第五年,埃及王示撒上来攻打耶路撒冷,因为犹大君民对耶和华不忠。 示撒率领一千二百辆战车、六万骑兵及无数的路比人、苏基人和古实人。 他攻陷了犹大的坚城,直逼耶路撒冷。

那时,犹大各首领因为战事都聚集在耶路撒冷。示玛雅先知去见罗波安和众首领,对他们说:“耶和华说,‘你们背弃了我,所以我也要离弃你们,把你们交在示撒手中。’” 王与以色列的众首领听了,就谦卑下来说:“耶和华是公义的。” 耶和华见他们谦卑下来,就对示玛雅说:“既然他们谦卑下来,我就不灭绝他们,给他们留一条生路。我也不会借示撒向耶路撒冷倾倒我的愤怒。 然而,他们必做示撒的仆人,好让他们体验事奉我和服侍世上的君王的不同。”

埃及王示撒带兵攻陷了耶路撒冷,把耶和华殿里和王宫里的财宝及所罗门造的金盾牌掳掠一空。 10 罗波安王就造了铜盾牌代替金盾牌,交给看守宫门的护卫长看管。 11 每次王进耶和华的殿,护卫兵就带上盾牌,用完后放回护卫房。 12 王谦卑下来后,耶和华便不再向他发怒,没有将他完全毁灭。况且,在犹大还有一些善事。

罗波安逝世

13 罗波安王在耶路撒冷巩固了自己的势力,继续做王。他四十一岁登基,在耶路撒冷执政十七年。耶和华从以色列众支派中选择耶路撒冷作为立祂名的城。罗波安的母亲叫拿玛,是亚扪人。 14 罗波安行为邪恶,因为他不专心寻求耶和华。

15 他执政期间的事件自始至终都记在示玛雅先知和易多先见的史记上。罗波安与耶罗波安之间常有争战。 16 罗波安与祖先同眠后,葬在大卫城。他儿子亚比雅继位。

Egypt Attacks Judah(A)

12 Now (B)it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that (C)he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel along with him. (D)And 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, with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and people without number who came with him out of Egypt—(E)the Lubim and the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians. And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.

Then (F)Shemaiah 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.’ ”

So the leaders of Israel and the king (G)humbled themselves; and they said, (H)“The Lord is righteous.”

Now when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, (I)the 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. Nevertheless (J)they will be his servants, that they may distinguish (K)My service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.”

(L)So 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 (M)made. 10 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them (N)to 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(O)

13 Thus King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now (P)Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, (Q)the 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 (R)Ammonitess. 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, (S)and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? (T)And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. 16 So Rehoboam [a]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David. Then (U)Abijah[b] his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 12:16 Died and joined his ancestors
  2. 2 Chronicles 12:16 Abijam, 1 Kin. 14:31