New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Furnishings of the Temple

1 Then he made a bronze altar, twenty cubits in length and twenty cubits in width and ten cubits in height.

2 Also he made the castmetalsea, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its heightwasfive cubits and its circumference thirty cubits.

3 Now figures like oxenwereunder itandall around it, ten cubits, entirely encircling the sea. The oxenwerein two rows, cast in one piece.

4 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing the north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east; and the seawas seton top of them and all their hindquarters turned inwards.

5 It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup,likea lily blossom; it could hold 3,000 baths.

6 He also made ten basins in which to wash, and he set five on the right side and five on the left to rinse things for the burnt offering; but the seawasfor the priests to wash in.

7 Then he made the ten golden lampstands in the way prescribed for them and he set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left.

8 He also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred golden bowls.

9 Then he made the court of the priests and the great court and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with bronze.

10 He set the sea on the right sideof the housetoward the southeast.

11 Huram also made the pails, the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work which he performed for King Solomon in the house of God:

12 the two pillars, the bowls and the two capitals on top of the pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars,

13 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the pillars.

14 He also made the stands and he made the basins on the stands,

15 andthe one sea with the twelve oxen under it.

16 The pails, the shovels, the forks and all its utensils, Huram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.

17 On the plain of the Jordan the king cast them in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah.

18 Thus Solomon made all these utensils in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze could not be found out.

19 Solomon also made all the things thatwerein the house of God: even the golden altar, the tables with the bread of the Presence on them,

20 the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary in the way prescribed;

21 the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, of purest gold;

22 and the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons and the firepans of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, its inner doors for the holy of holies and the doors of the house,that is,of the nave, of gold.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/2CH/4-14c8462daa97c1b14c4aa059a2ec6c13.mp3?version_id=100—

The Ark Is Brought into the Temple

1 Thus all the work that Solomon performed for the house of the Lordwas finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, even the silver and the gold and all the utensils,andputthemin the treasuries of the house of God.

2 Then Solomon assembled to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’householdsof the sons of Israel, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lordout of the city of David, which is Zion.

3 All the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, that isinthe seventh month.

4 Then all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.

5 They brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils whichwerein the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up.

6 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

7 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lordto its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubim.

8 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles.

9 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and they are there to this day.

10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses putthereat Horeb, where the Lordmade a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

The Glory of God Fills the Temple

11 When the priests came forth from the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to divisions),

12 and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and kinsmen, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them one hundred and twenty priests blowing trumpets

13 in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the Lordsaying,”Heindeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,

14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lordfilled the house of God.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/2CH/5-129732b8d31f391d9406c5a8b5afecc8.mp3?version_id=100—

Solomon’s Dedication

1 Then Solomon said,

“The Lordhas said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.

2 “I have built You a lofty house,

And a place for Your dwelling forever.”

3 Then the king faced about and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

4 He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilleditwith His hands, saying,

5 ‘Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israelin whichto build a house that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man for a leader over My people Israel;

6 but I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

7 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

8 But the Lordsaid to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.

9 Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he shall build the house for My name.’

10 Now the Lordhas fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in the place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lordpromised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

11 There I have set the ark in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with the sons of Israel.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

12 Then he stood before the altar of the Lordin the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

13 Now Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

14 He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant andshowinglovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart;

15 who has kept with Your servant David, my father, that which You have promised him; indeed You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.

16 Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David, my father, that which You have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’

17 Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed which You have spoken to Your servant David.

18 “But will God indeed dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built.

19 Yet have regard to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O Lordmy God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You;

20 that Your eye may be open toward this house day and night, toward the place of which You have said thatYou wouldput Your name there, to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.

21 Listen to the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place; hear from Your dwelling place, from heaven; hear and forgive.

22 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comesandtakes an oath before Your altar in this house,

23 then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, punishing the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

24 “If Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and they returnto Youand confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this house,

25 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You have given to them and to their fathers.

26 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin when You afflict them;

27 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance.

28 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, if there is locust or grasshopper, if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or whatever sicknessthere is,

29 whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own pain, and spreading his hands toward this house,

30 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men,

31 that they mayfear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

32 “Also concerning the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your great name’s sake and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house,

33 then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, andfear You asdoYour people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.

34 “When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way You shall send them, and they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name,

35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

36 “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far off or near,

37 if they take thought in the land where they are taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have committed iniquity and have acted wickedly’;

38 if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which You have given to their fathers and the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your name,

39 then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, their prayer and supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.

40 “Now, O my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayerofferedin this place.

41 “Now therefore arise, O LordGod, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might; let Your priests, O LordGod, be clothed with salvation and let Your godly ones rejoice in what is good.

42 “O LordGod, do not turn away the face of Your anointed; rememberYourlovingkindness to Your servant David.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/2CH/6-c59a0b1871b6f255eac50facde423ced.mp3?version_id=100—

The Shekinah Glory

1 Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lordfilled the house.

2 The priests could not enter into the house of the Lordbecause the glory of the Lordfilled the Lord’shouse.

3 All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the Lordupon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the Lord,saying,”Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

Sacrifices Offered

4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord.

5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. Thus the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

6 The priests stood at their posts, and the Levites also, with the instruments of music to the Lord, which King David had made for giving praise to the Lord-“for His lovingkindness is everlasting”-whenever he gave praise by their means, while the priests on the other side blew trumpets; and all Israel was standing.

7 Then Solomon consecrated the middle of the court thatwasbefore the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to contain the burnt offering, the grain offering and the fat.

The Feast of Dedication

8 So Solomon observed the feast at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assemblywho camefrom the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt.

9 On the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for the dedication of the altar they observed seven days and the feast seven days.

10 Then on the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their tents, rejoicing and happy of heart because of the goodness that the Lordhad shown to David and to Solomon and to His people Israel.

God’s Promise and Warning

11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lordand the king’s palace, and successfully completed all that he had planned on doing in the house of the Lordand in his palace.

12 Then the Lordappeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.

13 If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people,

14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayerofferedin this place.

16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.

17 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My ordinances,

18 then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a manto beruler in Israel.’

19 “But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them,

20 then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

21 As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lorddone thus to this land and to this house?’

22 And they will say, ‘Because they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them from the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.'”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/2CH/7-89eabab2783bed0f5add41bbce3159f8.mp3?version_id=100—

Solomon’s Activities and Accomplishments

1 Now it came about at the end of the twenty years in which Solomon had built the house of the Lordand his own house

2 that he built the cities which Huram had given to him, and settled the sons of Israel there.

3 Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it.

4 He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities which he had built in Hamath.

5 He also built upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, fortified citieswithwalls, gates and bars;

6 and Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen, and all that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.

7 All of the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel,

8 namely,from their descendants who were left after them in the land whom the sons of Israel had not destroyed, them Solomon raised as forced laborers to this day.

9 But Solomon did not make slaves for his work from the sons of Israel; they were men of war, his chief captains and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen.

10 These were the chief officers of King Solomon, two hundred and fifty who ruled over the people.

11 Then Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy where the ark of the Lordhas entered.”

12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lordon the altar of the Lordwhich he had built before the porch;

13 anddid soaccording to the daily rule, offeringthemup according to the commandment of Moses, for the sabbaths, the new moons and the three annual feasts-the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths.

14 Now according to the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their duties of praise and ministering before the priests according to the daily rule, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at every gate; for David the man of God had so commanded.

15 And they did not depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites in any manner or concerning the storehouses.

16 Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and until it was finished. So the house of the Lordwas completed.

17 Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the seashore in the land of Edom.

18 And Huram by his servants sent him ships and servants who knew the sea; and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, and took from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold and brought them to King Solomon.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/2CH/8-dc121eec7dd67da99d0ecbfd8528ced5.mp3?version_id=100—

Visit of the Queen of Sheba

1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with difficult questions. She had a very large retinue, with camels carrying spices and a large amount of gold and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was on her heart.

2 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from Solomon which he did not explain to her.

3 When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built,

4 the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, she was breathless.

5 Then she said to the king, “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom.

6 Nevertheless I did not believe their reports until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You surpass the report that I heard.

7 How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom.

8 Blessed be the Lordyour God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the Lordyour God; because your God loved Israel establishing them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”

9 Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very greatamount ofspices and precious stones; there had never been spice like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

10 The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees and precious stones.

11 From the algum trees the king made steps for the house of the Lordand for the king’s palace, and lyres and harps for the singers; and none like that was seen before in the land of Judah.

12 King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she requested besidesa return forwhat she had brought to the king. Then she turned and went to her own land with her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Power

13 Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold,

14 besides that which the traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.

15 King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, using 600shekels ofbeaten gold on each large shield.

16 He made300 shields of beaten gold, using three hundred shekels of gold on each shield, and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

17 Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.

18 There weresix steps to the throne and a footstool in gold attached to the throne, and arms on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms.

19 Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing likeitwas made for anyotherkingdom.

20 All King Solomon’s drinking vesselswereof gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanonwereof pure gold; silver was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon.

21 For the king had ships which went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.

22 So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

23 And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart.

24 They brought every man his gift, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses and mules, so much year by year.

25 Now Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

26 He was the ruler over all the kings from the Euphrates River even to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt.

27 The king made silveras commonas stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the lowland.

28 And they were bringing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all countries.

29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

30 Solomon reigned forty years in Jerusalem over all Israel.

Death of Solomon

31 And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/2CH/9-afdc2f256b7a9bb537b8b85afe7a3997.mp3?version_id=100—

Rehoboam’s Reign of Folly

1 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

2 When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heardof it(for he was in Egypt where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), Jeroboam returned from Egypt.

3 So they sent and summoned him. When Jeroboam and all Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

4 “Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

5 He said to them, “Return to me again in three days.” So the people departed.

6 Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counselmeto answer this people?”

7 They spoke to him, saying, “If you will be kind to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

8 But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him.

9 So he said to them, “What counsel do you give that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”

10 The young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to the people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us.’ Thus you shall say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins!

11 Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but Iwill discipline youwith scorpions.'”

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had directed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.”

13 The king answered them harshly, and King Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the elders.

14 He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but Iwill discipline youwith scorpions.”

15 So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turnof eventsfrom God that the Lordmight establish His word, which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

16 When all Israelsawthat the king did not listen to them the people answered the king, saying, “What portion do we have in David?We haveno inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to your tents, O Israel; Now look after your own house, David.”

So all Israel departed to their tents.

17 But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

18 Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the forced labor, and the sons of Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/2CH/10-ef13fbf7287920830cf4af42e740ada4.mp3?version_id=100—

Rehoboam Reigns over Judah and Builds Cities

1 Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

2 But the word of the Lordcame to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

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

4 ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not go up or fight against your relatives; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me.”‘” So they listened to the words of the Lordand returned from going against Jeroboam.

5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built cities for defense in Judah.

6 Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,

7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam,

8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,

9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,

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

11 He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and stores of food, oil and wine.

12 He putshields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

13 Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him from all their districts.

Jeroboam Appoints False Priests

14 For the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the Lord.

15 He set up priests of his own for the high places, for the satyrs and for the calves which he had made.

16 Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LordGod of Israel followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the LordGod of their fathers.

17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam’s Family

18 Then Rehoboam took as a wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of Davidand ofAbihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse,

19 and she bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham.

20 After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith.

21 Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all hisotherwives and concubines. For he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

22 Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for heintendedto make him king.

23 He acted wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and he gave them food in abundance. And he sought many wivesfor them.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/2CH/11-498ed4f3d39f91b8076494ff5ec97ff1.mp3?version_id=100—

Shishak of Egypt Invades Judah

1 When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him forsook the law of the Lord.

2 And it came about in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem

3 with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt were without number: the Lubim, the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians.

4 He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, ‘You have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you to Shishak.'”

6 So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lordis righteous.”

7 When the Lordsaw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lordcame to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselvessoI will not destroy them, but I will grant them somemeasureof deliverance, and My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak.

8 But they will become his slaves so that they may learnthe difference betweenMy service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

Plunder Impoverishes Judah

9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures of the house of the Lordand the treasures of the king’s palace. He took everything; he even took the golden shields which Solomon had made.

10 Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the care of the commanders of the guard who guarded the door of the king’s house.

11 As often as the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards came and carried them andthenbrought them back into the guards’ room.

12 And when he humbled himself, the anger of the Lordturned away from him, so as not to destroyhimcompletely; and also conditions were good in Judah.

13 So King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lordhad chosen from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

14 He did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, according to genealogical enrollment? Andthere werewars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David; and his son Abijah became king in his place.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/2CH/12-5ac339a6a8ee373893e7b10113d05e74.mp3?version_id=100—

Abijah Succeeds Rehoboam

1 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah.

2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

3 Abijah began the battle with an army of valiant warriors, 400,000 chosen men, while Jeroboam drew up in battle formation against him with 800,000 chosen menwho werevaliant warriors.

Civil War

4 Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel:

5 Do you not know that the LordGod of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?

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

7 and worthless men gathered about him, scoundrels, who proved too strong for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, when he was young and timid and could not hold his own against them.

8 “So now you intend to resist the kingdom of the Lordthrough the sons of David, being a great multitude andhavingwith you the golden calves which Jeroboam made for gods for you.

9 Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples ofotherlands? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, even he may become a priest ofwhat areno gods.

10 But as for us, the Lordis our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the sons of Aaron are ministering to the Lordas priests, and the Levites attend to their work.

11 Every morning and evening they burn to the Lordburnt offerings and fragrant incense, and the showbread isseton the clean table, and the golden lampstand with its lamps isreadyto light every evening; for we keep the charge of the Lordour God, but you have forsaken Him.

12 Now behold, God is with us atourhead and His priests with the signal trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the LordGod of your fathers, for you will not succeed.”

13 But Jeroboam had set an ambush to come from the rear, so thatIsraelwas in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them.

14 When Judah turned around, behold, they were attacked both front and rear; so they cried to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets.

15 Then the men of Judah raised a war cry, and when the men of Judah raised the war cry, then it was that God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

16 When the sons of Israel fled before Judah, God gave them into their hand.

17 Abijah and his people defeated them with a great slaughter, so that 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain.

18 Thus the sons of Israel were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah conquered because they trusted in the Lord, the God of their fathers.

19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured from himseveralcities, Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages and Ephron with its villages.

Death of Jeroboam

20 Jeroboam did not again recover strength in the days of Abijah; and the Lordstruck him and he died.

21 But Abijah became powerful; and took fourteen wives to himself, and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

22 Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his words are written in the treatise of the prophet Iddo.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/2CH/13-60985afa5594e6dc8d6b9f4566813ec3.mp3?version_id=100—