2 Chronicles 11

1 On his arrival in Jerusalem Rehoboam gathered together the house of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand seasoned warriors, to have them fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to him.
2 However, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, a man of God:
3 Say to Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin:
4 'Thus says the LORD: You must not march out to fight against your brothers. Let every man return home, for what has occurred I have brought about.' They obeyed this message of the LORD and gave up the expedition against Jeroboam.
5 Rehoboam took up residence in Jerusalem and built fortified cities in Judah.
6 He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam,
8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,
9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron; these were fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin.
11 Then he strengthened the fortifications and put commanders in them, with supplies of food, oil and wine.
12 In every city were shields and spears, and he made them very strong. Thus Judah and Benjamin remained his.
13 Now the priests and Levites throughout Israel presented themselves to him from all parts of their land,
14 for the Levites left their assigned pasture lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons repudiated them as priests of the LORD.
15 In their place, he himself appointed priests for the high places and satyrs and calves he had made.
16 After them, all those of the Israelite tribes who firmly desired to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers.
17 Thus they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and made Rehoboam, son of Solomon, prevail for three years; for they walked in the way of David and Solomon three years.
18 Rehoboam took to himself as wife Mahalath, daughter of Jerimoth, son of David and of Abihail, daughter of Eliab, son of Jesse.
19 She bore him sons: Jehush, Shemariah and Zaham.
20 After her, he married Maacah, daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith.
21 Rehoboam loved Maacah, daughter of Absalom, more than all his other wives and concubines; he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
22 Rehoboam constituted Abijah, son of Maacah, commander among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.
23 He acted prudently, distributing various of his sons throughout all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities; and he furnished them with copious provisions and sought an abundance of wives for them.

2 Chronicles 12

1 After Rehoboam had consolidated his rule and had become powerful, he abandoned the law of the LORD, he and all Israel with him.
2 Thus it happened that in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem, for they had been unfaithful to the LORD.
3 He came up with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen, and there was no counting the army that came with him from Egypt--Libyans, Sukkites and Ethiopians.
4 They captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.
5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the commanders of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them: Thus says the LORD: 'You have abandoned me, and therefore I have abandoned you to the power of Shishak.'
6 However, the commanders of Israel and the king humbled themselves saying, The LORD is just.
7 When the LORD saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: Because they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them; I will give them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem through Shishak.
8 But they shall be his servants, that they may know what it is to serve me and what it is to serve earthly kingdoms.
9 Therefore Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem and carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and of the king's palace. He took everything, including the gold bucklers that Solomon had made.
10 (To replace them, King Rehoboam made bronze bucklers, which he entrusted to the officers of the guard on duty at the entrance of the royal palace.
11 Whenever the king visited the temple of the LORD, the troops would come bearing them, and then they would return them to the guardroom.)
12 Because he had humbled himself, the anger of the LORD turned from him so that it did not destroy him completely; and in Judah, moreover, good deeds were found.
13 King Rehoboam consolidated his power in Jerusalem and continued to rule; he was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city in which, out of all the tribes of Israel, the LORD chose to be honored. Rehoboam's mother was named Naamah, an Ammonite.
14 He did evil, for he had not truly resolved to seek the LORD.
15 The acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are written, as is well known, in the history of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer (his family record). There was war continually between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
16 Rehoboam rested with his ancestors; he was buried in the City of David. His son Abijah succeeded him as king.

2 Chronicles 13

1 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah;
2 he reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Michaiah, daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
3 Abijah joined battle with a force of four hundred thousand picked warriors, while Jeroboam lined up against him in battle with eight hundred thousand picked and valiant warriors.
4 Abijah stood on Mount Zemariam, which is in the highlands of Ephraim, and said: Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel!
5 Do you not know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingdom of Israel to David forever, to him and to his sons, by a covenant made in salt?
6 Yet Jeroboam, son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon, son of David, has stood up and rebelled against his lord!
7 Worthless men, scoundrels, joined him and overcame Rehoboam, son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and unthinking, and no match for them.
8 But now, do you think you are a match for the kingdom of the LORD commanded by the sons of David, simply because you are a huge multitude and have with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods?
9 Have you not expelled the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples of foreign lands? Everyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams becomes a priest of no-gods.
10 But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests ministering to the LORD are sons of Aaron, and the Levites also have their offices.
11 They burn holocausts to the LORD and fragrant incense morning after morning and evening after evening; they display the showbread on the pure table, and the lamps of the golden lampstand burn evening after evening; for we observe our duties to the LORD, our God, but you have abandoned him.
12 See, God is with us, at our head, and his priests are here with trumpets to sound the attack against you. Do not battle against the LORD, the God of your fathers, O Israelites, for you will not succeed!
13 But Jeroboam had an ambush go around them to come at them from the rear; so that while his army faced Judah, his ambush lay behind them.
14 When Judah turned and saw that they had to battle on both fronts, they cried out to the LORD and the priests sounded the trumpets.
15 Then the men of Judah shouted; and when they did so, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
16 The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands.
17 Abijah and his people inflicted a severe defeat upon them; five hundred thousand picked men of Israel fell slain.
18 The Israelites were subdued on that occasion and the Judahites were victorious because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers.
19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel and its dependencies, Jeshanah and its dependencies, and Ephron and its dependencies.
20 Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah; the LORD struck him down and he died,
21 while Abijah continued to grow stronger. He took to himself fourteen wives and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
22 The rest of Abijah's acts, his deeds and his words, are written in the midrash of the prophet Iddo. (23) Abijah rested with his ancestors; they buried him in the City of David. His son Asa succeeded him as king. During his time, ten years of peace began in the land.

2 Chronicles 14

1 Asa did what was good and pleasing to the LORD, his God,
2 removing the heathen altars and the high places, breaking to pieces the sacred pillars, and cutting down the sacred poles.
3 He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to observe the law and its commands.
4 He removed the high places and incense stands from all the cities of Judah, and under him the kingdom had peace.
5 He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had peace and no war was waged against him during these years, because the LORD had given him peace.
6 He said to Judah: Let us build these cities and surround them with walls, towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, for we have sought the LORD, our God; we sought him, and he has given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.
7 Asa had an army of three hundred thousand shield-and lance-bearers from Judah, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin who carried bucklers and were archers, all of them valiant warriors.
8 Zerah the Ethiopian moved against them with a force of one million men and three hundred chariots, and he came as far as Mareshah.
9 Asa went out to meet him and set himself in battle array in the valley of Zephathah, near Mareshah.
10 Asa called upon the LORD, his God, praying: O LORD, there is none like you to help the powerless against the strong. Help us, O LORD, our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. You are the LORD, our God; let no man prevail against you.
11 And so the LORD defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and they fled.
12 Asa and those with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until there were no survivors, for they were crushed before the LORD and his army, which carried away enormous spoils.
13 Then the Judahites conquered all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the LORD was upon them; they despoiled all the cities, for there was much booty in them.
14 They attacked also the tents of the cattle-herders and carried off a great number of sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
15 (OMITTED TEXT)