The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 When Rechav'am arrived in Yerushalayim, he assembled the house of Y'hudah and Binyamin, 180,000 select soldiers, to fight Isra'el and bring the rulership back to Rechav'am.
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And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, and got together the men of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand of his best fighting-men, to make war against Israel and get the kingdom back for Rehoboam.
2 But this word of ADONAI came to Sh'ma'yah the man of God:
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But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying,
3 "Speak to Rechav'am the son of Shlomo, king of Y'hudah, and to all Isra'el in Y'hudah and Binyamin; tell them
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Say to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin,
4 that this is what ADONAI says: 'You are not to go up and fight your brothers! Every man is to go back home, because this is my doing.'" They paid attention to the words of ADONAI and turned back from attacking Yarov'am.
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The Lord has said, You are not to go to war against your brothers: let every man go back to his house, for this thing is my purpose. So they gave ear to the words of the Lord and were turned back from fighting against Jeroboam.
5 Rechav'am lived in Yerushalayim and built cities for defense in Y'hudah -
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Now Rehoboam kept in Jerusalem, building walled towns in Judah.
6 he built Beit-Lechem, 'Eitam, T'koa,
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He was the builder of Beth-lehem and Etam and Tekoa
7 Beit-Tzur, Sokho, 'Adulam,
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And Beth-zur and Soco and Adullam
8 Gat, Mareshah, Zif,
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And Gath and Mareshah and Ziph
9 Adorayim, Lakhish, 'Azekah,
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And Adoraim and Lachish and Azekah
10 Tzor'ah, Ayalon and Hevron; these are fortified cities in Y'hudah and Binyamin.
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And Zorah and Aijalon and Hebron, walled towns in Judah and Benjamin.
11 He fortified the strongholds, appointed captains in charge of them and supplied them with food, olive oil and wine.
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And he made the walled towns strong, and he put captains in them and stores of food, oil, and wine.
12 In every city he put shields and spears, making them very strong. Y'hudah and Binyamin stuck with him.
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And in every town he put stores of body-covers and spears, and made them very strong. And Judah and Benjamin were his.
13 The cohanim and L'vi'im from wherever they lived throughout all Isra'el made themselves available to Rechav'am.
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And the priests and Levites who were in all Israel came together to him from every part of their country.
14 The L'vi'im left their pasture lands and property and came to Y'hudah and Yerushalayim; since Yarov'am and his sons had thrown them out, not allowing them to function as cohanim for ADONAI,
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For the Levites gave up their living-places and their property, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons had sent them away, not letting them be priests to the Lord;
15 and had appointed for himself cohanim for the high places and for the images of goat-demons and calves that he had made.
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And he himself made priests for the high places, and for the images of he-goats and oxen which he had made.
16 Those from all the tribes of Isra'el who had set their hearts on seeking ADONAI, the God of Isra'el, followed them to Yerushalayim to sacrifice to ADONAI, the God of their fathers.
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And after them, from all the tribes of Israel, all those whose hearts were fixed and true to the Lord, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to make offerings to the Lord, the God of their fathers.
17 For three years they strengthened the kingdom of Y'hudah and made Rechav'am the son of Shlomo strong, because for three years they followed the way of life of David and Shlomo.
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So they went on increasing the power of the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, strong for three years; and for three years they went in the ways of David and Solomon.
18 Rechav'am married Machalat the daughter of Yerimot the son of David and Avichayil the daughter of Eli'av the son of Yishai;
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And Rehoboam took as his wife Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth, the son of David and of Abihail, the daughter of Eliab, the son of Jesse;
19 and she became the mother of his sons Ye'ush, Sh'maryah and Zaham.
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And she had sons by him, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.
20 After her, he married Ma'akhah the daughter of Avshalom; she became the mother of Aviyah, 'Atai, Ziza and Shlomit.
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And after her he took Maacah, the daughter of Absalom; and she had Abijah and Attai and Ziza and Shelomith by him.
21 Rechav'am loved Ma'akhah more than all his other wives and concubines - for he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines and was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
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Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, was dearer to Rehoboam than all his wives and his servant-wives: (for he had eighteen wives and sixty servant-wives, and was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.)
22 Rechav'am appointed Aviyah the son of Ma'akhah chief, the leader of his brothers, because he intended to make him king.
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Rehoboam made Abijah, the son of Maacah, chief and ruler among his brothers, for it was his purpose to make him king.
23 He was wise in his treatment of his sons, sending all of them throughout the territory of Y'hudah and Binyamin, to every fortified city, providing them with plenty of supplies and seeking for them many wives.
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And in his wisdom he had his sons stationed in every walled town through all the lands of Judah and Benjamin; and he gave them a great store of food, and took wives for them.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.