¹¹He had them strongly fortified and appointed a commander for each of them, and in each one he placed supplies of food, olive oil, and wine, ¹²and also shields and spears. In this way he kept Judah and Benjamin under his control.

Priests and Levites Come to Judah

¹³From all the territory of Israel priests and Levites came south to Judah. ¹⁴The Levites abandoned their pastures and other land and moved to Judah and Jerusalem, because King Jeroboam of Israel and his successors would not let them serve as priests of the Lord. ¹⁵^*Jeroboam appointed priests of his own to serve at the pagan places of worship and to worship demons and the idols he made in the form of bull calves. ¹⁶From all the tribes of Israel people who sincerely wanted to worship the Lord, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem, so that they could offer sacrifices to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ¹⁷This strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they supported Rehoboam son of Solomon and lived as they had under the rule of King David and King Solomon.

Read in Logos

Cross references

*11.15: 1 K 12:31