23. ‘Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people,
24. “This is what the Lord says: do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.” ’ So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.
25. Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.
26. Jeroboam thought to himself, ‘The kingdom is now likely to revert to the house of David.