Israel’s Priests Come to Judah^(A)

11 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he gathered the people of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 of the best soldiers, to fight against Israel and return the kingdom to Rehoboam.

² But God spoke his word to Shemaiah, the man of God. He said, ³ “Speak to Judah’s King Rehoboam, son of Solomon, and all Israel in Judah and Benjamin. ⁴ This is what the Lord says: Don’t wage war against your relatives. Everyone, go home. What has happened is my doing.” So they obeyed the Lord’s word. They turned back from their attack on Jeroboam.

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built fortified cities in Judah. ⁶ He rebuilt Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These were fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹ He strengthened them and put army officers with reserves of food, olive oil, and wine in them. ¹² In each city he stored shields and spears. He made the cities very secure. So Rehoboam held on to Judah and Benjamin.

¹³ The priests and Levites in every region of Israel sided with Rehoboam. ¹⁴ The priests abandoned their land and property and went to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his descendants rejected them as the Lord’s priests. ¹⁵ Instead, Jeroboam appointed ⌞his own⌟ priests for the illegal worship sites and the goat and calf statues he had made as idols. ¹⁶ People from every tribe of Israel who were determined to seek the Lord God of Israel followed the Levitical priests to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord God of their ancestors.

¹⁷ So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah by supporting Rehoboam, son of Solomon, for three years. During ⌞those⌟ three years they lived the way David and Solomon had lived.