2 Chronicles 12-13
Revised Geneva Translation
12 And when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and made it strong, he forsook the Law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.
2 Therefore, in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, the king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem (because they had transgressed against the LORD)
3 with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt—the Lubim, Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians—were without number.
4 And he took the strong cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.
5 Then Shemaiah the Prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the LORD: ‘You have forsaken Me. Therefore, I have also left you in the hands of Shishak.’”
6 Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves, and said, “The LORD is just.”
7 And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the Word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them. But I will shortly send them deliverance. And My wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
8 “Nevertheless, they shall be his servants, so they shall know My service from the service of the kingdoms of the Earth.”
9 Then Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem and took the treasures of the House of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house. He took it all. And he carried away the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
10 In their place, King Rehoboam made shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard who waited at the door of the king’s house.
11 And when the king entered into the House of the LORD, the guard came and bore them and brought them back to the guard chamber.
12 And because he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so that He would not completely destroy. And things also prospered in Judah.
13 So, King Rehoboam was strong in Jerusalem and reigned. For Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city in which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His Name. And his mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess.
14 And he did evil. For he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.
15 Also the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the Book of Shemaiah the Prophet and Iddo the Seer, in recounting the genealogy? And there was perpetual war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. And Abijah, his son, reigned in his place.
13 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah.
2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
3 And Abijah set the battle in formation with the army of valiant men of war, four hundred thousand chosen men. Jeroboam also set the battle in formation against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men who were strong and valiant.
4 And Abijah stood up upon Mount Zemaraim, which is on Mount Ephraim, and said, “O Jeroboam and all Israel! Hear me!
5 “Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel has given the kingdom over Israel to David forever, to him and to his sons, by a covenant of salt?
6 “And Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon, the son of David, has risen up and has rebelled against his lord!
7 “And vain men and wicked have gathered to him and made themselves strong against Rehoboam, the son of Solomon! For Rehoboam was a child and tender-hearted and could not resist them!
8 “Now, therefore, do you think that you are able to resist against the kingdom of the LORD, in the hands of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude? And the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods are with you?
9 “Have you not driven away the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made yourselves priests like the people of other countries? Whoever comes to consecrate with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of those who are not gods!
10 “But we belong to the LORD our God and have not forsaken Him! And the priests, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, minister to the LORD in office!
11 “And they burn Burnt Offerings and sweet incense to the LORD every morning and every evening. And the Bread is set in order upon the pure Table, and the Candlestick of gold with its Lamps, to burn every evening! For we keep the watch of the LORD our God! But you have forsaken Him!
12 “And behold! This God is with us as a Captain! And His Priests are with the sounding trumpets, to cry an alarm against you! O, you children of Israel, do not fight against the LORD God of your fathers! For you shall not prosper!”
13 But while they were before Judah, Jeroboam sent an ambush around, to come up behind them. And the ambush was now behind them.
14 Then Judah looked, and behold, the battle was in front and behind them. And they cried to the LORD. And the priests blew with the trumpets.
15 And the men of Judah gave a shout. And as the men of Judah shouted, God struck Jeroboam (and also Israel) before Abijah and Judah.
16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah. And God delivered them into their hand.
17 And Abijah and his people killed them in a great slaughter, so that five hundred thousand chosen men of Israel fell down wounded.
18 So, the children of Israel were subjugated at that time. And the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of their fathers.
19 And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel and its villages, and Jeshanah with her villages, and Ephron with her villages.
20 And Jeroboam regained no strength in the days of Abijah. But the LORD plagued him, and he died.
21 So, Abijah grew mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
22 The rest of the acts of Abijah, and his manners and his sayings, are written in the story of the Prophet Iddo.
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