2 Chronicles 10:1-12:16

Rehoboam’s Foolish Reign

^aThen Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 And it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for ^ahe was in Egypt where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), Jeroboam returned from Egypt. 3 Then they sent and called for him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “Your father made our ^ayoke harsh; but now, lighten the harsh service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” 5 Then he said to them, “Return to me again in three days.” So the people went away.
6 Then King Rehoboam ^atook counsel with the elders who had ¹stood before his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to respond to this people?” 7 And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be good to this people and please them and ^aspeak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8 But he ^aforsook the counsel of the elders which they had counseled him, and took counsel with the young men who grew up with him and ¹stood before him. 9 So he said to them, “What counsel do you give that we may respond to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” 10 Then the young men who grew up with him spoke with him, saying, “Thus you shall say to the people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us.’ Thus you shall say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! 11 So now my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had spoken, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” 13 And the king answered them harshly, and King Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the elders, 14 and he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “¹My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, ^afor it was a turn of events from God, ^bthat Yahweh might establish His word, which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16 Now all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them. So the people responded to the king, saying,

“^aWhat portion do we have in David?

We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.

Every man to your tents, O Israel;

Now see to your own house, David.”

^bSo all Israel went to their tents. 17 But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was ^aover the forced labor, and the sons of Israel ¹stoned him and he died. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So ^aIsrael has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Rehoboam Builds Cities for Fortification

^aThen Rehoboam came to Jerusalem and assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who could wage war, to fight against Israel to return the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2 But the word of Yahweh came to ^aShemaiah the man of God, saying, 3 “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, 4 ‘Thus says Yahweh, “You shall not go up and fight against ^ayour brothers; return every man to his house, ^bfor this thing is from Me.”’” So they listened to the words of Yahweh and returned from going against Jeroboam.
5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and ^abuilt cities for fortifications in Judah. 6 Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin. 11 He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and stores of food, oil and wine. 12 And he put large shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin.
13 Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him from all their territories.

Jeroboam Sets Up His Own Priests

14 For ^athe Levites left their pasture lands and their possession of land and went to Judah and Jerusalem, for ^bJeroboam and his sons had rejected them from ministering as priests to Yahweh— 15 ^aAnd he set up priests of his own for the high places, for the goat demons and for the calves which he had made— 16 ^aNow those from all the tribes of Israel who gave their hearts to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, ¹followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 17 ^aThey strengthened the kingdom of Judah and gave courage to Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam’s Family

18 Then Rehoboam took as a wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of ^aEliab the son of Jesse, 19 and she bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 And after her he took ^aMaacah the daughter of ¹Absalom, and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 And Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For ^ahe had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. 22 ^aAnd Rehoboam set up Abijah the son of Maacah to be head and ruler among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. 23 And he acted with discernment and distributed ¹some of his sons through all the lands of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and he gave them sustenance in abundance. And he sought a multitude of wives for them.

Shishak of Egypt Comes Against Judah

^aNow it happened that when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, ^bhe and all Israel with him forsook the law of Yahweh. 2 ^aNow it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to Yahweh, that ^bShishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem 3 with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt were without number: ^athe Lubim, the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians. 4 And he captured ^athe fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. 5 Now ^aShemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘^bYou have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you ¹to Shishak.’” 6 So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “^aYahweh is righteous.”
7 When Yahweh saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah, saying, “^aThey have humbled themselves so I will not bring them to ruin, but I will grant them some measure of escape, and ^bMy wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8 But they will become his slaves so ^athat they may know the difference between My slavery and the slavery of the kingdoms of the countries.”

Shishak Takes from Yahweh’s House

9 ^aSo Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures of the house of Yahweh and the treasures of the king’s house. He took everything; ^bhe even took the shields of gold which Solomon had made. 10 Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the hand of the commanders of the ¹guard who kept the door of the king’s house. 11 Now it happened that as often as the king entered the house of Yahweh, the ¹guards would come and carry them and then bring them back into the ¹guards’ room. 12 And ^awhen he humbled himself, the anger of Yahweh turned away from him, so as not to ruin him completely; and also conditions ^bwere good in Judah.
13 ^aSo King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which Yahweh had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. 14 And he did evil ^abecause he did not set his heart to seek Yahweh.
15 ^aNow the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the ¹records of ^bShemaiah the prophet and of ^cIddo the seer, according to genealogical record? Now there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. 16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David; and ^aAbijah his son became king in his place.