2 Chronicles 10–11

CHAPTER 10

Rehoboam’s Foolish Reign

^1aThen Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

²And 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.

³Then 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.”

⁵Then he said to them, “Return to me again in three days.” So the people went away.

⁶Then 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?”

⁷And 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.”

⁸But 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.

⁹So 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’?”

¹⁰Then 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.’”

¹²So 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 counsel of the elders,

¹⁴and 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.”

¹⁵So 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.

¹⁶Now 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.

¹⁷But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

¹⁸Then 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.

¹⁹So ^aIsrael has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

CHAPTER 11

Rehoboam Builds Cities for Fortification

^1aThen 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.

²But 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.

⁵Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and ^abuilt cities for fortifications in Judah.

⁶Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,

⁷Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam,

⁸Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,

⁹Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,

¹⁰Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin.

¹¹He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and stores of food, oil and wine.

¹²And he put large shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

¹³Moreover, 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

¹⁴For ^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—

^15aAnd he set up priests of his own for the high places, for the goat demons and for the calves which he had made—

^16aNow 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.

^17aThey 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

¹⁸Then 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,

¹⁹and she bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.

²⁰And after her he took ^aMaacah the daughter of ¹Absalom, and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.

²¹And 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.

^22aAnd Rehoboam set up Abijah the son of Maacah to be head and ruler among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.

²³And 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.