Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, 'Thus says the LORD, You abandoned me, so I also have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak' — The prophet Shemaiah (וַיָּבֹא שְׁמַעְיָה הַנָּבִיא אֶל־רְחַבְעָם וְשָׂרֵי יְהוּדָה אֲשֶׁר נִקְבְּצוּ בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם מִפְּנֵי שִׁישַׁק) delivered judgment: because Judah 'abandoned me' (עֲזַבְתֶּם אוֹתִי וַאֲנִי עָזַבְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בְּיַד־שִׁישַׁק), God abandoned them to Egypt. The covenant principle of retribution operated: abandonment of God leads to divine withdrawal.

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