Book | Chapter | Verse | Text |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
1 |
Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all Israel had gathered to make him king. |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
2 |
When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of Solomon's death, he returned from Egypt, for he had fled to Egypt to escape from King Solomon. |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
3 |
The leaders of Israel sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel went together to speak with Rehoboam. |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
4 |
"Your father was a hard master," they said. "Lighten the harsh labor demands and heavy taxes that your father imposed on us. Then we will be your loyal subjects." |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
5 |
Rehoboam replied, "Come back in three days for my answer." So the people went away. |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
6 |
Then King Rehoboam went to discuss the matter with the older men who had counseled his father, Solomon. "What is your advice?" he asked. "How should I answer these people?" |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
7 |
The older counselors replied, "If you are good to the people and show them kindness and do your best to please them, they will always be your loyal subjects." |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
8 |
But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders and instead asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with him and who were now his advisers. |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
9 |
"What is your advice?" he asked them. "How should I answer these people who want me to lighten the burdens imposed by my father?" |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
10 |
The young men replied, "This is what you should tell those complainers: `My little finger is thicker than my father's waist--if you think he was hard on you, just wait and see what I'll be like! |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
11 |
Yes, my father was harsh on you, but I'll be even harsher! My father used whips on you, but I'll use scorpions!'" |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
12 |
Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people returned to hear Rehoboam's decision, just as the king had requested. |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
13 |
But Rehoboam spoke harshly to them, for he rejected the advice of the older counselors |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
14 |
and followed the counsel of his younger advisers. He told the people, "My father was harsh on you, but I'll be even harsher! My father used whips on you, but I'll use scorpions!" |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
15 |
So the king paid no attention to the people's demands. This turn of events was the will of God, for it fulfilled the prophecy of the LORD spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat by the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh. |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
16 |
When all Israel realized that the king had rejected their request, they shouted, "Down with David and his dynasty! We have no share in Jesse's son! Let's go home, Israel! Look out for your own house, O David!" So all Israel returned home. |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
17 |
But Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah. |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
18 |
King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the labor force, to restore order, but the Israelites stoned him to death. When this news reached King Rehoboam, he quickly jumped into his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. |
2 Chronicles |
10 |
19 |
The northern tribes of Israel have refused to be ruled by a descendant of David to this day. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
1 |
When Rehoboam arrived at Jerusalem, he mobilized the armies of Judah and Benjamin--180,000 select troops--to fight against the army of Israel and to restore the kingdom to himself. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
2 |
But the LORD said to Shemaiah, the man of God, |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
3 |
"Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin: |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
4 |
`This is what the LORD says: Do not fight against your relatives. Go back home, for what has happened is my doing!'" So they obeyed the message of the LORD and did not fight against Jeroboam. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
5 |
Rehoboam remained in Jerusalem and fortified various cities for the defense of Judah. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
6 |
He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
7 |
Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
8 |
Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
9 |
Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
10 |
Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These became the fortified cities of Judah and Benjamin. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
11 |
Rehoboam strengthened their defenses and stationed commanders in them. In each of them, he stored supplies of food, olive oil, and wine. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
12 |
He also put shields and spears in these towns as a further safety measure. So only Judah and Benjamin remained under his control. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
13 |
But all the priests and Levites living among the northern tribes of Israel sided with Rehoboam. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
14 |
The Levites even abandoned their homes and property and moved to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons would not allow them to serve the LORD as priests. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
15 |
Jeroboam appointed his own priests to serve at the pagan shrines, where they worshiped the goat and calf idols he had made. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
16 |
From all over Israel, those who sincerely wanted to worship the LORD, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem, where they could offer sacrifices to the LORD, the God of their ancestors. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
17 |
This strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they supported Rehoboam son of Solomon and earnestly sought to obey the LORD as they had done during the reigns of David and Solomon. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
18 |
Rehoboam married his cousin Mahalath, the daughter of David's son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Eliab. (Eliab was one of David's brothers, a son of Jesse.) |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
19 |
Mahalath had three sons--Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
20 |
Later Rehoboam married another cousin, Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. Maacah gave birth to Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
21 |
Rehoboam loved Maacah more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and they gave birth to twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
22 |
Rehoboam made Maacah's son Abijah chief among the princes, making it clear that he would be the next king. |
2 Chronicles |
11 |
23 |
Rehoboam also wisely gave responsibilities to his other sons and stationed them in the fortified cities throughout the land of Judah and Benjamin. He provided them with generous provisions and arranged for each of them to have several wives. |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
1 |
But when Rehoboam was firmly established and strong, he abandoned the law of the LORD, and all Israel followed him in this sin. |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
2 |
Because they were unfaithful to the LORD, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam's reign. |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
3 |
He came with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and a countless army of foot soldiers, including Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians. |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
4 |
Shishak conquered Judah's fortified cities and then advanced to attack Jerusalem. |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
5 |
The prophet Shemaiah then met with Rehoboam and Judah's leaders, who had all fled to Jerusalem because of Shishak. Shemaiah told them, "This is what the LORD says: You have abandoned me, so I am abandoning you to Shishak." |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
6 |
The king and the leaders of Israel humbled themselves and said, "The LORD is right in doing this to us!" |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
7 |
When the LORD saw their change of heart, he gave this message to Shemaiah: "Since the people have humbled themselves, I will not completely destroy them and will soon give them some relief. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger on Jerusalem. |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
8 |
But they will become his subjects, so that they can learn how much better it is to serve me than to serve earthly rulers." |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
9 |
So King Shishak of Egypt came to Jerusalem and took away all the treasures of the Temple of the LORD and of the royal palace, including all of Solomon's gold shields. |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
10 |
King Rehoboam later replaced them with bronze shields and entrusted them to the care of the captain of his bodyguard. |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
11 |
Whenever the king went to the Temple of the LORD, the guards would carry them along and then return them to the guardroom. |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
12 |
Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the LORD's anger was turned aside, and he did not destroy him completely. And there was still goodness in the land of Judah. |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
13 |
King Rehoboam firmly established himself in Jerusalem and continued to rule. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen from among all the tribes of Israel as the place to honor his name. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah, a woman from Ammon. |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
14 |
But he was an evil king, for he did not seek the LORD with all his heart. |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
15 |
The rest of the events of Rehoboam's reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Record of Shemaiah the Prophet and in The Record of Iddo the Seer, which are part of the genealogical record. Rehoboam and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other. |
2 Chronicles |
12 |
16 |
When Rehoboam died, he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Abijah became the next king. |