1 Kings 14:21-31

Common English Bible

Rehoboam rules Judah

²¹ Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, ruled over Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king. He ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from among all the tribes of Israel to set his name. Rehoboam’s mother’s name was Naamah from Ammon. ²² Judah did evil in the Lord’s eyes. The sins they committed made the Lord angrier than anything their ancestors had done. ²³ They also built shrines, standing stones, and sacred poles^[a] on top of every high hill and under every green tree. ²⁴ Moreover, the consecrated workers^[b] in the land did detestable things, just like those nations that the Lord had removed among the Israelites.

²⁵ During King Rehoboam’s fifth year, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. ²⁶ He seized the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He took everything, even all the gold shields that Solomon had made. ²⁷ King Rehoboam replaced them with bronze shields and assigned them to the officers of the guard who protected the entrance to the royal palace. ²⁸ Whenever the king entered the Lord’s temple, the guards would carry the shields and then return them to the guardroom. ²⁹ The rest of Rehoboam’s deeds and all that he accomplished, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? ³⁰ There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ³¹ When Rehoboam died, he was buried with his ancestors in David’s City. His mother’s name was Naamah from Ammon. His son Abijam^[c] succeeded him as king.