2 Chronicles 12:4-14

4 And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah and came to Jerusalem.
5 Then Shemaiah, the prophet, went to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus hath the LORD said, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore, I have also left you in the hand of Shishak.
6 And the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The LORD is righteous.
7 And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore, I will not destroy them, but I will deliver them shortly; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
8 Nevertheless, they shall be his slaves that they may know what it is to serve me and to serve the kingdoms of the nations.
9 So Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house; he took it all; he also carried away the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
10 And in their place King Rehoboam made shields of brass and committed them to the hands of the princes of the guard that kept the entrance of the king’s house.
11 And when the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came and brought them, and afterward they returned them again into the guard chamber.
12 And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him that he would not destroy him altogether; and also in Judah things went well.
13 So King Rehoboam was strengthened and reigned in Jerusalem; and 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. And his mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess.
14 And he did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.

2 Chronicles 12:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 12

Rehoboam and his people forsaking the law of the Lord, Shishak king of Egypt is allowed by God to invade his land, and take his fenced cities, 2Ch 12:1-4, upon which a prophet of the Lord was sent to him and his princes, to show them the reason of it; whereupon they humbled themselves, and the Lord was pleased not to allow the enemy utterly to destroy them, yet to reduce them to servitude, and take away their riches, 2Ch 12:5-12, and the chapter is closed with an account of the reign and death of Rehoboam, 2Ch 12:13-16.

The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010