¹³ The priests and the Levites from all over Israel ·joined [stood/sided with] Rehoboam. ¹⁴ The Levites even ·left [abandoned] their pasturelands and property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons ·refused to let them serve [rejected/excluded them from serving] as priests to the Lord. ¹⁵ Jeroboam ·chose [appointed] his own priests for the ·places of worship [^Lhigh places; ^Cworship sites associated with pagan worship or inappropriate worship of God] and for the ·goat [goat-demon; satyr] and calf idols he had made. ¹⁶ There were people from all the tribes of Israel who ·wanted to obey [^Lset their hearts to seek] the Lord, the God of Israel. So they went to Jerusalem with the Levites to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their ·ancestors [fathers]. ¹⁷ These people made the kingdom of Judah strong, and they supported Solomon’s son Rehoboam for three years. During this time they ·lived [^Lwalked in] the way ·David and Solomon had lived [of David and Solomon].