11:12a He also put shields and spears in all the cities

He kept shields and spears in all these towns,
-or-
He stored ⌊large⌋ shields and spears in each of the towns,

11:12b and strengthened them greatly.

making them very strong.
-or-
and so he made them strong.

11:12c So Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

So Judah and Benjamin were under his control.
-or-
Thus the territories of Judah and Benjamin belonged to King Rehoboam.

© 2021, 2022 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

Section 11:13-17

Priests and Levites from the northern clans came to Judah

11:13a Moreover, the priests and Levites from all their districts

The priests and the Levites from all the places
-or-
The sacrificers and the descendants of Levi from all areas

11:13b throughout Israel stood with Rehoboam.

in all Israel joined King Rehoboam.
-or-
in ⌊the northern kingdom of⌋ Israel supported King Rehoboam.

© 2021, 2022 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

11:14a For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem,

The Levites even left their pasture land and their possessions. They came to Jerusalem and other places in Judah
-or-
The descendants of Levi even moved to Judah and Jerusalem Town. They left behind their grazing land and other things they owned.

11:14b because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD.

because King Jeroboam and his sons did not allow them to serve as priests of Yahweh.
-or-
They did this because King Jeroboam and his sons stopped the Levites from serving as Yahweh’s sacrificers.

© 2021, 2022 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

11:15a And Jeroboam appointed his own priests

Jeroboam chose his own priests
-or-
King Jeroboam set up his own sacrificers.

11:15b for the high places

to tend the sacred places in the hills
-or-
They cared for the shrines on the hilltops

11:15c and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.

and the idols he made that looked like goats and calves.
-or-
and the idols that he made in the shape of goats and calves.

© 2021, 2022 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

11:16a Those from every tribe of Israel

People from all the clans of Israel
-or-
People from all the ⌊northern⌋ clans of Israel

11:16b who had set their hearts to seek the LORD their God

who sincerely wanted to worship Yahweh, the God of Israel,
-or-
who were determined to obey Yahweh, the God of Israel,

11:16c followed the Levites to Jerusalem

came after the Levites to Jerusalem.
-or-
moved to Jerusalem Town as the descendants of Levi had.

11:16d to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

They came to sacrifice animals to Yahweh, the God of their grandparents.
-or-
They came to slaughter animals to Yahweh the God whom their fathers worshiped.

© 2021, 2022 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

11:17a So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah

They helped the kingdom of Judah to become stronger.
-or-
Those ⌊from the northern clans⌋ who came to Jerusalem made the kingdom of Judah strong.

11:17b and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years,

They were loyal to Solomon’s son Rehoboam for three years.
-or-
For three years they were faithful to ⌊King⌋ Rehoboam, son of Solomon.

11:17c because they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.

During this time they lived as David and Solomon had lived.
-or-
They ⌊were faithful to the Lord⌋ just as ⌊King⌋ David and ⌊King⌋ Solomon were.

© 2021, 2022 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.