1 Kings 14:21-31

Contemporary English Version

King Rehoboam of Judah

(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.16)

²¹ Rehoboam son of Solomon was 41 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled 17 years from Jerusalem, the city where the Lord had chosen to be worshiped. His mother Naamah was from Ammon.

²² The people of Judah disobeyed the Lord and made him even angrier than their ancestors had. ^23 (A) They also built their own local shrines^[a] and stone images of foreign gods, and they set up sacred poles^[b] for worshiping the goddess Asherah on every hill and in the shade of large trees. ^24 (B) Even worse, they allowed prostitutes^[c] at the shrines, and followed the disgusting customs of the foreign nations that the Lord had forced out of Canaan.

^25 (C) After Rehoboam had been king for four years, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. ^26 (D) He took everything of value from the temple and the palace, including Solomon's gold shields.

²⁷ Rehoboam had bronze shields made to replace the gold ones, and he ordered the guards at the city gates to keep them safe. ²⁸ Whenever 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 was finished.

²⁹ Everything else Rehoboam did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. ³⁰ He and Jeroboam were constantly at war. ³¹ Rehoboam's mother Naamah was from Ammon, but when Rehoboam died, he was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem.^[d] His son Abijam then became king.