King Shishak of Egypt invades Judah

(1 Kings 14.25-28)

1Soon after Rehoboam had control of his kingdom, he and everyone in Judah stopped obeying the LORD. 2So in the fifth year of Rehoboam's rule, the LORD punished them for their unfaithfulness and allowed King Shishak of Egypt to invade Judah. 3Shishak attacked with his army of one thousand two hundred chariots and sixty thousand cavalry troops, as well as Egyptian soldiers from Libya, Sukkoth, and Ethiopia.12.3 Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has “Cush”, which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan. 4He captured every one of the fortified cities in Judah and then marched to Jerusalem.

5Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah had gone to Jerusalem to escape Shishak's invasion. And while they were there, Shemaiah the prophet told them, “The LORD says that because you have disobeyed him, he has now abandoned you. The LORD will not help you against Shishak!”

6Rehoboam and the leaders were sorry for what they had done and admitted, “The LORD is right. We have deserted him.”

7When the LORD heard this, he told Shemaiah:

The people of Judah are truly sorry for their sins, and so I won't let Shishak completely destroy them. But because I am still angry, 8he will conquer and rule them.

Then my people will know what it's like to serve a foreign king instead of serving me.

9Shishak attacked Jerusalem and took all the valuable things from the temple and from the palace, including Solomon's gold shields.12.9: 1 K 10.16,17; 2 Ch 9.15,16.

10Rehoboam had bronze shields made to replace the gold ones, and he ordered the guards at the city gates to keep them safe. 11Whenever Rehoboam went to the LORD's temple, the guards carried the shields. But they always took them back to the guardroom as soon as he had finished worshipping.

12Rehoboam turned back to the LORD, and so the LORD did not let Judah be completely destroyed, and Judah was prosperous again.

Rehoboam's rule in Judah

(1 Kings 14.21,29-31)

13Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled seventeen years from Jerusalem, the city where the LORD had chosen to be worshipped. His mother Naamah was from Ammon. Rehoboam was a powerful king, 14but he still did wrong and refused to obey the LORD.

15Everything else Rehoboam did while he was king, including a history of his family, is written in the records of the two prophets, Shemaiah and Iddo. During Rehoboam's rule, he and King Jeroboam of Israel were constantly at war. 16When Rehoboam died, he was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem, and his son Abijah became king.