1When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he gathered the people of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 skilled warriors—to fight against Israel and bring the kingdom back under his rule.
2But the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah, a man of God, saying,
3“Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and all the people of Israel in Judah and Benjamin,
4‘Yahweh says: Do not go up and fight against your relatives! Everyone should return home, because this situation is my doing.’” So they listened to Yahweh’s words and stopped their campaign against Jeroboam.
5Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built defensive cities in Judah.
6He built Bethlehem, Etam, and Tekoa.
7He built Beth Zur, Soco, and Adullam.
8He built Gath, Mareshah, and Ziph.
9He built Adoraim, Lachish, and Azekah.
10He built Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which were fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin.
11He strengthened these strongholds, placed commanders in them, and stocked them with food, oil, and wine.
12He also put shields and spears in every city, making them very strong. Judah and Benjamin remained under his control.
13The priests and Levites from all over Israel left their territories and stood with him.
14The Levites left their pasture lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had prevented them from serving as priests to Yahweh.
15Jeroboam himself appointed priests for his high places, for his goat idols, and for the calves he had made.
16After the Levites, people from all the tribes of Israel who were truly committed to seeking Yahweh, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.
17This strengthened the kingdom of Judah and made Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, powerful for three years, because for those three years they followed the ways of David and Solomon.
18Rehoboam married Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth (son of David) and Abihail (daughter of Eliab, son of Jesse).
19She gave birth to his sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.
20After her, he married Maacah, Absalom’s daughter; she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.
21Rehoboam loved Maacah, Absalom’s daughter, more than all his other wives and concubines. He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
22Rehoboam designated Abijah, Maacah's son, as the chief and leader among his brothers, because he intended to make him king.
23Rehoboam acted wisely by distributing all his other sons throughout the lands of Judah and Benjamin, placing them in every fortified city. He provided them with abundant provisions and arranged many marriages for them.