2 Chronicles 11
1 Rehoboam came to Jerusalem and gathered the house of Judah and Benjamin: 180,000 chosen men, trained for war, to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.
2 The word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, the man of God:
3 “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin:
4 ‘This is what the LORD says: «Do not go up or fight against your brothers. Each of you, return to your home, because this thing came from me.»’” They obeyed the words of the LORD and gave up going against Jeroboam.
5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built defensive cities in Judah.
6 He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam,
8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,
9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and Benjamin—fortified cities.
11 He strengthened the strongholds, appointed commanders over them, and stocked them with supplies of food, oil, and wine.
12 In every city he placed shields and spears, and made them exceedingly strong. Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.
13 The priests and Levites throughout all Israel came over to him from every part of their territory.
14 For the Levites left their pasturelands and their properties and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests of the LORD.
15 Jeroboam appointed priests for himself for the shrines on the hills, for the goat-demons, and for the calves he had made.
16 After them, people from all the tribes of Israel who had set their hearts on seeking the LORD, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their ancestors.
17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years, because for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.
18 Rehoboam took as his wife Mahalath, daughter of Jerimoth son of David and of Abihail daughter of Eliab son of Jesse.
19 She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.
20 After her, he took Maacah daughter of Absalom; she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.
21 Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines. He took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
22 Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief and leader among his brothers, intending to make him king.
23 He acted wisely and spread some of his sons throughout the lands of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities. He provided them with abundant food and sought many wives for them.
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