The Revolt Against Rehoboam^(A)

10 And ^(B)Rehoboam 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, ^(C)where 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 (D)But 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 ^[a]scourges!’ ”

¹² So ^(E)Jeroboam 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, ^[b]“My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with ^[c]scourges!” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people; ^(F)for the turn of events was from God, that the Lord might fulfill His ^(G)word, 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:

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 (H)So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Rehoboam’s Reign in Judah

11 Now ^(I)when 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 ^(J)to 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^(K)

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 ^(L)their common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for ^(M)Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the Lord. ^15 (N)Then he appointed for himself priests for the ^[d]high places, for ^(O)the demons, and ^(P)the calf idols which he had made. ^16 (Q)And ^[e]after the Levites left, those from all the tribes of Israel, such as set their heart to seek the Lord God of Israel, ^(R)came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers. ¹⁷ So they ^(S)strengthened 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 ^(T)Eliah the son of Jesse. ¹⁹ And she bore him children: Jeush, Shamariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he took ^(U)Maachah the ^[f]granddaughter of ^(V)Absalom; and she bore him ^(W)Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Now Rehoboam loved Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his ^(X)wives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ²² And Rehoboam ^(Y)appointed ^(Z)Abijah the son of Maachah as chief, to be leader among his brothers; for he intended to make him king. ²³ He dealt wisely, and ^[g]dispersed some of his sons throughout all the territories of Judah and Benjamin, to every ^(AA)fortified city; and he gave them provisions in abundance. He also sought many wives for them.