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 ³ with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt—^(F)Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. ⁴ And he took ^(G)the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. ⁵ Then ^(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.’” ⁶ Then the princes of ^(J)Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, ^(K)“The Lord is righteous.” ⁷ When 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. ⁸ Nevertheless, 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, ¹⁰ and 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. ¹¹ And 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. ¹² And 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. ¹⁴ And 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. ¹⁶ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and ^(Z)Abijah^[c] his son reigned in his place.

Abijah Reigns in Judah

13 ^(AA)In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, ^(AB)Abijah began to reign over Judah. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was ^(AC)Micaiah^[d] the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

^(AD)Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam ^(AE)drew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. ⁴ Then Abijah stood up on Mount ^(AF)Zemaraim that is in ^(AG)the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! ⁵ Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel ^(AH)gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by ^(AI)a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up ^(AJ)and rebelled against his lord, ⁷ and certain ^(AK)worthless scoundrels^[e] gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was ^(AL)young and irresolute^[f] and could not withstand them.

⁸ “And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you ^(AM)the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. ^9 (AN)Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes ^(AO)for ordination^[g] with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are ^(AP)not gods. ¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. ¹¹ They offer to the Lord ^(AQ)every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out ^(AR)the showbread on the table of pure gold, ^(AS)and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may ^(AT)burn every evening. For we ^(AU)keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him. ¹² Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests ^(AV)with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, ^(AW)do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”

¹³ Jeroboam had sent ^(AX)an ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops^[h] were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. ^(AY)And they cried to the Lord, and the priests ^(AZ)blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, ^(BA)God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The men of Israel fled before Judah, ^(BB)and God gave them into their hand. ¹⁷ Abijah and his people struck them with great force, so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men. ¹⁸ Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, ^(BC)because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. ¹⁹ And Abijah pursued Jeroboam ^(BD)and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and ^(BE)Ephron^[i] with its villages. ²⁰ Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah. ^(BF)And the Lord struck him down, ^(BG)and he died. ²¹ But Abijah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the ^(BH)story of the prophet ^(BI)Iddo.

Asa Reigns in Judah

14 ^{[j] (BJ)}Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. ^2 [k] And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. ³ He took away the foreign altars ^(BK)and the high places and broke down ^(BL)the pillars and cut down the ^(BM)Asherim ⁴ and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. ⁵ He also took out of all the cities of Judah ^(BN)the high places and the ^(BO)incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. ⁶ He built ^(BP)fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, ^(BQ)for the Lord gave him peace. ⁷ And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with ^(BR)walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, ^(BS)and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸ And Asa had an army of ^(BT)300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.

⁹ Zerah ^(BU)the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as ^(BV)Mareshah. ¹⁰ And Asa went out to meet him, and ^(BW)they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at ^(BX)Mareshah. ¹¹ And Asa ^(BY)cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, ^(BZ)for we rely on you, ^(CA)and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” ^12 (CB)So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^(CC)Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah^[l] carried away very much spoil. ¹⁴ And they attacked all the cities around ^(CD)Gerar, ^(CE)for the fear of the Lord was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Asa's Religious Reforms

15 ^(CF)The Spirit of God came^[m] upon Azariah the son of Oded, ² and he went out 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, ^(CI)but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. ^3 (CJ)For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, ^4 (CK)but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. ⁵ In those times there was no peace ^(CL)to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. ⁶ They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. ^7 (CM)But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, ^(CN)for your work shall be rewarded.”

⁸ As soon as Asa heard these words, ^(CO)the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from ^(CP)the cities that he had taken in ^(CQ)the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord ^(CR)that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.^{[n] 9} And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, ^(CS)and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. ¹⁰ They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. ¹¹ They sacrificed to the Lord on that day ^(CT)from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. ^12 (CU)And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, ¹³ but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(CV)should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. ¹⁴ They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. ¹⁵ And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, ^(CW)and the Lord gave them rest all around.

^16 (CX)Even Maacah, ^(CY)his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image ^(CZ)for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, ^(DA)crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. ^17 (DB)But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. ¹⁸ And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. ¹⁹ And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

Asa's Last Years

16 ^(DC)In the ^(DD)thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, ^(DE)that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. ² Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king's house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, ³ “There is a covenant^[o] between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” ⁴ And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the ^(DF)store cities of Naphtali. ⁵ And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease. ⁶ Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

⁷ At that time ^(DG)Hanani ^(DH)the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, ^(DI)“Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. ⁸ Were not ^(DJ)the Ethiopians and ^(DK)the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet ^(DL)because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. ^9 (DM)For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those ^(DN)whose heart is blameless^[p] toward him. ^(DO)You have done foolishly in this, for from now on ^(DP)you will have wars.” ¹⁰ Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him ^(DQ)in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.

^11 (DR)The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians. ¹³ And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴ They buried him in the tomb that he had cut for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier ^(DS)that had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer's art, ^(DT)and they made a very great fire in his honor.