2 Chronicles 9-12

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2 Chronicles 9

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels that carried spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she had come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. 2 And Solomon told her all her questions; and there was not anythinghid from Solomon which he told her not. 3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, 4 and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, his cupbearers also, and their apparel, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Yahweh; there was no more spirit in her. 5 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom. 6 However I did not believe their words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told to me: you exceed the fame that I heard. 7 Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants, that stand continually before you, and hear your wisdom. 8 Blessed be Yahweh your Elohim, who delighted in you, to set you on his throne, to be king for Yahweh your Elohim: because your Elohim loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore he made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.

9 And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. 10 And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, that brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones. 11 And the king made of the algum trees terraces for the house of Yahweh, and for the king’s house, and harps and psalteries for the singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah. 12 And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides that which she had brought to the king. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.

13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 14 besides that which the traders and merchants brought: and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 And king Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one buckler. 16 And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. 17 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 And there were six steps to the throne, with a foot-stool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and armrests on each side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests. 19 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not anything like it made in any kingdom. 20 And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: silver was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. 21 For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

22 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which Elohim had put in his heart. 24 And each man brought his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. 25 And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. 26 And he ruled over all the kings from the River even to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. 27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance. 28 And they brought horses for Solomon out of Egypt, and out of all lands.

29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30 And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

2 Chronicles 10

And Rehoboam went to Shechem; for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Solomon,) that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt. 3 And they sent and called him; and Jeroboam and all Israel came, and they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve you. 5 And he said to them, Come again to me after three days. And the people departed.

6 And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel do you give to me to return answer to this people? 7 And they spoke to him, saying, If you are kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever. 8 But he forsook the counsel with the old men which they had given to him, and took counsel with the young men that had grown up with him, that stood before him. 9 And he said to them, What counsel do you give, that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke that your father put upon us lighter? 10 And the young men that had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, In this manner you shall say to the people that spoke to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter to us; thus shall you say to them, My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. 11 And now whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king bid, saying, Come to me again the third day. 13 And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men, 14 and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it: my father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions. 15 So the king did not listen to the people; for it was brought about of Elohim, that Yahweh might establish his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

16 And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion do we have in David? Neither do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: now see to your own house, David. So all Israel departed to their tents. 17 But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 18 Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the men subject to taskwork; and the children of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel rebelled against the house of David to this day.

 

2 Chronicles 11

And when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, that were warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam. 2 But the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah the man of Elohim, saying, 3 Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, 4 In this manner says Yahweh, You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: every man return to his house; for this thing is of me. So they listened to the words of Yahweh, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah. 6 He built Beth-lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa, 7 and Beth-zur, and Soco, and Adullam, 8 and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph, 9 and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah, 10 and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities. 11 And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, and oil and wine. 12 And in every city he put shields and spears, and made them very strong. And Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

13 And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their border. 14 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest’s office to Yahweh; 15 and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the he-goats, and for the calves which he had made. 16 And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Yahweh, the Elohim of their fathers. 17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years; for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.

18 And Rehoboam took him a wife, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse; 19 and she bore him sons: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 And after her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 And Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and sixty concubines, and procreated twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.) 22 And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, even the prince among his brethren; for he was minded to make him king. 23 And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to every fortified city: and he gave them food in abundance. And he sought for them many wives.

 

2 Chronicles 12

And it came to pass, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of Yahweh, and all Israel with him. 2 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against Yahweh, 3 with twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand horsemen. And the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt: the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians. 4 And he took the fortified cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. 5 Now Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, In this manner says Yahweh, You have forsaken me, therefore I have also left you in the hand of Shishak. 6 Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, Yahweh is righteous. 7 And when Yahweh saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves: I will not destroy them; but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8 Nevertheless they shall be his servants, that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.

9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all away; he took away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. 10 And king Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, that kept the door of the king’s house. 11 And it was so, that, as often as the king entered into the house of Yahweh, the guard came and bore them, and brought them back in to the guard-chamber. 12 And when he humbled himself, the wrath of Yahweh turned from him, so as not to destroy him altogether: and moreover in Judah there were good things found.

13 So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which Yahweh had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. 14 And he did that which was evil, because he did not set his heart to seek Yahweh.

15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the histories of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, after the manner of genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his place.

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