11:1 When
Rehoboam
came
to
Jerusalem,
he
assembled
the
house
of
Judah
and
Benjamin,
180,000
chosen
warriors,
to
fight
against
Israel,
to
restore
the
kingdom
to
Rehoboam.
11:2 But
the
word
of
the
LORD
came
to
Shemaiah
the
man
of
God:
11:3 "Say
to
Rehoboam
the
son
of
Solomon,
king
of
Judah,
and
to
all
Israel
in
Judah
and
Benjamin,
11:4 'Thus
says
the
LORD,
You
shall
not
go
up
or
fight
against
your
relatives.
Return
every
man
to
his
home,
for
this
thing
is
from
me.'"
So
they
listened
to
the
word
of
the
LORD
and
returned
and
did
not
go
against
Jeroboam.
11:5 Rehoboam
lived
in
Jerusalem,
and
he
built
cities
for
defense
in
Judah.
11:6 He
built
Bethlehem,
Etam,
Tekoa,
11:7 Beth-zur,
Soco,
Adullam,
11:8 Gath,
Mareshah,
Ziph,
11:9 Adoraim,
Lachish,
Azekah,
11:10 Zorah,
Aijalon,
and
Hebron,
fortified
cities
that
are
in
Judah
and
in
Benjamin.
11:11 He
made
the
fortresses
strong,
and
put
commanders
in
them,
and
stores
of
food,
oil,
and
wine.
11:12 And
he
put
shields
and
spears
in
all
the
cities
and
made
them
very
strong.
So
he
held
Judah
and
Benjamin.
11:13 And
the
priests
and
the
Levites
who
were
in
all
Israel
presented
themselves
to
him
from
all
places
where
they
lived.
11:14 For
the
Levites
left
their
common
lands
and
their
holdings
and
came
to
Judah
and
Jerusalem,
because
Jeroboam
and
his
sons
cast
them
out
from
serving
as
priests
of
the
LORD,
11:15 and
he
appointed
his
own
priests
for
the
high
places
and
for
the
goat
idols
and
for
the
calves
that
he
had
made.
11:16 And
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.
11:17 They
strengthened
the
kingdom
of
Judah,
and
for
three
years
they
made
Rehoboam
the
son
of
Solomon
secure,
for
they
walked
for
three
years
in
the
way
of
David
and
Solomon.
11:18 Rehoboam
took
as
wife
Mahalath
the
daughter
of
Jerimoth
the
son
of
David,
and
of
Abihail
the
daughter
of
Eliab
the
son
of
Jesse,
11:19 and
she
bore
him
sons,
Jeush,
Shemariah,
and
Zaham.
11:20 After
her
he
took
Maacah
the
daughter
of
Absalom,
who
bore
him
Abijah,
Attai,
Ziza,
and
Shelomith.
11:21 Rehoboam
loved
Maacah
the
daughter
of
Absalom
above
all
his
wives
and
concubines
(he
took
eighteen
wives
and
sixty
concubines,
and
fathered
twenty-eight
sons
and
sixty
daughters).
11:22 And
Rehoboam
appointed
Abijah
the
son
of
Maacah
as
chief
prince
among
his
brothers,
for
he
intended
to
make
him
king.
11:23 And
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.