2 Chronicles 11
1 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.
And Roboam came to Jerusalem; and he assembled Juda and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand young men fit for war, and he waged war with Israel to recover the kingdom to Roboam.
2 But Yahweh spoke to the prophet Shemaiah and said this to him:
And the Word of the Lord came to Samaias the man of God, saying,
3 “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:
Speak to Roboam the [son] of Solomon, and to all Juda and Benjamin, saying,
4 ‘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].
Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up, and you shall not war against your brethren: return every one to his home; for this thing is of me. And they listened to the word of the Lord, and returned from going against Jeroboam.
5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and his workers built walls around several of the cities and towns in Judah to protect them [against enemy attacks].
And Roboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built walled cities in Judea.
6 In [the area that belonged to] the tribes of Judah and Benjamin they built walls around Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
And he built Bethleem, and Aetan and Thecoe,
7 Beth-Zur, Soco, Adullam,
and Baethsura, and Sochoth, and Odollam,
8 Gath, Mareshah,
and Geth, and Marisa, and Ziph,
9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
and Adorai, and Lachis, and Azeca,
10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron.
and Saraa, and Aelom, and Chebron, which belong to Juda and Benjamin, walled cities.
11 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].
And he fortified them with walls, and placed in them captains, and stores of provisions, oil and wine,
12 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.
shields and spears in every several city, and he fortified them very strongly, and he had on his side Juda and Benjamin.
13 The priests and other descendants of Levi throughout Israel supported Rehoboam.
And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel were gathered to him out of all the coasts.
14 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.
For the Levites left the tents of their possession, and went to Juda to Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had ejected them so that they should not minister to the Lord.
15 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.
And he made for himself priests of the high places, and for the idols, and for the vanities, and for the calves which Jeroboam made.
16 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].
And he cast out from the tribes of Israel those who set their heart to seek the Lord God of Israel: and they came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers.
17 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.
And they strengthened the kingdom of Juda; and [Juda] strengthened Roboam the [son] of Solomon for three years, for he walked three years in the ways of David and Solomon.
18 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.
And Roboam took to himself for a wife, Moolath daughter of Jerimuth the son of David, and Abigaia daughter of Heliab the son of Jessae.
19 Rehoboam and Mahalath had three sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.
And she bore him sons; Jeus, and Samoria, and Zaam.
20 Later Rehoboam married Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, and they had four sons: Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.
And afterwards he took to himself Maacha the daughter of Abessalom; and she bore him Abia, and Jetthi, and Zeza, and Salemoth.
21 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.
And Roboam loved Maacha the daughter of Abessalom more than all his wives and all his concubines: for he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines; and he begot twenty-eight sons, and sixty daughters.
22 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.
And he made Abia the son of Maacha chief, [even] a leader among his brethren, for he intended to make him king.
23 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.
And he was exalted beyond all his [other] sons in all the coasts of Juda and Benjamin, and in the strong cities; and he gave them provisions in great abundance: and he desired many wives.
