3. “Talk to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to men of Judah and Benjamin.
4. Say 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.
5. Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built strong cities in Judah to defend against attacks.
6. He repaired the cities of Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
7. Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam,
8. Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,
9. Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
10. Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These cities in Judah and Benjamin were made strong.
11. When Rehoboam made these cities strong, he put commanders in them. He also put supplies of food, oil, and wine in them.
12. Also, 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.
13. The priests and the Levites from all over Israel agreed with Rehoboam and joined him.
14. The 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.