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 comes to pass, at the establishing of the kingdom of Rehoboam, and at his strengthening himself, he has forsaken the Law of YHWH, 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 comes to pass, in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt has come up against Jerusalem—because they trespassed against YHWH—

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 one thousand and two hundred chariots, and with sixty thousand horsemen, and there is no number to the people who have come with him out of Egypt—Lubim, Sukkiim, and Cushim—

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

and he captures the cities of the bulwarks that [are] of Judah, and comes 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 Shemaiah the prophet has come to Rehoboam and the heads of Judah who have been gathered to Jerusalem [to escape] from the presence of Shishak, and says to them, “Thus said YHWH: You have forsaken Me, and also, I have left you in the hand of Shishak”;

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

and the heads of Israel are humbled—and the king—and they say, “YHWH [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 YHWH sees that they have been humbled, a word of YHWH has been [sent] to Shemaiah, saying, “They have been humbled; I do not destroy them, and I have given to them as a little thing for an escape, and I do not pour out My fury in Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak;

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.”

but they become servants to him, and they know My service, and the service of the kingdoms of the lands.”

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.

And Shishak king of Egypt comes up against Jerusalem, and takes the treasures of the house of YHWH and the treasures of the house of the king—he has taken the whole—and he takes the shields of gold that 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 Rehoboam makes shields of bronze in their stead, and has given [them] a charge on the hand of the heads of the runners who are keeping the opening of the house 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 comes to pass, from the time of the going in of the king to the house of YHWH, the runners have come in and lifted them up, and brought them back to the chamber of the runners.

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 in his being humbled, the wrath of YHWH has turned back from him, so as not to destroy to completion; and also, there have been good things in Judah.

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.

And King Rehoboam strengthens himself in Jerusalem and reigns; for Rehoboam [is] a son of forty-two years in his reigning, and he has reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that YHWH has chosen to put His Name there, out of all the tribes of Israel, and the name of his mother [is] Naamah the Ammonitess,

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 does evil, for he has not prepared his heart to seek YHWH.

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 matters of Rehoboam, the first and the last, are they not written among the matters of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer, concerning genealogy? And the wars of Rehoboam and Jeroboam [are for] all the days;

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 Rehoboam lies with his fathers, and is buried in the City of David, and his son Abijah reigns in his stead.