¹⁶ Mortal, take a stick and write on it, “For Judah and the Israelites associated with it”; then take another stick and write on it, “For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with it”;^(A)

⁹ He gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing as aliens with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.^(A)

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

¹⁷ But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who were living in the cities of Judah.

² “Speak to the Israelites, and get twelve staffs from them, one for each ancestral house, from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man’s name on his staff, ³ and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each ancestral house.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king,

So Israel went away to their tents.^{(A) 17} But Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah.^{(B) 18} When King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam then hurriedly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.^{(C) 19} So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.^(D)

First Dynasty: Jeroboam Reigns over Israel

²⁰ When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was no one who followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.^(E)

¹¹ Only a few from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.^{(A) 12} The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the officials commanded by the word of the Lord.

¹³ Many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very large assembly.^{(B) 14} They set to work and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for offering incense they took away and threw into the Wadi Kidron.^{(C) 15} They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed, and they sanctified themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord.^{(D) 16} They took their accustomed posts according to the law of Moses the man of God; the priests dashed the blood that they received^[a] from the hands of the Levites.^{(E) 17} For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves; therefore the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lamb for everyone who was not clean, to make it holy to the Lord.^{(F) 18} For a multitude of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was prescribed. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon all^(G)

¹¹ He made the fortresses strong and put commanders in them and stores of food, oil, and wine. ¹² He also put large shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

Priests and Levites Support Rehoboam

¹³ The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all their territories. ¹⁴ The Levites had left their pasturelands and possessions and had come to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons had prevented them from serving as priests of the Lord^{(A) 15} and had appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat-demons and for the calves that he had made.^{(B) 16} Those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their ancestors.^{(C) 17} They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.^(D)