2 Chronicles 11

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he gathered an army of 180,000 men from Judah and Benjamin to fight Israel, but he dismissed them after the prophet Shemaiah delivered a message from the LORD forbidding civil war. Rehoboam then resided in Jerusalem and heavily fortified numerous defense cities across Judah and Benjamin with supplies, shields, spears, and officers. Meanwhile, priests and Levites throughout Israel left their possessions and relocated to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam had rejected them, joining other Israelites who sought the LORD. These religious supporters strengthened the kingdom of Judah, enabling Rehoboam to rule successfully for three years following the ways of David and Solomon. Rehoboam married eighteen wives and sixty concubines—notably Mahalath and Maacah—fathering twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters, and he designated Maacah's son Abijah as chief prince while dispersing his other sons across the fortified districts with abundant provisions.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the house of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ²But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God: ³“Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin ⁴that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers. Each of you must return home, for this is My doing.’” So they listened to the words of the LORD and turned back from going against Jeroboam. ⁵Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built up cities for defense in Judah. ⁶He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹He strengthened their fortifications and put officers in them, with supplies of food, oil, and wine. ¹²He also put shields and spears in all the cities and strengthened them greatly. So Judah and Benjamin belonged to him. ¹³Moreover, the priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel stood with Rehoboam. ¹⁴For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD. ¹⁵And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made. ¹⁶Those from every tribe of Israel who had set their hearts to seek the LORD their God followed the Levites to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers. ¹⁷So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years, because they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon. ¹⁸And Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. ¹⁹She bore sons to him: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰After her, he married Maacah daughter of Absalom, and she bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ²²Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, intending to make him king. ²³Rehoboam also acted wisely by dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and sought many wives for them.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.