5. Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah had gone to Jerusalem to escape Shishak's invasion. And while they were there, Shemaiah the prophet told them, “The Lord says that because you have disobeyed him, he has now abandoned you. The Lord will not help you against Shishak!”
6. Rehoboam and the leaders were sorry for what they had done and admitted, “The Lord is right. We have deserted him.”
7. When the Lord heard this, he told Shemaiah:The people of Judah are truly sorry for their sins, and so I won't let Shishak completely destroy them. But because I am still angry,
8. he will conquer and rule them.Then my people will know what it's like to serve a foreign king instead of serving me.
9. Shishak attacked Jerusalem and took all the valuable things from the temple and from the palace, including Solomon's gold shields.
10. Rehoboam had bronze shields made to replace the gold ones, and he ordered the guards at the city gates to keep them safe.
11. 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 had finished worshipping.
12. Rehoboam turned back to the Lord, and so the Lord did not let Judah be completely destroyed, and Judah was prosperous again.
13. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled seventeen years from Jerusalem, the city where the Lord had chosen to be worshipped. His mother Naamah was from Ammon. Rehoboam was a powerful king,