Første Kongebog 12

1 Og Roboam drog til Sikem; thi al Israel var kommen til Sikem for at gøre ham til Konge.

All [HYP] the people of [northern] Israel went to Shechem [city] in order to appoint Rehoboam to be their king. So Rehoboam also went there.

2 Og det skete, der Jeroboam, Nebats Søn, hørte det — han var endnu i Ægypten, hvorhen han var flygtet fra Kong Salomos Ansigt, og Jeroboam boede i Ægypten,

When Jeroboam, who was still in Egypt, heard about that, he returned from Egypt [to Israel].

3 og de sendte hen og kaldte ham — saa kom Jeroboam og al Israels Menighed, og de talte med Roboam og sagde:

The [leaders of the northern tribes] summoned him, and they went together [to talk] to Rehoboam. They said to him,

4 Din Fader gjorde vort Aag haardt; men gør du os nu din Faders haarde Tjeneste og hans svare Aag, som han lagde paa os, lettere, saa ville vi tjene dig.

“Your father [Solomon] forced us to work very hard [MET] for him. If you (lighten these loads/do not force us to work that hard), and if you charge us less taxes than we were paying to him, we will serve you [faithfully].”

5 Og han sagde til dem: Gaar hen endnu i tre Dage, og kommer igen til mig; og Folket gik.

He replied, “Go away, and come back three days from now [and I will give you my answer].” So those leaders and Jeroboam left.

6 Og Kong Roboam raadførte sig med de ældste, som havde staaet for hans Fader Salomos Ansigt, der han var levende, og sagde: Hvorledes raade I at give dette Folk Svar tilbage?

Then King Rehoboam consulted the older men who had advised his father Solomon while he was still living. He asked them, “What shall I say to answer those men?”

7 Og de sagde til ham saaledes: Dersom du vil være dette Folk til Tjeneste i Dag, og tjene dem og svare dem vel og tale gode Ord til dem, da blive de dine Tjenere alle Dage.

They replied, “If you want to serve your people well, speak kindly to those men when you reply to them. If you do that, your people will always serve you faithfully.”

8 Men han forlod de ældstes Raad, som de madede ham, og raadførte sig med de unge, som vare opvoksede med ham, dem som stode for hans Ansigt.

But he ignored what the older men advised him to do. Instead, he consulted the younger men who had grown up with him, who were now (his advisors/the ones who told him what would be good to do).

9 Og han sagde til dem: Hvad raade I, at vi skulle give dette Folk for Svar tilbage, som talte til mig, sigende: Gør du os dette Aag lettere, som din Fader lagde paa os?

He said to them, “What should I say to the men who are asking me to reduce the [work and taxes] that my father required from them?”

10 Og de unge, som vare opvoksede med ham, talte til ham, sigende: Saa skal du sige til det Folk, som talte til dig og sagde: Din Fader gjorde vort Aag svart, men gør du os det lettere, saa skal du tale til dem: Min Lillefinger skal være tykkere end min Faders Lænder.

They replied, “This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.

11 Nu da, min Fader lagde eder et svart Aag paa, men jeg, jeg vil gøre eders Aag svarere; min Fader tugtede eder med Svøber, men jeg, jeg vil tugte eder med Skorpioner.

What I mean is that my father required you [to work hard and pay high taxes]. But I will make those loads heavier. [It was as though] my father whipped you, but [it will be as though] I will whip you with whips that have pieces of metal in them.’”

12 Saa kom Jeroboam og alt Folket til Roboam paa den tredje Dag, som Kongen havde talt og sagt: Kommer igen til mig paa den tredje Dag!

So three days later, Jeroboam and all the leaders came to Rehoboam again, as he had told them to do.

13 Og Kongen svarede Folket haardt og forlod de ældstes Raad, som de havde raadet ham.

The king ignored the advice of the older men and spoke harshly to the Israeli leaders.

14 Og han talte til dem efter de unges Raad og sagde: Min Fader gjorde eders Aag svart, men jeg, jeg vil gøre eders Aag svarere; min Fader tugtede eder med Svøber, men jeg, jeg vil tugte eder med Skorpioner.

[He told them what the younger men had advised.] He said, “My father put heavy burdens [of work and taxes] on you, but I will put heavier burdens on you. [It was as though] he beat you with whips, but I will beat you with whips that have pieces of metal in them!”

15 Og Kongen hørte ikke Folket; thi Aarsagen var fra Herren, for at han kunde stadfæste sit Ord, som Herren havde talt ved Siloniteren Ahia til Jeroboam, Nebats Søn.

So the king did not pay any attention to the Israeli leaders. But this happened in order that what Yahweh wanted would occur, what he had told the prophet Ahijah about Jeroboam [becoming king of the ten tribes].

16 Der al Israel saa, at Kongen ikke vilde høre dem, da gav Folket Kongen et Svar tilbage og sagde: Hvad Del have vi da i David? vi have ingen Lod i Isajs Søn; Israel! drag til dine Telte; se nu til dit Hus, o David! Saa gik Israel til sine Telte.

When the Israeli leaders realized that the king did not pay any attention to what they said, they shouted, “We do not [RHQ] want anything to do with this descendant of King David! We will not pay attention to what this grandson of Jesse says! You people of Israel, let’s go home! As for this descendant of David [MTY], he can rule his own kingdom [MTY]!” So the Israeli leaders returned to their homes.

17 Dog Israels Børn, som boede i Judas Stæder, over dem regerede Roboam.

And [after that, ] the [only Israeli] people whom Rehoboam ruled over were those who lived in the territory of [the tribe of] Judah.

18 Da sendte Kong Roboam Adoram, som var Rentemester, til dem, og al Israel stenede ham med Stene, saa at han døde; men Kong Roboam brugte al sin Styrke til at komme op i Vognen for at fly til Jerusalem.

Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram [to talk to the Israeli people]. Adoniram was the man who supervised [all the men who were] forced to work [for Rehoboam]. But the Israeli people killed him by throwing stones at him. When that happened, King Rehoboam quickly got in his chariot and escaped to Jerusalem.

19 Saa faldt Israel af fra Davids Hus indtil denne Dag.

Ever since that time, the people of [the northern tribes of] Israel have been rebelling against the descendants [MTY] of [King] David.

20 Og det skete, der al Israel hørte, at Jeroboam var kommen tilbage, da sendte de hen og kaldte ham til Menigheden og gjorde ham til Konge over al Israel; der var ingen, som fulgte efter Davids Hus, undtagen Judas Stamme alene.

When the Israeli people heard that Jeroboam had returned [from Egypt], they invited him to come to a meeting, and there they appointed him to be the king of Israel. Only the people of the tribes of Judah [and Benjamin] continued to be loyal to [the kings descended from King] [MTY] David.

21 Der Roboam kom til Jerusalem, da samlede han alt Judas Hus og Benjamins Stamme, hundrede og firsindstyve Tusinde udvalgte Krigsmænd, for at stride imod Israels Hus, at føre Riget tilbage til Roboam, Salomos Søn.

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he gathered 180,000 of the best soldiers from the tribes [MTY] of Judah and Benjamin. He wanted them to fight against the northern tribes of [MTY] Israel [and defeat them], in order that he could [rule all the tribes of] his kingdom again.

22 Men Guds Ord skete til Semaja, den Guds Mand, og sagde:

But God spoke to the prophet Shemaiah and said this to him:

23 Tal til Roboam, Salomos Søn, Judas Konge, og til al Judas Hus og Benjamin og til det øvrige Folk, og sig:

“Go and tell this to [Solomon’s son] Rehoboam, the king of Judah, and to all the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and the people from the northern tribe who live in Judah:

24 Saaledes sagde Herren: I skulle ikke drage op og ej stride imod eders Brødre, Israels Børn, vender tilbage hver til sit Hus, thi denne Handel er sket af mig; og de adløde Herrens Ord og vendte tilbage for at gaa bort efter Herrens Ord.

‘Yahweh says that you must not go to fight against your own relatives, the people of Israel. All of you must go home. What has happened is what Yahweh wanted to happen.’” [So Shemaiah went and told that to them, ] and they all paid attention to what Yahweh had commanded them to do, and they went home.

25 Og Jeroboam byggede Sikem paa Efraims Bjerg og boede derudi, og han drog ud derfra og byggede Pnuel.

Then Jeroboam’s workers built [walls around] Shechem [city] in the hilly area [where the descendants] of Ephraim [lived], and he ruled from there for a while. He and his workers then left there and went to Peniel [town], and they built walls around that town.

26 Og Jeroboam tænkte i sit Hjerte: Nu maatte Riget vende tilbage til Davids Hus.

Then Jeroboam said to himself, “If my people [continue to] go to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices to Yahweh at the temple there, soon they will again become loyal to Rehoboam, the king of Judah [DOU], and they will kill me.”

27 Dersom dette Folk skal gaa op at gøre Offer i Herrens Hus i Jerusalem, saa maatte dette Folks Hjerte vende tilbage til deres Herre, til Roboam, Judas Konge, ja de maatte slaa mig ihjel og vende tilbage til Roboam, Judas Konge.

28 Derfor holdt Kongen et Raad og gjorde to Guldkalve; og han sagde til dem: Det er eder for meget at gaa op til Jerusalem; se dine Guder, Israel! som førte dig op af Ægyptens Land.

So he consulted [his advisors, and then he did what they suggested]. He [told his workers to] make gold [statues of] two calves. Then he said to the people, “You have been going to Jerusalem [to worship] for a long time. It is a big trouble for you to continue going there. You people of Israel, look! These statues are the gods that brought our [ancestors] up from Egypt! [So you can worship these, here!]”

29 Og han satte den ene i Bethel, og den anden satte han i Dan.

He [told his workers to] place one of the statues in Bethel [city in the south] and one in Dan [city in the north].

30 Og denne Gerning blev til Synd; og Folket lige til Dan gik hen til en af dem.

So [what Jeroboam did caused] the people [to] sin. Some of them went and worshiped the calf at Bethel, and others went and worshiped the other calf at Dan.

31 Han gjorde Huset paa Højene og gjorde Præster af Folket i Flæng, som ikke vare af Levi Børn.

[Moses had declared that only men from the tribe of Levi would be priests, but] Jeroboam also told his workers to build shrines on hilltops, and then he appointed men who were not from the tribe of Levi to be priests.

32 Og Jeroboam gjorde en Højtid i den ottende Maaned paa den femtende Dag i Maaneden ligesom Højtiden, som var i Juda, og ofrede paa Alteret; saaledes gjorde han i Bethel for at ofre til Kalvene, som han havde gjort; og han beskikkede Præster i Bethel til Højene, som han havde gjort.

He also appointed Adonijah and two priests, Elishama and Jehoram. They had a celebration at the end of October, like the celebration [of Living in Temporary Shelters] that occurred in Judah [each year]. On the altar [that they built] in Bethel, he offered sacrifices to the gold statues of calves that they had made, and he stationed the priests there at the shrines that his workers had built.

33 Og han ofrede paa Alteret, som han havde gjort i Bethel, paa den femtende Dag i den ottende Maaned, i Maaneden, som han havde optænkt af sit eget Hjerte, og gjorde en Højtid for Israels Børn og ofrede paa Alteret til at gøre Røgelse.

Jeroboam went up to that altar on that day in October which he himself had chosen. There on that altar he burned incense [to be a sacrifice]. And he declared that the people should celebrate that festival [on that same day every year].