2 Chronicles 11

¹When Rehoboʹam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah, and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboʹam. ²But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiʹah the man of God: ³“Say to Rehoboʹam the son of Solomon king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, ⁴‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your brethren. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’ ” So they hearkened to the word of the Lord, and returned and did not go against Jeroboʹam.

⁵Rehoboʹam dwelt in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoʹa, ⁷Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸Gath, Mareʹshah, Ziph, ⁹Adoraʹim, Lachish, Azeʹkah, ¹⁰Zorah, Aiʹjalon, and Hebron, fortified cities which are in Judah and in Benjamin. ¹¹He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. ¹²And he put shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

¹³And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him from all places where they lived. ¹⁴For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboʹam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, ¹⁵and he appointed his own priests for the high places, and for the satyrs, and for the calves which he had made. ¹⁶And 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 fathers. ¹⁷They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboʹam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.

¹⁸Rehoboʹam took as wife Maʹhalath the daughter of Jerʹimoth the son of David, and of Abʹihail the daughter of Eliʹab the son of Jesse; ¹⁹and she bore him sons, Jeʹush, Shemariʹah, and Zaham. ²⁰After her he took Maʹacah the daughter of Abʹsalom, who bore him Abiʹjah, Attai, Ziza, and Sheloʹmith. ²¹Rehoboʹam loved Maʹacah the daughter of Abʹsalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and had twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters); ²²and Rehoboʹam appointed Abiʹjah the son of Maʹacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. ²³And he dealt wisely, and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities; and he gave them abundant provisions, and procured wives for them.