1 Kings 12

1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all Israel had come together to make him king,

And Rehoboam goes to Shechem, for all Israel has come to Shechem to make him king.

2 And, hearing of it, Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who was still in Egypt, where he had gone in flight from Solomon, and was living there, came back to his town Zeredah, in the hill-country of Ephraim;

And it comes to pass, at Jeroboam son of Nebat’s hearing (and he [is] yet in Egypt where he has fled from the presence of Solomon the king, and Jeroboam dwells in Egypt),

3 And all the men of Israel came to Rehoboam and said,

that they send and call for him; and they come—Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel—and speak to Rehoboam, saying,

4 Your father put a hard yoke on us: if you will make the conditions under which your father kept us down less cruel, and the weight of the yoke he put on us less hard, then we will be your servants.

“Your father hardened our yoke, and you, now, lighten [some] of the hard service of your father, and his heavy yoke that he put on us, and we serve you.”

5 And he said to them, Go away for three days and then come back to me again. So the people went away.

And he says to them, “Yet go [for] three days, and come back to me”; and the people go.

6 Then King Rehoboam took the opinion of the old men who had been with Solomon his father when he was living, and said, In your opinion, what answer am I to give to this people?

And King Rehoboam consults with the elderly who have been standing in the presence of his father Solomon, in his being alive, saying, “How are you counseling to answer this people?”

7 And they said to him, If you will be a servant to this people today, caring for them and giving them a gentle answer, then they will be your servants for ever.

And they speak to him, saying, “If, today, you are a servant of this people, and have served them, and answered them, and spoken good words to them, then they have been servants to you [for] all the days.”

8 But he gave no attention to the opinion of the old men, and went to the young men of his generation who were waiting before him:

And he forsakes the counsel of the elderly which they counseled him, and consults with the boys who have grown up with him, who are standing before him;

9 And said to them, What is your opinion? What answer are we to give to this people who have said to me, Make less the weight of the yoke which your father put on us?

and he says to them, “What are you counseling, and we answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Lighten [some] of the yoke that your father put on us?”

10 And the young men of his generation said to him, This is the answer to give to the people who came to you saying, Your father put a hard yoke on us; will you make it less? say to them, My little finger is thicker than my father's body;

And they speak to him—the boys who had grown up with him—saying, “Thus you say to this people who have spoken to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, and you, make [it] light on us; thus you speak to them, My little [finger] is thicker than the loins of my father;

11 If my father put a hard yoke on you, I will make it harder: my father gave you punishment with whips, but I will give you blows with snakes.

and now, my father laid a heavy yoke on you, and I add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, and I discipline you with scorpions.”

12 So all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had given orders, saying, Come back to me the third day.

And they come—Jeroboam and all the people—to Rehoboam, on the third day, as the king had spoken, saying, “Come back to me on the third day.”

13 And the king gave them a rough answer, giving no attention to the suggestion of the old men;

And the king answers the people sharply, and forsakes the counsel of the elderly which they counseled him,

14 But giving them the answer put forward by the young men, saying, My father made your yoke hard, but I will make it harder; my father gave you punishment with whips, but I will give it with snakes.

and speaks to them, according to the counsel of the boys, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, and I add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, and I discipline you with scorpions”;

15 So the king did not give ear to the people; and this came about by the purpose of the Lord, so that what he had said by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam, son of Nebat, might be effected.

and the king did not listen to the people, for the revolution was from YHWH, in order to establish His word that YHWH spoke by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

16 And when all Israel saw that the king would give no attention to them, the people in answer said to the king, What part have we in David? what is our heritage in the son of Jesse? to your tents, O Israel; now see to your people, David. So Israel went away to their tents.

And all Israel sees that the king has not listened to them, and the people send the king back word, saying, “What portion do we have in David? Indeed, there is no inheritance in the son of Jesse; [return] to your tents, O Israel; now see your house, O David!” And Israel goes to its tents.

17 (But Rehoboam was still king over those of the children of Israel who were living in the towns of Judah.)

As for the sons of Israel, those dwelling in the cities of Judah—Rehoboam reigns over them.

18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, the overseer of the forced work; and he was stoned to death by all Israel. And King Rehoboam went quickly and got into his carriage to go in flight to Jerusalem.

And King Rehoboam sends Adoram who [is] over the tribute, and all Israel casts stones at him, and he dies; and King Rehoboam has strengthened himself to go up into a chariot to flee to Jerusalem;

19 So Israel was turned away from the family of David to this day.

and Israel transgresses against the house of David to this day.

20 Now when all Israel had news that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him to come before the meeting of the people, and made him king over Israel: not one of them was joined to the family of David but only the tribe of Judah.

And it comes to pass, at all Israel hearing that Jeroboam has returned, that they send and call him to the congregation, and cause him to reign over all Israel; none has been after the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.

21 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he got together all the men of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand of his best fighting-men, to make war against Israel and get the kingdom back for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.

And Rehoboam comes to Jerusalem, and assembles all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors, to fight with the house of Israel, to bring back the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.

22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying,

And the word of God is to Shemaiah a man of God, saying,

23 Say to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the men of Judah and Benjamin and the rest of the people:

“Speak to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, saying,

24 The Lord has said, You are not to go to war against your brothers, the children of Israel; go back, every man to his house, because this thing is my purpose. So they gave ear to the word of the Lord, and went back, as the Lord had said.

Thus said YHWH: You do not go up nor fight with your brothers the sons of Israel; let each return to his house, for this thing has been from Me”; and they hear the word of YHWH, and turn back to go according to the word of YHWH.

25 Then Jeroboam made the town of Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim a strong place, and was living there; and from there he went out and did the same to Penuel.

And Jeroboam builds Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and dwells in it, and goes out there, and builds Penuel;

26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom will go back to the family of David:

and Jeroboam says in his heart, “Now the kingdom turns back to the house of David—

27 If the people go up to make offerings in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, their heart will be turned again to their lord, to Rehoboam, king of Judah; and they will put me to death and go back to Rehoboam, king of Judah.

if this people goes up to make sacrifices in the house of YHWH in Jerusalem, then the heart of this people has turned back to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they have slain me, and turned back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

28 So after taking thought the king made two oxen of gold; and he said to the people, You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough; see! these are your gods, O Israel, who took you out of the land of Egypt.

And the king takes counsel, and makes two calves of gold, and says to them, “Enough of you from going up to Jerusalem; behold, your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

29 And he put one in Beth-el and the other in Dan.

And he sets the one in Beth-El, and the other he has put in Dan,

30 And this became a sin in Israel; for the people went to give worship to the one at Beth-el, and to the other at Dan.

and this thing becomes a sin, and the people go before the one—to Dan.

31 And he made places for worship at the high places, and made priests, who were not Levites, from among all the people.

And he makes the house of high places, and makes priests from the extremities of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi;

32 And Jeroboam gave orders for a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is kept in Judah, and he went up to the altar. And in the same way, in Beth-el, he gave offerings to the oxen which he had made, placing in Beth-el the priests of the high places he had made.

and Jeroboam makes a festival in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival that [is] in Judah, and he offers on the altar—so he did in Beth-El—to sacrifice to the calves which he made, and he has appointed in Beth-El the priests of the high places that he made.

33 He went up to the altar he had made in Beth-el on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the month fixed by him at his pleasure; and he gave orders for a feast for the people of Israel, and went up to the altar, and there he made the smoke of his offerings go up.

And he offers up on the altar that he made in Beth-El, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month that he devised from his own heart, and he makes a festival for the sons of Israel, and offers on the altar—to make incense.