Beginning

9 The queen of Sheba entered Jerusalem with an impressive entourage and camels carrying spices, a large amount of gold, and gems. She had heard about Solomon’s famous wisdom, so she came to ask him difficult questions that addressed her personal concerns. ² Solomon answered these questions openly and honestly where nothing about the queen was hidden from Solomon’s knowledge. ^3-4 His wisdom and frankness impressed and astonished the queen, as did the palace, the meal, the servants, the guests and their clothing, the cupbearers and their clothing, and the stairway^[a] that led to the Eternal’s temple. After viewing all these things, the queen was mesmerized and breathless.

⁹ The queen of Sheba gave to Solomon in recognition of his prestige 9,000 pounds of gold, vast quantities of gems, and a large amount of spices previously unknown in Israel. ¹⁰ When Solomon’s and Huram’s servants had brought gold from the land of Ophir, they also brought algum wood and costly gems. ¹¹ Solomon had used this non-native algum wood to build the steps to the Eternal’s temple and the king’s palace and to make lyres and harps for the musicians. These were all unmatched by anything that had existed in the land of Judah.

¹² Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all that she had traveled to Israel to receive, in addition to gifts equaling those that she brought to him. Contented with her visit, the queen returned home with her servants.

¹³ Annually Solomon received about 25 tons of gold ¹⁴ in addition to what the traders and merchants brought. The Arabian kings and the local governors also brought gold and silver to him.

¹⁵ Solomon used some of this metal to make weapons: 200 large shields (each weighing 7½ pounds of beaten gold) ¹⁶ and 300 small, rounded shields (each weighing 3¾ pounds of beaten gold). All the shields were stored in the house made of wood imported from Lebanon.

¹⁷ Solomon then constructed a large ivory throne and gilded it. ^18-19 At the base of the throne were 6 steps and a golden footstool, and at the sides were armrests. The throne was guarded by 14 lions: one next to each armrest, and one on either side of each step. This throne was unlike any other monarch’s throne.

²⁰ In King Solomon’s house, made of wood from Lebanon, the drinking cups and dishes were of gold (since silver was not recognized as a precious metal in Solomon’s days).

²¹ Both Solomon and Huram owned ships which traded with the coastal city of Tarshish every three years, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks^[b] into Israel. ²² All this made King Solomon richer than all other monarchs, and his wisdom was equally immeasurable. ²³ All the kings of the earth wanted an audience with King Solomon, to hear the wisdom which God bestowed upon him, as the queen of Sheba had. ²⁴ Each visitor brought gifts to Solomon every year: silver, gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

²⁵ Solomon’s horses and chariots stayed in 4,000 stalls along with the 12,000 horsemen who resided with him in Jerusalem or in Israel’s other fortified cities.

²⁶ During his reign, Solomon ruled the region between the Euphrates River in the east and to the land of the Philistines all the way to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and southward to north of the border of Egypt. ²⁷ He made Jerusalem so wealthy that silver was as common as stones in the rocky regions and cedars were as plentiful as sycamore trees in the lowland. ²⁸ Solomon also imported and was given expensive horses from Egypt and from other countries.

²⁹ The actions of King Solomon, from his birth until his death, are recorded in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecies of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer (specifically those concerning Jeroboam, son of Nebat).

³⁰ Solomon’s rule over all Israel lasted 40 years—during which time he governed from his capital city, Jerusalem. ³¹ And after he joined with his ancestors in death and was laid with his father, our beloved King David, in Jerusalem, Solomon’s son Rehoboam ruled Israel in his place.

10 After his father died, King Rehoboam went to Shechem in Northern Israel to be coronated before all the Israelites. ² The news of the impending coronation reached Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, where he was living as an exile in Egypt, so he hastily returned to Israel.

³ The Israelites requested that Jeroboam meet them in Shechem at the coronation. Together, they made a request of Rehoboam, who would be their new king.

As the Israelites left, ⁶ King Rehoboam asked older men who were his father Solomon’s advisors for advice about the situation.

⁸ But Rehoboam did not listen to the advisors’ recommendation. Instead he asked the opinions of his childhood friends who were more likely to give him the advice that he wanted to hear.

¹² On the third day, Jeroboam and the Israelites returned to Rehoboam as the king had requested. ^13-14 The king followed the advice of his young friends, answering harshly and ignoring the advice of his father’s advisors.

¹⁵ By ignoring the Israelites’ desires, the king fulfilled the Eternal God’s prophecy that was spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam, son of Nebat. ¹⁶ Just as predicted, the Northern tribes formed a nation separate from Judah because the king did not listen to them.

Most of the Israelites left Shechem to form a new Northern Kingdom, ¹⁷ but a few Israelites remained in the cities of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, because they recognized that Rehoboam was their rightful king.

¹⁸ In a final attempt to reunite his father Solomon’s kingdom, King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, the superintendent of Solomon’s forced labor, into Israel to compel the Northern Kingdom to accept Rehoboam as their king. But the Israelites stoned Hadoram to death. Realizing the anger of the Northern Kingdom, King Rehoboam fled in his chariot to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Thus the Northern Kingdom of Israel has rebelled against the Southern Kingdom, the Davidic kings in Judah, until today.

11 Having returned to Jerusalem, King Rehoboam assembled 180,000 warriors from the territories of Judah and Benjamin in the South, and he charged them to fight against Israel and to reunite both kingdoms under one king, Rehoboam. ² But the Eternal spoke to Shemaiah, the True God’s servant and prophet.

The Southerners did as they were told, ⁵ and Rehoboam began to fortify Judah from his capital in Jerusalem. ⁶ He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, all of which are walled cities in the territories of Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹ He reinforced the fortresses, staffed the defenses with leaders, and stocked the storage houses with food, oil, and wine. ¹² In all the cities, he provided shields and spears for the citizens to protect them in case of attack. With these provisions, Rehoboam protected the Southern Kingdom in the territories of Judah and Benjamin.

^13-15 Meanwhile, Jeroboam and the ruling family in the Northern Kingdom prohibited the priests and Levites from performing their duties for the Eternal. Jeroboam appointed his own priests to serve the religious centers of the Northern Kingdom, which honored false gods in the forms of goats and calves. So the priests and Levites left their homes among the Northern tribes, moved to the Southern Kingdom and Jerusalem, and supported Rehoboam as their king. ¹⁶ Likewise, those Israelites living in the Northern Kingdom who were dedicated to the Eternal One, the only True God of Israel, also moved to Jerusalem to make sacrifices to the Eternal One, True God of their fathers. ¹⁷ Those who moved south strengthened the Southern Kingdom with their dedication to the True God and His chosen King Rehoboam (son of Solomon) for three years. These people were faithful to God and followed the example of our beloved kings David and Solomon for three years.

¹⁸ His first wife, Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth (son of David) and Abihail (daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab) ¹⁹ gave birth to three sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ Rehoboam’s second wife, Maacah (granddaughter of Absalom), had four sons: Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved his second wife, Maacah, more than all his other 18 wives and 60 concubines, who gave him a total of 28 sons and 60 daughters. ²² Of those children, Rehoboam appointed Abijah (eldest son of his favorite wife Maacah) as the leader among his brothers and as the crown prince. ²³ Rehoboam then wisely made some of his other sons governors of the territories and fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. He ensured their contentment and loyalty, giving them food and selecting their wives.

12 After three years of prosperity and military strength, Rehoboam and all Israel living in the Southern Kingdom rejected the Eternal’s laws. ² Their unfaithfulness resulted in Shishak, king of Egypt, attacking Jerusalem during King Rehoboam’s fifth year. ³ Shishak’s army included 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and countless mercenaries from Libya, Suk, and Ethiopia.^{[c] 4} He conquered the fortified cities in Judah, and as he approached Jerusalem ⁵ Shemaiah the prophet brought another message from the True God to Rehoboam and Judah’s governors (who had fled to Jerusalem at the threat of Shishak’s army).

⁹ Then Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem and plundered the Eternal’s temple and the palace of the king. He took every treasure, including Solomon’s golden shields.

¹⁰ To replace his father’s golden shields, King Rehoboam cast bronze shields and gave them to the commanders who guarded the palace entrance. ¹¹ The commanders carried those shields whenever they accompanied the king to the Eternal’s temple, then they returned the shields to the guardroom.

¹² Because Rehoboam had humbled himself, the Eternal subdued His anger and did not destroy him. Things were good in the Southern Kingdom ¹³ when 41-year-old King Rehoboam began his strong 17-year reign in Jerusalem (the city the Eternal had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to establish His reputation).

Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah the Ammonitess. ¹⁴ During his reign, he abandoned the ways of the Eternal and did evil. ¹⁵ The actions of King Rehoboam, from his birth to his death, are recorded in the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and in the visions of Iddo the seer (according to the genealogies).

Rehoboam and Jeroboam were constantly fighting one another. ¹⁶ After Rehoboam joined his ancestors in death and was laid with his fathers in the city of David, Jerusalem, his son Abijah ruled Israel in his place.