Rehoboam’s Reign in Judah

11 Now ^(A)when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled from the house of Judah and Benjamin one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

² But the word of the Lord came ^(B)to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³ “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up or fight against your brethren! Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the words of the Lord, and turned back from attacking Jeroboam.

Rehoboam Fortifies the Cities

⁵ So Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶ And he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth Zur, Sochoh, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and Benjamin, fortified cities. ¹¹ And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. ¹² Also in every city he put shields and spears, and made them very strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.

Priests and Levites Move to Judah^(C)

¹³ And from all their territories the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him. ¹⁴ For the Levites left ^(D)their common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for ^(E)Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the Lord. ^15 (F)Then he appointed for himself priests for the ^[a]high places, for ^(G)the demons, and ^(H)the calf idols which he had made. ^16 (I)And ^[b]after the Levites left, those from all the tribes of Israel, such as set their heart to seek the Lord God of Israel, ^(J)came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers. ¹⁷ So they ^(K)strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

The Family of Rehoboam

¹⁸ Then Rehoboam took for himself as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of ^(L)Eliah the son of Jesse. ¹⁹ And she bore him children: Jeush, Shamariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he took ^(M)Maachah the ^[c]granddaughter of ^(N)Absalom; and she bore him ^(O)Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Now Rehoboam loved Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his ^(P)wives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ²² And Rehoboam ^(Q)appointed ^(R)Abijah the son of Maachah as chief, to be leader among his brothers; for he intended to make him king. ²³ He dealt wisely, and ^[d]dispersed some of his sons throughout all the territories of Judah and Benjamin, to every ^(S)fortified city; and he gave them provisions in abundance. He also sought many wives for them.

Egypt Attacks Judah^(T)

12 Now ^(U)it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that ^(V)he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel along with him. ^2 (W)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, ³ with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and people without number who came with him out of Egypt—^(X)the Lubim and the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians. ⁴ And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.

⁵ Then ^(Y)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.’ ”

⁶ So the leaders of Israel and the king ^(Z)humbled themselves; and they said, ^(AA)“The Lord is righteous.”

⁷ Now when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, ^(AB)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. ⁸ Nevertheless ^(AC)they will be his servants, that they may distinguish ^(AD)My service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.”

^9 (AE)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 ^(AF)made. ¹⁰ Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them ^(AG)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^(AH)

¹³ Thus King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now ^(AI)Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, ^(AJ)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 ^(AK)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, ^(AL)and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? ^(AM)And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. ¹⁶ So Rehoboam ^[e]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David. Then ^(AN)Abijah^[f] his son reigned in his place.

Abijah Reigns in Judah^(AO)

13 In ^(AP)the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over ^(AQ)Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^[g]Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah set the battle in order with an army of valiant warriors, four hundred thousand choice men. Jeroboam also drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand choice men, mighty men of valor.

⁴ Then Abijah stood on Mount ^(AR)Zemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel: ⁵ Should you not know that the Lord God of Israel ^(AS)gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, ^(AT)by a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and ^(AU)rebelled against his lord. ⁷ Then ^(AV)worthless rogues gathered to him, and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was ^(AW)young and inexperienced and could not withstand them. ⁸ And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam ^(AX)made for you as gods. ^9 (AY)Have you not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands, ^(AZ)so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of ^(BA)things that are not gods? ¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our ^(BB)God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties. ^11 (BC)And they burn to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; they also set the ^(BD)showbread in order on the pure gold table, and the lampstand of gold with its lamps ^(BE)to burn every evening; for we keep the command of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken Him. ¹² Now look, God Himself is with us as our ^(BF)head, ^(BG)and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!”

¹³ But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they ^(BH)cried out to the Lord, and the priests sounded the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God ^(BI)struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. ¹⁷ Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; so five hundred thousand choice men of Israel fell slain. ¹⁸ Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, ^(BJ)because they relied on the Lord God of their fathers.

¹⁹ And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and ^(BK)Ephrain^[h] with its villages. ²⁰ So Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and the Lord ^(BL)struck him, and ^(BM)he died.

²¹ But Abijah grew mighty, married fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways, and his sayings are written in ^(BN)the ^[i]annals of the prophet Iddo.

Asa Reigns over Judah

14 So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then ^(BO)Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.

Asa Reigns in Judah^(BP)

² Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, ³ for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and ^(BQ)the ^[j]high places, and ^(BR)broke down the sacred pillars ^(BS)and cut down the wooden images. ⁴ He commanded Judah to ^(BT)seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment. ⁵ He also removed the ^[k]high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him. ⁶ And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the Lord had given him ^(BU)rest. ⁷ Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸ And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried ^[l]shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew ^(BV)bows; all these were mighty men of ^(BW)valor.

^9 (BX)Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to ^(BY)Mareshah. ¹⁰ So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹ And Asa ^(BZ)cried out to the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, it is ^(CA)nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and ^(CB)in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”

¹² So the Lord ^(CC)struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to ^(CD)Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the Lord and His army. And they carried away very much ^[m]spoil. ¹⁴ Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for ^(CE)the fear of the Lord came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much ^[n]spoil in them. ¹⁵ They also ^[o]attacked the livestock enclosures, and carried off sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.

The Reforms of Asa

15 Now ^(CF)the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. ² And he went out ^[p]to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. ^(CG)The Lord is with you while you are with Him. ^(CH)If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but ^(CI)if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. ^3 (CJ)For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a ^(CK)teaching priest, and without ^(CL)law; ⁴ but ^(CM)when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. ⁵ And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. ^6 (CN)So nation was ^[q]destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. ⁷ But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”

⁸ And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of ^[r]Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities ^(CO)which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the Lord that was before the vestibule of the Lord. ⁹ Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and ^(CP)those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

¹⁰ So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. ^11 (CQ)And they offered to the Lord ^[s]at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the ^[t]spoil they had brought. ¹² Then they ^(CR)entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; ^13 (CS)and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel ^(CT)was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. ¹⁴ Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns. ¹⁵ And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and ^(CU)sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them ^(CV)rest all around.

¹⁶ Also he removed ^(CW)Maachah, the ^[u]mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of ^[v]Asherah; and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron. ¹⁷ But ^(CX)the ^[w]high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days.

¹⁸ He also brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils. ¹⁹ And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.