Historical

Chapter 11

¹ When Rehoboam reached Jerusalem, he mustered one hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors of the house of Judah and Benjamin to fight against David and restore the kingdom to him. ² However, this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, the man of God: ³ “Say to Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin: ⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord: You are not to march out to fight against your brothers. Return home, every single one of you, for this is my doing.’ ” Therefore, they obeyed the command of the Lord and turned back from their campaign against Jeroboam.

Rehoboam’s Works. ⁵ Rehoboam took up residence in Jerusalem, and he built a number of fortified cities in Judah. ⁶ He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoram, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These were the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin.

¹¹ He then strengthened the defenses of these fortifications and stationed commanders in them, as well as supplies of food, oil, and wine. ¹² He also supplied all the cities with large shields and spears of great strength. Thus he retained control of Judah and Benjamin.

¹³ Jeroboam’s Priests. The priests and the Levites throughout Israel placed themselves at Rehoboam’s disposal. ¹⁴ Actually the Levites had abandoned their pasture lands and their holdings and had come to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected their services as priests of the Lord. ¹⁵ Jeroboam therefore appointed his own priests for the high places and for the satyrs and calves he had made.

¹⁶ On the other hand, those who were determined to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ¹⁷ They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, secure, for they followed the example of David and Solomon for three years.

¹⁸ Rehoboam’s Wives. Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of Jerimoth, the son of David, and whose mother was Abihail, the daughter of Eliab son of Jesse. ¹⁹ She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.

²⁰ After her he married Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, more than all his other wives and concubines. He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

²² Rehoboam appointed Abijah, the son of Maacah, as the chief prince among his brothers, inasmuch as he intended to make him king. ²³ He acted wisely by distributing some of his sons throughout all the districts of Judah and Benjamin in all the fortified cities. He also gave them copious provisions and obtained a number of wives for them.

Chapter 12

Rehoboam’s Unfaithfulness. ¹ After Rehoboam’s kingdom was firmly established and he grew ever more powerful, he, and all Israel^[a] with him, abandoned the law of the Lord. ² In the fifth year of the reign of King Rehoboam, because he and his people had been unfaithful to the Lord, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem^{[b] 3} with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. In addition, he also brought with him from Egypt a vast army beyond counting—Libyans, Sukkites,^[c] and Ethiopians.

⁴ After Shishak had captured the fortified cities of Judah and had arrived at the outskirts of Jerusalem, ⁵ the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and the commanders of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them: “Thus says the Lord: ‘You have abandoned me, and therefore I have abandoned you to the power of Shishak.’ ” ⁶ Then the officers of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said: “The Lord is just.”

⁷ When the Lord saw that they had humbled themselves, this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: “Because they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them. Rather, I will grant them some degree of deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸ However, they shall become his servants, so that they may come to understand the difference between serving me and serving the rulers of other countries.”

⁹ Therefore, Shishak, the king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem and carried away the treasures of the house of the Lord as well as the treasures of the king’s palace. He seized everything, including the shields of gold that Solomon had made. ¹⁰ Therefore, King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and entrusted them to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance of the king’s palace.

¹¹ Whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards would accompany him, bearing the shield and then afterward would return them to the guardroom. ¹² Because Rehoboam had humbled himself, the anger of the Lord was averted from him so as not to destroy him completely, and the conditions in Judah continued to improve.

¹³ Therefore, King Rehoboam strengthened his power in Jerusalem and continued to reign. He was forty-one years old when he first ascended the throne, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city in which, out of all the tribes of Israel, the Lord chose to be honored. His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonite. ¹⁴ However, he followed an evil path, for he had not truly resolved to seek the Lord.

¹⁵ The events of Rehoboam’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer. There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¹⁶ Rehoboam slept with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Abijah succeeded him as king.

Chapter 13

Abijah and Jeroboam Go to War. ¹ In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

When war broke out between Abijah and Jeroboam,^{[d] 3} Abijah prepared to engage in battle with an army of valiant warriors composed of four hundred thousand picked men, while Jeroboam took the field against him with eight hundred thousand chosen mighty warriors.

⁴ Then Abijah stood up on the slopes of Mount Zemaraim in the hill country of Ephraim and cried out: “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel! ⁵ Do you not know that the Lord, the God of Israel, gave the kingship over Israel to David and his sons forever by a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon, the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord, ⁷ and certain worthless scoundrels gathered around him and proved to be too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, since at that time Rehoboam was far too young and inexperienced and was unable to withstand them.

⁸ “And now you believe that you can withstand the kingdom of the Lord that is in the hands of David’s descendants, you with your multitude of supporters and the golden calves that Jeroboam made as gods for you. ⁹ Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the descendants of Aaron and the Levites, and made priests of your own like the peoples of foreign countries? Anyone who comes with an offering of a young bull and seven rams is automatically accepted as a priest of these gods that are no gods. ¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who are ministering to the Lord are descendants of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. ¹¹ Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the Lord, display the rows of bread on the table of pure gold, and light the lamps on the golden lampstand every evening. For we indeed observe our responsibilities toward the Lord, our God, but you have abandoned him. ¹² God is with us. He is our leader. His priests with their trumpets are prepared to sound the call to battle against you. O Israelites, do not engage in conflict against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.”

¹³ Meanwhile Jeroboam had sent a detachment of troops to attack them from behind. His main force was stationed in front of the forces of Judah, while the ambush lay behind them. ¹⁴ When the men of Judah turned around, they realized that they were surrounded and that they had to engage in battle on both fronts. Then they cried out to the Lord while the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ After that, the men of Judah sounded their battle cry, and when they shouted, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The Israelites fled before the Judahites, and God delivered them into the Judahites’ hands.

¹⁷ Abijah and his army inflicted heavy losses upon the Israelites. Five hundred thousand picked men of Israel fell during the battle. ¹⁸ The Israelites were thoroughly defeated at that time by the forces of Judah, because the Judahites relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ¹⁹ Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured three cities from him: Bethel with its dependencies, Jeshanah with its dependencies, and Ephron with its dependencies. ²⁰ Jeroboam did not regain his power during the reign of Abijah. Finally the Lord struck him down, and he died. ²¹ However, Abijah continued to grow ever stronger. He married fourteen wives and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

²² The Death of Abijah. The rest of the acts of Abijah’s reign, what he did and what he said, are recorded in the midrash of the prophet Iddo. ²³ Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Asa succeeded him, and during his reign the country was at peace for ten years.

Chapter 14

Asa the Reformer. ¹ Asa did what was good and righteous in the eyes of the Lord, his God. ² He destroyed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed to pieces the sacred pillars, and cut down the sacred poles. ³ He further commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and his commandments.

⁴ Throughout all the cities of Judah he removed the high places and the incense altars, and under him the kingdom was at peace. ⁵ He also built fortified cities in Judah during those years of peace which the Lord had granted. ⁶ Asa then said to Judah: “Let us build up these cities and surround them with walls, towers, gates, and bars. The land is still ours because we have sought the guidance of the Lord, our God, and he has given us peace on every side.” Therefore, they built and prospered.

Zerah’s Invasion. ⁷ Asa had an army of three hundred thousand warriors from Judah armed with shields and spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin armed with shields and bows. All of them were mighty warriors. ^8 [e]Zerah the Ethiopian marched out against them with an army of one million men and three hundred chariots, and they advanced as far as Mareshah. ⁹ Asa went forth, to confront him, and the opposing armies drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

¹⁰ Asa then cried out to the Lord, his God, saying: “Lord, there is no one else like you to help the powerless against a mighty foe. Come to our aid, O Lord, our God, for we are relying upon you, and in your name we are prepared to confront this horde. O Lord, you are our God. Do not allow these mere mortals to prevail against you.” ¹¹ Then the Lord enabled Asa and Judah to strike down the Ethiopians, and they fled. ¹² Asa and his army followed in pursuit as far as Gerar. The Ethiopians fell mortally wounded until there were no survivors. Then the army of Judah carried off a tremendous amount of booty.

¹³ Following that victory, the Judahites destroyed all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the Lord had filled the people with terror. Then they plundered all these villages and carried off all the treasures that were of great value. ¹⁴ They also attacked the tents of those who had livestock and carried away great numbers of sheep and goats and camels. After that they returned to Jerusalem.