The Cave of Treasures 58

A¹🔗nd Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, reigned after him. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when [he began] to reign, and he polluted Jerusalem with fornication, and the altars of devils, and the stink of heathendom; and the kingdom of Israel was rent in twain. And in the fifth year of his kingdom Shishak, the king of Egypt, went up against Jerusalem.

²🔗 And he carried off all the treasure of the service of the house of the Lord, and all the treasure of the kingdom of David, and of that of Solomon, and the vessels of gold and the vessels of silver. And he magnified himself and said, “I am not taking away treasure which is yours, but the wealth which your fathers took out of Egypt.”

³🔗 And Rehoboam died in the heathen practices of his father Solomon. And Jehosaphat his son reigned after him, and he walked in the ways of Asa his father, and he did that which was pleasing before God. And God was angry with him because he was a friend of the house of Ahab, and for this reason God did not permit him to bring out gold from Ophir.

⁴🔗 Now he made ships to send thither, and they were broken at Ezion Geber. He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and the name of his mother was’ Azóbhá (Azuba?), the daughter of Shalah. And Jehosaphat died in his righteousness. Joram reigned after him, and he was thirty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

⁵🔗 He did not do what was pleasing before God, for he sacrificed at the altar of devils, and he died in his heathen practices. Ahaziah his son reigned after him, and he was twenty-two years old when [he began] to reign; he lived for one year in Jerusalem, and did evil things before God in that year. Because of the wickedness and iniquity which he wrought, God delivered him into the hands of his enemies and they killed him.

⁶🔗 When he was dead his mother [Athaliah] killed all the royal children of the house of David, imagining that she would uproot the children of the Jews. The only person of the seed of the royal house whom she did not slay was Joash, whom Yóshba’ (Jehosheba), the daughter of Joram, the son of Jehosaphat, carried away secretly and hid with her in her house.