2 Chronicles 11 - Simple English

1When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he gathered the house of Judah and Benjamin: a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors. They were to fight against Israel, so that the kingdom might be brought back to Rehoboam.

2But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God. It said,

3"Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin. Say to them,"

4"'This is what the LORD says: You shall not go up, and you shall not fight against your brothers. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from me.'" So they obeyed the words of the LORD, and turned back from marching against Jeroboam.

5Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities in Judah for defence.

6He built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

7and Bethzur, and Shoco, and Adullam,

8and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,

9and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,

10and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are walled cities in Judah and in Benjamin.

11He made the strongholds strong, and put commanders in them, with supplies of food, and oil and wine.

12In every one of the cities he put shields and spears, and made them very strong. So he had Judah and Benjamin on his side.

13The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel came over to him out of all their lands.

14For the Levites left their open lands and their property, and came to Judah and Jerusalem. Jeroboam and his sons had thrown them out, so that they could not serve as priests to the LORD.

15And he appointed his own priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.

16After them, people from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the LORD God of their fathers.

17So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years. For three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.

18Rehoboam took as his wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse.

19She bore him children: Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham.

20After her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom, and she bore him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

21Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and his concubines. (He took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.)

22Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be the leader among his brothers, for he meant to make him king.

23And he acted wisely, and spread all his children through all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to every walled city. He gave them plenty of food, and he sought many wives for them.