2 Chronicles 10–11

The Revolt Against Rehoboam

10^dRehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ²And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, ^ewhere he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam, ^4f“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away.

⁶Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men,¹ who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷And they said to him, ^g“If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. ⁹And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” ¹⁰And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs. ¹¹And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’ ”

¹²So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” ¹³And the king answered them harshly; and forsaking the counsel of the old men, ¹⁴King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” ¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill his word, ^hwhich he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. ⁱEach of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents. ¹⁷But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. ¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent ^jHadoram,² who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Rehoboam Secures His Kingdom

11^kWhen Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ²But the word of the Lord came to ^lShemaiah the man of God: ³“Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, ⁴‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against ^myour relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’ ” So they listened to the word of the Lord and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.

⁵Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built ⁿcities for defense in Judah. ⁶He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸Gath, ^oMareshah, Ziph, ⁹Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. ¹¹He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. ¹²And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem

¹³And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. ¹⁴For the Levites left ^ptheir common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, ^qbecause Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, ¹⁵and he appointed his own ^rpriests for the high places and for the goat idols and for ^sthe calves that he had made. ^16tAnd those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. ^17uThey strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.

Rehoboam’s Family

¹⁸Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of ^vEliab the son of Jesse, ¹⁹and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰After her he took ^wMaacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him ^xAbijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). ^22yAnd Rehoboam appointed ^xAbijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. ²³And he dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions and procured wives for them.¹