11 ⁵ Rehobo'am dwelt in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. 11 ⁶ He built Bethlehem, Etam, Teko'a, 11 ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 11 ⁸ Gath, Mare'shah, Ziph, 11 ⁹ Adora'im, Lachish, Aze'kah, 11 ¹⁰ Zorah, Ai'jalon, and Hebron, fortified cities which 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. - Priests & Levites come to Judah.  2Chr.11.13-17

11 ¹³ And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted 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 Jerobo'am 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 satyrs, and for the calves which 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 Rehobo'am the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon. - Rehoboam's family.  2Chr.11.18-23

11 ¹⁸ Rehobo'am took as wife Ma'halath the daughter of Jer'imoth the son of David, and of Ab'ihail the daughter of Eli'ab the son of Jesse; 11 ¹⁹ and she bore him sons, Je'ush, Shemari'ah, and Zaham. 11 ²⁰ After her he took Ma'acah the daughter of Ab'salom, who bore him Abi'jah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelo'mith. 11 ²¹ Rehobo'am loved Ma'acah the daughter of Ab'salom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and had twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters); 11 ²² and Rehobo'am appointed Abi'jah the son of Ma'acah 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. - SHISHAK's invasion of Judah.  2Chr.12.1-12- 1Kgs.14.25-28 | RSV Contents | notes

12 ¹ When the rule of Rehobo'am was established and was strong, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. 12 ² In the fifth year of King Rehobo'am, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem 12 ³ with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt -Libyans, Suk'ki-im, and Ethiopians. 12 ⁴ And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. 12 ⁵ Then Shemai'ah the prophet came to Rehobo'am and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, "Thus says the LORD, 'You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.'" 12 ⁶ Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, "The LORD is righteous." 12 ⁷ When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemai'ah: "They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 12 ⁸ Nevertheless they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries."

12 ⁹ So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house; he took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold which Solomon had made; 12 ¹⁰ and King Rehobo'am made in their stead shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. 12 ¹¹ And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard came and bore them, and brought them back to the guardroom. 12 ¹² And when he humbled himself the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction; moreover, conditions were good in Judah. - Summary of Rehoboam's reign.  2Chr.12.13-16

12 ¹³ So King Rehobo'am established himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehobo'am was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother's name was Na'amah the Ammonitess. 12 ¹⁴ And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.

12 ¹⁵ Now the acts of Rehobo'am, from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of Shemai'ah the prophet and of Iddo the seer? There were continual wars between Rehobo'am and Jerobo'am.