II Chronicles 11-15

II Chronicles 11

¹And Rehoboam cometh in to Jerusalem, and assembleth the house of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors, to fight with Israel, to bring back the kingdom to Rehoboam.

²And a word of Jehovah is unto Shemaiah, a man of God, saying,

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

⁴Thus said Jehovah, Ye do not go up nor fight with your brethren, turn back each to his house, for from Me hath this thing been;' and they hear the words of Jehovah, and turn back from going against Jeroboam.

⁵And Rehoboam dwelleth in Jerusalem, and buildeth cities for a bulwark in Judah,

⁶yea, he buildeth Beth-Lehem and Etam, and Tekoa,

⁷and Beth-Zur, and Shocho, and Adullam,

⁸and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,

⁹and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,

¹⁰and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, that are in Judah and in Benjamin, cities of bulwarks.

¹¹And he strengtheneth the bulwarks, and putteth in them leaders, and treasures of food, and oil, and wine,

¹²and in every city and city targets and spears, and strengtheneth them very greatly; and he hath Judah and Benjamin.

¹³And the priests, and the Levites, that are in all Israel, have stationed themselves by him, out of all their border,

¹⁴for the Levites have left their suburbs and their possession, and they come to Judah and to Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons have cast them off from acting as priests to Jehovah,

¹⁵and he establisheth to him priests for high places, and for goats, and for calves, that he made --

¹⁶and after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, those giving their heart to seek Jehovah, God of Israel, have come in to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Jehovah, God of their father.

¹⁷And they strengthen the kingdom of Judah, and strengthen Rehoboam son of Solomon, for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

¹⁸And Rehoboam taketh to him a wife, Mahalath, child of Jerimoth son of David, and Abigail daughter of Eliab, son of Jesse.

¹⁹And she beareth to him sons, Jeush, and Shamaria, and Zaham.

²⁰And after her he hath taken Maachah daughter of Absalom, and she beareth to him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

²¹And Rehoboam loveth Maachah daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines -- for eighteen wives he hath taken, and sixty concubines -- and he begetteth twenty and eight sons, and sixty daughters.

²²And Rehoboam appointeth for head Abijah son of Maachah, for leader among his brethren, for to cause him to reign.

²³And he hath understanding, and spreadeth out of all his sons to all lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all cities of the bulwarks, and giveth to them provision in abundance; and he asketh a multitude of wives.

II Chronicles 12

¹And it cometh to pass, at the establishing of the kingdom of Rehoboam, and at his strengthening himself, he hath forsaken the law of Jehovah, and all Israel with him.

²And it cometh to pass, in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, come up hath Shishak king of Egypt against Jerusalem -- because they trespassed against Jehovah --

³with a 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 --

⁴and he captureth the cities of the bulwarks that are to Judah, and cometh in unto Jerusalem.

⁵And Shemaiah the prophet hath come in unto Rehoboam and the heads of Judah who have been gathered unto Jerusalem from the presence of Shishak, and saith to them, ‘Thus said Jehovah, Ye have forsaken Me, and also, I have left you in the hand of Shishak;'

⁶and the heads of Israel are humbled, and the king, and they say, ‘Righteous is Jehovah.'

⁷And when Jehovah seeth that they have been humbled, a word of Jehovah hath been unto 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 pour not out My fury in Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak;

⁸but they become servants to him, and they know My service, and the service of the kingdoms of the lands.'

⁹And Shishak king of Egypt cometh up against Jerusalem, and taketh the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the house of the king -- the whole he hath taken -- and he taketh the shields of gold that Solomon had made;

¹⁰and king Rehoboam maketh in their stead shields of brass, and hath given them a charge on the hand of the heads of the runners who are keeping the opening of the house of the king;

¹¹and it cometh to pass, from the time of the going in of the king to the house of Jehovah, the runners have come in and lifted them up, and brought them back unto the chamber of the runners.

¹²And in his being humbled, turned back from him hath the wrath of Jehovah, so as not to destroy to completion; and also, in Judah there have been good things.

¹³And king Rehoboam strengtheneth himself in Jerusalem, and reigneth; for a son of forty and two years is Rehoboam in his reigning, and seventeen years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, the city that Jehovah hath chosen to put His name there, out of all the tribes of Israel, and the name of his mother is Naamah the Ammonitess,

¹⁴and he doth the evil thing, for he hath not prepared his heart to seek Jehovah.

¹⁵And 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 all the days;

¹⁶and Rehoboam lieth with his fathers, and is buried in the city of David, and reign doth Abijah his son in his stead.

II Chronicles 13

¹In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam -- Abijah reigneth over Judah;

²three years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, (and the name of his mother is Michaiah daughter of Uriel, from Gibeah,) and war hath been between Abijah and Jeroboam.

³And Abijah directeth the war with a force of mighty men of war, four hundred thousand chosen men, and Jeroboam hath set in array with him battle, with eight hundred thousand chosen men, mighty of valour.

⁴And Abijah riseth up on the hill of Zemaraim that is in the hill-country of Ephraim, and saith, ‘Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel!

⁵Is it not for you to know that Jehovah, God of Israel, hath given the kingdom to David over Israel to the age, to him and to his sons -- a covenant of salt?

⁶and rise up doth Jeroboam, son of Nebat, servant of Solomon son of David, and rebelleth against his lord!

⁷‘And there are gathered unto him vain men, sons of worthlessness, and they strengthen themselves against Rehoboam son of Solomon, and Rehoboam was a youth, and tender of heart, and hath not strengthened himself against them.

⁸‘And now, ye are saying to strengthen yourselves before the kingdom of Jehovah in the hand of the sons of David, and ye are a numerous multitude, and with you calves of gold that Jeroboam hath made to you for gods.

⁹‘Have ye not cast out the priests of Jehovah, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make to you priests like the peoples of the lands? every one who hath come to fill his hand with a bullock, a son of the herd, and seven rams, even he hath been a priest to No-gods!

¹⁰‘As for us, Jehovah is our God, and we have not forsaken Him, and priests are ministering to Jehovah, sons of Aaron and the Levites, in the work,

¹¹and are making perfume to Jehovah, burnt-offerings morning by morning, and evening by evening, and perfume of spices, and the arrangement of bread is on the pure table, and the candlestick of gold, and its lamps, to burn evening by evening, for we are keeping the charge of Jehovah our God, and ye -- ye have forsaken Him.

¹²‘And lo, with us -- at our head -- is God, and His priests and trumpets of shouting to shout against you; O sons of Israel, do not fight with Jehovah, God of your fathers, for ye do not prosper.'

¹³And Jeroboam hath brought round the ambush to come in from behind them, and they are before Judah, and the ambush is behind them.

¹⁴And Judah turneth, and lo, against them is the battle, before and behind, and they cry to Jehovah, and the priests are blowing with trumpets,

¹⁵and the men of Judah shout -- and it cometh to pass, at the shouting of the men of Judah, that God hath smitten Jeroboam, and all Israel, before Abijah and Judah.

¹⁶And the sons of Israel flee from the face of Judah, and God giveth them into their hand,

¹⁷and Abijah and his people smite among them a great smiting, and there fall wounded of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.

¹⁸And the sons of Israel are humbled at that time, and the sons of Judah are strong, for they have leant on Jehovah, God of their fathers.

¹⁹And Abijah pursueth after Jeroboam, and captureth from him cities, Beth-El and its small towns, and Jeshanah and its small towns, and Ephraim and its small towns.

²⁰And Jeroboam hath not retained power any more in the days of Abijah, and Jehovah smiteth him, and he dieth.

²¹And Abijah strengtheneth himself, and taketh to him fourteen wives, and begetteth twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters,

²²and the rest of the matters of Abijah, and his ways, and his words, are written in the ‘Inquiry' of the prophet Iddo.

II Chronicles 14

¹And Abijah lieth with his fathers, and they bury him in the city of David, and reign doth Asa his son in his stead: in his days was the land quiet ten years.

²And Asa doth that which is good, and that which is right, in the eyes of Jehovah his God,

³and turneth aside the altars of the stranger, and the high places, and breaketh the standing-pillars, and cutteth down the shrines,

⁴and saith to Judah to seek Jehovah, God of their fathers, and to do the law and the command;

⁵and he turneth aside out of all cities of Judah the high places and the images, and the kingdom is quiet before him.

⁶And he buildeth cities of bulwarks in Judah, for the land hath quiet, and there is no war with him in these years, because Jehovah hath given rest to him.

⁷And he saith to Judah, ‘Let us build these cities, and compass them with wall, and towers, two-leaved doors, and bars, while the land is before us, because we have sought Jehovah our God, we have sought, and He giveth rest to us round about;' and they build and prosper.

⁸And there is to Asa a force bearing target and spear, out of Judah three hundred thousand, and out of Benjamin, bearing shield and treading bow, two hundred and eighty thousand: all these are mighty of valour.

⁹And come out unto them doth Zerah the Cushite with a force of a thousand thousand, and chariots three hundred, and he cometh in unto Mareshah,

¹⁰and Asa goeth out before him, and they set battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

¹¹And Asa calleth unto Jehovah his God, and saith, ‘Jehovah! it is nothing with Thee to help, between the mighty and those who have no power; help us, O Jehovah, our God, for on Thee we have leant, and in Thy name we have come against this multitude; O Jehovah, our God thou art; let him not prevail with Thee -- mortal man!

¹²And Jehovah smiteth the Cushim before Asa, and before Judah, and the Cushim flee,

¹³and Asa and the people who are with him pursue them even to Gerar, and there fall of the Cushim, for they have no preserving, because they have been broken before Jehovah, and before His camp; and they bear away very much spoil,

¹⁴and smite all the cities round about Gerar, for a fear of Jehovah hath been upon them, and they spoil all the cities, for abundant spoil hath been in them;

¹⁵and also tents of cattle they have smitten, and they capture sheep in abundance, and camels, and turn back to Jerusalem.

II Chronicles 15

¹And upon Azariah son of Oded hath been the Spirit of God,

²and he goeth out before Asa, and saith to him, ‘Hear, me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; Jehovah is with you -- in your being with Him, and if ye seek Him, He is found of you, and if ye forsake Him, He forsaketh you;

³and many days are to Israel without a true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law,

⁴and it turneth back in its distress unto Jehovah, God of Israel, and they seek Him, and He is found of them,

⁵and in those times there is no peace to him who is going out, and to him who is coming in, for many troubles are on all the inhabitants of the lands,

⁶and they have been beaten down, nation by nation, and city by city, for God hath troubled them with every adversity;

⁷and ye, be ye strong, and let not your hands be feeble, for there is a reward for your work.'

⁸And at Asa's hearing these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he hath strengthened himself, and doth cause the abominations to pass away out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities that he hath captured from the hill-country of Ephraim, and reneweth the altar of Jehovah that is before the porch of Jehovah,

⁹and gathereth all Judah and Benjamin, and the sojourners with them out of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and out of Simeon -- for they have fallen unto him from Israel in abundance, in their seeing that Jehovah his God is with him.

¹⁰And they are gathered to Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa,

¹¹and sacrifice to Jehovah on that day from the spoil they have brought in -- oxen seven hundred, and sheep seven thousand,

¹²and they enter into a covenant to seek Jehovah, God of their fathers, with all their heart, and with all their soul,

¹³and every one who doth not seek for Jehovah, God of Israel, is put to death, from small unto great, from man unto woman.

¹⁴And they swear to Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets,

¹⁵and rejoice do all Judah concerning the oath, for with all their heart they have sworn, and with all their good-will they have sought Him, and He is found of them, and Jehovah giveth rest to them round about.

¹⁶And also Maachah, mother of Asa the king -- he hath removed her from being mistress, in that she hath made for a shrine a horrible thing, and Asa cutteth down her horrible thing, and beateth it small, and burneth it by the brook Kidron:

¹⁷yet the high places have not turned aside from Israel; only, the heart of Asa hath been perfect all his days.

¹⁸And he bringeth in the sanctified things of his father, and his own sanctified things, to the house of God, silver, and gold, and vessels.

¹⁹And war hath not been till the thirty and fifth year of the reign of Asa.