Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than his other wives and concubines.<n id="1" /> He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines; he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.p>

<p class="bodytext">King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made.

But you banished<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s priests, Aaron&#8217;s descendants, and the Levites, and appointed your own priests just as the surrounding nations do! Anyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of these fake gods!<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah, equipped with large shields and spears. He also had 280,000 men from Benjamin who carried small shields and were adept archers; they were all skilled warriors.

He met<n id="1" /> Asa and told him, &#8220;Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The <sc>Lordsc> is with you when you are loyal to him.<n id="2" /> If you seek him, he will respond to you,<n id="3" /> but if you reject him, he will reject you.

<p class="bodytext">When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he was encouraged.<n id="1" /> He removed the detestable idols from the entire land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had seized in the Ephraimite hill country. He repaired the altar of the <sc>Lordsc> in front of the porch of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">He assembled all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the settlers<n id="1" /> from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had come to live with them. Many people from Israel had come there to live<n id="2" /> when they saw that the <sc>Lordsc> his God was with him.

Ben Hadad accepted King Asa&#8217;s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel.<n id="1" /> They conquered<n id="2" /> Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim,<n id="3" /> and all the storage cities of Naphtali.

King Asa ordered all the men of Judah to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah.<n id="1" /> He used the materials to build up<n id="2" /> Geba and Mizpah.p>

Certainly<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> watches the whole earth carefully<n id="2" /> and is ready to strengthen those who are devoted to him.<n id="3" /> You have acted foolishly in this matter; from now on you will have war.

<p class="bodytext">Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were sitting on their respective thrones, dressed in their royal robes, at the threshing floor at<n id="1" /> the entrance of the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying before them.

Micaiah<n id="1" /> replied, &#8220;I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd. Then the <sc>Lordsc> said, &#8216;They have no master. They should go home in peace.&#8217;&#8221;

Whenever your countrymen who live in the cities bring a case before you<n id="1" /> (whether it involves a violent crime<n id="2" /> or other matters related to the law, commandments, rules, and regulations), warn them that they must not sin against the <sc>Lordsc>. If you fail to do so, God will be angry with you and your colleagues; but if you obey, you will be free of guilt.<n id="3" />

He prayed: &#8220;O <sc>Lordsc> God of our ancestors,<n id="1" /> you are the God who lives in heaven<n id="2" /> and rules over all the kingdoms of the nations. You possess strength and power; no one can stand against you.

He said: &#8220;Pay attention, all you people of Judah,<n id="1" /> residents of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says to you: &#8216;Don&#8217;t be afraid and don&#8217;t panic<n id="2" /> because of this huge army! For the battle is not yours, but God&#8217;s.

But the <sc>Lordsc> was unwilling to destroy David&#8217;s dynasty<n id="1" /> because of the promise<n id="2" /> he had made to give David a perpetual dynasty.<n id="3" />p>

They attacked Judah and swept through it.<n id="1" /> They carried off everything they found in the royal palace,<n id="2" /> including his sons and wives. None of his sons was left, except for his youngest, Ahaziah.

<t /><p class="bodytext">The residents of Jerusalem<n id="1" /> made his youngest son Ahaziah king in his place, for the raiding party that invaded the city with the Arabs had killed all the older sons.<n id="2" /> So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah.

He looked for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria.<n id="1" /> They brought him to Jehu and then executed him. They did give him a burial, for they reasoned,<n id="2" /> &#8220;He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the <sc>Lordsc> with his whole heart.&#8221; There was no one in Ahaziah&#8217;s family strong enough to rule in his place.<n id="3" />p>

and the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in the temple of God. Jehoiada<n id="1" /> said to them, &#8220;The king&#8217;s son will rule, just as the <sc>Lordsc> promised David&#8217;s descendants.