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.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For ^(A)we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but ^(B)the Spirit Himself makes intercession ^[a]for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. ²⁷ Now ^(C)He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints ^(D)according to the will of God.

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those ^(E)who are the called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For whom ^(F)He foreknew, ^(G)He also predestined ^(H)to be conformed to the image of His Son, ^(I)that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰ Moreover whom He predestined, these He also ^(J)called; whom He called, these He also ^(K)justified; and whom He justified, these He also ^(L)glorified.

God’s Everlasting Love

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? ^(M)If God is for us, who can be against us? ^32 (N)He who did not spare His own Son, but ^(O)delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? ^(P)It is God who justifies. ^34 (Q)Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, ^(R)who is even at the right hand of God, ^(S)who also makes intercession for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

^37 (U)Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor ^(V)principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.