II Chronicles 11-15

II Chronicles 11

¹And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

²But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

³Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,

⁴Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house; for this thing is of me. So they hearkened unto the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

⁵And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah.

⁶He built even Beth-lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

⁷And Beth-zur, and Soco, and Adullam,

⁸and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,

⁹and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,

¹⁰and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fenced cities.

¹¹And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and oil and wine.

¹²And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong. And Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

¹³And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their border.

¹⁴For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest’s office unto the LORD:

¹⁵and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the he-goats, and for the calves which he had made.

¹⁶And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice unto the LORD, the God of their fathers.

¹⁷So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.

¹⁸And Rehoboam took him a wife; Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;

¹⁹and she bare him sons; Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham.

²⁰And after her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom; and she bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

²¹And Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines, and begat twenty and eight sons and threescore daughters.)

²²And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, even the prince among his brethren: for he was minded to make him king.

²³And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he sought for them many wives.

II Chronicles 12

¹And it came to pass, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.

²And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against the LORD,

³with twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians.

⁴And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came unto Jerusalem.

⁵Now Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.

⁶Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The LORD is righteous.

⁷And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them: but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

⁸Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.

⁹So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all away: he took away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

¹⁰And king Rehoboam made in their stead shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, that kept the door of the king’s house.

¹¹And it was so, that as oft as the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came and bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.

¹²And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and moreover in Judah there were good things found.

¹³So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

¹⁴And he did that which was evil, because he set not his heart to seek the LORD.

¹⁵Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the histories of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, after the manner of genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

¹⁶And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.

II Chronicles 13

¹In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah.

²Three years reigned he in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

³And Abijah joined battle with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: and Jeroboam set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, who were mighty men of valour.

⁴And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel;

⁵Ought ye not to know that the LORD, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

⁶Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up, and rebelled against his lord.

⁷And there were gathered unto him vain men, sons of Belial, which strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tender-hearted, and could not withstand them.

⁸And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods.

⁹Have ye not driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the peoples of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.

¹⁰But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and we have priests ministering unto the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work:

¹¹and they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him.

¹²And, behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD, the God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

¹³But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.

¹⁴And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind them: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.

¹⁵Then 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.

¹⁶And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.

¹⁷And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.

¹⁸Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD, the God of their fathers.

¹⁹And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephron with the towns thereof.

²⁰Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD smote him, and he died.

²¹But Abijah waxed mighty, and took unto himself fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.

²²And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the commentary of the prophet Iddo.

II Chronicles 14

¹So 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.

²And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:

³for he took away the strange altars, and the high places, and brake down the pillars, and hewed down the Asherim;

⁴and commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.

⁵Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the sun-images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.

⁶And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest.

⁷For he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars; the land is yet before us, because we have sought the LORD our God; we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.

⁸And Asa had an army that bare bucklers and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: an these were mighty men of valour.

⁹And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an army of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and he came unto Mareshah.

¹⁰Then Asa went out to meet him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

¹¹And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, there is none beside thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength: help us, O LORD our God; for we rely on thee, and in thy name are we come against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee;

¹²So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.

¹³And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and there fell of the Ethiopians so many that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they carried away very much booty.

¹⁴And they smote all the cities round shout Gerar; for the fear of the LORD came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was much spoil in them:

¹⁵They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep in abundance and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.

II Chronicles 15

¹And the spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:

²and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him he will forsake you.

³Now for long seasons Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law:

⁴But when in their distress they turned unto the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

⁵And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the lands.

⁶And they were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city: for God did vex them with all adversity.

⁷But be ye strong, and let not your hands be slack: for your work shall be rewarded.

⁸And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.

⁹And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and them that sojourned with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

¹⁰So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

¹¹And they sacrificed unto the LORD in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

¹²And they entered into the covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul;

¹³and that whosoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

¹⁴And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice; and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

¹⁵And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.

¹⁶And also Maacah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

¹⁷But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

¹⁸And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

¹⁹And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.