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Shishak’s Invasion

¹ When Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power,^(C1) he abandoned the law of the Lord—he and all Israel with him. ² Because they were unfaithful to the Lord, in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak^(C1) of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem^{(C2) 3} with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 cavalrymen, and countless people who came with him from Egypt—Libyans,^(C1) Sukkiim, and Cushites. ⁴ He captured the fortified cities^(C1) of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

⁵ Then the prophet Shemaiah^(C1) went to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who were gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them: “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have abandoned me; therefore, I have abandoned you to Shishak.’”^(C2)

⁶ So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.”^(C1)

⁷ When the Lord saw that they had humbled themselves, the Lord’s message came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them but will grant them a little deliverance.^(C1) My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak.^{(C2) 8} However, they will become his servants so that they may recognize the difference between serving me and serving the kingdoms of other lands.”^(C1)

⁹ So King Shishak of Egypt went to war^(C1) against Jerusalem.^(C2) He seized the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the treasuries of the royal palace. He took everything. He took the gold shields that Solomon had made.^{(C3) 10} King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and committed them into the care of the captains of the guards^(F1) who protected the entrance to the king’s palace. ¹¹ Whenever the king entered the Lord’s temple, the guards would carry the shields and take them back to the armory.^{(F1) 12} When Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger turned away from him, and he did not destroy him completely.^(C1) Besides that, conditions were good in Judah.^(C2)

Rehoboam’s Last Days

¹³ King Rehoboam^(C1) established his royal power in Jerusalem. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put his name.^(C2) Rehoboam’s mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. ¹⁴ Rehoboam did what was evil, because he did not determine in his heart to seek the Lord.^(C1)

¹⁵ The events^(C1) of Rehoboam’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the Events of the Prophet Shemaiah^(C2) and of the Seer Iddo concerning genealogies.^(C3) There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their reigns. ¹⁶ Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. His son Abijah^(F1)(C1) became king in his place.