Judah and Benjamin Fortified

11 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled one hundred eighty thousand chosen troops of the house of Judah and Benjamin to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.^{(A) 2} But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God:^{(B) 3} “Say to King Rehoboam of Judah, son of Solomon, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin: ⁴ Thus says the Lord: You shall not go up or fight against your kindred. Let everyone return home, for this thing is from me.” So they heeded the word of the Lord and turned back from the expedition against Jeroboam.^(C)

⁵ Rehoboam resided in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶ He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. ¹¹ He made the fortresses strong and put commanders in them and stores of food, oil, and wine. ¹² He also put large shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

Priests and Levites Support Rehoboam

¹³ The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all their territories. ¹⁴ The Levites had left their pasturelands and possessions and had come to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons had prevented them from serving as priests of the Lord^{(D) 15} and had appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat-demons and for the calves that he had made.^{(E) 16} Those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their ancestors.^{(F) 17} They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.^(G)

Rehoboam’s Marriages

¹⁸ Rehoboam took as his wife Mahalath daughter of Jerimoth son of David and of Abihail daughter of Eliab son of Jesse.^{(H) 19} She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he took Maacah daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters).^{(I) 22} Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.^{(J) 23} He dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities; he gave them abundant provisions and found many wives for them.

Egypt Attacks Judah

12 When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he grew strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, he and all Israel with him.^{(K) 2} In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem^{(L) 3} with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand cavalry. A countless army came with him from Egypt: Libyans, Sukkiim, and Cushites.^{(M) 4} He took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. ⁵ Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the officers of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak and said to them, “Thus says the Lord: You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.”^{(N) 6} Then the officers of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is in the right.”^{(O) 7} When the Lord saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.^{(P) 8} Nevertheless, they shall be his servants, so that they may know the difference between serving me and serving the kingdoms of other lands.”^(Q)

⁹ So King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made,^{(R) 10} but King Rehoboam made in place of them shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard who kept the door of the king’s house. ¹¹ Whenever the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard would come along bearing them and would then bring them back to the guardroom. ¹² Because he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to destroy them completely; moreover, conditions were good in Judah.^(S)

Death of Rehoboam

¹³ So King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign; he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.^{(T) 14} He did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.^(U)

¹⁵ Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the records of the prophet Shemaiah and of the seer Iddo, recorded by genealogy? There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.^{(V) 16} Rehoboam slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David, and his son Abijah succeeded him.^(W)