² They went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites^(A) and the heads of Israelite families from all the towns. When they came to Jerusalem,

¹³ The priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him. ¹⁴ The Levites^(A) even abandoned their pasturelands and property^(B) and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the Lord ¹⁵ when he appointed^(C) his own priests^(D) for the high places and for the goat^(E) and calf^(F) idols he had made. ¹⁶ Those from every tribe of Israel^(G) who set their hearts on seeking the Lord, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ¹⁷ They strengthened^(H) the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon three years, following the ways of David and Solomon during this time.

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live^(A)—not as unwise but as wise,

¹⁶ “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.^(A) Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.^(B)

² Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All these were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.^[a]

⁶ The scribe Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded their names in the presence of the king and of the officials: Zadok the priest, Ahimelek^(A) son of Abiathar and the heads of families of the priests and of the Levites—one family being taken from Eleazar and then one from Ithamar.

¹² He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate^(A) yourselves and bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.