111 And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem; and he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men apt for war, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam. 2 But the word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 3 Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, 4 Thus saith Jehovah: Go not up, nor fight with your brethren; return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. And they hearkened to the words of Jehovah, and returned from going against Jeroboam.
5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah. 6 And he built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa, 7 and Beth-zur, and Soco, and Adullam, 8 and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph, 9 and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah, 10 and Zorah, and Ajalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities. 11 And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of victuals, and of oil and wine; 12 and in every several city, targets and spears, and made them exceedingly strong. And Judah and Benjamin were his.
13 And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their districts; 14 for the Levites left their suburbs and their possessions, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from exercising the priesthood to Jehovah; 15 and he ordained for himself priests for the high places, and for the he-goats and for the calves that he had made. 16 —And after them, those out of all the tribes of Israel that set their heart to seek Jehovah the God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to Jehovah the God of their fathers. 17 And they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong three years; for during three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon. 18 And Rehoboam took Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David as wife, [and of] Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse. 19 And she bore him children: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines; for he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. 22 And Rehoboam established Abijah the son of Maachah at the head, to be ruler among his brethren; for [he thought] to make him king. 23 And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all the fortified cities; and he gave them food in abundance. And he desired [for them] a multitude of wives.
121 And it came to pass when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and when he had become strong, [that] he forsook the law of Jehovah, and all Israel with him. 2 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, because they had transgressed against Jehovah, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, 3 with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen; and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt: Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians. 4 And he took the fortified cities that belonged to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. 5 And Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and [to] the princes of Judah that had gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, Thus saith Jehovah: Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak. 6 And the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, Jehovah is righteous. 7 And when Jehovah saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves: I will not destroy them, but I will grant them a little deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8 Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries. 9 And Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house; he took away all; and he took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made. 10 And king Rehoboam made in their stead shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the couriers who kept the entrance of the king's house. 11 And it was so, that as often as the king entered into the house of Jehovah, the couriers came and fetched them, and brought them again into the chamber of the couriers. 12 And when he humbled himself, the anger of Jehovah turned away from him, that he would not destroy him altogether; and also in Judah there were good things.
13 And king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned; for Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that Jehovah had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. 14 And he did evil, for he applied not his heart to seek Jehovah. 15 And the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the words of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer, in the genealogical registers? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And Abijah his son reigned in his stead.
131 In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 And Abijah began the war with an army of men of war, four hundred thousand chosen men; and Jeroboam set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, mighty men of valour. 4 And Abijah stood up on the top of mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, Jeroboam, and all Israel! 5 Ought ye not to know that Jehovah the God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, to him and to his sons [by] a covenant of salt? 6 But Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord. 7 And vain men, sons of Belial, gathered to him and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, and Rehoboam was young and faint-hearted, and did not shew himself strong against them. 8 And now ye think to shew yourselves strong against the kingdom of Jehovah in the hand of the sons of David; and ye are a great multitude, and ye have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. 9 Have ye not cast out the priests of Jehovah, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made you priests as the peoples of the lands? whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, he becomes a priest of what is not God. 10 But as for us, Jehovah is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests that serve Jehovah are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites are at their work: 11 and they burn to Jehovah every morning and every evening burnt-offerings and sweet incense; the loaves also are set in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with its lamps to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of Jehovah our God; but ye have forsaken him. 12 And behold, we have God with us at our head, and his priests, and the loud-sounding trumpets to sound an alarm against you. Children of Israel, do not fight with Jehovah the God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.
13 But Jeroboam caused an ambush to come about behind them; and they were before Judah, and the ambush behind them. 14 And Judah looked back, and behold, they had the battle in front and behind; and they cried to Jehovah, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. 15 And the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 And the children of Israel fled before Judah; and God delivered them into their hand. 17 And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter; and there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. 18 And the children of Israel were humbled at that time, and the children of Judah were strengthened, because they relied upon Jehovah the God of their fathers. 19 And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him: Bethel with its dependent villages, and Jeshanah with its dependent villages, and Ephron with its dependent villages. 20 And Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and Jehovah smote him, and he died. 21 But Abijah strengthened himself, and took fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his sayings, are written in the treatise of the prophet Iddo.
141 And Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years. 2 And Asa did what was good and right in the sight of Jehovah his God; 3 and he took away the altars of the strange [gods] and the high places, and broke the columns, and cut down the Asherahs; 4 and commanded Judah to seek Jehovah the God of their fathers, and to practise the law and the commandment. 5 And he removed out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the sun-images; and the kingdom was quiet before him. 6 And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because Jehovah had given him rest. 7 And he said to Judah, Let us build these cities, and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars, while the land is yet before us; for we have sought Jehovah our God; we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side. And they built and prospered. 8 And Asa had an army that bore targets and spears: out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bore shields and drew the bow, two hundred and eighty thousand: all these, mighty men of valour.
9 And Zerah the Ethiopian came out against him with a host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah. 10 And Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah near Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried unto Jehovah his God, and said, Jehovah, it maketh no difference to thee to help, whether there be much or no power: help us, O Jehovah our God, for we rely on thee, and in thy name have we come against this multitude. Jehovah, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. 12 And Jehovah smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. 13 And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them to Gerar; and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that none of them was left alive; for they were crushed before Jehovah and before his army. And they carried away very much spoil. 14 And they smote all the cities round about Gerar, for the terror of Jehovah came upon them; and they spoiled all the cities, for there was very much spoil in them. 15 They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.
