Historical

11 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he gathered 180,000 of the best soldiers. They were from the people of Judah and Benjamin. He gathered them to fight Israel. He wanted to bring the kingdom back under his control. ² But the Lord spoke his word to Shemaiah, the man of God. The Lord said, ³ “Shemaiah, talk to Solomon’s son Rehoboam, the king of Judah. Talk also to all the Israelites living in Judah and Benjamin. Say to them, ⁴ ‘The Lord says you must not go to war against your brothers. Every one of you should go home. I made all these things happen.’” So King Rehoboam and his army obeyed the Lord’s command. They turned back and did not attack Jeroboam.

Rehoboam Makes Judah Strong

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem. He built strong cities in Judah to defend it against attacks. ⁶ He built up the cities of Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron. These were strong, walled cities in Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹ When Rehoboam made those cities strong, he put commanders in them. He also put supplies of food, oil and wine in them. ¹² Also, Rehoboam put shields and spears in all the cities. So he made them very strong. Rehoboam kept the peoples and cities of Judah and Benjamin under his control.

¹³ The priests and the Levites from all over Israel joined Rehoboam. ¹⁴ The Levites even left their pasturelands and fields and came to Judah and Jerusalem. They did this because Jeroboam and his sons refused to let them serve as priests to the Lord. ¹⁵ Jeroboam chose his own priests to serve in the places of worship. He chose his own priests for the goat and calf idols he had made. ¹⁶ There were people from all the tribes of Israel who wanted to obey the Lord, the God of Israel. They went to Jerusalem with the Levites. They went to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ¹⁷ These people made the kingdom of Judah strong. And they supported Solomon’s son Rehoboam for three years. During this time they lived the way David and Solomon had lived.

Rehoboam’s Family

¹⁸ Rehoboam married Mahalath. She was the daughter of Jerimoth and Abihail. Jerimoth was David’s son. Abihail was Eliab’s daughter, and Eliab was Jesse’s son. ¹⁹ Mahalath gave Rehoboam these sons: Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham. ²⁰ Then Rehoboam married Absalom’s daughter Maacah. And she gave Rehoboam these children: Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah more than his other wives and slave women. Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 slave women. He was the father of 28 sons and 60 daughters.

²² Rehoboam chose Abijah to be the leader of his own brothers. He did this because he planned to make Abijah king. ²³ Rehoboam acted wisely. He spread his sons through all the areas of Judah and Benjamin. He sent them to every strong, walled city. And he gave plenty of supplies to his sons. He also found wives for them.

Shishak Attacks Jerusalem

12 Rehoboam became a strong king. He also made his kingdom strong. Then he and the people of Judah stopped obeying the teachings of the Lord. ² Shishak was the king of Egypt. He attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year Rehoboam was king. This happened because Rehoboam and the people were unfaithful to the Lord. ³ Shishak had 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. He brought troops of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites from Egypt with him. There were so many they couldn’t be counted. ⁴ Shishak captured the strong, walled cities of Judah. And he came as far as Jerusalem.

⁵ Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah. They had gathered in Jerusalem because they were afraid of Shishak. Shemaiah said to them, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have left me. So now I will leave you to face Shishak alone.’”

⁶ Then the leaders of Judah and King Rehoboam were sorry for what they had done. They said, “The Lord does what is right.”

⁷ The Lord saw that they were sorry for what they had done. So the Lord spoke his word to Shemaiah. The Lord said, “The king and the leaders are sorry. So I will not destroy them but will save them soon. I will not use Shishak to punish Jerusalem in my anger. ⁸ But the people of Jerusalem will become Shishak’s servants. Then they may learn that serving me is different than serving the kings of other nations.”

⁹ Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He took the treasures from the Temple of the Lord and from the king’s palace. He took everything, even 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 for the entrance to the king’s palace. ¹¹ Whenever the king entered the Temple of the Lord, the guards went with him. They would carry the shields. Later, they would put them back in the guard room.

¹² When Rehoboam was sorry for what he had done, the Lord held his anger back. So the Lord did not fully destroy Rehoboam. There was some good in Judah.

¹³ King Rehoboam made himself a strong king in Jerusalem. He was 41 years old when he became king. And he was king in Jerusalem for 17 years. Jerusalem is the city that the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel. He chose to be worshiped in Jerusalem. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah from the country of Ammon. ¹⁴ Rehoboam did evil things because he did not want to ask the Lord for help.

¹⁵ The things Rehoboam did as king, from the beginning to the end, are written down. They are in the records of Shemaiah the prophet. And they are in the records of Iddo the seer. These men wrote family histories. There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the time they ruled. ¹⁶ Rehoboam died and was buried in Jerusalem. Then Rehoboam’s son Abijah became king.

Abijah King of Judah

13 Abijah became the king of Judah. This was during the eighteenth year Jeroboam was king of Israel. ² Abijah was king in Jerusalem for three years. Abijah’s mother was Maacah daughter of Uriel. Uriel was from the town of Gibeah.

And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah led an army of 400,000 capable soldiers into battle. And Jeroboam prepared to fight him with 800,000 capable soldiers.

⁴ Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the mountains of Ephraim. He said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! ⁵ You should know this: The Lord, the God of Israel, gave David and his sons the right to be king over Israel forever. God gave this right to David with an agreement which will last forever. ⁶ But Jeroboam turned against his master. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s officers. Solomon was David’s son. ⁷ Then worthless, evil men became friends with Jeroboam. They were against Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. Rehoboam was young and didn’t know what to do. So he could not stop them.

⁸ “Now you people are making plans against the Lord’s kingdom. The Lord’s kingdom belongs to David’s sons! There are many of you. And you have the gold calves Jeroboam made for you as gods. ⁹ You have thrown out the Lord’s priests and the Levites. The priests are Aaron’s sons. You have chosen your own priests as people in other countries do. Anyone who comes to make himself ready to serve the Lord with a young bull and seven male sheep can become a priest. He may become a priest of idols that are not gods.

¹⁰ “But as for us, the Lord is our God. We have not left him. The priests who serve the Lord are Aaron’s sons. And the Levites help the priests serve the Lord. ¹¹ They offer burnt offerings and sweet-smelling incense to the Lord every morning and evening. They also put the bread on the special table in the Temple. And they light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We obey the command of the Lord our God. But you have left the Lord. ¹² God himself is with us. He is our ruler, and his priests are with us. The priests blow the trumpet to call us to war against you. Men of Israel, don’t fight against the Lord because you won’t succeed. He is the God of your ancestors.”

¹³ But Jeroboam had sent some troops to sneak behind Abijah’s army. So while Jeroboam was in front of Abijah’s army, Jeroboam’s soldiers were behind them. ¹⁴ The soldiers in Abijah’s army looked around. Then they saw Jeroboam’s army attacking both in front and back. They cried out to the Lord. And the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah gave a battle cry. When they shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and the army of Israel. They ran away from Abijah and the army of Judah. ¹⁶ The men of Israel ran away from the men of Judah. God let the army from Judah defeat them. ¹⁷ Abijah’s army killed many of Israel’s men. Of Israel’s best men 500,000 were killed. ¹⁸ So at that time the people of Israel were defeated. And the people of Judah won. They won because they depended on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

¹⁹ Abijah’s army chased Jeroboam’s army. Abijah’s army captured from Jeroboam the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron. They also captured the small villages near these towns. ²⁰ Jeroboam never became strong again while Abijah was alive. The Lord struck Jeroboam, and he died.

²¹ But Abijah became strong. He married 14 women. And he was the father of 22 sons and 16 daughters. ²² All the other things Abijah did as king are written down. What he said and did are recorded in what the prophet Iddo has written.

14 Abijah died and was buried in Jerusalem. Then Abijah’s son Asa became king in his place. There was peace in the country for 10 years in Asa’s time.

Asa King of Judah

² Asa did what the Lord said was good and right. ³ He removed the foreign altars used for idol worship. He removed the places where false gods were worshiped. He smashed the stone pillars that honored false gods. And he tore down the Asherah idols. ⁴ Asa commanded the people of Judah to obey the Lord, the God their ancestors followed. Asa commanded them to obey the Lord’s teachings and commandments. ⁵ He also removed the places where false gods were worshiped and the incense altars from every town in Judah. So the kingdom had peace while Asa was king. ⁶ Asa built strong, walled cities in Judah during the time of peace. He had no war in these years because the Lord gave him peace.

⁷ Asa said to the people of Judah, “Let’s build up these towns and put walls around them. Let’s make towers, gates and bars in the gates. This country is ours because we have obeyed the Lord our God. We have tried to obey him, and he has given us peace all around.” So they built and had success.

⁸ Asa had an army of 300,000 men from the people of Judah. And he had 280,000 men from the people of Benjamin. The men from Judah carried large shields and spears. The men from Benjamin carried small shields and bows and arrows. All these men were brave fighting men.

⁹ Then Zerah from Cush came out to fight Asa’s army. Zerah had a large army and 300 chariots. They came as far as the town of Mareshah. ¹⁰ Asa went out to fight Zerah. Asa’s army prepared for battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

¹¹ Asa called out to the Lord his God. He said, “Lord, only you can help weak people against the strong. Help us, Lord our God. We depend on you. We fight against this large army in your name. Lord, you are our God. Don’t let anyone win against you.”

¹² Then the Lord defeated the Cushites when Asa’s army from Judah attacked them. And the Cushites ran away. ¹³ Asa’s army chased them as far as the town of Gerar. So many Cushites were killed that the army could not fight again. They were crushed by the Lord and his army. Asa and his army carried many valuable things away from the enemy. ¹⁴ They destroyed all the towns near Gerar. The people living in these towns were afraid of the Lord. These towns had many valuable things. So Asa’s army took these things away. ¹⁵ Asa’s army also attacked the camps where the shepherds lived. And they took many sheep and camels. Then they went back to Jerusalem.