Daily Text and Bible Reading: Wednesday, May 21 [Press play below]

10.1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
10.2 As soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (he was still in Egypt because he had fled on account of King Solomon), Jeroboam came back from Egypt.
10.3 Then they sent for him, and Jeroboam and all Israel came to Rehoboam and said:
10.4 “Your father made our yoke harsh. But if you make the harsh service of your father easier and you lighten the heavy yoke he put on us, we will serve you.”
10.5 At this he said to them: “Return to me after three days.” So the people went away.
10.6 King Rehoboam then consulted with the older men who had served his father Solomon while he was alive, saying: “What advice would you give on how to reply to this people?”
10.7 They answered him: “If you are good to this people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”
10.8 However, he rejected the advice that the older men gave him, and he consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and who were now his attendants.
10.9 He asked them: “What advice do you offer on how we should reply to this people who have said to me, ‘Make the yoke your father put on us lighter’?”
10.10 The young men who had grown up with him said to him: “This is what you should say to the people who have said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you should make it lighter for us’; this is what you should tell them, ‘My little finger will be thicker than my father’s hips.
10.11 My father imposed a heavy yoke on you, but I will add to your yoke. My father punished you with whips, but I will do so with scourges.’”
10.12 Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had said: “Return to me on the third day.”
10.13 But the king answered them harshly. Thus King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the older men.
10.14 He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying: “I will make your yoke heavier, and I will add to it. My father punished you with whips, but I will do so with scourges.”
10.15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was caused by the true God, in order to carry out the word that Jehovah had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
10.16 As for all Israel, because the king refused to listen to them, the people replied to the king: “What share do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each one to your gods, O Israel! Now look after your own house, O David.” With that all Israel returned to their homes.
10.17 But Rehoboam continued to reign over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.
10.18 Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of those conscripted for forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.
10.19 And the Israelites have been in revolt against the house of David down to this day.

11.1 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he immediately congregated the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 trained warriors, to fight against Israel in order to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.
11.2 Then the word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah the man of the true God, saying:
11.3 “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon the king of Judah and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin,
11.4 ‘This is what Jehovah says: “You must not go up and fight against your brothers. Each of you return to his house, for I have caused this to happen.”’” So they obeyed the word of Jehovah and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.
11.5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built fortified cities in Judah.
11.6 Thus he built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
11.7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam,
11.8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,
11.9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
11.10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that were in Judah and Benjamin.
11.11 Further, he reinforced the fortified places and put commanders in them and supplied them with food and oil and wine,
11.12 and he supplied all the different cities with large shields and lances; he reinforced them to a very great degree. And Judah and Benjamin remained his.
11.13 And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him, coming out of all their territories.
11.14 The Levites left their pastures and their possession and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had dismissed them from serving as priests to Jehovah.
11.15 Jeroboam then appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goatlike demons and for the calves that he had made.
11.16 And those from all the tribes of Israel who had their heart set on seeking Jehovah the God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Jehovah the God of their forefathers.
11.17 For three years they strengthened the kingship of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.
11.18 Then Rehoboam took as his wife Mahalath the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab.
11.19 In time she bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.
11.20 After her, he married Maacah the granddaughter of Absalom. In time she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.
11.21 Rehoboam loved Maacah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines, for he took 18 wives and 60 concubines, and he became father to 28 sons and 60 daughters.
11.22 So Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for he intended to make him king.
11.23 However, he acted with understanding and sent some of his sons to all the regions of Judah and Benjamin, to all the fortified cities, and gave them abundant provisions and acquired many wives for them.

12.1 Soon after the kingship of Rehoboam was firmly established and he had become strong, he abandoned the Law of Jehovah, and also all Israel with him.
12.2 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, for they had behaved unfaithfully toward Jehovah.
12.3 He had 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and countless troops who came with him from Egypt—Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians.
12.4 He captured the fortified cities of Judah and finally reached Jerusalem.
12.5 Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them: “This is what Jehovah says, ‘You have abandoned me, so I have also abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’”
12.6 At that the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said: “Jehovah is righteous.”
12.7 When Jehovah saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah, saying: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, and in a little while I will rescue them. I will not pour out my wrath on Jerusalem through Shishak.
12.8 But they will become his servants, so that they will know the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands.”
12.9 So King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took the treasures of the house of Jehovah and the treasures of the king’s house. He took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made.
12.10 So King Rehoboam made copper shields to replace them, and he entrusted them to the chiefs of the guard, who guarded the entrance of the king’s house.
12.11 Whenever the king came to the house of Jehovah, the guards would come in and carry them, and then they would return them to the guard chamber.
12.12 Because the king humbled himself, Jehovah’s anger turned away from him, and he did not destroy them completely. Moreover, there were some good things found in Judah.
12.13 King Rehoboam strengthened his position in Jerusalem and continued to reign; Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king, and he reigned for 17 years in Jerusalem, the city that Jehovah had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel as the place to put his name. The name of the king’s mother was Naamah the Ammonitess.
12.14 But he did what was bad, for he had not resolved in his heart to search for Jehovah.
12.15 As for Rehoboam’s history, from beginning to end, is it not written among the words of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the visionary in the genealogical record? And there were constant wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
12.16 Then Rehoboam was laid to rest with his forefathers and was buried in the City of David; and his son Abijah became king in his place.

13.1 In the 18th year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah.
13.2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
13.3 So Abijah went to war with an army of 400,000 mighty, trained warriors. And Jeroboam drew up in battle formation against him with 800,000 trained men, mighty warriors.
13.4 Abijah now stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the mountainous region of Ephraim, and said: “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel.
13.5 Do you not know that Jehovah the God of Israel gave to David a kingdom over Israel forever, to him and to his sons, by a covenant of salt?
13.6 But Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of David’s son Solomon, rose up and rebelled against his lord.
13.7 And idle, worthless men kept gathering to him. And they proved superior to Rehoboam the son of Solomon when Rehoboam was young and fainthearted, and he could not hold his own against them.
13.8 “And now you think you can hold your own against the kingdom of Jehovah in the hand of the sons of David because you are a large crowd and you have the golden calves that Jeroboam made as gods for you.
13.9 Have you not driven out Jehovah’s priests, the descendants of Aaron, and the Levites, and have you not appointed your own priests just like the peoples of the other lands? Anyone who came along with a young bull and seven rams could become a priest of what are not gods.
13.10 As for us, Jehovah is our God, and we have not abandoned him; our priests, the descendants of Aaron, are ministering to Jehovah, and the Levites assist in the work.
13.11 They are making burnt offerings smoke to Jehovah each morning and each evening along with perfumed incense, and the layer bread is on the table of pure gold, and they light up the golden lampstand and its lamps each evening, because we are caring for our responsibility to Jehovah our God; but you have abandoned him.
13.12 Now look! the true God is with us, leading us, with his priests and the signal trumpets for sounding the battle alarm against you. O men of Israel, do not fight against Jehovah the God of your forefathers, for you will not be successful.”
13.13 But Jeroboam dispatched an ambush to come from behind them, so that they were in front of Judah and the ambush was behind them.
13.14 When the men of Judah turned around, they saw that they had to fight the battle both in front and from behind. So they began to cry out to Jehovah, while the priests were loudly sounding the trumpets.
13.15 The men of Judah broke out in a war cry, and when the men of Judah shouted the war cry, the true God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
13.16 The Israelites fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hand.
13.17 Abijah and his people inflicted a great slaughter on them, and the slain of Israel kept falling, 500,000 trained men.
13.18 Thus the men of Israel were humbled at that time, but the men of Judah proved superior because they relied on Jehovah the God of their forefathers.
13.19 Abijah kept chasing after Jeroboam and captured cities from him, Bethel and its dependent towns, Jeshanah and its dependent towns, and Ephrain and its dependent towns.
13.20 And Jeroboam never regained his power during the time of Abijah; then Jehovah struck him down and he died.
13.21 But Abijah grew in strength. In time he took 14 wives, and he became father to 22 sons and 16 daughters.
13.22 And the rest of Abijah’s history, his deeds and his words, is recorded in the writings of the prophet Iddo.

14.1 Then Abijah was laid to rest with his forefathers, and they buried him in the City of David; and his son Asa became king in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years.
14.2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of Jehovah his God.
14.3 He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the sacred poles.
14.4 Further, he told Judah to search for Jehovah the God of their forefathers and to observe the Law and the commandment.
14.5 So he removed from all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense stands, and under him, the kingdom continued without disturbance.
14.6 He built fortified cities in Judah, since the land had no disturbance and there was no war against him during these years, for Jehovah gave him rest.
14.7 He said to Judah: “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. For the land is still at our disposal, because we have searched for Jehovah our God. We have searched, and he has given us rest all around.” So their building was successful.
14.8 Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah, equipped with large shields and lances. And out of Benjamin were 280,000 mighty warriors who carried bucklers and were armed with bows.
14.9 Later Zerah the Ethiopian came against them with an army of 1,000,000 men and 300 chariots. When he reached Mareshah,
14.10 Asa went out against him and they drew up in battle formation in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.
14.11 Asa then called to Jehovah his God and said: “O Jehovah, it does not matter to you whether those you help are many or have no power. Help us, O Jehovah our God, for we are relying on you, and in your name we have come against this crowd. O Jehovah, you are our God. Do not let mortal man prevail against you.”
14.12 So Jehovah defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.
14.13 Asa and the people with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians continued falling until not one of them was alive, for they were crushed by Jehovah and by his army. Afterward they carried off a very great deal of spoil.
14.14 Further, they struck all the cities around Gerar, for the dread of Jehovah had come upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was much to plunder in them.
14.15 They also attacked the tents of those with livestock, and they captured a great number of flocks and camels, after which they returned to Jerusalem.