2 Chronicles 9; 2 Chronicles 10; 2 Chronicles 11; 2 Chronicles 12

1 The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon's reputation. So she came to Jerusalem to test him with riddles. She arrived with a large group of servants, with camels carrying spices, a large quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she talked to him about everything she had on her mind.

2 Solomon answered all her questions. No question was too difficult for Solomon to answer.

3 When the queen of Sheba saw Solomon's wisdom, the palace he built,

4 the food on his table, his officers' seating arrangement, the organization of his officials and the uniforms they wore, his cupbearers and their uniforms, and the burnt offerings that he sacrificed at the LORD's temple, she was breathless.

5 She told the king, "What I heard in my country about your words and your wisdom is true!

6 But I didn't believe the reports until I came and saw it with my own eyes. I wasn't even told about half of the extent of your wisdom. You've surpassed the stories I've heard.

7 How blessed your men must be! How blessed these servants of yours must be because they are always stationed in front of you and listen to your wisdom!

8 Thank the LORD your God, who is pleased with you. He has put you on his throne to be king on behalf of the LORD your God. Because of your God's love for the people of Israel, he has established them permanently and made you king over them so that you would maintain justice and righteousness."

9 She gave the king 9,000 pounds of gold, a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never was there such a large quantity of spices [in Israel] as those that the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

10 Huram's servants and Solomon's servants who brought gold from Ophir also brought sandalwood and precious stones.

11 With the sandalwood the king made gateways to the LORD's temple and the royal palace, and lyres and harps for the singers. No one had ever seen anything like them in Judah.

12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba anything she wanted, whatever she asked for, more than what she had brought him. Then she and her servants went back to her country.

13 The gold that came to Solomon in one year weighed 49,950 pounds,

14 not counting [the gold] which the merchants and traders brought. All the Arab kings and governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.

15 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold, using 15 pounds of gold on each shield.

16 He also made 300 small shields of hammered gold, using 7½ pounds of gold on each shield. The king put them in the hall [named] the Forest of Lebanon.

17 The king also made a large ivory throne and covered it with pure gold.

18 Six steps led to the throne, which had a gold footstool attached to it. There were armrests on both sides of the seat. Two lions stood beside the armrests.

19 Twelve lions stood on six steps, one on each side. Nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.

20 All King Solomon's cups were gold, and all the utensils for the hall [named] the Forest of Lebanon were fine gold. (Silver wasn't considered valuable in Solomon's time.)

21 The king had ships going to Tarshish with Huram's sailors. Once every three years the Tarshish ships would bring gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.

22 In wealth and wisdom King Solomon was greater than all the [other] kings of the world.

23 All the kings of the world wanted to listen to the wisdom that God gave Solomon.

24 So everyone who came brought him gifts: articles of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This happened year after year.

25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 war horses. He stationed [some] in chariot cities and [others] with himself in Jerusalem.

26 He ruled all the kings from the Euphrates River to the country of the Philistines and as far as the Egyptian border.

27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as plentiful as fig trees in the foothills.

28 Horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all other countries.

29 Aren't the rest of Solomon's acts from first to last written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah from Shiloh, and in Iddo the seer's visions about Jeroboam (son of Nebat)?

30 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years.

31 Solomon lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.

1 Rehoboam went to Shechem because all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.

2 Jeroboam (Nebat's son) was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon. When he heard [about Rehoboam], he returned from Egypt.

3 [Israel] sent for Jeroboam and invited him back. Jeroboam and all Israel went to speak to Rehoboam. They said,

4 "Your father made us carry a heavy burden. Reduce the hard work and lighten the heavy burden he put on us, and we will serve you."

5 He said to them, "Come back the day after tomorrow." So the people left.

6 King Rehoboam sought advice from the older leaders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive. He asked, "What do you advise? How should I respond to these people?"

7 They told him, "If you are good to these people and try to please them by speaking gently to them, then they will always be your servants."

8 But he ignored the advice the older leaders gave him. He sought advice from the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.

9 He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we respond to these people who are asking me to lighten the burden my father put on them?"

10 The young men who had grown up with him answered, "This is what you should tell them: 'My little finger is heavier than my father's whole body.

11 If my father put a heavy burden on you, I will add to it. If my father punished you with whips, I will punish you with scorpions.'"

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam two days later, as the king had instructed them.

13 The king answered them harshly. He ignored the older leaders' advice.

14 He spoke to them as the young men advised. He said, "If my father made your burden heavy, I will add to it. If my father punished you with whips, I will use scorpions."

15 The king refused to listen to the people because the LORD was directing these events to carry out the promise he had made to Jeroboam (Nebat's son) through Ahijah from Shiloh.

16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king, "What share do we have in David's kingdom? We won't receive an inheritance from Jesse's son. Everyone to his own tent, Israel! Now look after your own house, David!" So all Israel went home to their own tents.

17 But Rehoboam ruled the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.

18 Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram to the Israelites. He was in charge of forced labor, but they stoned him to death. So King Rehoboam got on his chariot as fast as he could and fled to Jerusalem.

19 Israel has rebelled against David's dynasty to this day.

1 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he gathered the people of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 of the best soldiers, to fight against Israel and return the kingdom to Rehoboam.

2 But God spoke his word to Shemaiah, the man of God. He said,

3 "Speak to Judah's King Rehoboam, son of Solomon, and all Israel in Judah and Benjamin.

4 This is what the LORD says: Don't wage war against your relatives. Everyone, go home. What has happened is my doing." So they obeyed the word of the LORD. They turned back from their attack on Jeroboam.

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

6 He rebuilt Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,

7 Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam,

8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,

9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,

10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These were fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin.

11 He strengthened them and put army officers with reserves of food, olive oil, and wine in them.

12 In each city he stored shields and spears. He made the cities very secure. So Rehoboam held on to Judah and Benjamin.

13 The priests and Levites in every region of Israel sided with Rehoboam.

14 The priests abandoned their land and property and went to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his descendants rejected them as the LORD's priests.

15 Instead, Jeroboam appointed [his own] priests for the illegal worship sites and the goat and calf statues he had made as idols.

16 People from every tribe of Israel who were determined to seek the LORD God of Israel followed the Levitical priests to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD God of their ancestors.

17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah by supporting Rehoboam, son of Solomon, for three years. During [those] three years they lived the way David and Solomon had lived.

18 Rehoboam married Mahalath, daughter of Jerimoth. (Jerimoth was the son of David and Abihail. Abihail was the daughter of Eliab, son of Jesse.)

19 Mahalath gave birth to the following sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.

20 After marrying Mahalath, he married Maacah, Absalom's granddaughter. She gave birth to Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.

21 Rehoboam loved Maacah, Absalom's granddaughter, more than all his other wives and concubines. (He had 18 wives and 60 concubines. He fathered 28 sons and 60 daughters.)

22 Rehoboam appointed Abijah, son of Maacah, as family head and prince among his brothers. By doing this, Rehoboam could make him king.

23 He wisely placed his sons in every region of Judah and Benjamin, in every fortified city. He gave them allowances and obtained many wives for them.

1 When Rehoboam had established his kingdom and made himself strong, he and all Israel abandoned the LORD's teachings.

2 In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. This happened because all Israel was not loyal to the LORD.

3 Shishak had 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horses, and an army of countless Libyans, Sukkites, and Sudanese from Egypt.

4 He captured the fortified cities in Judah and then came to Jerusalem.

5 The prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who had gathered in Jerusalem because of Shishak. Shemaiah said to them, "This is what the LORD says: You have abandoned me, so I will abandon you. I will hand you over to Shishak."

6 Then the commanders of Israel and the king humbled themselves. "The LORD is right!" they said.

7 When the LORD saw that they had humbled themselves, he spoke his word to Shemaiah: "They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them. In a little while I will give them an escape. I will not use Shishak to pour my anger on Jerusalem.

8 But they will become his servants so that they can learn the difference between serving me and serving foreign kings."

9 King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took the treasures from the LORD's temple and the royal palace. He took them all. He took the gold shields Solomon had made.

10 So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and put them by the entrance to the royal palace, where the captains of the guards were stationed.

11 Whenever the king went into the LORD's temple, guards carried the shields and then returned them to the guardroom.

12 After Rehoboam humbled himself, the LORD was no longer angry with him and didn't completely destroy him. So things went well in Judah.

13 King Rehoboam strengthened his position in Jerusalem and ruled. He was 41 years old when he began to rule. He ruled for 17 years in Jerusalem, the city that the LORD chose from all the tribes of Israel, the city where the LORD put his name. (Rehoboam's mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah.)

14 He did evil things because he was not serious about dedicating himself to serving the LORD.

15 Aren't the events concerning Rehoboam from first to last written in the records of the prophet Shemaiah and the records of the seer Iddo in the genealogies? There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam as long as they lived.

16 Rehoboam lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Abijah succeeded him as king.