English / ERV
2 Chronicles 11
Easy-to-Read Version, 2006
- 1Rehoboam went back to Jerusalem and gathered together an army of 180,000 men from the families of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin. Rehoboam wanted to go fight against the Israelites and take back his kingdom.
- 2But the LORD spoke to a man of God named Shemaiah. He said,
- 3“Talk to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to men of Judah and Benjamin.
- 4Say to them, ‘The LORD says that you must not go to war against your brothers. Everyone, go home! I made all this happen.’” So all the men in Rehoboam’s army obeyed the LORD and went home. They did not attack Jeroboam.
- 5Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built strong cities in Judah to defend against attacks.
- 6He repaired the cities of Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
- 7Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam,
- 8Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,
- 9Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
- 10Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These cities in Judah and Benjamin were made strong.
- 11When Rehoboam made these cities strong, he put commanders in them. He also put supplies of food, oil, and wine in them.
- 12Also, he put shields and spears in every city and made the cities very strong. He kept the peoples and cities of Judah and Benjamin under his control.
- 13The priests and the Levites from all over Israel agreed with Rehoboam and joined him.
- 14The Levites left their grasslands and their own fields and came to Judah and Jerusalem. The Levites did this because Jeroboam and his sons refused to let them serve as priests to the LORD.