1And when Rehobo'am was come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring back the kingdom again to Rehobo'am.

2But the word of the Lord came unto Shema'yahu the man of God, saying,

3Say unto Rehobo'am the son of Solomon, the king of Judah and Benjamin, saying,

4Thus hath said the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight with your brethren: return every man to his house; for from me hath this thing been brought about. And they hearkened to the words of the Lord, and returned from going against Jerobo'am.

5And Rehobo'am dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities as fortresses in Judah.

6He built, namely, Beth-lechem, and 'Etam, and Thekoa'.

7And Beth-zur, and Socho, and 'Adullam,

8And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,

9And Adorayim and Lachish, and 'Azekah,

10And Zor'ah, and Ayalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities.

11And he strengthened the strong-holds, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, and oil and wine;

12And in each and every city [he placed] shields and spears, and made them exceedingly strong: and thus remained with him Judah and Benjamin.

13And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel presented themselves to him out of all their territory.

14For the Levites left their open districts and their possession, and went to Judah and Jerusalem; because Jerobo'am and his sons cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the Lord,

15And [because] he ordained for himself priests for the high-places, and for the evil spirits, and for the calves which he had made.

16And after them [came] out of all the tribes of Israel such as directed their heart to seek the Lord the God of Israel: these came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord, the God of their fathers.

17And they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and brought power to Rehobo'am, the son of Solomon, during three years; for they walked in the way of David and Solomon during three years.

18And Rehobo'am took himself as wife Machalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, [and] Abichayil the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;

19And she bore to him sons: Je'ush, and Shamaryah, and Zaham.

20And after her did he take Ma'achah the daughter of Abshalom; and she bore to him Abiyah, and 'Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

21And Rehobo'am loved Ma'achah the daughter of Abshalom more than all his wives and his concubines; for he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines; and he begat twenty and eight sons, and sixty daughters.

22And Rehobo'am appointed Abiyah the son of Ma'achah to be the chief, to be ruler among his brethren; because [he desired] to make him king.

23And he dealt understandingly, and dispersed all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto all the fortified cities; and he gave them food in abundance and he required [for them] a multitude of wives.