2 Chronicles 12
Jubilee Bible 2000
12 ¶ And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had confirmed the kingdom and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.
2 And it came to pass that in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem, because they had rebelled against the LORD,
3 with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen; and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt: the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.
4 And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah and came to Jerusalem.
5 Then Shemaiah, the prophet, went to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus hath the LORD said, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore, I have also left you in the hand of Shishak.
6 And the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The LORD is righteous.
7 And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore, I will not destroy them, but I will deliver them shortly; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
8 Nevertheless, they shall be his slaves that they may know what it is to serve me and to serve the kingdoms of the nations.
9 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 it all; he also carried away the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
10 And in their place King Rehoboam made shields of brass and committed them to the hands of the princes of the guard that kept the entrance of the king’s house.
11 And when the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came and brought them, and afterward they returned them again into the guard chamber.
12 And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him that he would not destroy him altogether; and also in Judah things went well.
13 ¶ So King Rehoboam was strengthened and reigned in Jerusalem; and Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess.
14 And he did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.
15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah, the prophet, and of Iddo, the seer concerning genealogies? And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.
16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and Abijah, his son, reigned in his stead.
2 Chronicles 12
Good News Translation
An Egyptian Invasion of Judah(A)
12 As soon as Rehoboam had established his authority as king, he and all his people abandoned the Law of the Lord. 2 In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign their disloyalty to the Lord was punished. King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem 3 with an army of twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand cavalry, and more soldiers than could be counted, including Libyan, Sukkite, and Ethiopian[a] troops. 4 He captured the fortified cities of Judah and advanced as far as Jerusalem.
5 Shemaiah the prophet went to King Rehoboam and the Judean leaders who had gathered in Jerusalem to escape Shishak. He said to them, “This is the Lord's message to you: ‘You have abandoned me, so now I have abandoned you to Shishak.’”
6 The king and the leaders admitted that they had sinned, and they said, “What the Lord is doing is just.”
7 When the Lord saw this, he spoke again to Shemaiah and said to him, “Because they admit their sin, I will not destroy them. But when Shishak attacks, they will barely survive. Jerusalem will not feel the full force of my anger, 8 but Shishak will conquer them, and they will learn the difference between serving me and serving earthly rulers.”
9 (B)King Shishak came to Jerusalem and took the treasures from the Temple and from the palace. He took everything, including the gold shields that King Solomon had made. 10 To replace them, Rehoboam made bronze shields and entrusted them to the officers responsible for guarding the palace gates. 11 Every time the king went to the Temple, the guards carried the shields and then returned them to the guardroom. 12 Because he submitted to the Lord, the Lord's anger did not completely destroy him, and things went well for Judah.
Summary of Rehoboam's Reign
13 Rehoboam ruled in Jerusalem and increased his power as king. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the territory of Israel as the place where he was to be worshiped. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah, from the land of Ammon. 14 He did what was evil, because he did not try to find the Lord's will.
15 Rehoboam's acts from beginning to end and his family records are found in The History of Shemaiah the Prophet and The History of Iddo the Prophet. Rehoboam and Jeroboam were constantly at war with each other. 16 Rehoboam died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City and his son Abijah succeeded him as king.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 12:3 Hebrew Cushite(s): Cush is the ancient name of the extensive territory south of the First Cataract of the Nile River. This region was called Ethiopia in Graeco-Roman times, and included within its borders most of modern Sudan and some of present-day Ethiopia (Abyssinia).
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Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
