Chapter 10

Rehoboam’s Reign of Folly

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

2 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.

3 So they sent and summoned him. When Jeroboam and all Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

4 “Your father made our ayoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

5 He said to them, “Return to me again in three days.” So the people departed.

6 Then King Rehoboam aconsulted with the elders who had 1served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to answer this people?”

7 They spoke to him, saying, “If you will be kind to this people and please them and aspeak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

8 But he aforsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him 1and served him.

9 So he said to them, “What counsel do you give that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”

10 The young men who grew up with him spoke to 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 ‘Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’ ”

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had 1directed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.”

13 The king answered them harshly, and King Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the elders.

14 He spoke to them according to the advice 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.”

15 So the king did not listen to the people, afor it was a turn of events from God bthat the Lord might establish His word, which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

16 When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them the people answered 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 look after your own house, David.”

bSo all Israel departed to their tents.

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

18 Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was aover the forced labor, and the sons of Israel stoned him 1to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

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

Chapter 11

Rehoboam Reigns over Judah and Builds Cities

1 aNow when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

2 But the word of the Lord 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 the Lord, “You shall not go up or fight against ayour 1relatives; return every man to his house, bfor this thing is from Me.” ’ ” So they listened to the words of the Lord and returned from going against Jeroboam.

5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and abuilt cities for defense in Judah.

6 Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,

7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam,

8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,

9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,

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

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

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

13 Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him from all their districts.

Jeroboam Appoints False Priests

14 For athe Levites left their pasture lands and their property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for bJeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the Lord.

15 aHe set up priests of his own for the high places, for the satyrs and for the calves which he had made.

16 aThose from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord God of Israel 1followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers.

17 aThey strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam’s Family

18 Then 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,

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

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

21 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 fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

22 aRehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.

23 He acted wisely and distributed 1some of his sons through all the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and he gave them food in abundance. And he sought many wives for them.

Chapter 12

Shishak of Egypt Invades Judah

1 aWhen the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, bhe and all Israel with him forsook the law of the Lord.

2 aAnd it came about in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, that bShishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem

3 with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt were without number: athe Lubim, the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians.

4 He captured athe fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

5 Then aShemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, ‘bYou have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you 1to Shishak.’ ”

6 So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The aLord is righteous.”

7 When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “aThey have humbled themselves so I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some measure of deliverance, and bMy wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak.

8 “But they will become his slaves so athat they may learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

Plunder Impoverishes Judah

9 aSo Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s palace. He took everything; bhe even took the golden shields which Solomon had made.

10 Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the 1care of the commanders of the 2guard who guarded the door of the king’s house.

11 As often as the king entered the house of the Lord, the 1guards came and carried them and then brought them back into the 1guards’ room.

12 And awhen he humbled himself, the anger of the Lord turned away from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and also conditions bwere good in Judah.

13 aSo King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

14 He did evil abecause he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

15 aNow the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the 1records of bShemaiah the prophet and of cIddo the seer, according to genealogical enrollment? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David; and his son aAbijah became king in his place.