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Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter up from the City of David to the house he built for her. He said, "My wife must not live in King David's palace because the places where the Lord 's Holy Box has been are holy places."

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 .

These people made the kingdom of Judah strong, and they supported Solomon's son Rehoboam for three years. They did this because during that time they lived the way David and Solomon had lived.

Rehoboam chose Abijah to be the leader among his own brothers. He did this because he planned to make Abijah king.

During the fifth year that Rehoboam was king, Shishak king of Egypt came to attack Jerusalem. This happened because Rehoboam and the people of Judah rebelled against the Lord .

Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah. The leaders of Judah had gathered together in Jerusalem because they all were afraid of Shishak. Shemaiah said to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, "This is what the Lord says: ‘Rehoboam, you and the people of Judah have left me and refused to obey my law. So now I will leave you to face Shishak without my help.'"

Rehoboam did evil because he didn't decide in his heart to obey the Lord .

God himself is with us. He is our ruler, and his priests are with us. God's priests blow his trumpets to wake you up and make you excited about coming to him. Men of Israel, don't fight against the Lord , God of your ancestors, because you will not succeed!"

So at that time the Israelites were defeated, and the people of Judah won. The army from Judah won because they depended on the Lord , the God of their ancestors.

Asa built strong cities in Judah while there was peace in Judah. He had no war in these years because the Lord gave him peace.

Asa said to the people of Judah, "Let's build these towns and make walls around them. Let's make towers, gates, and bars in the gates. Let's do this while we still live in this country. This country is ours because we have followed the Lord our God. He has given us peace all around us." So they built and had success.

One nation would destroy another nation and one city would destroy another city. This was happening because God gave them all kinds of trouble.

But Asa, you and the people of Judah and Benjamin, be strong. Don't be weak and don't give up, because you will get a reward for your good work!"

Then Asa gathered all the people from Judah and Benjamin and the people from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had moved from the country of Israel to live in the country of Judah. A great many of these people came to Judah because they saw that the Lord , Asa's God, was with him.

All the people of Judah were happy about the oath, because they had promised with all their heart. They followed God with all their heart. They looked for God and found him, so the Lord gave them peace in all the country.

King Asa also removed Maacah, his mother, from being queen mother. He did this because she had set up one of those awful poles to honor the goddess Asherah. Asa cut down that Asherah pole, smashed it into small pieces, and burned the pieces in the Kidron Valley.

Asa was angry with Hanani because of what he said. He was so mad that he put Hanani in prison. He was also very rough and cruel to some of the people then.

The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because in his young life he did the good things his ancestor David did. Jehoshaphat did not follow the Baal idols.

Some of the Philistines brought gifts to Jehoshaphat. They also brought silver to him because they knew he was a very powerful king. Some Arabian people brought flocks to Jehoshaphat. They brought 7700 rams and 7700 goats to him.

So Ahab called a meeting of the prophets. There were about 400 prophets at that time. Ahab asked the prophets, "Should we go and attack Ramoth Gilead or not?" The prophets answered Ahab, "Yes, because God will let you defeat Ramoth Gilead."