The Daily Audio Bible

11 Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem. He brought together 180,000 capable young men from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. He had decided to go to war against Israel. He wanted his fighting men to get the kingdom of Israel back for him.

² But a message came to Shemaiah from the Lord. Shemaiah was a man of God. The Lord said to him, ³ “Speak to Solomon’s son Rehoboam, the king of Judah. Speak to all the people of Israel in Judah and Benjamin. Tell them, ⁴ ‘The Lord says, “Do not go up to fight against your relatives. I want every one of you to go back home. Things have happened exactly the way I planned them.” ’ ” So the young men obeyed the Lord’s message. They turned back. They didn’t march out against Jeroboam.

Rehoboam Builds Up Judah’s Towns

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem. He made Judah more secure by building up its towns. ⁶ He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth Zur, Soko and Adullam. ⁸ He also built up Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron. All of them were cities in Judah and Benjamin that had high walls around them. ¹¹ Rehoboam made those cities even more secure. He put commanders in them. He gave the cities plenty of food, olive oil and wine. ¹² He put shields and spears in all those cities. He made them very strong. So he ruled over Judah and Benjamin.

¹³ The priests and Levites were on Rehoboam’s side. They came from their territories all over Israel. ¹⁴ The Levites even left their grasslands and other property behind. They came to Judah and Jerusalem. That’s because Jeroboam and his sons had refused to accept them as priests of the Lord. ¹⁵ Jeroboam had appointed his own priests to serve at the high places. He had made statues of gods that looked like goats and calves. His priests served those gods. ¹⁶ Some people from every tribe in Israel followed the Levites to Jerusalem. With all their hearts they wanted to worship the Lord. He is the God of Israel. They came to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to him. He was the God of their people of long ago. ¹⁷ All those who came to Jerusalem made the kingdom of Judah strong. They helped Solomon’s son Rehoboam for three years. During that time they lived the way David and Solomon had lived.

Rehoboam’s Family

¹⁸ Rehoboam married Mahalath. She was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth. Her mother was Abihail. Abihail was the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. ¹⁹ Mahalath had sons by Rehoboam. Their names were Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham. ²⁰ Then Rehoboam married Maakah. She was the daughter of Absalom. She had sons by Rehoboam. Their names were Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Absalom’s daughter Maakah. In fact, he loved her more than any of his other wives and concubines. He had a total of 18 wives and 60 concubines. And he had a total of 28 sons and 60 daughters.

²² Rehoboam appointed Maakah’s son Abijah to be the chief prince among his brothers. He did it because he wanted to make him king. ²³ Rehoboam acted wisely. He scattered some of his sons through all the territories of Judah and Benjamin. He put them in all the cities that had high walls around them. He gave them plenty of food and everything else they needed. He also gave them many wives.

Shishak Attacks Jerusalem

12 Rehoboam had made his position as king secure. He had become very strong. Then he turned away from the law of the Lord. So did all the people of Judah. ² They hadn’t been faithful to the Lord. So Shishak attacked Jerusalem. It was in the fifth year that Rehoboam was king. Shishak was king of Egypt. ³ He came with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. Troops of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites came with him from Egypt. There were so many of them they couldn’t be counted. ⁴ Shishak captured the cities of Judah that had high walls around them. He came all the way to Jerusalem.

⁵ Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah. They had gathered together in Jerusalem. They were afraid of Shishak. Shemaiah said to them, “The Lord says, ‘You have left me. So now I am leaving you to Shishak.’ ”

⁶ The king and the leaders of Israel made themselves humble in the Lord’s sight. They said, “The Lord does what is right and fair.”

⁷ The Lord saw they had made themselves humble. So he gave a message to Shemaiah. The Lord said, “They have made themselves humble in my sight. So I will not destroy them. Instead, I will soon save them. Even though I am very angry with Jerusalem, I will not use Shishak to destroy them. ⁸ But the people of Jerusalem will be brought under his control. Then they will learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands.”

⁹ Shishak, the king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem. He carried away the treasures of the Lord’s temple. He also carried the treasures of the royal palace away. He took everything. That included the gold shields Solomon had made. ¹⁰ So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to take their place. He gave them to the commanders of the guards who were on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. ¹¹ Every time the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards went with him. They carried the shields. Later, they took them back to the room where they were kept.

¹² Rehoboam had made himself humble in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord turned his anger away from him. Rehoboam wasn’t totally destroyed. In fact, some good things happened in Judah.

¹³ King Rehoboam had made his position secure in Jerusalem. He continued as king. He was 41 years old when he became king. He ruled for 17 years in Jerusalem. It was the city the Lord had chosen out of all the cities in the tribes of Israel. He wanted to put his Name there. The name of Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah from Ammon. ¹⁴ Rehoboam did what was evil. That’s because he hadn’t worshiped the Lord with all his heart.

¹⁵ The events of Rehoboam’s rule from beginning to end are written down. They are written in the records of Shemaiah and Iddo, the prophets. The records deal with family histories. Rehoboam and Jeroboam were always at war with each other. ¹⁶ Rehoboam joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the City of David. Rehoboam’s son Abijah became the next king after him.

Abijah King of Judah

13 Abijah became king of Judah. It was in the 18th year of Jeroboam’s rule over Israel. ² Abijah ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother’s name was Maakah. She was a daughter of Uriel. Uriel was from Gibeah.

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah went into battle with an army of 400,000 capable fighting men. Jeroboam lined up his soldiers against them. He had 800,000 able troops.

⁴ Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim. It’s in the hill country of Ephraim. Abijah said, “Jeroboam and all you Israelites, listen to me! ⁵ The Lord is the God of Israel. Don’t you know that he has placed David and his sons after him on Israel’s throne forever? The Lord made a covenant of salt with David. The salt means the covenant will last for all time to come. ⁶ Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was an official of David’s son Solomon. But he refused to obey his master. ⁷ Some worthless and evil men gathered around him. They opposed Solomon’s son Rehoboam. At that time Rehoboam was young. He couldn’t make up his mind. He wasn’t strong enough to stand up against those men.

⁸ “Now you plan to stand up against the kingdom of the Lord. His kingdom is in the hands of men in David’s family line. It’s true that you have a huge army. You have the statues of the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. ⁹ But you drove out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron. You also drove out the Levites. You appointed your own priests. That’s what the people of other nations do. Anyone can come and set himself apart. All he has to do is sacrifice a young bull and seven rams. Then he becomes a priest of gods that aren’t really gods at all!

¹⁰ “But the Lord is our God. We haven’t deserted him. The priests who serve the Lord belong to the family line of Aaron. The Levites help them. ¹¹ Every morning and evening the priests bring burnt offerings and sweet-smelling incense to the Lord. They set out the holy bread on the table. That table is ‘clean.’ They light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We always do what the Lord our God requires in his law. But you have deserted him. ¹² God is with us. He’s our leader. His priests will blow their trumpets. They will sound the battle cry against you. People of Israel, don’t fight against the Lord. He’s the God of your people who lived long ago. You can’t possibly succeed.”

¹³ Jeroboam had sent some troops behind Judah’s battle lines. He told them to hide and wait there. He and his men stayed in front of Judah’s lines. ¹⁴ Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked from the front and from the back. Then they cried out to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets. ¹⁵ The men of Judah shouted the battle cry. When they did, God drove Jeroboam and all the Israelites away from Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The Israelites ran away from them. God handed Israel over to Judah. ¹⁷ Abijah and his troops wounded and killed large numbers of them. In fact, 500,000 of Israel’s capable men lay dead or wounded. ¹⁸ So at that time the Israelites were brought under Judah’s control. The people of Judah won the battle over them. That’s because they trusted in the Lord, the God of their people.

¹⁹ Abijah chased Jeroboam. He captured from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron. He also captured the villages around them. ²⁰ Jeroboam didn’t get his power back during the time of Abijah. In fact, the Lord struck Jeroboam down, and he died.

²¹ But Abijah grew stronger. He married 14 wives. He had 22 sons and 16 daughters.

²² The other events of Abijah’s rule are written down. The things he did and said are written in the notes of Iddo the prophet.

²⁶ In the same way, the Holy Spirit helps us when we are weak. We don’t know what we should pray for. But the Spirit himself prays for us. He prays through groans too deep for words. ²⁷ God, who looks into our hearts, knows the mind of the Spirit. And the Spirit prays for God’s people just as God wants him to pray.

²⁸ We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. He appointed them to be saved in keeping with his purpose. ²⁹ God planned that those he had chosen would become like his Son. In that way, Christ will be the first and most honored among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those God has planned for, he has also appointed to be saved. Those he has appointed, he has made right with himself. To those he has made right with himself, he has given his glory.

We Are More Than Winners

³¹ What should we say then? Since God is on our side, who can be against us? ³² God did not spare his own Son. He gave him up for us all. Then won’t he also freely give us everything else? ³³ Who can bring any charge against God’s chosen ones? God makes us right with himself. ³⁴ Then who can sentence us to death? No one. Christ Jesus is at the right hand of God and is also praying for us. He died. More than that, he was raised to life. ³⁵ Who can separate us from Christ’s love? Can trouble or hard times or harm or hunger? Can nakedness or danger or war? ³⁶ It is written,

³⁷ No! In all these things we are more than winners! We owe it all to Christ, who has loved us. ³⁸ I am absolutely sure that not even death or life can separate us from God’s love. Not even angels or demons, the present or the future, or any powers can separate us. ³⁹ Not even the highest places or the lowest, or anything else in all creation can separate us. Nothing at all can ever separate us from God’s love. That’s because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done.