2 Chronicles 11
New King James Version
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.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 11:15 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Chronicles 11:16 Lit. after them
- 2 Chronicles 11:20 Lit. daughter, but in the broader sense of granddaughter
- 2 Chronicles 11:23 distributed
2 Crónicas 11
Reina Valera Contemporánea
11 Roboán fue a Jerusalén y reunió a ciento ochenta mil hombres de los más aguerridos de la casa de Judá y de Benjamín, para pelear contra Israel y hacer que el reino volviera a manos de Roboán. 2 Pero la palabra del Señor vino a Semaías, hombre de Dios, y le dijo:
3 «Habla con Roboán hijo de Salomón, rey de Judá, y con todos los israelitas de Judá y Benjamín, y diles 4 que yo, el Señor, he dicho: “No vayan a pelear contra sus hermanos. Más bien, vuelvan a sus casas, porque esto lo he promovido yo.”»
Ellos obedecieron la palabra del Señor y volvieron a sus casas, y ya no fueron a pelear contra Jeroboán.
Prosperidad de Roboán
5 Roboán reinó en Jerusalén, y edificó ciudades para fortificar a Judá. 6 Edificó Belén, Etam, Tecoa, 7 Betsur, Soco, Adulán, 8 Gat, Maresa, Zif, 9 Adorayin, Laquis, Azeca, 10 Sorá, Ayalón y Hebrón, que eran ciudades fortificadas de Judá y Benjamín. 11 Reforzó también las fortalezas, y puso en ellas capitanes, provisiones, vino y aceite. 12 Además, en todas las ciudades puso escudos y lanzas, de modo que las fortificó en gran manera, y Judá y Benjamín eran súbditos suyos.
13 Los sacerdotes y levitas que había en todo Israel vinieron desde todos los lugares donde vivían y se unieron a él. 14 Y es que los levitas dejaban sus ejidos y sus posesiones, y venían a Judá y a Jerusalén porque Jeroboán y sus hijos los habían excluido del ministerio del Señor; 15 habían designado sus propios sacerdotes para los lugares altos y para el culto a los demonios y a los becerros que se había hecho.(A) 16 Tras los levitas se fueron muchos de las tribus de Israel que de corazón se habían dispuesto a buscar al Señor y Dios de Israel, así que llegaron a Jerusalén para ofrecer sacrificios al Señor y Dios de sus padres. 17 De este modo fortalecieron el reino de Judá, y durante tres años confirmaron a Roboán hijo de Salomón y anduvieron en el camino de David y de Salomón.
18 Roboán tomó por mujer a Majalat hija de Jerimot, que era hijo de David y de Abijaíl, la hija de Eliab hijo de Yesé. 19 Majalat le dio los siguientes hijos: Jeús, Semarías y Soán. 20 Después de ella, Roboán tomó a Macá hija de Absalón, con quien engendró a Abías, Atay, Ziza y Selomit. 21 Y aunque Roboán tuvo dieciocho mujeres y sesenta concubinas, y engendró veintiocho hijos y sesenta hijas, amó a Macá hija de Absalón más que a todas sus mujeres y concubinas. 22 A Abías hijo de Macá, Roboán lo nombro jefe y príncipe de sus hermanos, pues pensaba nombrarlo rey. 23 Por eso, con mucha astucia esparció a todos sus hijos por todas las tierras de Judá y de Benjamín, y por todas las ciudades fortificadas, y les dio muchas mujeres y provisiones en abundancia.
2 Chronicles 11
Contemporary English Version
Shemaiah the Prophet Warns Rehoboam
(1 Kings 12.21-24)
11 After Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, he decided to attack Israel and regain control of the whole country. So he called together 180,000 soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
2 Meanwhile, the Lord had told Shemaiah the prophet 3 to tell Rehoboam and everyone from Judah and Benjamin, 4 “The Lord warns you not to go to war against the people from the northern tribes—they are your relatives. Go home! The Lord is the one who made these things happen.”
Rehoboam and his army obeyed the Lord's message and did not attack Jeroboam and his troops.
Rehoboam Fortifies Cities in Judah
5 Rehoboam ruled from Jerusalem, and he had several cities in Judah turned into fortresses so he could use them to defend his country. These cities included 6 Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth-Zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. After he had fortified these cities in the territories of Judah and Benjamin, 11 he assigned an army commander to each of them and stocked them with supplies of food, olive oil, and wine, 12 as well as with shields and spears. He used these fortified cities to keep control of Judah and Benjamin.
The Priests and the Levites Support Rehoboam
13 The priests and Levites from the northern tribes of Israel gave their support to King Rehoboam. 14 And since Jeroboam and the kings of Israel that followed him would not allow any Levites to serve as priests, most Levites left their towns and pasturelands in Israel and moved to Jerusalem and other towns in Judah. 15 (A) Jeroboam chose his own priests to serve at the local shrines[a] in Israel and at the places of worship where he had set up statues of goat-demons and of calves.
16 But some of the people from Israel wanted to worship the Lord God, just as their ancestors had done. So they followed the priests and Levites to Jerusalem, where they could offer sacrifices to the Lord. 17 For the next three years, they lived in Judah and were loyal to Rehoboam and his kingdom, just as they had been loyal to David and Solomon.
Rehoboam's Family
18 Rehoboam married Mahalath, whose father was Jerimoth son of David, and whose mother was Abihail the daughter of Eliab and granddaughter of Jesse. 19 Rehoboam and Mahalath had three sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 Then Rehoboam married Maacah the daughter of Absalom. Their sons were Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.
21 Rehoboam had 18 wives, but he also married 60 other women,[b] and he was the father of 28 sons and 60 daughters. Rehoboam loved his wife Maacah the most, 22 so he chose their oldest son Abijah to be the next king. 23 Rehoboam was wise enough to put one of his sons in charge of each fortified city in his kingdom. He gave them all the supplies they needed and found wives for every one of them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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