Egypt Takes Judah
12 When King Rehoboam’s nation had been made strong, he and all Israel turned away from the Law of the Lord. 2 After Rehoboam had been king for five years, King Shishak of Egypt came to fight against Jerusalem. This happened because they had not been faithful to the Lord. 3 Shishak came with 1,200 war-wagons and 60,000 horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt were too many to number. There were Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians. 4 He took the strong cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. 5 Then Shemaiah the man of God came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them, “The Lord says, ‘You have left Me. So I have left you to Shishak.’” 6 So the princes of Israel and the king put away their pride and said, “The Lord is right and good.”
7 The Lord saw that they had put away their pride. And the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have put away their pride. I will not destroy them. But I will give them some help. My anger will not be poured out on Jerusalem by the power of Shishak. 8 But they will be made to work for him. In this way they may learn the difference between My work and the work of the kings of the countries.”
9 So King Shishak of Egypt came and fought against Jerusalem. He took the riches of the Lord’s house and the riches of the king’s house. He took everything. He even took the battle-coverings of gold which Solomon had made. 10 King Rehoboam made battle-coverings of brass in their place. And he put them in the care of the captains of the soldiers who watched the door of the king’s house. 11 Every time the king went into the house of the Lord, the soldiers came and carried the coverings. Then they returned them to the soldiers’ room. 12 When Rehoboam put away his pride, the Lord’s anger turned away from him. He was not destroyed. And things were good in Judah.
The End of Rehoboam’s Rule
13 So King Rehoboam became strong in Jerusalem and ruled. He was forty-one years old when he began to rule. And he ruled in Jerusalem for seventeen years. This was the city the Lord had chosen from all the families of Israel to put His name there. The name of Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah the Ammonitess. 14 And he did what was sinful, because he did not follow the Lord with all his heart.
15 The acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are written in the writings of Shemaiah the man of God and of Iddo the man who told what would happen in the future. Wars were always being fought between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 16 Rehoboam died and was buried in the city of David. His son Abijah became king in his place.