Beginning

The Queen of Sheba Visits Jerusalem

9 When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions.^[a] Accompanied by a large caravan train, including camels carrying an abundance of spices and gold, and precious stones, she came to Solomon and spoke with him about all that was in her heart. ² Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from Solomon which he did not explain to her.

³ When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the palace he had built, ⁴ as well as the food on his table, the seating of his courtiers, the service and attire of his attendants, his cupbearers and their attire, and his procession with which he went up to the House of Adonai, it took her breath away.

⁵ She said to the king: “The report that I heard in my own land about your achievements and your wisdom is true. ⁶ But I did not believe their reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. And behold, not even half of the greatness of your wisdom was described to me—you surpass the report that I heard! ⁷ How blessed are your men, how blessed are your courtiers who continually stand in your presence and hear your wisdom. ⁸ Blessed be Adonai your God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king before Adonai your God. Because your God loved Israel, establishing them forever, He made you king over them to execute justice and righteousness.”

⁹ Then she gave the king 120 gold talents, large quantities of spices and precious stones. There had never been such quantities of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. ¹⁰ The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir also brought algumwood and precious stones. ¹¹ From the sandalwood the king made ramps for the House of Adonai and for the royal palace, and lyres and harps for the singers—nothing like them had ever been seen before in the land of Judah. ¹² King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for—more than what she had brought to the king. Then she with her courtiers, returned, going back to her own land.

Solomon Exceeds All the Earth’s Kings

¹³ Now the weight of gold that Solomon received in one year was 666 gold talents, ¹⁴ besides what the traders and merchants brought and the gold and silver that all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the region brought to Solomon. ¹⁵ King Solomon made 200 shields of beaten gold, 600 shekels of beaten gold for each shield, ¹⁶ and also 300 shields of beaten gold, 300 shekels of gold for each shield. The king put them in the palace of the Lebanon Forest. ¹⁷ Furthermore, the king made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ The throne had six steps and a golden footstool attached to it, and arms on each side of the seat. Two lions stood beside the arms ¹⁹ and 12 lions stood on the six steps, one at each end of each step. None like it was ever made for any kingdom. ²⁰ All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold and all the vessels of the palace of the Lebanon Forest were of pure gold—silver was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon. ²¹ Because the king’s ships sailed to Tarshish with Huram’s servants once every three years, the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.

²² So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²³ And all the kings of the earth sought an audience with Solomon to listen to the wisdom that God had put in his heart. ²⁴ Everyone brought his tribute—vessels of silver, vessels of gold, garments, armor, spices, horses and mules—in the due amount each year.

²⁵ Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen that he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. ²⁶ And he ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. ²⁷ The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as plentiful as the sycamore trees that are in the foothills. ²⁸ Horses were brought for Solomon from Egypt and from all countries.

Solomon Buried in David’s City

²⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, the beginning and the end, are they not written in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Jedo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? ³⁰ Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel 40 years. ³¹ Then Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and Rehoboam his son became king in his

place.

The Revolt Against Rehoboam at Shechem

10 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² Now it came to pass that when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard this—for he was in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon—Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³ So they sent and summoned him; and Jeroboam and all Israel came to Rehoboam and spoke to Rehoboam saying, ⁴ “Your father made our yoke grievous but now lighten the harsh labor of your father and his heavy yoke that he put on us—then we will serve you.”

⁵ He answered them, “Come back to me in three days.” So the people departed.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”

⁷ They answered him saying, “If you will be kind to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

⁸ But he disregarded the counsel that the elders had given him and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him. ⁹ He said to them, “How do you advise me to answer this people who have spoken to me saying, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us?’”

¹⁰ The young men that grew up with him answered him saying: “Speak thus to the people who spoke to you saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us’. Thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. ¹¹ Now, whereas my father laid a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will do so with scorpions.’”

¹² Then Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had said to them saying, “Come back to me on the third day.” ¹³ The king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam ignored the counsel of the elders ¹⁴ and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men saying, “I will make your yoke heavy—I will make it even heavier. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.”

¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from God so that Adonai might establish His word that He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

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

So all Israel departed to their tents. ¹⁷ But Rehoboam continued to reign over Bnei-Yisrael who lived in the cities of Judah. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the forced labor, but men of Israel pelted him to death with stones. King Rehoboam, however, managed to mount his chariot and to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

11 Now when Rehoboam arrived at Jerusalem, he assembled the House of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel in order to restore the kingdom back to Rehoboam.

² But the word of Adonai came 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 Adonai, You shall not go up nor fight against your kinsmen. Let everyone return to his house for this matter is of Me.’” So they listened to the words of Adonai and returned from marching against Jeroboam.

Reign of Rehoboam

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built fortified cities for defense in Judah.

⁶ He built up Beth-lehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin. ¹¹ He also strengthened the fortified towns and put commanders in them, along with stores of food, oil and wine. ¹² He also put shields and spears in every town, and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

¹³ Moreover, the kohanim and the Levites from all their territories throughout Israel presented themselves to him. ¹⁴ The Levites even abandoned their pastures and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as kohanim to Adonai, ¹⁵ and had appointed his own priests for the high places, for the he-goats and for the calves that he had made. ¹⁶ Those from all the tribes of Israel, who had set their hearts to seek Adonai, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Adonai, the God of their fathers. ¹⁷ So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

¹⁸ Rehoboam married Mahalat the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse. ¹⁹ She bore him sons: Jeush and Shemariah and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. ²¹ Now Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines—for he took 18 wives and 60 concubines and fathered 28 sons and 60 daughters.

²² Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief and commander among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. ²³ He also wisely dispersed some of his sons throughout the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities and he gave them plenty of food and sought many wives for them.

Shishak Attacks Jerusalem

12 Now it came to pass, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and he had become strong, that he and all Israel with him forsook the Torah of Adonai. ² It so happened that in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt marched against Jerusalem—because they had been unfaithful to Adonai— ³ with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen and innumerable troops that came with him from Egypt: Lybians, Sukkites and Cushites. ⁴ He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

⁵ Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the officers of Judah who had gathered in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says Adonai:

‘You have abandoned Me—

so I also have abandoned you

into the hand of Shishak.’”

⁶ Then the officers of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “Adonai is just.”

⁷ But when Adonai saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Adonai came to Shemaiah saying: “Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but grant them some measure of deliverance, and My wrath will not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸ However, they will become subjects to him so that they may learn the difference between serving Me and serving the kings of the earth.”

⁹ So Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the House of Adonai and the treasures of the king’s palace. He took away everything; he even took away the golden shields that Solomon had made. ¹⁰ So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and entrusted them to the hands of the captains of the royal guard that guarded the entrance to the royal palace. ¹¹ Whenever the king entered into the House of Adonai, the guards would carry them and then bring them back into the guard chamber. ¹² Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the anger of Adonai turned from him and He did not destroy him completely. Indeed there were good things in Judah.

¹³ So King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned as king. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem—the city that Adonai had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His Name there. His mother’s name was Naamah, the Ammonite. ¹⁴ But he did evil because he had not set his heart to seek Adonai.

¹⁵ Now the acts of Rehoboam, from beginning to end, are they not written in the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer for genealogies? There were continuous wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¹⁶ Then Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. Then his son Abijah became king in his place.