2 Chronicles 12

1 And when Rehoboam had established the kingdome and made it strong, hee forsooke the Lawe of the Lord, and all Israel with him.

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

2 Therefore in the fift yeere of King Rehoboam, Shishak the King of Egypt came vp against Ierusalem (because they had transgressed against the Lord)

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 twelue hundreth charets, and three score thousande horsemen, and the people were without nomber, that came with him from Egypt, euen the Lubims, Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.

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 And he tooke the strong cities which were of Iudah, and came vnto Ierusalem.

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

5 Then came Shemaiah the Prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Iudah, that were gathered together in Hierusalem, because of Shishak, and sayde vnto them, Thus sayth the Lord, Ye haue forsaken me, therefore haue I also left you in the handes 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 Then the princes of Israel, and the King humbled themselues, and sayde, The Lord is iust.

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

7 And when the Lord sawe that they humbled themselues, the worde of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They haue humbled theselues, therefore I will not destroy them, but I will sende them deliuerance shortly, and my wrath shall not bee powred out vpon Ierusalem by the hand of 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 Neuerthelesse they shalbe his sernants: so shall they knowe my seruice, and the seruice of the kingdomes of the earth.

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 Then Shishak King of Egypt came vp against Ierusalem, and tooke the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the Kings house he tooke euen all, and hee caried away the shields of golde, which Salomon 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 In stead whereof King Rehoboam made shieldes of brasse, and committed them to the handes of the chiefe of the garde, that wayted at the doore of the Kings house.

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 when the King entred into the house of the Lord, the garde came and bare them and brought them againe vnto the garde chamber.

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 And because hee humbled himselfe, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that hee woulde not destroy all together. And also in Iudah the things prospered.

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 So King Rehoboam was strong in Ierusalem and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and fourtie yere olde, when he began to reigne, and reigned seuenteene yeres in Ierusalem, the citie which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his Name there. And his mothers name was Naamah an Ammonitesse.

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 he did euill: for hee prepared not his heart to seeke 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 The actes also of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the booke of Shemaiah the Prophet, and Iddo the Seer, in rehearsing the genealogie? and there was warre alway betweene Rehoboam and Ieroboam.

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 slept with his fathers, and was buried in the citie of Dauid, and Abiiah his sonne reigned in his stead.

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