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.

Error and Greed

³ If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to ^(A)wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(B)and to the ^[a]doctrine which accords with godliness, ⁴ he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, ^5 [b]useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. ^[c]From ^(C)such withdraw yourself.

⁶ Now godliness with ^(D)contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into this world, ^[d]and it is ^(E)certain we can carry nothing out. ⁸ And having food and clothing, with these we shall be ^(F)content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

The Good Confession

¹¹ But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus ^(G)who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, ¹⁵ which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only ^[e]Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone has immortality, dwelling in ^(H)unapproachable light, ^(I)whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

Instructions to the Rich

¹⁷ Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain ^(J)riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things ^(K)to enjoy. ¹⁸ Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, ^19 (L)storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Guard the Faith

²⁰ O Timothy! ^(M)Guard what was committed to your trust, ^(N)avoiding the profane and ^[f]idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge— ²¹ by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith.

Grace be with you. Amen.