Shishak Attacks Jerusalem^(A)

12 After Rehoboam’s position as king was established^(B) and he had become strong,^(C) he and all Israel^[a](D) with him abandoned^(E) the law of the Lord.

¹⁷ They strengthened^(A) the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon three years, following the ways of David and Solomon during this time.

¹³ King Rehoboam established^(A) himself firmly in Jerusalem and continued as king. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name.^(B) His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.

¹³ Under their command was an army of 307,500 men trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. ¹⁴ Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army.^{(A) 15} In Jerusalem he made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defenses so that soldiers could shoot arrows and hurl large stones from the walls. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.

¹⁶ But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride^(B) led to his downfall.^(C) He was unfaithful^(D) to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense^(E) on the altar of incense.

²² Judah^(A) did evil in the eyes of the Lord. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger^(B) more than those who were before them had done. ²³ They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones^(C) and Asherah poles^(D) on every high hill and under every spreading tree.^{(E) 24} There were even male shrine prostitutes^(F) in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable^(G) practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

The Lord’s Anger Against Israel