Historical

Rehoboam Reigns over Judah and Builds Cities

11 Now when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors to fight against [the ten tribes of] Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ² But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³ “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, ⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brothers (countrymen); return, every man to his house, for this thing is from Me.”’” And they listened to and obeyed the words of the Lord and turned back from going against Jeroboam.

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built [fortified] cities for defense in Judah. ⁶ He ^[a]built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹ He strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them, with supplies of food, [olive] oil, and wine. ¹² And in each city he put [large] shields and spears, and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

¹³ Further, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with Rehoboam from all their districts.

Jeroboam Appoints False Priests

¹⁴ For the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the Lord. ¹⁵ Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places, for the satyrs (goat demons) and calves (idols) which he had made.^{(A) 16} Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord God of Israel followed ^[b]them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers. ¹⁷ So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years; for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam’s Family

¹⁸ Rehoboam took as his wife Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse. ¹⁹ She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he took Maacah the daughter (granddaughter) of Absalom, and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter (granddaughter) of Absalom more than all his wives and ^[c]concubines—for he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ²² Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah the chief leader among his brothers, because he intended to make him king. ²³ He acted wisely and distributed some of his sons throughout the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions, and he sought many wives for them.

Shishak of Egypt Invades Judah

12 When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the Lord. ² And it came about in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, that ^[d]Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem ³ with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. The people who came with him from Egypt were beyond counting—the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the ^[e]Ethiopians. ⁴ Shishak took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. ⁵ Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord: ‘You have abandoned (turned away from) Me, so I have abandoned you into the hands of Shishak.’” ⁶ Then the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.”

⁷ When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves so I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some measure of a remnant [that escapes]; and My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak. ⁸ Nevertheless they will become his slaves, so that they may know [the difference between] My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

Plunder Impoverishes Judah

⁹ So Shishak king of Egypt went up against Jerusalem; he took the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house (palace). He took everything. He even took the shields of gold which Solomon had made. ¹⁰ In their place King Rehoboam made shields of bronze and entrusted them to the care of the officers of the guard who guarded the door of the king’s house. ¹¹ And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards came and carried the shields and then brought them back into the guards’ room. ¹² When Rehoboam humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned away from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and also conditions were good in Judah.

¹³ So King Rehoboam established himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city in which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His Name. And his mother was Naamah the Ammonitess. ¹⁴ He did evil because he did not set his heart to seek and worship and honor the Lord.

¹⁵ Now the acts of Rehoboam, from the first to the last, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, according to genealogical enrollment? There were wars between Rehoboam [of Judah] and Jeroboam [of Israel] continually. ¹⁶ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in the City of David; and Abijah his son became king in his place.

Abijah Succeeds Rehoboam

13 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam [of Israel]. ³ Abijah began the battle with an army of brave soldiers, 400,000 chosen men. Jeroboam drew up in battle formation against him with 800,000 chosen men, valiant men.

Civil War

⁴ Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel: ⁵ Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel, gave rule over Israel forever to David and to his sons by a covenant of ^[f]salt [a permanent pact, extending to each generation of Israel]?^{(B) 6} Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord [the king], ⁷ and worthless (unprincipled, unethical) men gathered around him, useless and wicked men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam the son of Solomon when Rehoboam was young and timid, and could not assert himself against them.

⁸ “And now you intend to assert yourselves against the kingdom of the Lord which is in the hands of the sons of David, since you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves (idols) which Jeroboam made for you as gods. ⁹ Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? So whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, even he may become a priest of non-existent gods (idols). ¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not abandoned (turned away from) Him. The sons of Aaron are ministering to the Lord as priests, and the Levites attend to their service. ¹¹ Every morning and every evening they offer the burnt offerings and the fragrant incense to the Lord; and the ^[g]showbread is set on the clean table [of pure gold], and the golden lampstand with its lamps is ready to light every evening; for we keep the charge of the Lord our God [that is, the obligation we have to Him], but you have abandoned (turned away from) Him. ¹² Behold, God is with us at our head, and His priests [are here] with their signal trumpets to sound an alarm against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”

¹³ But Jeroboam had set an ambush to come from the rear, so that Israel was in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ When [the men of] Judah turned around, they were attacked from both front and rear; so they cried out to the Lord [for help], and the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah raised a war cry; and as they shouted, God struck Jeroboam and all Israel [with defeat] before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ And the sons of Israel fled before Judah, and God handed over the sons of Israel to them. ¹⁷ Abijah and his people inflicted on them a great defeat, so that 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain. ¹⁸ Thus the sons of Israel were subdued (humbled) at that time, and the sons of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. ¹⁹ Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured [several] cities from him: Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephraim (Ephron), with their villages.

Death of Jeroboam

²⁰ Jeroboam did not recover strength again during the time of [the reign of] Abijah. And the Lord struck him and he died.

²¹ But Abijah became powerful. He took fourteen wives for himself and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his sayings, are written in the writing of the prophet Iddo.

Asa Succeeds Abijah in Judah

14 ^[h]So Abijah slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in the City of David; and Asa his son became king in his place. The land was at peace for ten years during his days.

^2 [i]Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God. ³ He removed the foreign altars and high places and tore down the [pagan] pillars (obelisks, memorial stones), and cut to pieces the Asherim [the symbols of the goddess Asherah]. ⁴ And he commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers [to inquire of and for Him and seek Him as a vital necessity], and to observe the law [given to Moses] and the commandment. ⁵ Asa also removed the [idolatrous] high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah. The kingdom was at rest and undisturbed under his reign. ⁶ He built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was at rest, and there was no one at war with him in those years, because the Lord had given him rest. ⁷ So he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls, towers, gates and bars [to secure the doors]. The land is still ours because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him [longing for Him with all our heart] and He has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸ Now Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah, who carried large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin, who carried shields and drew bows, all courageous men.

⁹ Now Zerah the Ethiopian (Cushite) came out against Judah with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came as far as Mareshah. ¹⁰ Then Asa went out against him, and they drew up in battle formation in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹ Asa called out to the Lord his God, saying, “O Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and the weak; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in and rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.” ¹² So the Lord struck the Ethiopians [with defeat] before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^[j]Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that none of them were found alive; for they were destroyed before the Lord and His army. And they carried away a very large amount of spoil. ¹⁴ They attacked and destroyed all the cities around Gerar, for the dread of the Lord had fallen on them. They plundered all the cities, for there was a large amount of spoil in them. ¹⁵ They also struck down the people [living] in tents who had livestock, and took captive large numbers of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.