31 Then Solomon 9rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

The Revolt Against Rehoboam

10 And aRehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. 2 So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was in Egypt, bwhere he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), that Jeroboam returned from Egypt. 3 Then they sent for him and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

5 So he said to them, “Come back to me after three days.” And the people departed.

6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, saying, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”

7 And they spoke to him, saying, “If you are kind to these people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

8 cBut he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. 9 And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”

10 Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to the people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! 11 And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with 1scourges!’ ”

12 So dJeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.” 13 Then the king answered them roughly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders, 14 and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, 2“My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with 3scourges!” 15 So the king did not listen to the people; efor the turn of events was from God, that the Lord might fulfill His fword, which He had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

16 Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:

“What share have we in David?

We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.

Every man to your tents, O Israel!

Now see to your own house, O David!”

So all Israel departed to their tents. 17 But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.

18 Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of revenue; but the children of Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. 19 gSo Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

11 Now awhen Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled from the house of Judah and Benjamin one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

2 But the word of the Lord came bto Shemaiah 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 the Lord: “You shall not go up or fight against your brethren! Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the words of the Lord, and turned back from attacking Jeroboam.

Rehoboam Fortifies the Cities

5 So Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. 6 And he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth Zur, Sochoh, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and Benjamin, fortified cities. 11 And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. 12 Also in every city he put shields and spears, and made them very strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.

Priests and Levites Move to Judah

13 And from all their territories the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him. 14 For the Levites left ctheir common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for dJeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the Lord. 15 eThen he appointed for himself priests for the 1high places, for fthe demons, and gthe calf idols which he had made. 16 hAnd 2after the Levites left, those from all the tribes of Israel, such as set their heart to seek the Lord God of Israel, icame to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers. 17 So they jstrengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

The Family of Rehoboam

18 Then Rehoboam took for himself as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of kEliah the son of Jesse. 19 And she bore him children: Jeush, Shamariah, and Zaham. 20 After her he took lMaachah the 3granddaughter of mAbsalom; and she bore him nAbijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 Now Rehoboam loved Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his owives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. 22 And Rehoboam pappointed qAbijah the son of Maachah as chief, to be leader among his brothers; for he intended to make him king. 23 He dealt wisely, and 4dispersed some of his sons throughout all the territories of Judah and Benjamin, to every rfortified city; and he gave them provisions in abundance. He also sought many wives for them.

Egypt Attacks Judah

12 Now ait came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that bhe forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel along with him. 2 cAnd it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, 3 with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and people without number who came with him out of Egypt—dthe Lubim and the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians. 4 And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.

5 Then eShemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord: ‘You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.’ ”

6 So the leaders of Israel and the king fhumbled themselves; and they said, g“The Lord is righteous.”

7 Now when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, hthe word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8 Nevertheless ithey will be his servants, that they may distinguish jMy service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.”

9 kSo Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also carried away the gold shields which Solomon had lmade. 10 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them mto the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. 11 And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guard would go and bring them out; then they would take them back into the guardroom. 12 When he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and things also went well in Judah.

The End of Rehoboam’s Reign

13 Thus King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now nRehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, othe city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah, an pAmmonitess. 14 And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.