2 Chronicles 10–11

Rehoboam’s Debacle

10Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ²And it happened that when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it—now he was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon—Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³And they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and all Israel went, and they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now, therefore, lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, and we will serve you.” ⁵And he said to them, “In three days return to me again.” And the people went away.

⁶Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the elders who had been serving^a before Solomon his father when he was alive, saying, “What word do you advise to answer this people?” ⁷And they said to him, “If you will be good to this people and please them, then speak good words to them. Then they will be your servants forever.”^{b 8}But he forsook the advice of the elders that advised him and took counsel of the young men who had grown up with him who were serving^c before him. ⁹And he said to them, “What do you advise that we should say in return to this people, who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father has put upon us’?” ¹⁰Then the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus you should say to this people who have said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, so you yourself should lighten it for us.’ Thus you should say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than the loins of my father. ¹¹So now, my father laid upon you a heavy yoke, but I myself will add to the yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I myself will do so with scorpions.’ ”

¹²Then 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.” ¹³And the king answered them harshly, and King Rehoboam forsook the advice of the elders. ¹⁴And he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “I will make your yoke heavy, and I myself will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will do so with scorpions.” ¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turning of events from God, so that Yahweh might fulfill his word that he had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat. ¹⁶So all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, and the people answered the king, saying, “What portion is there for us in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each to your tents, O Israel! Now look to your own house, David!” And all Israel went to their own tents. ¹⁷But as for the Israelites^d who were living in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam ruled over them. ¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of^e the forced labor, but the Israelites^f stoned him with stones, and he died. Then King Rehoboam hastily went up into the chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹So Israel has rebelled against the house of David until this day.

Rehoboam’s Kingdom

11When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors,^a to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ²But the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying, ³“Say to Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, ⁴‘Thus says Yahweh: “Do not go up, and do not fight against your brothers. Return, each man to his house, for this matter has come from me.” ’ ” So they obeyed the words of Yahweh and turned back from going against Jeroboam.

⁵And Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities as strongholds in Judah. ⁶He built Bethlehem, Etah, Tekoa, ⁷Beth-Zur, Socoh, Adullam, ⁸Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. ¹¹And he strengthened the fortifications and put commanders in them, along with stores of food, olive oil, and wine. ¹²And in all the cities he put shields and spears, and he greatly strengthened them. So he had Judah and Benjamin.

The Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem

¹³Now the priests and the Levites who were throughout all Israel took their stand with him^b from all their territories. ¹⁴For the Levites left their pasturelands and their property and came to Judah and to Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to Yahweh. ¹⁵And he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the bull calves that he had made. ¹⁶Then after them, from all the tribes of Israel, those who set their heart to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to offer to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.^{c 17}And they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and made Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, secure for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam’s Harem and Family

¹⁸Then Rehoboam took to himself as a wife Mahalath, the daughter^d of Yerimot son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse. ¹⁹And she bore to him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰And after her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹And Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines (for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). ²²And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief and crown prince over his brothers, in order to make him king. ²³And he dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons throughout all the land of Judah and Benjamin, through all the fortified cities, and gave abundant provisions to them and obtained many wives for them.