Rehoboam’s Reign in Judah

11 Now ^(A)when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled from the house of Judah and Benjamin one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

² But the word of the Lord came ^(B)to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³ “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up or fight against your brethren! Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the words of the Lord, and turned back from attacking Jeroboam.

Rehoboam Fortifies the Cities

⁵ So Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶ And he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth Zur, Sochoh, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and Benjamin, fortified cities. ¹¹ And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. ¹² Also in every city he put shields and spears, and made them very strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.

Priests and Levites Move to Judah^(C)

¹³ And from all their territories the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him. ¹⁴ For the Levites left ^(D)their common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for ^(E)Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the Lord. ^15 (F)Then he appointed for himself priests for the ^[a]high places, for ^(G)the demons, and ^(H)the calf idols which he had made. ^16 (I)And ^[b]after the Levites left, those from all the tribes of Israel, such as set their heart to seek the Lord God of Israel, ^(J)came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers. ¹⁷ So they ^(K)strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

The Family of Rehoboam

¹⁸ Then Rehoboam took for himself as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of ^(L)Eliah the son of Jesse. ¹⁹ And she bore him children: Jeush, Shamariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he took ^(M)Maachah the ^[c]granddaughter of ^(N)Absalom; and she bore him ^(O)Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Now Rehoboam loved Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his ^(P)wives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ²² And Rehoboam ^(Q)appointed ^(R)Abijah the son of Maachah as chief, to be leader among his brothers; for he intended to make him king. ²³ He dealt wisely, and ^[d]dispersed some of his sons throughout all the territories of Judah and Benjamin, to every ^(S)fortified city; and he gave them provisions in abundance. He also sought many wives for them.

Egypt Attacks Judah^(T)

12 Now ^(U)it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that ^(V)he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel along with him. ^2 (W)And it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, ³ with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and people without number who came with him out of Egypt—^(X)the Lubim and the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians. ⁴ And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.

⁵ Then ^(Y)Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord: ‘You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.’ ”

⁶ So the leaders of Israel and the king ^(Z)humbled themselves; and they said, ^(AA)“The Lord is righteous.”

⁷ Now when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, ^(AB)the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸ Nevertheless ^(AC)they will be his servants, that they may distinguish ^(AD)My service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.”

^9 (AE)So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also carried away the gold shields which Solomon had ^(AF)made. ¹⁰ Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them ^(AG)to the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. ¹¹ And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guard would go and bring them out; then they would take them back into the guardroom. ¹² When he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and things also went well in Judah.

The End of Rehoboam’s Reign^(AH)

¹³ Thus King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now ^(AI)Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, ^(AJ)the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah, an ^(AK)Ammonitess. ¹⁴ And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.

¹⁵ The acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, ^(AL)and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? ^(AM)And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. ¹⁶ So Rehoboam ^[e]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David. Then ^(AN)Abijah^[f] his son reigned in his place.

Conflict over Circumcision

15 And ^(A)certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ^(B)“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that ^(C)Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.

³ So, ^(D)being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, ^(E)describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. ⁴ And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. ⁵ But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

The Jerusalem Council

⁶ Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. ⁷ And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: ^(F)“Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. ⁸ So God, ^(G)who knows the heart, ^[a]acknowledged them by ^(H)giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, ^9 (I)and made no distinction between us and them, ^(J)purifying their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now therefore, why do you test God ^(K)by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ¹¹ But ^(L)we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus ^[b]Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”

¹² Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had ^(M)worked through them among the Gentiles. ¹³ And after they had ^[c]become silent, ^(N)James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: ^14 (O)Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. ¹⁵ And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

^18 [e]“Known to God from eternity are all His works. ¹⁹ Therefore ^(Q)I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who ^(R)are turning to God, ²⁰ but that we ^(S)write to them to abstain ^(T)from things polluted by idols, ^(U)from ^[f]sexual immorality, ^(V)from things strangled, and from blood. ²¹ For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, ^(W)being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”