7. The Lord saw that the king and the leaders of Judah had humbled themselves. Then the message from the Lord came to Shemaiah. The Lord said, “The king and the leaders humbled themselves. So I will not destroy them, but I will save them soon. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger on Jerusalem.
8. But the people of Jerusalem will become Shishak’s servants. This will happen so that they may learn that serving me is different from serving the kings of other nations.”
9. Shishak took the treasures from the Lord’S Temple and from the king’s palace. He also took the gold shields that Solomon had made.
10. King Rehoboam made more shields to put in their places, but they were made from bronze. He gave them to the guards on duty at the palace gates.
11. Every time the king went to the Lord’S Temple, the guards took out the shields and went with him. After they were finished, they put the shields back on the wall in the guardroom.
12. Rehoboam humbled himself, and the Lord stopped being angry with him. So he did not completely destroy Rehoboam. There was some good in Judah.
13. King Rehoboam made himself a strong king in Jerusalem. He was 41 years old when he became king of Judah. Rehoboam ruled 17 years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose for his own. He chose this city from all the other cities of Israel. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah. She was an Ammonite.
14. Rehoboam did evil because he didn’t decide in his heart to obey the Lord.