1And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam. 2But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 3Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, 4Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.
5¶ And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah. 6He built even Beth-lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa, 7And Beth-zur, and Shoco, and Adullam, 8And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph, 9And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah, 10And Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin fenced cities. 11And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and of oil and wine. 12And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.
13¶ And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts.11.13 resorted…: Heb. presented themselves to him 14For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest’s office unto the LORD: 15And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made. 16And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers. 17So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.
18¶ And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David to wife, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse; 19Which bare him children; Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham. 20And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.11.20 Maachah: she is also called Michaiah the daughter of Uriel 21And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.) 22And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king. 23And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he desired many wives.11.23 many wives: Heb. a multitude of wives
1Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem. He brought together 180,000 capable young men from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. He had decided to go to war against Israel. He wanted his fighting men to get the kingdom of Israel back for him.
2But a message came to Shemaiah from the Lord. Shemaiah was a man of God. The Lord said to him, 3“Speak to Solomon’s son Rehoboam, the king of Judah. Speak to all the people of Israel in Judah and Benjamin. Tell them, 4‘The Lord says, “Do not go up to fight against your relatives. I want every one of you to go back home. Things have happened exactly the way I planned them.” ’ ” So the young men obeyed the Lord’s message. They turned back. They didn’t march out against Jeroboam.
Rehoboam Builds Up Judah’s Towns
5Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem. He made Judah more secure by building up its towns. 6He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7Beth Zur, Soko and Adullam. 8He also built up Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron. All of them were cities in Judah and Benjamin that had high walls around them. 11Rehoboam made those cities even more secure. He put commanders in them. He gave the cities plenty of food, olive oil and wine. 12He put shields and spears in all those cities. He made them very strong. So he ruled over Judah and Benjamin.
13The priests and Levites were on Rehoboam’s side. They came from their territories all over Israel. 14The Levites even left their grasslands and other property behind. They came to Judah and Jerusalem. That’s because Jeroboam and his sons had refused to accept them as priests of the Lord. 15Jeroboam had appointed his own priests to serve at the high places. He had made statues of gods that looked like goats and calves. His priests served those gods. 16Some people from every tribe in Israel followed the Levites to Jerusalem. With all their hearts they wanted to worship the Lord. He is the God of Israel. They came to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to him. He was the God of their people of long ago. 17All those who came to Jerusalem made the kingdom of Judah strong. They helped Solomon’s son Rehoboam for three years. During that time they lived the way David and Solomon had lived.
Rehoboam’s Family
18Rehoboam married Mahalath. She was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth. Her mother was Abihail. Abihail was the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. 19Mahalath had sons by Rehoboam. Their names were Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham. 20Then Rehoboam married Maakah. She was the daughter of Absalom. She had sons by Rehoboam. Their names were Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. 21Rehoboam loved Absalom’s daughter Maakah. In fact, he loved her more than any of his other wives and concubines. He had a total of 18 wives and 60 concubines. And he had a total of 28 sons and 60 daughters.
22Rehoboam appointed Maakah’s son Abijah to be the chief prince among his brothers. He did it because he wanted to make him king. 23Rehoboam acted wisely. He scattered some of his sons through all the territories of Judah and Benjamin. He put them in all the cities that had high walls around them. He gave them plenty of food and everything else they needed. He also gave them many wives.
