2 Chronicles 11
1 And when Rehoboam had entered Jerusalem, he called together the house of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, warriors, —to fight against Israel, to bring back the kingdom to Rehoboam.
When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he gathered 180,000 of the best soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. He wanted them to fight against [the northern tribes of] Israel [and defeat them], in order that he could rule [all the tribes of] the kingdom again.
2 Then came the word of Yahweh, unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying:
But Yahweh spoke to the prophet Shemaiah and said this to him:
3 Speak unto Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, —and unto all Israel in Judah and in Benjamin, saying:
“Go and tell this to [Solomon’s son] Rehoboam, the king of Judah, and to all the Israeli people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin:
4 Thus, saith Yahweh, Ye shall not go up neither shall ye fight against your brethren, return every man to his own house, for, from me, hath this thing been brought about. So they hearkened unto the words of Yahweh, and turned back from going against Jeroboam.
‘Yahweh says that you must not go to fight against [the people of Israel; they are] your distant relatives. All of you must go home. What has happened is what Yahweh wanted to happen.’” [So Shemaiah went and told that to them, ] and they all heeded what Yahweh had commanded them to do, and they did not attack Jeroboam [and his soldiers].
5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, —and built cities for defence, in Judah;
Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and his workers built walls around several of the cities and towns in Judah to protect them [against enemy attacks].
6 yea he built Bethlehem and Etam, and Tekoa;
In [the area that belonged to] the tribes of Judah and Benjamin they built walls around Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
7 and Beth-zur and Soco, and Adullam;
Beth-Zur, Soco, Adullam,
8 and Gath and Mareshah, and Ziph;
Gath, Mareshah,
9 and Adoraim and Lachish, and Azekah;
Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
10 and Zorah, and Aijalon and Hebron, which are in Judah and Benjamin, —as fortified cities.
Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron.
11 And he strengthened the fortified places, —and put therein captains, and stores of food, and oil and wine;
He also appointed an army commander in each of those cities and towns, and gave them supplies of food, olive oil, and wine [to keep in storage].
12 and, in every several city, shields and spears, and made them exceedingly strong, —thus Judah and Benjamin remained his.
He put shields and spears in all the cities and made them well-protected. So he continued to rule the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
13 And, the priests and Levites that were in all Israel, took their stand with him, out of all their boundaries.
The priests and other descendants of Levi throughout Israel supported Rehoboam.
14 For the Levites left their pasture lands, and their possessions, and came to Judah, and to Jerusalem, —for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, from ministering as priests unto Yahweh;
The descendants of Levi [who lived outside the territory of Judah and Benjamin] abandoned their property and their pastureland, and they came to Jerusalem and [to other places in] Judah, because Jeroboam and his sons would not allow them to do the work of priests of Yahweh.
15 and appointed for himself priests for the high places, and for the demons—and for the calves which he had made.
Instead, Jeroboam appointed the priests that he wanted to work [at the altars he commanded to be built] on the hilltops, [to offer sacrifices to] the idols that he commanded to be made [that resembled] goats and calves.
16 And, after them—out of all the tribes of Israel, such as were setting their heart to seek Yahweh God of Israel, came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto Yahweh, God of their fathers.
And people from every tribe in Israel who wanted to worship Yahweh, the God to whom the Israelis belonged, went with the descendants of Levi to Jerusalem to live there and to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the God whom their ancestors [worshiped].
17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and emboldened Rehoboam son of Solomon, for three years, —for they walked in the way of David and Solomon, for three years.
They caused the kingdom of Judah to be strong, and for three years they were happy that Solomon’s son Rehoboam was the king. During that time they conducted their lives [righteously] as David and Solomon had done previously.
18 And Rehoboam took him to wife, Mahalath, daughter of Jerimoth, son of David, —and Abihail, daughter of Eliab, son of Jesse;
Rehoboam married Mahalath. She was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth, and her mother was Abihail, the daughter of Eliab and granddaughter of Jesse.
19 and she bare him sons, —Jeush and Shamariah and Zaham.
Rehoboam and Mahalath had three sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.
20 And, after her, he took Maacah, daughter of Absolom, —and she bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.
Later Rehoboam married Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, and they had four sons: Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.
21 And Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absolom, above all his wives and his concubines, for, eighteen wives, took he, and sixty concubines, —and begat twenty-eight sons, and sixty daughters.
Rehoboam loved Maacah more than he loved any other of his wives and slave wives. Altogether he had 18 wives and 60 slave wives, and 28 sons and 60 daughters.
22 So then Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as head, to be chief ruler among his brethren, —yea that he might make him king.
Rehoboam appointed his son Abijah to be the leader of his [older and younger] brothers, because he wanted to appoint Abijah to be the next king.
23 So he took heed, and dispersed all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, unto all the fortified cities, and gave them food in abundance, —and asked a multitude of wives.
He very wisely sent some of his other sons to other cities in the areas of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the other cities that had walls around them. He gave them plenty of supplies and many wives.
