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.
Rehabeam ta kelelwa okulwa nOvaisraeli
1 Ndele Rehabeam eshi e uya kuJerusalem, okwa shiva epata laJuda nolaBenjamin, ovalumenhu ovanyasha va wana okulwa, ve fike pomayovi efele nomilongo hetatu, va ka homone Israel, va alulile Rehabeam ouhamba. 2 Ndelenee ondjovo yaKalunga ye uya kuShemaia, omulumenhu waKalunga ndele tai ti: 3 “Lombwela Rehabeam yaSalomo, novanhu aveshe moilando yaJuda naBenjamin, u tye: 4 ‘Inamu dengafana nOvaisraeli shaashi nye vamwe aveke. Shuneni amushe komaumbo, osheshi eshi sha ningwa kehalo lange.’ ” Vo aveshe va dulika keendjovo dOmwene ndele va shuna komaumbo. Inava homona Jerobeam.
Rehabeam ta pameke oshilongo shaye
5 Ndele Rehabeam okwa kala muJerusalem nokwa pameka oilando yomuJuda neehotekuma. 6 Osheshi a tunga eehotekuma kuBetlehem nokuEtam nokuTekoa, 7 nokuBet-Sur nokuSoko nokuAdullam, 8 nokuGat nokuMaresa nokuSif, 9 nokuAdoraim nokuLakis nokuAseka, 10 nokuSorea nokuAijalon nokuHebron. Oyo oilando i neehotekuma muJuda nomuBenjamin. 11 Nokwa pameka oilando i neehotekuma ndele ta tula mo ovakulunhu vovakwaita ve noituvikilwa yeendja nomaadi nomaviinyu, 12 nomoshilando keshe oikelelifo inene nomaonga. Nokwe i pameka shili unene. Ndele Juda naBenjamin ya kala mepangelo laye.
13 Novapristeli nOvalevi ovo va li muIsrael ashishe va dja moshilongo ashishe, ve uya kuye. 14 Osheshi Ovalevi va fiya po omaulifilo noitukulwafyuululo yavo, ndele ve uya kuJuda nokuJerusalem. Shaashi Jerobeam novana vaye ovalumenhu ve va ta mo, vo inava itavelwa vali okukala ovapristeli vOmwene. 15 Ndele ye okwe likongela ovapristeli va kalela oikulundu neendemoni domofuka neenhana deemhedi, e di ningifa. 16 Ndele venya va shikulwa kuvo va dja momapata aeshe aIsrael, nokutya ovo va yukifa omitima davo okukonga Omwene Kalunga kaIsrael, ve uya kuJerusalem va ka yambele Omwene Kalunga kooxe. 17 Ndele osho va pameka ouhamba waJuda ndele va yambidida Rehabeam yaSalomo omido nhatu, osheshi va enda nondjila yaDavid noyaSalomo omido nhatu.
Ovalikadi vaRehabeam novana vaye
18 Ndele Rehabeam okwa hombola Mahalat, omona okakadona kaJerimot yaDavid nokaAbigail, omona okakadona kaEliab yaIsai. 19 Nokwe mu dalela ovana ovamati: Jehus naShemaria naSaham. 20 Ndele konima yaasho okwa hombola Maaka, omona waAbsalom, ndele ye okwe mu dalela Abia naAttai naSisa naSelomit. 21 Ndele Rehabeam okwa li e hole Maaka, omona waAbsalom, komesho yovalikadi vaye novalikadi vaye vopomunghulo. Osheshi okwa konga ovalikadi omulongo navahetatu novalikadi vopomunghulo omilongo hamano. Nokwa ninga xe yovana omilongo mbali navahetatu ovalumenhu novana oukadona omilongo hamano. 22 Ndele Rehabeam okwa lenga Abia, omona waMaaka, a ninga omukulunhu mokati kovamwaxe aveshe, shaashi okwa li a hala oku mu ninga ohamba. 23 Nokwa enda neendunge ndele ta tukulile ovana vaye ovalumenhu aveshe oilongo noilando aishe i neehotekuma yomuJuda noyomuBenjamin, nokwe va pa eendja dihapu ndele te va kongele ovalikadi vahapu.
