How Kingdoms Break

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

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

³They sent and called him; and Jeroboam and all Israel came, and they spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

⁴“Your father made our yoke grievous. Now therefore make the grievous service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you.”

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

⁶King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, “What counsel do you give me about how to answer these people?”

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

⁸But he abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

⁹He said to them, “What counsel do you give, that we may give an answer to these people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter’?”

¹⁰The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall tell the people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter on us;’ thus you shall say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.

¹¹Now whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.’”

¹²So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king asked, saying, “Come to me again the third day.”

¹³The king answered them roughly; and King Rehoboam abandoned the counsel of the old men,

¹⁴and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”

¹⁵So the king didn’t listen to the people; for it was brought about by God, that the LORD might establish his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king didn’t listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, “What portion do we have in David? We don’t have an inheritance in the son of Jesse! Every man to your tents, Israel! Now see to your own house, David.” So all Israel departed to their tents.

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

¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the men subject to forced labor; and the children of Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam hurried to get himself up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

¹⁹So Israel rebelled against David’s house to this day.

¹When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

²But the LORD’s word came 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‘The LORD says, “You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers! Every man return to his house; for this thing is of me.”’” So they listened to the LORD’s words, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

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

⁶He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,

⁷Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam,

⁸Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,

⁹Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,

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

¹¹He fortified the strongholds and put captains in them with stores of food, oil and wine.

¹²He put shields and spears in every city, and made them exceedingly strong. Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

¹³The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him out of all their territory.

¹⁴For the Levites left their pasture lands and their possessions, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest’s office to the LORD.

¹⁵He himself appointed priests for the high places, for the male goat and calf idols which he had made.

¹⁶After them, out of all the tribes of Israel, those who set their hearts to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

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

¹⁸Rehoboam took a wife for himself, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse.

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

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

²¹Rehoboam loved Maacah the granddaughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

²²Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, the prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.

²³He dealt wisely, and dispersed some of his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to every fortified city. He gave them food in abundance; and he sought many wives for them.

¹When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the LORD’s law, and all Israel with him.

²In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against the LORD,

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

⁴He took the fortified cities which belonged to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.

⁵Now Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “The LORD says, ‘You have forsaken me, therefore I have 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.”

⁷When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the LORD’s word came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath won’t be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

⁸Nevertheless they will 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 LORD’s house and the treasures of the king’s house. He took it all away. He also took away the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

¹⁰King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house.

¹¹As often as the king entered into the LORD’s house, the guard came and bore them, then brought them back into the guard room.

¹²When he humbled himself, the LORD’s wrath turned from him, so as not to destroy him altogether. Moreover, there were good things found in Judah.

¹³So King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned; for Rehoboam was forty-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. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

¹⁴He did that which was evil, because he didn’t set his heart to seek the LORD.

¹⁵Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, aren’t they written in the histories of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, in the genealogies? There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

¹⁶Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in David’s city; and Abijah his son reigned in his place.

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

²He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

³Abijah 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 valor.

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

⁵Ought you not to know that the LORD, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, 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.

⁷Worthless men were gathered to him, wicked fellows who strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tender hearted, and could not withstand them.

⁸“Now you intend to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David. You are a great multitude, and the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods are with you.

⁹Haven’t you driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves according to the ways of the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of those who are no gods.

¹⁰“But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests serving the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work.

¹¹They burn to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense. They also set the show bread in order on the pure table, and care for the gold lamp stand with its lamps, to burn every evening; for we keep the instruction of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken him.

¹²Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. Children of Israel, don’t fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers; for you will not prosper.”

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

¹⁴When Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried to the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.

¹⁵Then the men of Judah gave a shout. As the men of Judah shouted, God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

¹⁶The children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand.

¹⁷Abijah and his people killed them with a great slaughter, so five hundred thousand chosen men of Israel fell down slain.

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

¹⁹Abijah pursued Jeroboam, and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephron with its villages.

²⁰Jeroboam didn’t recover strength again in the days of Abijah. The LORD struck him, and he died.

²¹But Abijah grew mighty and took for himself fourteen wives, and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

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

¹So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in David’s city; and Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days, the land was quiet ten years.

²Asa did that which was good and right in the LORD his God’s eyes,

³for he took away the foreign altars and the high places, broke down the pillars, cut down the Asherah poles,

⁴and commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to obey his law and command.

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.

⁶He built fortified 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 to Judah, “Let’s build these cities and make walls around them, with towers, gates, and bars. The land is yet before us, because we have sought the LORD our God. We have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.

⁸Asa had an army of three hundred thousand out of Judah who bore bucklers and spears, and two hundred eighty thousand out of Benjamin who bore shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.

⁹Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million troops and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah.

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

¹¹Asa cried to the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, there is no one besides you to help, between the mighty and him who has no strength. Help us, LORD our God; for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. LORD, you are our God. Don’t let man prevail against you.”

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

¹³Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar. So many of the Ethiopians fell that they could not recover themselves, for they were destroyed before the LORD and before his army. Judah’s army carried away very much booty.

¹⁴They struck all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the LORD came on them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.

¹⁵They also struck the tents of those who had livestock, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, then returned to Jerusalem.

¹The Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded.

²He went out to meet Asa, and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin! The LORD is with you while you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

³Now for a long time Israel was without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law.

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

⁵In those times there was no peace to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands.

⁶They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God troubled them with all adversity.

⁷But you be strong! Don’t let your hands be slack, for your work will be rewarded.”

⁸When 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 LORD’s altar that was before the LORD’s porch.

⁹He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who lived with them out of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon; for they came 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 Asa’s reign.

¹¹They sacrificed to the LORD in that day, from the plunder which they had brought, seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep.

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

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

¹⁴They swore to the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with cornets.

¹⁵All Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found by them. Then the LORD gave them rest all around.

¹⁶Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen mother, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; so Asa cut down her image, ground it into dust, and burned 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.

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

¹⁹There was no more war to the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

¹In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

²Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the LORD’s house and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben Hadad king of Syria, who lived at Damascus, saying,

³“Let there be a treaty between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.”

⁴Ben Hadad listened to King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they struck Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.

⁵When Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and let his work cease.

⁶Then Asa the king took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, with which Baasha had built; and he built Geba and Mizpah with them.

⁷At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him, “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped out of your hand.

⁸Weren’t the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge army, with chariots and exceedingly many horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand.

⁹For the LORD’s eyes run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.”

¹⁰Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in the prison; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.

¹¹Behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

¹²In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa was diseased in his feet. His disease was exceedingly great; yet in his disease he didn’t seek the LORD, but just the physicians.

¹³Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the forty-first year of his reign.

¹⁴They buried him in his own tomb, which he had dug out for himself in David’s city, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumers’ art; and they made a very great fire for him.