Great(i)
1 And whan Rehoboam was come to Ierusalem, he gathered of the house of Iuda & Beniamin, nyne score thousande chosen men of warre to fight agaynst Israel, & to brynge the kyngdome agayne to Rehoboam.
2 And the word of the Lorde came to Semeiahu the man of God, saying:
3 speake vnto Rehoboam the sonne of Salomon kynge of Iuda, & to all them of Israel that are in Iuda & Beniamin, & saye:
4 thus sayeth the Lorde. Ye shall not go vp nor fight agaynst your brethren: returne euery man to his house, for thys thynge is done of me. And they obeyed the wordes of the Lorde, and returned from goynge agaynst Ieroboam.
5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Ierusalem, and buylt stronge cyties in Iuda.
6 He buylded vp Bethleem, and Etham, and Theko:
7 Bethzur, Socho and Adullam:
8 Gath, and Maresa: and Ziph Adurahim,
9 Lachis and asecha:
10 Zorca Aialon and Hebron, which is in Iuda & Beniamin, stronge cyties.
11 And he repayred the stronge holdes & put captaynes in them, and store of vitayle, & wyne, & oyle.
12 And in all cyties he put shyldes & speares, and made them exceadynge stronge, hauynge Iuda and Beniamin on his syde.
13 And the prestes and the leuites that were in all Israel, resorted to hym out of all their coastes.
14 For the leuites lefte their suburbes and their possession, and came to Iuda and Ierusalem: for Ieroboam and his sonnes had cast them out from minystrynge vnto the Lorde.
15 And he ordeyned hym prestes for the hylaultares, for the deuylles and for the calues which he had made.
16 And after the leuites there went of all the trybes of Israel, soche as submitted their hertes to seke the Lorde God of Israel, and came to Ierusalem, to offer vnto the Lorde God of their fathers.
17 And so they strengthed the kyngdome of Iuda, and made Rehoboam the sonne of Salomon myghtye thre yeare longe for thre yere they walked in the waye of Dauid and Salomon.
18 And Rehoboam toke hym Mahalath the daughter of Ierimoth the sonne of Dauid to wyfe, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the sonne of Isai,
19 which bare hym chyldren Ieus, Samaria, and Zaha.
20 And after her he toke Maaca the daughter of Absalon which bare hym Abia, Atthai, Ziza, & Selomith.
21 And Rehoboam loued Maacah the daughter of Absalon aboue all his wyues & concubynes, for he toke eyghtene wyues and thre skore concubynes, and begat .xxviii. sonnes and .lx. daughters.
22 Ad Rehoboam made Abiah the sonne of Maacah the chefe ruler amonge his brethren, and to haue the ouersyght of the kyngdome.
23 And he played wysely, and scatered all his chyldren thorowe out all the countreyes of Iuda and Ben Iamin vnto euery stronge cytie. And he gaue them aboundaunce of vitayle, and obtayned many wyues.