Rehoboam Reigns over Judah and Builds Cities

11 ^(A)Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ² But the word of the Lord came to ^(B)Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³ “Tell Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: “You shall not go up nor fight against ^(C)your relatives; return, every man, to his house, ^(D)for this ^[a]event is from Me.”’” So they listened to the words of the Lord and returned from going against Jeroboam.

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and ^(E)built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶ He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹ He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and supplies of food, oil, and wine. ¹² He put shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

¹³ Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel also stood with him from all their districts.

Jeroboam Appoints False Priests

¹⁴ For ^(F)the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because ^(G)Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the Lord. ^15 (H)He set up priests of his own for the high places, for the satyrs and the calves which he had made. ^16 (I)Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord God of Israel ^[b]followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers. ^17 (J)They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam’s Family

¹⁸ Then Rehoboam married Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of ^(K)Eliab the son of Jesse, ¹⁹ and she bore to him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he married ^(L)Maacah the daughter of ^[c]Absalom, and she bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For ^(M)he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ^22 (N)Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. ²³ He acted wisely and distributed ^[d]some of his sons through all the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and he gave them plenty of provisions. And he sought many wives for them.

Shishak of Egypt Invades Judah

12 ^(O)When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, ^(P)he and all Israel with him abandoned the Law of the Lord. ^2 (Q)And it came about in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, that ^(R)Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem ³ with 1,200 chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt were innumerable: ^(S)the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. ⁴ And he captured ^(T)the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. ⁵ Then ^(U)Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the Lord says: ‘^(V)You have abandoned Me, so I also have abandoned you ^[e]to Shishak.’” ⁶ So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The ^(W)Lord is righteous.”

⁷ When the Lord saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “^(X)They have humbled themselves, so I will not destroy them; and I will grant them a little deliverance, and ^(Y)My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak. ⁸ But they will become his slaves, so ^(Z)that they may learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

Plunder Impoverishes Judah

^9 (AA)So Shishak king of Egypt went up against Jerusalem, and he took the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s palace. He took everything; ^(AB)he even took the gold shields which Solomon had made. ¹⁰ Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the ^[f]care of the commanders of the ^[g]guards who guarded the entrance of the king’s house. ¹¹ As often as the king entered the house of the Lord, the ^[h]guards came and carried them and then brought them back into the ^[i]guards’ room. ¹² And ^(AC)when he humbled himself, the anger of the Lord turned away from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and conditions ^(AD)were also good in Judah.

^13 (AE)So King Rehoboam became powerful in Jerusalem and reigned there. For Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. ¹⁴ But he did evil ^(AF)because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

^15 (AG)Now the acts of Rehoboam, from the first to the last, are they not written in the ^[j]records of ^(AH)Shemaiah the prophet and of ^(AI)Iddo the seer, according to genealogical enrollment? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. ¹⁶ And Rehoboam ^[k]lay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of David; and his son ^(AJ)Abijah became king in his place.

Message to Ephesus

2 “To the angel of the church in ^(A)Ephesus write:

The One who holds ^(B)the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks ^[a](C)among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

² ‘^(D)I know your deeds and your labor and ^[b]perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people, and you have ^(E)put those who call themselves ^(F)apostles to the test, and they are not, and you found them to be false; ³ and you have ^[c]perseverance and have endured ^(G)on account of My name, and have not become weary. ⁴ But I have this against you, that you have ^(H)left your first love. ⁵ Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and ^(I)repent, and ^(J)do the ^[d]deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and I will remove your ^(K)lampstand from its place—unless you repent. ⁶ But you have this, that you hate the deeds of the ^(L)Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ^7 (M)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(N)To the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from ^(O)the tree of life, which is in the ^(P)Paradise of God.’

Message to Smyrna

⁸ “And to the angel of the church in ^(Q)Smyrna write:

^(R)The first and the last, who ^[e](S)was dead, and has come to life, says this:

⁹ ‘I know your ^(T)tribulation and your ^(U)poverty (but you are ^(V)rich), and the ^[f]slander by those who ^(W)say they are Jews, and are not, but are a synagogue of ^(X)Satan. ¹⁰ Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, so that you will be ^(Y)tested, and you will have tribulation ^(Z)for ten days. ^[g]Be ^(AA)faithful until death, and I will give you ^(AB)the crown of life. ^11 (AC)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(AD)The one who overcomes will not be hurt by the ^(AE)second death.’

Message to Pergamum

¹² “And to the angel of the church in ^(AF)Pergamum write:

The One who has ^(AG)the sharp two-edged sword says this:

¹³ ‘I know where you dwell, where ^(AH)Satan’s throne is; and you hold firmly to My name, and did not deny ^(AI)My faith even in the days of Antipas, My ^(AJ)witness, My ^(AK)faithful one, who was killed among you, ^(AL)where Satan dwells. ¹⁴ But ^(AM)I have a few things against you, because you have some there who hold the ^(AN)teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a ^[h]stumbling block before the sons of Israel, ^(AO)to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. ¹⁵ So you too, have some who in the same way hold to the teaching of the ^(AP)Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Therefore ^(AQ)repent; or else ^(AR)I am coming to you quickly, and I will wage war against them with ^(AS)the sword of My mouth. ^17 (AT)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^(AU)To the one who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden ^(AV)manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a ^(AW)new name written on the stone ^(AX)which no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Message to Thyatira

¹⁸ “And to the angel of the church in ^(AY)Thyatira write:

^(AZ)The Son of God, ^(BA)who has ^[i]eyes like a flame of fire, and ^[j]feet like burnished bronze, says this:

¹⁹ ‘^(BB)I know your deeds, and your love and faith, and service and ^[k]perseverance, and that your ^[l]deeds of late are greater than ^[m]at first. ²⁰ But ^(BC)I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman ^(BD)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they ^(BE)commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. ^21 (BF)I gave her time to repent, and she ^(BG)does not want to repent of her sexual immorality. ²² Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who ^(BH)commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of ^[n]her deeds. ²³ And I will kill her children with ^[o]plague, and all the churches will know that I am He who ^(BI)searches the ^[p]minds and hearts; and ^(BJ)I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. ²⁴ But I say to you, the rest who are in ^(BK)Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the ^(BL)deep things of Satan, as they call them—I ^(BM)place no other burden on you. ²⁵ Nevertheless ^(BN)what you have, hold firmly ^(BO)until I come. ^26 (BP)The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds ^(BQ)until the end, ^(BR)I will give him authority over the ^[q]nations; ²⁷ and he shall ^[r](BS)rule them with a rod of iron, ^(BT)as the vessels of the potter are shattered, as I also have received authority from My Father; ²⁸ and I will give him ^(BU)the morning star. ^29 (BV)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’