10 Rechav‘am went to Sh’khem, where all Isra’el had come in order to proclaim him king. ² When Yarov‘am the son of N’vat heard of it, he returned from Egypt, where he had fled from Shlomo. ³ They sent and summoned him, so Yarov‘am and all Isra’el came and said to Rechav‘am, ⁴ “Your father laid a harsh yoke on us. But if you will lighten the harsh service we had to render your father and ease his heavy yoke that he put on us, we will serve you.” ⁵ He said to them, “Come back to me after three days.” So the people left.

⁶ King Rechav‘am consulted the older men who had been in attendance on Shlomo his father during his lifetime and asked, “What advice would you give me as to how to answer these people?” ⁷ They said to him, “If you will treat these people kindly, pleasing them and giving them favorable consideration, they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But he didn’t take the advice the older men gave him; instead he consulted the young men he had grown up with, who were now his attendants. ⁹ He said to them, “What advice would you give me, so that we can give an answer to these people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father laid on us’?” ¹⁰ The young men he had grown up with said to him, “The people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter for us’ — here’s the answer you should give them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ Yes, my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, but I will make it heavier! My father controlled you with whips, but I [will control you] with scorpions!’”

¹² So Yarov‘am and all the people came to Rechav‘am the third day, as the king had requested by saying, “Come to me again the third day”; ¹³ and the king answered them harshly. Abandoning the advice of the older men, King Rechav‘am ¹⁴ addressed them according to the advice of the young men and said, “I will make your yoke heavy, and I will add to it! My father controlled you with whips, but I will control you with scorpions!” ¹⁵ So the king didn’t listen to the people; and that was something God brought about, so that Adonai could fulfill his word, which he had spoken through Achiyah from Shiloh to Yarov‘am the son of N’vat.

¹⁶ When all Isra’el [saw] that the king wasn’t listening to them, the people answered the king,

So all Isra’el left for their tents.

¹⁷ But as for the people of Isra’el living in the cities of Y’hudah, Rechav‘am ruled over them. ¹⁸ King Rechav‘am then sent Hadoram, who was in charge of forced labor; but the people of Isra’el stoned him to death. King Rechav‘am managed to mount his chariot and flee to Yerushalayim. ¹⁹ Isra’el has been in rebellion against the dynasty of David to this day.

11 When Rechav‘am arrived in Yerushalayim, he assembled the house of Y’hudah and Binyamin, 180,000 select soldiers, to fight Isra’el and bring the rulership back to Rechav‘am. ² But this word of Adonai came to Sh’ma‘yah the man of God: ³ “Speak to Rechav‘am the son of Shlomo, king of Y’hudah, and to all Isra’el in Y’hudah and Binyamin; tell them ⁴ that this is what Adonai says: ‘You are not to go up and fight your brothers! Every man is to go back home, because this is my doing.’” They paid attention to the words of Adonai and turned back from attacking Yarov‘am.

⁵ Rechav‘am lived in Yerushalayim and built cities for defense in Y’hudah — ⁶ he built Beit-Lechem, ‘Eitam, T’koa, ⁷ Beit-Tzur, Sokho, ‘Adulam, ⁸ Gat, Mareshah, Zif, ⁹ Adorayim, Lakhish, ‘Azekah, ¹⁰ Tzor‘ah, Ayalon and Hevron; these are fortified cities in Y’hudah and Binyamin. ¹¹ He fortified the strongholds, appointed captains in charge of them and supplied them with food, olive oil and wine. ¹² In every city he put shields and spears, making them very strong. Y’hudah and Binyamin stuck with him.

¹³ The cohanim and L’vi’im from wherever they lived throughout all Isra’el made themselves available to Rechav‘am. ¹⁴ The L’vi’im left their pasture lands and property and came to Y’hudah and Yerushalayim; since Yarov‘am and his sons had thrown them out, not allowing them to function as cohanim for Adonai, ¹⁵ and had appointed for himself cohanim for the high places and for the images of goat-demons and calves that he had made. ¹⁶ Those from all the tribes of Isra’el who had set their hearts on seeking Adonai, the God of Isra’el, followed them to Yerushalayim to sacrifice to Adonai, the God of their fathers. ¹⁷ For three years they strengthened the kingdom of Y’hudah and made Rechav‘am the son of Shlomo strong, because for three years they followed the way of life of David and Shlomo.

¹⁸ Rechav‘am married Machalat the daughter of Yerimot the son of David and Avichayil the daughter of Eli’av the son of Yishai; ¹⁹ and she became the mother of his sons Ye‘ush, Sh’maryah and Zaham. ²⁰ After her, he married Ma‘akhah the daughter of Avshalom; she became the mother of Aviyah, ‘Atai, Ziza and Shlomit. ²¹ Rechav‘am loved Ma‘akhah more than all his other wives and concubines — for he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines and was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ²² Rechav‘am appointed Aviyah the son of Ma‘akhah chief, the leader of his brothers, because he intended to make him king. ²³ He was wise in his treatment of his sons, sending all of them throughout the territory of Y’hudah and Binyamin, to every fortified city, providing them with plenty of supplies and seeking for them many wives.

12 But in time, after Rechav‘am had consolidated his rulership and had become strong, he, and with him all Isra’el, abandoned the Torah of Adonai. ² In the fifth year of King Rechav‘am, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Yerushalayim, because they had acted faithlessly toward Adonai. ³ He came out of Egypt with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen and a numberless army including Luvim, Suki’im and Ethiopians. ⁴ He captured the fortified cities of Y’hudah, then went to Yerushalayim.

⁵ Now Sh’ma‘yah the prophet came to Rechav‘am and the leaders of Y’hudah who had gathered in Yerushalayim because of Shishak and said to them, “Here is what Adonai says: ‘Because you have abandoned me, I have abandoned you to the hands of Shishak.’” ⁶ In response, the leaders of Isra’el and the king humbled themselves; they said, “Adonai is right.” ⁷ When Adonai saw that they had humbled themselves, this word of Adonai came to Sh’ma‘yah: “Because they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will grant them a measure of deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Yerushalayim through Shishak. ⁸ However, they will become his slaves, so that they will come to appreciate the difference between serving me and serving earthly kingdoms.”

⁹ So Shishak king of Egypt attacked Yerushalayim. He took the treasures in the house of Adonai and the treasures in the royal palace — he took everything, including the gold shields Shlomo had made. ¹⁰ To replace them, King Rechav‘am made shields of bronze, which he entrusted to the commanders of the contingent guarding the gate to the royal palace. ¹¹ Whenever the king went to the house of Adonai, the guard would come and get the shields; later they would return them to the guardroom.

¹² After he humbled himself, the anger of Adonai turned away from him, so that he did not altogether destroy him; moreover, some good things were found in Y’hudah. ¹³ So King Rechav‘am consolidated his rule in Yerushalayim.

Rechav‘am was forty-one years old when he began his reign; and he ruled seventeen years in Yerushalayim, the city Adonai had chosen from all the tribes of Isra’el to bear his name; his mother’s name was Na‘amah the ‘Amonit. ¹⁴ He did what was evil, because he had not set his heart on seeking Adonai. ¹⁵ The activities of Rechav‘am from beginning to end are written in the genealogically organized histories of Sh’ma‘yah the prophet and ‘Iddo the seer. But there were continual wars between Rechav‘am and Yarov‘am. ¹⁶ Rechav‘am slept with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Then Aviyah his son became king in his place.