2 Chronicles 11

11 ¹Rehoboam come reach Jerusalem, and e gather di house of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 soldier wey dem pick—to go fight against Israel, so e go fit collect di kingdom back come to Rehoboam hand. ²But di word of our Papa come reach Shemaiah, di man of our Papa, e talk sey:

³“Tell Rehoboam pikin of Solomon, king of Judah, and all Israel wey dey Judah and Benjamin: ⁴Na dis one our Papa talk: No go up or fight against una brothers. Make everybody comot go im house—na from me dis thing take happen.” So dem obey di words of our Papa, and dem turn back from going to fight Jeroboam.

Rehoboam Make Judah Strong

⁵Rehoboam stay for Jerusalem, and e build cities wey get strong wall for Judah, to protect di place. ⁶E build Bethlehem, Etam, and Tekoa, ⁷Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, di cities wey get strong wall for Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹E make di strong-wall cities more strong, and e put commanders inside dem, together with food wey dem keep, oil, and wine. ¹²For every city e put shields and spears, and e make dem strong well well. So Judah and Benjamin still remain im own.

¹³Di priests and di Levites wey dey scatter for all Israel come meet am from all di places wey dem dey stay, ¹⁴for di Levites comot from dia grazing-land and dia property, and dem go Judah and Jerusalem, becos Jeroboam and im sons chase dem comot, no gree make dem serve as priests of our Papa. ¹⁵E pick im own priests for di high places, for di goat idols, and for di calf idols wey e make. ¹⁶From every tribe of Israel, dem wey put dia heart to look for our Papa, di God of Israel, follow di Levites go Jerusalem, to sacrifice give our Papa, di God of dia ancestors. ¹⁷Dem make Judah im kingdom strong, and dem support Rehoboam pikin of Solomon for three years, becos dem waka for di way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam Im Family

¹⁸Rehoboam marry Mahalath, di daughter of Jerimoth pikin of David, and of Abihail di daughter of Eliab pikin of Jesse. ¹⁹She born sons give am: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰After her, e marry Maacah di daughter of Absalom, wey born Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith give am. ²¹Rehoboam love Maacah daughter of Absalom pass all im other wives and concubines, becos e get eighteen wives, sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons, and sixty daughters. ²²Rehoboam make Abijah, pikin of Maacah, di chief leader among im brothers, becos e wan make am king. ²³E act with sense, e scatter some of im sons through every district of Judah and Benjamin, to every city wey get strong wall, and e give dem plenty food and things, and e find many wives for dem.