101 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem , for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king . 2 When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon ), Jeroboam returned from Egypt . 3 So they sent and summoned him. When Jeroboam and all Israel came , they spoke to Rehoboam , saying , 4 "Your father made our yoke hard ; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you." 5 He said to them, "Return to me again in three days ." So the people departed . 6 Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served e his father Solomon while he was still alive , saying , "How do you counsel me to answer e this people ?" 7 They spoke to him, saying , "If you will be kind to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever e ." 8 But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served e him. 9 So he said to them, "What counsel do you give that we may answer e this people , who have spoken to me, saying , 'Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?" 10 The young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying , "Thus you shall say to the people who spoke to you, saying , 'Your father made our yoke heavy , but you make it lighter for us.' Thus you shall say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's loins ! 11 'Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke , I will add to your yoke ; my father disciplined you with whips , but I will discipline you with scorpions .' "
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had directed , saying , "Return to me on the third day ." 13 The king answered them harshly , and King Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the elders . 14 He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men , saying , "My father made your yoke heavy , but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips , but I will discipline you with scorpions ." 15 So the king did not listen to the people , for it was a turn of events from God that the Lord might establish His word , which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat . 16 When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them the people answered the king , saying , " What portion do we have in David ? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse . Every man to your tents , O Israel ; Now look after your own house , David ." So all Israel departed to their tents . 17 But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah , Rehoboam reigned over them. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram , who was over the forced labor , and the sons of Israel stoned him to death . And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem . 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day .
111 Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem , he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin , 180,000 e e chosen men who were warriors , to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam . 2 But the word of the Lord came 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 relatives ; return every man to his house , for this thing is from Me.""' So they listened to the words of the Lord and returned from going against Jeroboam .
5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built cities for defense in Judah . 6 Thus 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 fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin . 11 He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and stores of food , oil and wine . 12 He put shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly e . So he held Judah and Benjamin .
13 Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him from all their districts . 14 For the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and came to Judah and Jerusalem , for Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the Lord . 15 He set up priests of his own for the high places , for the satyrs and for the calves which he had made . 16 Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem , to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers . 17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years , for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years . 18 Then Rehoboam took as a wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse , 19 and she bore him sons : Jeush , Shemariah and Zaham . 20 After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom , and she bore him Abijah , Attai , Ziza and Shelomith . 21 Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines . For he had taken eighteen e wives and sixty concubines and fathered twenty-eight e sons and sixty daughters . 22 Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers , for he intended to make him king . 23 He acted wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities , and he gave them food in abundance . And he sought many wives for them.
121 When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong , he and all Israel with him forsook the law of the Lord . 2 And it came about in King Rehoboam's fifth year , because they had been unfaithful to the Lord , that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem 3 with 1,200 e chariots and 60,000 e horsemen . And the people who came with him from Egypt were without number : the Lubim , the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians . 4 He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem . 5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because e of Shishak , and he said to them, "Thus says the Lord , ' You have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you to Shishak .' " 6 So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said , "The Lord is righteous ." 7 When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah , saying , " They have humbled themselves so I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some measure of deliverance , and My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak . 8 "But they will become his slaves so that they may learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries ." 9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem , and took the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's palace . He took everything ; he even took the golden shields which Solomon had made . 10 Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the care of the commanders of the guard who guarded the door of the king's house . 11 As often as the king entered the house of the Lord , the guards came and carried them and then brought them back into the guards' room . 12 And when he humbled himself, the anger of the Lord turned away from him, so as not to destroy him completely ; and also conditions were good in Judah .
13 So King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned . Now Rehoboam was forty-one e years old when he began to reign , and he reigned seventeen e years in Jerusalem , the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel , to put His name there . And his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess . 14 He did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord . 15 Now the acts of Rehoboam , from first to last , are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer , according to genealogical enrollment ? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually e . 16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David ; and his son Abijah became king in his place .
