¹⁶ “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites^(A) associated with him.^(B)’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’

⁹ Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers^(A) had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

¹⁷ But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.

² “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs^(A) from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes.^(B) Write the name of each man on his staff. ³ On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name,^(C) for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:

So the Israelites went home.^{(C) 17} But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah,^(D) Rehoboam still ruled over them.

¹⁸ King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram,^[a](E) who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death.^(F) King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David^(G) to this day.

²⁰ When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.^(H)

¹¹ Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled^(A) themselves and went to Jerusalem.^{(B) 12} Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity^(C) of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord.

¹³ A very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread^(D) in the second month. ¹⁴ They removed the altars^(E) in Jerusalem and cleared away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.^(F)

¹⁵ They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed and consecrated^(G) themselves and brought burnt offerings to the temple of the Lord. ¹⁶ Then they took up their regular positions^(H) as prescribed in the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests splashed against the altar the blood handed to them by the Levites. ¹⁷ Since many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to kill^(I) the Passover lambs for all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate their lambs^[a] to the Lord. ¹⁸ Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves,^(J) yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone

¹¹ He strengthened their defenses and put commanders in them, with supplies of food, olive oil and wine. ¹² He put shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were his.

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.