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Summary of Rehoboam’s Reign

13 King Rehoboam firmly established himself in Jerusalem and continued to rule. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen from among all the tribes of Israel as the place to honor his name. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah, a woman from Ammon.

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Rehoboam’s Family

18 Rehoboam married his cousin Mahalath, the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Eliab son of Jesse. 19 Mahalath had three sons—Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.

20 Later Rehoboam married another cousin, Maacah, the granddaughter of Absalom. Maacah gave birth to Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved Maacah more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and they gave birth to twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

22 Rehoboam appointed Maacah’s son Abijah as leader among the princes, making it clear that he would be the next king. 23 Rehoboam also wisely gave responsibilities to his other sons and stationed some of them in the fortified towns throughout the land of Judah and Benjamin. He provided them with generous provisions, and he found many wives for them.

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Egypt Invades Judah

12 But when Rehoboam was firmly established and strong, he abandoned the Law of the Lord, and all Israel followed him in this sin.

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14 But he was an evil king, for he did not seek the Lord with all his heart.

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22 During Rehoboam’s reign, the people of Judah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, provoking his anger with their sin, for it was even worse than that of their ancestors. 23 For they also built for themselves pagan shrines and set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. 24 There were even male and female shrine prostitutes throughout the land. The people imitated the detestable practices of the pagan nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites.

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Because they were unfaithful to the Lord, King Shishak of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam’s reign. He came with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horses,[a] and a countless army of foot soldiers, including Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians.[b] Shishak conquered Judah’s fortified towns and then advanced to attack Jerusalem.

The prophet Shemaiah then met with Rehoboam and Judah’s leaders, who had all fled to Jerusalem because of Shishak. Shemaiah told them, “This is what the Lord says: You have abandoned me, so I am abandoning you to Shishak.”

Then the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is right in doing this to us!”

When the Lord saw their change of heart, he gave this message to Shemaiah: “Since the people have humbled themselves, I will not completely destroy them and will soon give them some relief. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger on Jerusalem. But they will become his subjects, so they will know the difference between serving me and serving earthly rulers.”

So King Shishak of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem. He ransacked the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and the royal palace; he stole everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. 10 King Rehoboam later replaced them with bronze shields as substitutes, and he entrusted them to the care of the commanders of the guard who protected the entrance to the royal palace. 11 Whenever the king went to the Temple of the Lord, the guards would also take the shields and then return them to the guardroom. 12 Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger was turned away, and he did not destroy him completely. There were still some good things in the land of Judah.

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Footnotes

  1. 12:3a Or charioteers, or horsemen.
  2. 12:3b Hebrew and Cushites.

Psalm 89

A psalm[a] of Ethan the Ezrahite.

I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever!
    Young and old will hear of your faithfulness.
Your unfailing love will last forever.
    Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.

The Lord said, “I have made a covenant with David, my chosen servant.
    I have sworn this oath to him:
‘I will establish your descendants as kings forever;
    they will sit on your throne from now until eternity.’” Interlude
All heaven will praise your great wonders, Lord;
    myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness.
For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord?
    What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord?
The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God.
    He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne.
O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies!
    Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord?
    You are entirely faithful.

You rule the oceans.
    You subdue their storm-tossed waves.
10 You crushed the great sea monster.[b]
    You scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11 The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours;
    everything in the world is yours—you created it all.
12 You created north and south.
    Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon praise your name.
13 Powerful is your arm!
    Strong is your hand!
    Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
    Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.
15 Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship,
    for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord.
16 They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation.
    They exult in your righteousness.
17 You are their glorious strength.
    It pleases you to make us strong.
18 Yes, our protection comes from the Lord,
    and he, the Holy One of Israel, has given us our king.

19 Long ago you spoke in a vision to your faithful people.
You said, “I have raised up a warrior.
    I have selected him from the common people to be king.
20 I have found my servant David.
    I have anointed him with my holy oil.
21 I will steady him with my hand;
    with my powerful arm I will make him strong.
22 His enemies will not defeat him,
    nor will the wicked overpower him.
23 I will beat down his adversaries before him
    and destroy those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and unfailing love will be with him,
    and by my authority he will grow in power.
25 I will extend his rule over the sea,
    his dominion over the rivers.
26 And he will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,
    my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
27 I will make him my firstborn son,
    the mightiest king on earth.
28 I will love him and be kind to him forever;
    my covenant with him will never end.
29 I will preserve an heir for him;
    his throne will be as endless as the days of heaven.
30 But if his descendants forsake my instructions
    and fail to obey my regulations,
31 if they do not obey my decrees
    and fail to keep my commands,
32 then I will punish their sin with the rod,
    and their disobedience with beating.
33 But I will never stop loving him
    nor fail to keep my promise to him.
34 No, I will not break my covenant;
    I will not take back a single word I said.
35 I have sworn an oath to David,
    and in my holiness I cannot lie:
36 His dynasty will go on forever;
    his kingdom will endure as the sun.
37 It will be as eternal as the moon,
    my faithful witness in the sky!” Interlude

38 But now you have rejected him and cast him off.
    You are angry with your anointed king.
39 You have renounced your covenant with him;
    you have thrown his crown in the dust.
40 You have broken down the walls protecting him
    and ruined every fort defending him.
41 Everyone who comes along has robbed him,
    and he has become a joke to his neighbors.
42 You have strengthened his enemies
    and made them all rejoice.
43 You have made his sword useless
    and refused to help him in battle.
44 You have ended his splendor
    and overturned his throne.
45 You have made him old before his time
    and publicly disgraced him. Interlude

46 O Lord, how long will this go on?
    Will you hide yourself forever?
    How long will your anger burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my life is,
    how empty and futile this human existence!
48 No one can live forever; all will die.
    No one can escape the power of the grave.[c] Interlude

49 Lord, where is your unfailing love?
    You promised it to David with a faithful pledge.
50 Consider, Lord, how your servants are disgraced!
    I carry in my heart the insults of so many people.
51 Your enemies have mocked me, O Lord;
    they mock your anointed king wherever he goes.

52 Praise the Lord forever!
    Amen and amen!

Footnotes

  1. 89:Title Hebrew maskil. This may be a literary or musical term.
  2. 89:10 Hebrew Rahab, the name of a mythical sea monster that represents chaos in ancient literature.
  3. 89:48 Hebrew of Sheol.

29 The rest of the events in Rehoboam’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. 30 There was constant war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 31 When Rehoboam died, he was buried among his ancestors in the City of David. His mother was Naamah, an Ammonite woman. Then his son Abijam[a] became the next king.

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Footnotes

  1. 14:31 Also known as Abijah.

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