2 Chronicles 11
1 Forsothe Roboam cam in to Jerusalem, and clepide togidere al the hows of Juda and of Beniamyn, `til to nyne scoore thousynde of chosen men and werriouris, for to fiyte ayens Israel, and for to turne his rewme to hym.
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 And the word of the Lord was maad to Semeye, the man of God,
But Yahweh spoke to the prophet Shemaiah and said this to him:
3 and seide, Speke thou to Roboam, the sone of Salomon, kyng of Juda, and to al Israel, which is in Juda and Beniamyn; The Lord seith these thingis,
“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 Ye schulen not stie, nethir ye schulen fiyte ayens youre britheren; ech man turne ayen in to his hows, for this thing is doon bi my wille. And whanne thei hadden herd the word of the Lord, thei turneden ayen, and yeden not ayens kyng 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 Forsothe Roboam dwellide in Jerusalem, and he bildide wallid citees in Juda;
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 and bildide Bethleem, and Ethan, and Thecue, and Bethsur;
In [the area that belonged to] the tribes of Judah and Benjamin they built walls around Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
7 and Sochot, and Odollam;
Beth-Zur, Soco, Adullam,
8 also and Jeth, and Maresa, and Ziph;
Gath, Mareshah,
9 but also Huram, and Lachis, and Azecha;
Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
10 and Saraa, and Hailon, and Ebron, that weren in Juda and Beniamyn, ful strong citees.
Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron.
11 And whanne he hadde closid tho with wallis, he settide `in tho citees princes, and bernes of metis, that is, of oile, and of wyn.
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 But also in ech citee he made placis of armuris of scheeldis, and speris, and he made tho strong with most diligence; and he regnyde on Juda and Beniamyn.
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 Sotheli the preestis and dekenes, that weren in al Israel, camen to hym fro alle her seetis,
The priests and other descendants of Levi throughout Israel supported Rehoboam.
14 and forsoken her subarbis and possessiouns, and thei passiden to Juda and to Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and hise aftir comeris hadden cast hem a wey, that thei schulden not be set in preesthod of the Lord;
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 which Jeroboam made to hym preestis of hiye places, and of feendis, and of caluys, which he hadde maad.
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 But also of alle the linagis of Israel, whiche euer yauen her herte to seke the Lord God of Israel, thei camen to Jerusalem for to offre her sacrifices bifor the Lord God of her fadris.
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 And thei strengthiden the rewme of Juda, and strengthiden Roboam, the sone of Salomon, bi thre yeer; for thei yeden in the weies of Dauid, and of Salomon, oneli bi thre yeer.
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 Forsothe Roboam weddide a wijf Malaoth, the douytir of Jerymuth, sone of Dauid, and Abiail, the douytir of Heliab, sone of Ysaye;
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 sche childide to hym sones, Yeus, and Somorie, and Zerei.
Rehoboam and Mahalath had three sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.
20 Also after this wijf he took Maacha, the douyter of Abissalon, and sche childide to hym Abia, and Thai, and Ziza, and Salomyth.
Later Rehoboam married Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, and they had four sons: Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.
21 Forsothe Roboam louyde Maacha, the douytir of Abissalon, aboue alle hise wyues and secundarie wyues. Forsothe he hadde weddid eiytene wyues, sotheli sixti secundarie wyues; and he gendride eiyte and twenti sones, and sixti douytris.
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 Sotheli he ordeynede Abia, the sone of Maacha, in the heed, duyk ouer alle hise britheren; for he thouyte to make Abia kyng,
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 for he was wisere and myytiere ouer alle hise sones, and in alle the coostis of Juda and of Beniamyn, and in alle wallid citees; and he yaf to hem ful many metis, and he had many wyues.
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.
