2 Chronicles 12

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

And it came to pass when the kingdom of Roboam was established, and when he had grown strong, [that] he forsook the commandments of the Lord, and all Israel with him.

2 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.

And it came to pass in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Susakim king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had sinned against the Lord,

3 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.

with twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand horses: and there was no number of the multitude that came with him from Egypt; Libyans, Trogodytes, and Ethiopians.

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

And they obtained possession of the strong cities, which were in Juda, and came to Jerusalem.

5 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.’”

And Samaias the prophet came to Roboam, and to the princes of Juda that were gathered to Jerusalem for fear of Susakim, and said to them, Thus said the Lord, You have left me, and I will leave you in the hand of Susakim.

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

And the elders of Israel and the king were ashamed, and said, The Lord [is] righteous.

7 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,

And when the Lord saw that they repented, then came the word of the Lord to Samaias, saying, They have repented; I will not destroy them, but I will set them in safety for a little while, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem.

8 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.”

Nevertheless they shall be servants, and know my service, and the service of the kings of the earth.

9 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.

So Susakim king of Egypt went up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures that were in the house of the Lord, and the treasures that were in the king's house: he took all; and he took the golden shields which Solomon had made.

10 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.

And king Roboam made brazen shields instead of them. And Susakim set over him captains of footmen, as keepers of the gate of the king.

11 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.

And it came to pass, when the king went into the house of the Lord, the guards and the footmen went in, and they that returned to meet the footmen.

12 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.

And when he repented, the anger of the Lord turned from him, and did not destroy him utterly; for there were good things in Juda.

13 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.

So king Roboam strengthened [himself] in Jerusalem, and reigned: and Roboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, in the city which the Lord chose out of all the tribes of the children of Israel to call his name there: and his mother's name was Noomma the Ammanitess.

14 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.

And he did evil, for he directed not his heart to seek the Lord.

15 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.

And the acts of Roboam, the first and the last, behold, are they not written in the book of Samaia the prophet, and Addo the seer, with his achievements.

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

And Roboam made war with Jeroboam all [his] days. And Roboam died with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abia his son reigned in his stead.