II CHRONICLES CHAPTER 8 - 14

2 CHRONICLES 8

1 It happened after twenty years
During which time with all his gears
Solomon built the house of YHWH
And his own house with game and crew,
2 That the cities Huram gave back
To Solomon to take his slack,
Solomon built them and made there
The children of Israel have share.
3 Solomon went to Hamathzobah
And conquered it and made it over.
4 And in the desert built Tadmor,
And all the cities kept for store
Which he built in Hamath in score.
5 Also he built Bethhoron high,
And Bethhoron under the sky,
Fortified cities, walls and gates,
And bars and such to keep out mates,
6 And Baalath, all the store cities
That Solomon had made for ease,
And all the chariot cities, and
The cities for the horsemen manned,
And all that Solomon desired
To construct in Jerusalem,
And in Lebanon unretired,
And throughout all his land in hem.

The horses of the king were fine to see,
I guess he had forgotten in the spree
The Torah forbids horses to the king,
Who ought to write his Torah and to sing
Instead of getting gold and silver drawn,
Collecting wives and horses for a pawn.
The horses were perhaps the king’s downfall,
Unless it was the wives against the wall.
Beloved, I seek the son of David still,
Despite the things I see and with a thrill
Of wonder that anointed ones can stay
So blind to what is true from day to day.
I’d think I only have the right to be
Unseeing of the things I ought to see.

7 As for all the folk that were left
Of the Hittites and unbereft
Of Amorites and Perizzites,
And the Hivites and Jebusites
Who were not of Israel by rights,
8 Of their descendants who were left
After them in the land and cleft,
The ones Israel’s folk failed to slay,
Them did Solomon make to pay
Tribute until this very day.
9 But from Israel’s folk Solomon
Did not take slaves of anyone
For his work. They were men of war,
And chiefs of his captains and more
Captains of cariots and horsemen.
10 And these chief officers again
Of king Solomon were a crowd
Of two hundred and fifty loud
To rule over the folk unbowed.

What’s left of gross idolaters the king
Sets only to tribute and leaves the ring
Of Israel alone to fight and draw
The sword upon all others that they saw.
The Canaanite is good enough to serve
As workman and as slave to cut up wood
And draw water for every lad and lass
That meets the standard of the warrior class.
Beloved, the ten commandments are far-fetched
Among the palmed, the olived and the vetched.
Who thrive on grapes beneath the flaunting sun
Have no need of the hope in things well-done.
The nation thrives in wealth and as a crowd
Ruled happily if such is said aloud.

11 Solomon brought up Pharaoh’s daughter
Out of David’s city and wrought her
A house, he said “My wife won't live
In the house of David and give
Place to the king of Israel,
Because that’s where the ark a spell
Of YHWH came and remained there well.”
12 Then Solomon in offering
Gave burnt sacrifices to bring
To YHWH on YHWH’s altar which he
Had built before the porch’s lea.
13 A certain amount every day,
Offered according to the way
Commanded by Moses, upon
The Sabbaths, and on the new dawn
Of the first of the month, and on
The solemn feasts three times a year,
The feast of no yeast bread for fear,
The feast of weeks and in the feast
Of tabernacles with each priest.

The king has a good treaty wife to spare,
And by command of Moses to the fair,
Offers up sacrifices to beware.
I notice, my Beloved, the command comes
From Moses and not from you in its sums.
The daily round, the Sabbaths in their feast,
The yearly festivals in times increased,
All serve the tabernacle drought of blood,
While people come and go as in a flood.
I seek the tempered temple with Your praise
Alone rises above the nights and days,
And find the inner temple where I live
To offer sacrifice of blood and give
Alive the sacrifices that You raise.

14 He set according to the way
Of David his father the dray
Of the priest in their service bent,
And the Levites to their tasks lent,
To praise and serve before the priests,
As required by each day and feasts,
The porters also by their turns
At eavery gate, as each one learns
By David the man of God’s burns.
15 And they did not turn aught aside
From the command of the king’s ride
To the priests and Levites to do
Anything or about the view
Of treasures in their store and pew.
16 Now all the work of Solomon
Was set to day of foundation
Of YHWH’s house until it was done.
So YHWH’s house was done once begun.

The temple of my heart is never done,
Despite the rise and setting of the sun.
Each day the living sacrifice goes on
And touches rose with every rising dawn.
The temple of my heart is never cast
As finished and ready when You have passed.
A rugged wall, a thorny latch, and lamp
That barely keeps away the evening damp.
And yet within that temple and employ
Unfinished I find with You simple joy.
The heart leaps up indeed to see the way
The year whirls on in time yet without pay.
I do not turn aside from Your command
Even without the burning priests on hand.

17 Then Solomon went down to be
At Ezionbeber to see
Elath in Edom’s land by sea.
18 And Juram sent him by the hand
Of his servants great ships in band
And sailor servants of the sea,
And they went with the servants of
Solomon to Ophir for love,
And took from there four hundred and
Fifty talents of gold in hand,
And brought them to King Solomon.
And so his sea-faring was done.

I look upon the rugged hills that make
The walls above the Red Sea for the sake
Of Elath by the sea, and then I take
My way into their bosom and look out
Upon the sea as far was I can doubt
Where Jordan’s land still rises from the sea.
The port of gold, this place became when sent
King Solomon his bold in fine ships lent.
It is a place of tourist trade today,
Where Jewish Russian can be heard to sway
In some streets, and where even Druse is found.
I come to love Elath upon the ground,
And watch the blue below me from the dry
Stones that bear up my feet and steady eye.

2 CHRONICLES 9

1 And when the queen of Sheba heard
Of Solomon’s fame, like a bird
She came to test Solomon with hard
Questions at Jerusalem barred,
With a very great company,
And camels carrying in fee
Spices and lots of gold and yet
Precious stones all that she could get,
And when she came to Solomon,
She talked with him till she had done
Telling all in her heart and bun.
2 Solomon gave an answer to
All her questions, and there was true
Not one thing hidden from the view
Of Solomon that he did not
Tell her until she was well-taught.
3 And when the queen of Sheba saw
Solomon’s wisdom, and in awe
The house that he had built of straw,
4 And the food on his table and
The sitting of his servant band,
And the attendance of his folk
And their bright clothing at a stroke,
His stewards and their uniforms,
And the steps by which in their swarms
He went up into YHWH’s house, there
Was no more spirit in her share.
5 And she said to the king, “A true
Report I heard of what you do
In my own land, and of your wise
Heart, 6 “yet before my doubting eyes
I did not have faith in their word
Until I came and my eyes stirred
To see it and see now the half
Of your wisdom in greatness quaff
I only now, for you go far
Beyond the fame I heard from star.
7 “Blessed are your men, and blessed are these
Your servants who stand here to please
Before your face and hear your grace.
8 “Blessed be YHWH your Ælohim who
Delighted in you to set you
On His throne to be king for YHWH
Your Ælohim because your God
Loved Israel and set on sod
For ever, so He made you king
To rule over in everything
In judgement and justice to sing.”

I too, like Queen of Sheba, come to find
The son of David is not one so blind
But that he rules with wisdom. He is kind
And shows the wealth of treasure-house wherein
Lie all his stores of knowledge as in bin.
I too, like Queen of Sheba, make my way
To son of David, and on such a day
Open my heart to him and tell him all
My doubts and loves and faiths beneath his tall
Spires of palace and temple, till I turn
Back to my inner chamber where I burn
In his name sacrifices of sweet smell.
I live to find Your David’s son and tell
My soul again and again what I learn.

9 She gave the king an hundred and
Twenty talents of gold to stand
And spices much and precious stones,
Nor was there any such spice more
As Queen of Sheba gave in store
To the king Solomon in score
To rest his wearing, aching bones.
10 The servants also of Huram,
And the servants of Solomon,
Who brought Ophir’s gold, brought algum
Trees and precious stones when they’d done.
11 And the king made of algum hew
Terraces for the house of YHWH,
And for the king’s palace and pew,
And harps and psalteries to sing,
And there was never such a thing
Before seen in the land of Judah,
Their instruments had once been cruder.
12 King Solomon gave to Sheb’s queen
All her desire of what she’d seen
Besides what she’d brought to the king.
So she returned and wondering
To her own land, she and her own
Servants to sit upon her throne.
13 Now the weight of gold that came to
Solomon in one year in view
Was six hundred and sixty-six
Six talents of gold to take his picks,
14 Beside what retailers and hawkers
Brought in. And all the kings and squawkers
Of glad Arabia brought gold
And siller to Solomon’s fold.

I bring the son of David here no gold
Nor silver from my tills of what I’ve sold.
I bring instead the algum wood and sweet
To make his harps to sing in hall and street,
In temple court and on the meadowed hill.
I bring him algum wood to fit the bill.
Beloved, I am a soul of algum wood,
Cut and shaped in the harply way I should,
And cantillating on the solemn air
The songs of son of David and the share
Of David’s Psalms that still spring up to make
The tabernacle true for David’s sake.
Beloved, I am a harp of wood and string,
And here I stop to read the Psalms and sing.

15 King Solomon made two hundred
Targets of beaten gold to bid
Of six hundred shekels of beaten
Gold went into each one to sweeten.
16 And three hundred shields beaten gold:
Three hundred shekels of gold told
Went into each shield. And the king
Put them in the house of the ring
Of Lebanon’s forest to sing.
17 Moreover the king made a great
Ivory throne and set in state
A pure gold overlay first-rate.
18 And there were six steps to the throne,
With a footstool of gold alone
Fastened to the throne, and stays each
Side of the sitting place to reach
Two lions standing by the stays.
19 Twelve lions stood there in the bays
Upon the six steps. There was not
Such a thing anywhere one got
In any kingdom, any spot.
20 And all the cups and goblets that
King Solomon drank from at that
Were of gold, and all plates and saucers
Of the house of the forest glossers
Of Lebanon were of pure gold,
None silver; it was no thing told
Of any count in all the days
Of Solomon, and to his praise.
21 For the king’s ships went to Tarshish
With servants of Huram to fish:
Every three years once came the ships
Of Tarshish bringing gold, and slips
Of silver, ivory, and apes,
And peacocks with their tails in shapes.

The first time I was in Kuwait I saw
No silver on the table but the claw
Of gold in everything that clinked and clanked.
And gold was set with gemstones of the ranked.
The first time I was in Kuwait I found
The table was as often set on ground
As in the air with chairs to sit upon.
And yet the spread was golden before dawn.
Beloved, I come to Your table spread out
Before my eyes of hope and eyes of doubt,
And find You more than Solomon the king
And more that Kuwaiti with golden ring
A treasure beyond gold and beyond sight.
I flee to You, Beloved, and to Your right.

22 King Solomon surpassed all kings
Of earth in wisdom and in things.
23 And all the kings of earth would come
To Solomon’s presence in sum,
To hear the wisdom Ælohim
Had put into his heart supreme.
24 And they brought every man his gift,
Vessels of silver hard to lift,
And pots of gold, and many clothes
Harness, and spices, horses’ shows,
And mules, all year by year he chose.
25 And Solomon had four thousand
Stalls for horses and chariots’ band,
And twelve thousand horsemen on hand;
Whom he spread out in chariot cities,
The king at Jerusalem’s ditties.
26 So he reigned over all the kings
From the river up to the rings
Of the Philistines’ lands, and to
The border of Egypt in cue.
27 And the king made silver become
In Jerusalem like stones’ sum,
And cedar trees made he as cheap
As sycamores found in a heap
In the low-lands where they still creep.
28 And they brought unto Solomon
Horses out of Egypt for fun,
And out of all lands once begun.
29 Now the rest of Solomon’s acts,
First and last, are they not as facts
Written in book of Nathan prophet,
And in prophecy not to scoff at
Of Ahijah the Shilonite,
And in the visions of the wight
Iddo the seer against whom sat
Jeroboam son of Nebat?
30 Solomon ruled Jerusalem,
All Israel forty years from stem.
31 And Solomon slept with ancestors,
And he was buried by sequesters
In city of David his dad,
And Rehoboam his son sad
Reigned in his stead for all he had.

Your Torah, my Beloved, forbids such things
As gold and horses to Your set-up kings.
Yet Solomon went far beyond Your law
To make gold of no worth in every paw.
Abundance is one way to fulfil right,
And overflowing is before Your sight.
Not Solomon’s greed filled his treasure-store,
But flattery of kings before his door.
Beloved, I bring no gift to You or him,
No gold nor ivory or cedar trim.
And yet I come and take in hand Your gift,
And steal from Solomon what I can lift,
And praise and thank You both for what I find
Lying upon the street in golden kind.

2 CHRONICLES 10

1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem:
Because all Israel came to Shechem
To make him king. 2 It came to pass,
When Jeroboam son not lass
Of Nebat, who was in Egypt,
Where he had fled with wings unclipped
From sight of Solomon the king,
Heard that, then Jeroboam’s wing
Brought him back from Egypt to sing.
3 They summoned him and called him there
So Jeroboam and all fair
In Israel came and outspread
Spoke to Rehoboam, and said,
4 “Your father made our yoke too hard,
So ease up now and be a pard,
From the harsh service of your dad,
And his great burden that he had
Put on us, and we will serve you.”
5 But he told them, “Come in my view
After three days.” And so they left.
6 And king Rehoboam bereft
Asked the advice of the old men
Who had counselled his dad again,
Solomon, while he was alive,
And said “What advice do you jive
To give me in reply to this
People who come so I’ll not miss.”
7 And they spoke to him saying “If
You are kind to this folk not stiff
And please them and speak easy words
To them, they’ll be your servant herds
For ever.” 8 But he left advice
Given by the old men and nice,
And took the counsel of the young
Men who were brought up with his tongue
And stood before him on the rung.

When I was young, it seems, no king relied
On the advice I might have brought his side.
Now that I’m old, I’ve learned that all deride
Advice of an old man instead of guide.
Though I offer no counsel to the great
Nor hardly to my family in state,
I do not keep my mouth shut, but I flail
Impotent arms against the worldly gail.
I say to leave off drink, I say to sail
According to the ten commandments’ law,
I say to reject Baal and tooth and claw,
The sacrifice of human blood and paw.
But in my ranting I know better now
Than to think I shall be heard anyhow.

9 And he said to them, “What advice
Do you give to reply with spice
To these people who’ve come to me
Saying ‘Ease up on the yoke tree
That your father laid on the free?’”
10 And the youths brought up with him spoke
To him and said “Answer the folk
Who spoke to you to say ‘Your dad
Made our yoke heavy, but be glad
To lighten it a bit for us,’
Tell them, ‘My little finger truss
Shall be thicker than my dad’s shank.
11 ‘Though my dad put a heavy crank
On you, I add more to your load,
My dad struck you with whips and goad,
But I with scorpions and not toad.’”
12 So Jeroboam and all those
People with him came in their rows
To Rehoboam the third day,
As the king asked to have his say,
“Come again to me on the third day.”
13 The king replied roughly to them,
And king Rehoboam left hem
Of the old men’s advice and stem.
14 And answered them by the advice
Of the young men, saying not nice,
“My father made your yoke a load,
But I will add to it a goad,
My father chastised you with whips,
But I’ll strike with scorpions’ lips.
15 The king did not obey the folk,
For the matter was of the stroke
Of Ælohim, so YHWH might do
According to His word on cue
ByAhijah the Shilonite
To Jeroboam in his right
The son of Nebat day and night.

The council of the young’s in favour now,
And I see the effects on culture’s brow.
The world is filled with more injustice and
With more hate and with more war in the stand
Than ever in the history of the manned.
The songs have turned to wailing in the wake
Of blasphemy upon the grime and stake,
And babes in bushes cry aloud to make
Obscenities the prattle of the banned.
Beloved, I flee from this world and I say
The fire of youth has burned the last decree
And set in flames the last bridge to the lea.
I turn to You, Beloved, and turn away
From greed, pollution, and the darkened day.

16 And when all Israel saw the king
Would not listen to anything,
The people replied to the king,
Saying “What portion in our hand
Is of David? We have no land
In Jesse’s son: let every man
To your tents, O Israel: and scan
Now, David, see to your own house.
So all Israel went out to growse.”
17 Then Israel’s folk that lived within
The cities of Judah to spin,
Rehoboam reigned over them.
18 King Rehoboam’s stratagem
Was that he sent Hadoram who
Was over the tribute in due,
But Israel’s folk stone him with stones
So that he died after his groans.
But king Rehoboam then sped
To get in his chariot and fled
Back to Jerusalem and bed.
19 And Israel has rebelled agin
David’s house to this day to win.

I too might say what portion now remains
To me in David’s tents and in his lanes.
The tabernacle lies in tattered shreds,
The priesthood’s turned to bones in linen threads.
Instead the mitred vicar of the Lord
Reigns over market and the gospel horde.
Instead the beating thrust of rock and roll
Turn over in the mass to take their toll.
Beloved, I come in my simplicity
To the fair temple of David in lee,
And lift a single voice in company
Of bird and beast and find the Psalms remake
All that seemed lost of Yours for David’s sake.

2 CHRONICLES 11

1 And when Rehoboam had come
Back to Jerusalem a bum,
He gathered of the house of Judah
And Benjamin a hundred shewder
And eighty thousand chosen men,
Who were warriors, to fight again
Against Israel, that he might bring
The kingdom back again to sing
Under Rehoboam’s ruling.
2 But the word of YHWH met Shemaiah
The man of Ælohim and crier,
Saying, “Speak to Rehoboam
The son of Solomon, who am
The king of Judah, and to all
Israel in Judah-Benjamin,
Saying, 4 “So says YHWH at the call,
‘You shall not go to fight and brawl
Against your brothers, go back each
Man to his house, this is my reach.
And they obeyed the words of YHWH
And went back from going in crew
Against Jeroboam on cue.”’”
5 And Rehoboam lived and dwelt
In fine Jerusalem, and built
Cities to defend Judah’s silt.

My task is like the son of David’s here.
It’s not to go out and pull down the gear
Of those who claim in norther clime to show
The gospel and the jolly way to go.
My task is just to built the temple sound
By singing David’s songs upon the ground,
And building of the Bethleham once told
And Ephrata with wondered wealth unsold.
Beloved, the prophet does not let me stand
Armed in the market-place under command
Of captains of the gore to make return
Rebellious Christians to the way they spurn.
Instead I sing the simple lays that ring
In Psalms of David, son of David, king.

6 He built even Bethlehem, and
Etam, and Tekoa to stand,
7 As well as Bethzur, and Shoco,
And Adullam, 8 and Gath to go,
And Mareshah, and Ziph, 9 and still
Adoraim, and Lachish, and hill
Of Azekah, 10 And Zorah, and
Aijalon, and Hebron, which band
Are in Judah and Benjamin
Fortified cities set to win.
11 He fortified the strongholds, and
Put captains in them over band,
And store of food, and cask of oil
And grape juice for the soldiers’ toil.
12 And in each of the cities he
Put shields and spears, and made very
Strong, having Judah-Benjamin
On his side and set there to win.
13 And the priests and the Levites that
Were in all Israel out flat
Came to him from every place known.
14 For the Levites left overgrown
Their villages and fields, and came
Down to Judah’s Jerusalem,
For Jeroboam and his sons
Had put them out of office runs
To be priests to YHWH’s benisons.
15 And he ordained priests for high places,
And for the devils in their traces,
And for the calves that he had made.
16 And after them for accolade
Out of all tribes of Israel
Those who set their hearts to seek well
YHWH Ælohim of Israel
Came to Jerusalem to make
Sacrifice to YHWH and the sake
Of Ælohim of their dads’ wake.

I too wait for the priest and multitude
To turn away from civilized and crude,
And return to the simple word and store
Of faith upon David’s son’s ample shore.
In days of old by ones and twos they came,
But even that would not cover the shame
That left at least Judah to Babylon,
Captivity on captive echelon.
Beloved, the days of Babylon are past,
The days of restoration did not last.
Millennia have come and gone and yet
I still stand on the promises I get.
I find the tabernacle in sound set,
And faith is strong if raised only half-mast.

17 So they strengthened the kingdom of
Judah, and made in single love
Rehoboam Solomon’s son
To be strong for three years to run,
For three years they walked in the way
Of David’s and Solomon’s sway.
18 And Rehoboam took himself
Mahalath the daughter on shelf
Of Jerimoth David’s son to
Be his wife, and Abihail too
The daughter of Eliab son
Of Jesse, also kin when done.
19 She bore him children; Jeush, and
Shamariah, and Zaham’s hand.
20 And after her he took Maachah
The daughter of Absalom’s claw,
Who bore him Abijah, Attai,
Ziza, and Shelomith thereby.
21And Rehoboam loved Maachah
The daughter of Absalom’s craw
Above all wives and concubines:
For he took eighteen wives, and twenty
Concubines and sired son a-plenty,
Twenty-eight boys and sixty girls.
22 And Rehoboam made the curls
Of Abijah Maachah’s son chief,
To rule among his brothers’ fief,
To make him king at his relief.
23 And he treated them wisely and
Spread them throughout all of the land
Of Judah and Benjamin, to
Every fortified city due,
And gave them rations in their lot.
And he wanted and so he got
Many wives and kept them in crew.

For three years Rehoboam was a chump
And followed You and David in the lump.
Three years and a half is as long as can
A man stay firm and follow in Your plan.
Even Your Christ only lasted the span
Of three years and a half, and so the word
Of Revelation takes that time preferred.
Three years and a half, half of seven stirred,
It ought to be a witness and enough.
The world’s a place that’s ready and is rough.
And yet Noah was able in his day
To serve a hundred twenty years in sway,
And find the ark still floated on the sea
Of Your destruction of eternity.

2 CHRONICLES 12

1 It happened when Rehoboam
Had established the royal ram
And strengthened himself, he forsook
The law of YHWH, and in their nook
All Israel with him to look.
2 It happened in the fifth year of
King Rehoboam seen above
That Shishak king of Egypt came
Against Jerusalem for shame
That they had sinned against YHWH’s name.
3 With twelve hundred chariots, and
Sixty thousand horsemen in band,
Uncounted soldiers too that came
With him out of Egypt in claim:
The Lubim, Sukkiim and not least
The Ethiopians increased.
4 And he captured the fortified
Cities of Judah’s countryside
Arriving at Jerusalem.
5 Then came Shemaiah, he’s a gem,
And prophet, to Rehoboam,
And to the princes of Judah
Who were gathered in council’s draw
There in Jerusalem because
Of Shishak, and told them in pause,
“So says YHWH, since you have forsaken
Me, that’s why I’ve let you be taken
In hand of Shishak, so awaken.”
6 At that princes of Israel
And the king humbled themselves well,
And said “YHWH does righteously spell.”
7 And when YHWH saw that they repented,
The word YHWH came and prevented
Shemaiah saying “They’ve convented
To humble themselves, so I’ll not
Destroy them but I’ll grant a plot
To their salvation, and My wrath
I shall not pour out on the path
Of Jerusalem by the hand
Of Shishak and by Shishak’s band.
8 “But they shall be his servants till
They know My service and the bill
Of the kingdoms of countries’ fill.”

O my Beloved, do You not know the true
Christian maintains that death for sin is due?
How is it that You repent of the thing
You plan in retribution on the king
As soon as repentance comes in to fill
His poor account, why don’t You instead kill?
You are a sucker for repentance and
You have mercy on every humble land,
While every Christian has to have a cross,
A bleeding body, and avenging boss.
Pull Yourself now together, take the whip
And lay the punishment upon the strip
Of innocent flesh come to take the rue.
Surely no penitence satisfies You!

9 So Shishak king of Egypt came
Against Jerusalem in flame
And took away the treasures of
The house of YHWH, the treasures of
The king’s house too, and he took all,
He carried away from their hall
The shields of gold Solomon made.
10 Instead king Rehoboam made
Such shields of brass and those ones stayed
In the hands of the chief of guard,
That kept the king’s house in his yard.
11 And when the king came in the house
Of YHWH, the guard put on his blouse
And came and took them back again
To the guard chamber with his men.
12 When he humbled himself, the wrath
Of YHWH turned from him and his path,
So He would not destroy the man
In total, and in Judah’s plan
As well all things went well to scan.
13 King Rehoboam fortified
Himself in Jerusalem’s side,
And reigned. Now Rehoboam was
Forty-one years old when his paws
Began to reign, and so he reigned
Seventeen years and still retained
Jerusalem, the city that
YHWH had chosen from all the spate
Of Israel’s tribes to put His name
There. And his mother’s name, just guess,
Was Naamah an Ammonitess.
14 And he did evil, he prepared
Not his heart to seek YHWH when spared.
15 The acts of Rehoboam, first
And last, are they not blessed and cursed
In the book of Shemaiah prophet,
And of Iddo the seer sofit
Concerning genealogies?
And there were wars and strategies
Between Rehoboam and king
Jeroboam like anything.
16 And Rehoboam slept with his
Ancestors, and was in a whiz
Buried in David’s city, and
His son Abijah took his stand.

The king replaces gold with brass and finds
The space to keep appearances in binds.
I wonder if he once forgot the gleam
Of Solomon’s shields, as if in a dream,
He went into the temple court to bow
Toward You, Beloved, did he forget somehow?
The god’s blood of gold is a heathen fare,
And even brass in my temple is rare,
But still I wonder if the pain was there
As long as Rehoboam reigned and ruled.
The gold was so much that if all had pooled
Their earrings it would not have been enough
To replace what Pharaoh stole of their stuff.
My inner chamber is both light and bare.

2 CHRONICLES 13

1 Now in the eighteenth year of king
Jeroboam Abijah’s spring
Began over Judah to ring.
2 He reigned over Jerusalem
For three years. And his mother’s name
Also was Michaiah the girl
Of Uriel of Gibeah’s hurl.
And there was war between Abijah
And Jeroboam not to hide you.
3 Abijah set the battle out
With an army of valiant stout
Soldiers, four hundred thousand men
Chosen for fearless skill again,
Jeroboam too set array
Against him with eight hundred sway
Thousand chosen men, mighty men
Of valour come to fight again.
4 Abijah stood upon the mount
Zemaraim, which is in mount
Ephraim, and said “Hear me, you
Jeroboam, and Israel’s crew,
5 “Should you not know YHWH Ælohim
Of Israel gave kingdom’s cream
To David for ever, to him
And to his descendants and grim
By saline promise pat and trim?
6 “Yet Jeroboam Nebat’s son,
The servant of king Solomon
The son of David, once rose up,
Rebelled against his lord like tup.
7 “And there were gathered unto him
Vain men, Belial’s sons in rim,
And fortified themselves rebelling
Against Rehoboam in swelling,
The son of Solomon, in days
When Rehoboam, young in ways
Was tenderhearted, and could not
Withstand them and their evil plot.

Appeal to history’s always abuse.
Abijah gets the facts right for his use,
But turns the matter on another end.
He does not consider his father’s trend
To speak harshly and bring a heavy yoke
When he was advised not to make the stroke.
Oh no, he only says rebellion came
When his father was weak and to their shame.
How many when appealing to the line
Of history avoid temptation’s brine,
And tell it like it is or was and make
Appeal to truth for You and not man’s sake?
Beloved, my heart’s oppressed to see the way
The human mind and mouth rise up for sway.

8 “Now you intend to oppose reign
Of YHWH in David’s offsprings’ wane,
And you are many on the plain,
And you have with you calves of gold
That Jeroboam made and sold
To you as gods of the sheepfold.
9 Have you not deposed all the priests
Of YHWH, sons of Aaron increased,
And Levites, and made yourselves priests
After the heathen way and feast,
So whoever comes to ordain
Himself with a young bullock slain
And seven rams, that one may be
A priest of anti-gods you see.
10 As for us, YHWH’s our Ælohim,
And we have not forsaken cream,
And the priests serving YHWH are sons
Of Aaron and Levites in runs.
11 And they burn to YHWH morn and night
Burnt offerings and sweet incense right,
The showbread also on the pure
Table, and candlestick set sure
Of gold with lamps upon it burn
Every night, for we keep and earn
The charge of YHWH our Ælohim,
But you’ve forsaken Him for dream.
12 “Now see, Ælohim’s with us for
Our chief, and His priests at the door
With sounding trumpets the alarm
Against you, sons of Israel’s harm,
So do not rise up against YHWH
Ælohim of your fathers’ crew,
For you’ll not succeed anywho.”

Abijah misinterpret’s Israel’s way
Of placing Your throne on the back to sway
Of golden calves. They did not worship calves,
But You who rode upon them for their salves.
Abijah appeals to the fact the priests
Fled to Jerusalem for annual feasts,
And claims authority of church and law,
Establishment set up by hood and claw.
Beloved, I see conservative reproach,
Reliance on the power of hand and roach,
Still speaks to souls of men to make them think
That You are leading them up to the brink.
It will not keep king Jeroboam’s hand
From setting lethal traps by his command.

13 But Jeroboam set a trap
To come about behind their flap,
So they were in front of Judah,
And ambushment behind their paw.
14 And when Judah looked back, behold,
The battle was before and told
Behind: and they cried unto YHWH,
And priests blew on the trumpets too.
15 The men of Judah gave a shout,
And when Judah’s men shouted out,
It happened that Ælohim struck
Jeroboam down to the muck
And all Israel before the face
Of Abijah and Judah’s race.
16 Israel’s folk fled before Judah:
And Ælohim set in their claw.
17 Abijah and his people killed
Them with a great slaughter and swilled,
So there fell down dead of Israel
Five hundred thousand choice men’s spell.
18 So Israel’s folk came to their knees
That time, and Judah’s folk with ease
Prevailed, because they relied on
YHWH Ælohim of fathers’ spawn.

It was not history of David’s line,
It was not the established church and fine
That saved Judah from Jeroboam’s face.
It was the last cry begging for Your grace.
The folk of Judah trusted then and there
In You and so You blessed them with the share
Of Your salvation, though out-numbered and
Surrounded by the armies of the manned.
Beloved, though I reject establishment
And have no history of the blessed and sent,
I too cry out before the hostile world
That raises its rebellious flag unfurled
Against Your divine law, and wait to see
With what hand You reverse captivity.

19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam,
And took cities from him to know him,
Bethel with its suburbs around,
And Jeshanah with suburbs found,
And Ephrain and all its ground.
20 So Jeroboam did not find
His strength again but he declined
In the time of Abijah, and
YHWH struck him dead under His hand.
21Abijah became stronger yet,
And married fourteen wives, you bet,
And sired he twenty-two sons and
Sixteen daughters, children in band.
22 The rest of Abijah’s acts, and
His ways, and his sayings in hand,
Are written in the story show
Of the man and prophet Iddo.

The fourteen ones infallible mayhap
Were sitting there in king Abijah’s lap.
A wife for every fortnight’s day and night
Should be enough to treat to princely right.
At least it cut the average of births down
That each wife had to bear for her renown
To less than three apiece, and that might be
Better than one wife in her misery
Giving birth to thirty-eight in one spree.
Beloved, the number of wives in the care
Of Abijah still seems more than his share.
If he had only followed Jacob’s track
Four would have sufficed without any lack.
But then he might not have sons and to spare.

2 CHRONICLES 14

1 Abijah slept with his ancestors,
And they buried him in sequesters
Of David’s city, and Asa
His son reigned in his place for awe.
In his time the land was at peace
For ten years of his reign’s increase.
2 Asa did what was good and right
Before YHWH his Ælohim’s sight.
3 He took away the altars of
Idols, and the high places of
Them and cut down the groves of love.
4 He commanded Judah to seek
YHWH Ælohim of their dads’ peak,
And do the law and commandment.
5 Also he took away the scent
Of high place and idol in all
The cities of Judah in thrall,
His kingdom was in peace in stall.
6 He built fortified towns in Judah:
For the land had peace, and no ruder
War in those years, because YHWH had
Given him rest not to be sad.
7 Therefore he said to Judah, “Let
Us build these cities, and then set
Around them walls, and towers, and gates
And bars to lock, the land’s in state
Before us, since we have sought YHWH
Our Ælohim, and it is true
That we have sought, and He has granted
Rest to us everywhere we’ve planted
And built and prospered in our crew.”

Good king Asa followed Your word and law
And struck down all the idols with his paw.
Good king Asa kept well the Sabbath day,
And gave justice the right and throne and sway.
And if good king Asa at any time
Took up a pen to say himself in rhyme,
He touched the parchment with a word of praise,
And did not let You depart from his gaze.
Though good king Asa trusted well in You,
He still built fortresses for all his crew.
He still used time of peace for preparation
Of warfare with an enemy and nation.
Not only was he faithful, he was wise,
Was good king Asa under the blue skies.

8 And Asa had an army that
Carried targets and spears thereat,
From Judah three hundred thousand,
And out of Benjamin, that stand
With shields and drawn bows, two hundred
And eighty thousand: all these dread
Men of valour all in a band.
9 There came out against them Zerah
The Ethiopian in draw
An army of a million men,
And three hundred chariots again,
And they arrived in Mareshah.
10 Then Asa went out to attack
And stood in array back to back
In the valley of Zephathah
As you come up to Mareshah.
11 And Asa cried singing to YHWH
His Ælohim, and he said “YHWH,
An easy thing it is for You
To help, whether with a great crew
Or with a weakened band in pew,
Help us, O YHWH our Ælohim,
For we depend on You in team,
And in Your name we do attack
This great crowd. O YHWH, You’re not slack
To be our Ælohim, let not
Man come to overrun Your plot.”
12 So YHWH struck Ethiopians
Before Asa, and before plans
Of Judah; the Ethiopians fled.
13 Asa and the folk with him sped
After them to Gerar, and there
The Ethiopians took share
In their destruction, they could not
Recover themselves in the spot,
For they were destroyed before YHWH,
And before His army and crew,
Who carried off blunder as due.
14 And they attacked all the towns round
Gerar, because the fear and sound
Of YHWH came on them, and they sacked
All the cities they had attacked
For there was booty in them stacked.
15 They struck also the tents of cattle,
And carried away sheep from battle,
And camels in abundance, and
Went back to Jerusalem’s strand.

The Ethiopian came out to fight.
I thought they were drawn in the faith and right
By Solomon, and by Solomon’s son
Were under a king righteous on the run.
After the Queen of Sheba’s visit to
The wisest man of all, did she not do
A thing to make the southern nation know
That You alone rule in the heavens’ glow?
Then why is Ethiopia now set
To battle with anointed and to get
A fight for treasure on king Asa’s land?
I’d think the memory of Sheban band
Could find and echo in the faithful heart
Not to stand up and throw a fatal dart.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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