Historical

11 When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam. ² But Yahweh’s word came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³ “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴ ‘Yahweh says, “You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers! Every man return to his house; for this thing is of me.”’” So they listened to Yahweh’s words, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶ He 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 in Benjamin. ¹¹ He fortified the strongholds and put captains in them with stores of food, oil and wine. ¹² He put shields and spears in every city, and made them exceedingly strong. Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

¹³ The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him out of all their territory. ¹⁴ For the Levites left their pasture lands and their possessions, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest’s office to Yahweh. ¹⁵ He himself appointed priests for the high places, for the male goat and calf idols which he had made. ¹⁶ After them, out of all the tribes of Israel, those who set their hearts to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Yahweh, the God of their fathers. ¹⁷ So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years, for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.

¹⁸ Rehoboam took a wife for himself, 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 granddaughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah the granddaughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ²² Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, the prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. ²³ He dealt wisely, and dispersed some of his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to every fortified city. He gave them food in abundance; and he sought many wives for them.

12 When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned Yahweh’s law, and all Israel with him. ² In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against Yahweh, ³ with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. The people were without number who came with him out of Egypt: the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. ⁴ He took the fortified cities which belonged to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. ⁵ Now Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Yahweh says, ‘You have forsaken me, therefore I have also left you in the hand of Shishak.’”

⁶ Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, “Yahweh is righteous.”

⁷ When Yahweh saw that they humbled themselves, Yahweh’s word came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath won’t be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸ Nevertheless they will be his servants, that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

⁹ So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem and took away the treasures of Yahweh’s house and the treasures of the king’s house. He took it all away. He also took away the shields of gold which Solomon had made. ¹⁰ King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. ¹¹ As often as the king entered into Yahweh’s house, the guard came and bore them, then brought them back into the guard room. ¹² When he humbled himself, Yahweh’s wrath turned from him, so as not to destroy him altogether. Moreover, there were good things found in Judah.

¹³ So King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned; for Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which Yahweh had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. ¹⁴ He did that which was evil, because he didn’t set his heart to seek Yahweh.

¹⁵ Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, aren’t they written in the histories of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, in the genealogies? There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. ¹⁶ Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in David’s city; and Abijah his son reigned in his place.

13 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah joined battle with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men; and Jeroboam set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, who were mighty men of valor. ⁴ Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel: ⁵ Ought you not to know that Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up, and rebelled against his lord. ⁷ Worthless men were gathered to him, wicked fellows who strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tender hearted, and could not withstand them.

⁸ “Now you intend to withstand the kingdom of Yahweh in the hand of the sons of David. You are a great multitude, and the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods are with you. ⁹ Haven’t you driven out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves according to the ways of the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of those who are no gods.

¹⁰ “But as for us, Yahweh is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests serving Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work. ¹¹ They burn to Yahweh every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense. They also set the show bread in order on the pure table, and care for the gold lamp stand with its lamps, to burn every evening; for we keep the instruction of Yahweh our God, but you have forsaken him. ¹² Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. Children of Israel, don’t fight against Yahweh, the God of your fathers; for you will not prosper.”

¹³ But Jeroboam caused an ambush to come about behind them; so they were before Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ When Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried to Yahweh, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah gave a shout. As the men of Judah shouted, God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. ¹⁷ Abijah and his people killed them with a great slaughter, so five hundred thousand chosen men of Israel fell down slain. ¹⁸ Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on Yahweh, the God of their fathers. ¹⁹ Abijah pursued Jeroboam, and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephron with its villages.

²⁰ Jeroboam didn’t recover strength again in the days of Abijah. Yahweh struck him, and he died. ²¹ But Abijah grew mighty and took for himself fourteen wives, and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways, and his sayings are written in the commentary of the prophet Iddo.

14 So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in David’s city; and Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days, the land was quiet ten years. ² Asa did that which was good and right in Yahweh his God’s eyes, ³ for he took away the foreign altars and the high places, broke down the pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, ⁴ and commanded Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and to obey his law and command. ⁵ Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the sun images; and the kingdom was quiet before him. ⁶ He built fortified cities in Judah; for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years, because Yahweh had given him rest. ⁷ For he said to Judah, “Let’s build these cities and make walls around them, with towers, gates, and bars. The land is yet before us, because we have sought Yahweh our God. We have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.

⁸ Asa had an army of three hundred thousand out of Judah who bore bucklers and spears, and two hundred eighty thousand out of Benjamin who bore shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.

⁹ Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million troops and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah. ¹⁰ Then Asa went out to meet him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹ Asa cried to Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, there is no one besides you to help, between the mighty and him who has no strength. Help us, Yahweh our God; for we rely on you, and in your name are we come against this multitude. Yahweh, you are our God. Don’t let man prevail against you.”

¹² So Yahweh struck the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar. So many of the Ethiopians fell that they could not recover themselves, for they were destroyed before Yahweh and before his army. Judah’s army carried away very much booty. ¹⁴ They struck all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of Yahweh came on them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ They also struck the tents of those who had livestock, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, then returned to Jerusalem.