Shishak Attacks Jerusalem
1
After Rehoboam's position as king was established and he had become strong,
he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the LORD.
2
Because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked
Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam.
3
With twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen and the innumerable
troops of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites that came with him from Egypt,
4
he captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.
5
Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah
who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them,
"This is what the LORD says, 'You have abandoned me; therefore,
I now abandon you to Shishak.' "
6
The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The LORD is just."
7
When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the LORD
came to Shemaiah: "Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them
but will soon give them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem
through Shishak.
8
They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference
between serving me and serving the kings of other lands."
9
When Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, he carried off the treasures
of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace.
He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made.
10
So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these
to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.
11
Whenever the king went to the LORD's temple, the guards went with him,
bearing the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.
12
Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the LORD's anger turned from him,
and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah.
13
King Rehoboam established himself firmly in Jerusalem and continued as king.
He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen
years in Jerusalem, the city of the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes
of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother's name was Naamah;
she was an Ammonite.
14
He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD.
15
As for the events of Rehoboam's reign, from beginning to end, are they not
written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer
that deal with genealogies? There was continued warfare between Rehoboam
and Jeroboam.
16
Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.
And Abijah his son succeeded him as king.