نبوءة شمعيا
1 ولمَّا وصَلَ رَحُبعامُ إلى أورُشليمَ جمَعَ مئَةً وثَمانينَ ألفَ جُنديٍّ باسِلٍ مِنْ كُلِّ بَيتِ يَهوذا وسِبْطِ بنيامينَ، ليُحاربوا بَيتَ إِسرائيلَ ويَردُّوهُم إلى طاعَةِ المَلِكِ. 2 فقالَ اللهُ لِشَمَعْيا النَّبـيّ: 3 «قُلْ لِرَحُبعامَ بنِ سُليمانَ مَلِكِ يَهوذا وكُلِّ بَيتِ يَهوذا وبنيامينَ وباقي الشَّعبِ: 4 هذا ما قالَ الرّبُّ: لا تُقاتِلوا إخوتَكُم بَيتَ إِسرائيلَ، بل عودوا إلى بُيوتِكُم لأنِّي أنا الّذي أرَدْتُ أنْ يَحدُثَ ما حدَثَ». فسَمِعوا لِكلامِ الرّبِّ ورَجَعوا عَنْ مُحارَبةِ يَرُبعامَ.
رحبعام يحصن المدن
5 وأقامَ رَحُبعامُ بأورُشليمَ وبَنى مُدُنا مُحَصَّنَةً في يَهوذا. 6 وهي بَيتُ لَحمَ وعيطمُ وتَقوعُ 7 وبَيتُ صورَ وسوكو وعدُلاَّمُ 8 وجتُّ ومريشَةُ وزيفُ 9 وأدورايمُ ولاخيشُ وعزيقَةُ 10 وصَرْعَةُ وأيلونُ وحبرونُ، وهذِهِ المُدُنُ كُلُّها في يَهوذا أو بنيامينَ 11 وعَزَّزَ الحُصونَ وجعَلَ فيها قادَةً ومَخازِنَ طعامٍ وزيتٍ وخمرٍ 12 وتروسا ورِماحا. وبِذَلكَ ثَبَّتَ سيطرَتَهُ على أرضِ يَهوذا وبنيامينَ سيطَرَةً تامَّةً.
13 وجاءَ إلى رَحُبعامَ الكهَنةُ واللاَّويُّونَ الّذينَ في أرضِ إِسرائيلَ 14 تاركينَ مَراعيَهم وسائِرَ أملاكِهِم جاؤُوا إلى يَهوذا وأورُشليمَ لأنَّ يربعامَ مَلِكَ إِسرائيلَ وبنيهِ الّذينَ خلَفوهُ مَنَعوهُم مِنْ مُمارَسةِ الكهنوتِ للرّبِّ، 15 ذلِكَ أنَّ يَرُبعامَ أقامَ كهنةً للمَذابـحِ على المُرتفعاتِ بأصنامٍ مَصنوعةٍ على شَكلِ عُجولٍ وتُيوسٍ. 16 ولَحِقَ بالكهَنةِ مِنْ أسباطِ إِسرائيلَ جميعُ الّذينَ أرادوا بِكُلِّ قلوبِهِم أنْ يَعبُدوا الرّبَّ إلهَ إِسرائيلَ، فيُقَدِّموا الذَّبائحَ للرّبِّ إلهِ آبائِهِم في أورُشليمَ. 17 فعَزَّزوا مَملَكَةَ يَهوذا وسانَدوا رَحُبعامَ بنَ سليمانَ ثَلاثَ سِنينَ، لأنَّه سلَكَ في طريقِ داوُدَ وسليمانَ أبـيهِ طُولَ تِلكَ المُدَّةِ.
18 وتزَوَّجَ رَحُبعامُ مَحْلَةَ بِنتَ يريموثَ بنِ داوُدَ مِنِ امرأتِهِ أبـيجايلَ بِنتِ أليابَ بنِ يَسَّى، 19 فوَلَدَت لَه ثَلاثةَ بَنينَ هُم: يعوشُ وشمريا وزاهَمُ. 20 ثُمَّ تزَوَّجَ مَعكَةَ بِنتَ أبشالومَ، فوَلَدَت لَه أبـيَّا وعِتَّايَ وزيزا وشلوميتَ 21 وأحبَّ رَحُبعامُ مَعكَةَ بِنتَ أبشالومَ، أكثَرَ مِنْ جَميعِ زوجاتِهِ وجواريهِ. وكانَ لَه ثَمانيَ عَشْرةَ زوجةً وسِتُّونَ جاريةً، ووَلَدَ ثَمانيةً وعِشرينَ ابنا وسِتِّينَ بِنتا. 22 وأقامَ رَحُبعامُ ابنَهُ أبـيَّا مِنْ زوجتِهِ مَعكَةَ رئيسا على إخوتِهِ لأنَّه نوى أنْ يَجعَلَهُ خلفا لَه 23 وتصَرَّفَ بِفِطنَةٍ، فعيَّنَ جميعَ بَنيهِ حُكَّاما في جميعِ المُدُنِ المُحَصَّنَةِ في أرضِ يَهوذا وبنيامينَ وأغدقَ علَيهِمِ المدَدَ بِسَخاءٍ، وأخذَ لهُم نِساءً كثيراتٍ.
Shemaiah the Prophet Warns Rehoboam
(1 Kings 12.21-24)1 After Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, he decided to attack Israel and regain control of the whole country. So he called together 180,000 soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
2 Meanwhile, the Lord had told Shemaiah the prophet 3 to tell Rehoboam and everyone from Judah and Benjamin, 4 “The Lord warns you not to go to war against the people from the northern tribes—they are your relatives. Go home! The Lord is the one who made these things happen.”
Rehoboam and his army obeyed the Lord's message and did not attack Jeroboam and his troops.
Rehoboam Fortifies Cities in Judah
5 Rehoboam ruled from Jerusalem, and he had several cities in Judah turned into fortresses so he could use them to defend his country. These cities included 6 Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth-Zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. After he had fortified these cities in the territories of Judah and Benjamin, 11 he assigned an army commander to each of them and stocked them with supplies of food, olive oil, and wine, 12 as well as with shields and spears. He used these fortified cities to keep control of Judah and Benjamin.
The Priests and the Levites Support Rehoboam
13 The priests and Levites from the northern tribes of Israel gave their support to King Rehoboam. 14 And since Jeroboam and the kings of Israel that followed him would not allow any Levites to serve as priests, most Levites left their towns and pasturelands in Israel and moved to Jerusalem and other towns in Judah. 15 Jeroboam chose his own priests to serve at the local shrines in Israel and at the places of worship where he had set up statues of goat-demons and of calves.
16 But some of the people from Israel wanted to worship the Lord God, just as their ancestors had done. So they followed the priests and Levites to Jerusalem, where they could offer sacrifices to the Lord. 17 For the next three years, they lived in Judah and were loyal to Rehoboam and his kingdom, just as they had been loyal to David and Solomon.
Rehoboam's Family
18 Rehoboam married Mahalath, whose father was Jerimoth son of David, and whose mother was Abihail the daughter of Eliab and granddaughter of Jesse. 19 Rehoboam and Mahalath had three sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 Then Rehoboam married Maacah the daughter of Absalom. Their sons were Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.
21 Rehoboam had 18 wives, but he also married 60 other women, and he was the father of 28 sons and 60 daughters. Rehoboam loved his wife Maacah the most, 22 so he chose their oldest son Abijah to be the next king. 23 Rehoboam was wise enough to put one of his sons in charge of each fortified city in his kingdom. He gave them all the supplies they needed and found wives for every one of them.