2 Chronicles 12

1 After Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power, he and all Israel with him forsook the Law of the LORD.

After Rehoboam was in complete control of his kingdom, he and all [the other people in] Judah stopped obeying the laws of Yahweh.

2 In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem

As a result, after Rehoboam had been king for almost five years, Yahweh sent Shishak, the king of Egypt, [with his army] to attack Jerusalem.

3 with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and countless troops who came with him out of Egypt—Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites.

Along with his army he brought 1,200 chariots and 60,000 soldiers riding horses and a very large number of troops from two regions in Libya, and from Ethiopia.

4 He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

They captured many of the cities in Judah that had walls around them, and they came as far as Jerusalem.

5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You have forsaken Me; therefore, I have forsaken you into the hand of Shishak.’”

Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and the other leaders of Judah who had gathered in Jerusalem because they were afraid of [the army of] Shishak. Shemaiah said to them, “Yahweh says this: ‘You have abandoned me; so now I am abandoning you, to [allow you to be captured by the army of] Shishak.’”

6 So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.”

Then the king and the other Israeli leaders humbled themselves and said, “What Yahweh is doing to us is fair.”

7 When the LORD saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them, but will soon grant them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak.

When Yahweh realized that they had humbled themselves, he gave this message to Shemaiah: “Because they have humbled themselves, I will not allow them to be destroyed. Instead, I will soon rescue them. I will not use Shishak’s army to completely destroy the people of Jerusalem,

8 Nevertheless, they will become his servants, so that they may learn the difference between serving Me and serving the kings of other lands.”

but they will conquer Jerusalem and force the people there to do what Shishak wants them to do. As a result, the people of Jerusalem will learn [that it is better] to serve me than to serve the kings of other countries.”

9 So King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and seized the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made.

When Shishak’s [army] attacked Jerusalem, they took/carried away the valuable things that were in the temple of Yahweh and the valuable things that were in the king’s palace. They took everything [that was valuable], including the gold shields that Solomon’s [workers] had made.

10 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.

So King Rehoboam’s workers made bronze shields to be used instead of the gold ones and gave the bronze shields to the commanders of the men who guarded the entrance to his palace.

11 And whenever the king entered the house of the LORD, the guards would go with him, bearing the shields, and later they would return them to the guardroom.

After that, whenever the king went to the temple, the guards went with him, carrying those bronze shields. Then [when the king left, ] they would return the shields to the guards’ room.

12 Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the anger of the LORD turned away from him, and He did not destroy him completely. Indeed, conditions were good in Judah.

Because Rehoboam humbled himself, Yahweh stopped being angry with him and did not get rid of him. Instead, he caused good things to happen in Judah.

13 Thus King Rehoboam established himself in Jerusalem. He 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 in which to put His Name. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.

King Rehoboam again was in complete control in Jerusalem and continued to be the king [of Judah]. He was 41 years old when he became the king. He ruled for 17 years in Jerusalem, which is the city that Yahweh had chosen from all the tribes in Israel to be the place in which people were to worship him.

14 And Rehoboam did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.

Rehoboam’s mother’s name was Naamah. She was from the Ammon people-group. Rehoboam did evil things because he did not try to find out what Yahweh wanted him to do.

15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the Prophet and of Iddo the Seer concerning the genealogies? There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their days.

An account of all the things that Rehoboam did while he was the king, and lists of the members of his family, are in the scrolls written by the prophets Shemaiah and Iddo. The armies of Rehoboam and Jeroboam were constantly fighting each other.

16 And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And his son Abijah reigned in his place.

When Rehoboam died, he was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’. Then his son Abijah became the king.