Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

King Shishak Takes the Temple Treasures^(A)

12 When Rehoboam had established his kingdom and made himself strong, he and all Israel abandoned Yahweh’s teachings. ² In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. This happened because all Israel was not loyal to Yahweh. ³ Shishak had 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horses, and an army of countless Libyans, Sukkites, and Sudanese from Egypt.

⁴ He captured the fortified cities in Judah and then came to Jerusalem.

⁵ The prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who had gathered in Jerusalem because of Shishak. Shemaiah said to them, “This is what Yahweh says: You have abandoned me, so I will abandon you. I will hand you over to Shishak.” ⁶ Then the commanders of Israel and the king humbled themselves. “Yahweh is right!” they said.

⁷ When Yahweh saw that they had humbled themselves, Yahweh spoke his word to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them. In a little while I will give them an escape. I will not use Shishak to pour my anger on Jerusalem. ⁸ But they will become his servants so that they can learn the difference between serving me and serving foreign kings.”

⁹ King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took the treasures from Yahweh’s temple and the royal palace. He took them all. He took the gold shields Solomon had made. ¹⁰ So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and put them by the entrance to the royal palace, where the captains of the guards were stationed. ¹¹ Whenever the king went into Yahweh’s temple, guards carried the shields and then returned them to the guardroom.

¹² After Rehoboam humbled himself, Yahweh was no longer angry with him and didn’t completely destroy him. So things went well in Judah.

⁷ Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s word to you. Think about how their lives turned out, and imitate their faith.

⁸ Yeshua Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

⁹ Don’t get carried away by all kinds of unfamiliar teachings. Gaining inner strength from God’s kindness^[a] is good for us. This strength does not come from following rules about food, rules that don’t help those who follow them. ¹⁰ Those who serve at the tent have no right to eat what is sacrificed at our altar.

¹¹ The chief priest brings the blood of animals into the holy place as an offering for sin. But the bodies of those animals were burned outside the Israelite camp. ¹² That is why Yeshua suffered outside the gates of Jerusalem. He suffered to make the people holy with his own blood. ¹³ So we must go to him outside the camp and endure the insults he endured. ¹⁴ We don’t have a permanent city here on earth, but we are looking for the city that we will have in the future. ¹⁵ Through Yeshua we should always bring God a sacrifice of praise, that is, words that acknowledge him. ¹⁶ Don’t forget to do good things for others and to share what you have with them. These are the kinds of sacrifices that please God.

¹⁷ Obey your leaders, and accept their authority. They take care of you because they are responsible for you. Obey them so that they may do this work joyfully and not complain about you. (Causing them to complain would not be to your advantage.)

¹⁸ Pray for us. We are sure that our consciences are clear because we want to live honorably in every way. ¹⁹ I especially ask for your prayers so that I may come back to you soon.

²⁰ The God of peace brought the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Yeshua, back to life through the blood of an eternal promise.^{[b] 21} May this God of peace prepare you to do every good thing he wants. May he work in us through Yeshua Christ to do what is pleasing to him. Glory belongs to Yeshua Christ forever. Amen.