2 Chronicles 10-12

American Standard Version

10 And Rehoboam went to Shechem; for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. ² And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of king Solomon), that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt. ³ And they sent and called him; and Jeroboam and all Israel came, and they spake to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. ⁵ And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed.

⁶ And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people? ⁷ And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever. ⁸ But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men that were grown up with him, that stood before him. ⁹ And he said unto them, What counsel give ye, that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke that thy father did put upon us lighter? ¹⁰ And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou say unto the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. ¹¹ And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come to me again the third day. ¹³ And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men, ¹⁴ and spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. ¹⁵ So the king hearkened not unto the people; for it was brought about of God, that Jehovah might establish his word, which he spake by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶ And when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So all Israel departed unto their tents. ¹⁷ But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the men subject to taskwork; and the children of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.

11 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, that were warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam. ² But the word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³ Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴ Thus saith Jehovah, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house; for this thing is of me. So they hearkened unto the words of Jehovah, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

⁵ And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah. ⁶ He built Beth-lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa, ⁷ And Beth-zur, and Soco, and Adullam, ⁸ and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph, ⁹ and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah, ¹⁰ and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities. ¹¹ And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of victuals, and oil and wine. ¹² And in every city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong. And Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

¹³ And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their border. ¹⁴ For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest’s office unto Jehovah; ¹⁵ and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the he-goats, and for the calves which he had made. ¹⁶ And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek Jehovah, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice unto Jehovah, the God of their fathers. ¹⁷ So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years; for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.

¹⁸ And Rehoboam took him a wife, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, ^[a]and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse; ¹⁹ and she bare him sons: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ And after her he took ^[b]Maacah the daughter of Absalom; and she bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ And Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines, and begat twenty and eight sons and threescore daughters). ²² And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, even the prince among his brethren; for he was minded to make him king. ²³ And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fortified city: and he gave them victuals in abundance. And he ^[c]sought for them many wives.

12 And it came to pass, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of Jehovah, and all Israel with him. ² And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against Jehovah, ³ with twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen. And the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt: the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. ⁴ And he took the fortified cities which pertained to Judah, and came unto Jerusalem. ⁵ Now Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, Ye have forsaken me, therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak. ⁶ Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, Jehovah is righteous. ⁷ And when Jehovah saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves: I will not destroy them; but I will grant them ^[d]some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸ Nevertheless they shall be his servants, that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.

⁹ So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king’s house: he took all away: he took away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. ¹⁰ And king Rehoboam made in their stead shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the ^[e]guard, that kept the door of the king’s house. ¹¹ And it was so, that, as oft as the king entered into the house of Jehovah, the guard came and bare them, and brought them back into the guard-chamber. ¹² And when he humbled himself, the wrath of Jehovah turned from him, so as not to destroy him altogether: and moreover in Judah there were good things found.

¹³ So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which Jehovah had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. ¹⁴ And he did that which was evil, because he set not his heart to seek Jehovah.

¹⁵ Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the ^[f]histories of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, ^[g]after the manner of genealogies? 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 Abijah his son reigned in his stead.