Read the Bible

¹ And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem and called up the house of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors, to fight with Israel, to bring back the kingdom to Rehoboam.² And the Word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah, a man of God, saying,³ Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon the king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,⁴ So says Jehovah, You shall not go up, nor fight with your brothers. Each return to his house, for this thing has come from Me. And they heard the Words of Jehovah, and turned back from going against Jeroboam.⁵ And Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah.⁶ And he built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,⁷ and Beth-zur, and Shoco, and Adullam,⁸ and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,⁹ and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,¹⁰ and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron. These were in Judah and in Benjamin as cities of defense.¹¹ And he made the strongholds stronger, and put commanders in them, and treasures of food and oil and wine.¹² And he put in every city bucklers and spears, and made them exceedingly strong. And Judah and Benjamin were his.

¹³ And the priests and the Levites in all Israel stationed themselves by him, out of all their territory.¹⁴ For the Levites had abandoned their pasture land and their property. And they came to Judah and to Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them out from acting as priests to Jehovah.¹⁵ And he made stand priests for himself for the high places, and for goats, and for the calves that he made.¹⁶ And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, those who gave their heart to seek Jehovah the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Jehovah, the God of their fathers.¹⁷ And they made the kingdom of Judah stronger, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon stronger, for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.¹⁸ And Rehoboam took a wife for himself, Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth, the son of David, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab, the son of Jesse.¹⁹ And she bore to him sons: Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham.²⁰ And after her, he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom, and she bore to him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.²¹ And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines (for he had taken eighteen wives, and sixty concubines; and he fathered twenty eight sons and sixty daughters).²² And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maachah the head, as ruler among his brothers, in order to cause him to reign.²³ And he had understanding, and spread out all his sons to all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all the cities of defense, and gave them provision in abundance. And he demanded a multitude of wives.