1 Kings 12

1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem; for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

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

2 And it came to pass when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (now he was yet in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;

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;

3 and they sent and called him), that Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

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

4 Thy father made our yoke grievous; and now lighten thou the grievous servitude of thy father and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

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.

5 And he said to them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.

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

6 And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, How do ye advise to return answer to this people?

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?

7 And they spoke to him saying, If this day thou wilt be a servant to this people, and wilt serve them and answer them and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants for ever.

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.

8 But he forsook the advice of the old men which they had given him, and consulted with the young men, who had grown up with him, that stood before him.

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:

9 And he said to them, What advice give ye that we may return answer to this people who have spoken to me saying, Lighten the yoke which thy father put upon us?

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?

10 And the young men that had grown up with him spoke to him saying, Thus shalt thou say to this people that have spoken to thee saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, and lighten thou it for us, — thus shalt thou say to them: My little [finger] is thicker than my father's loins;

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;

11 and whereas my father laid a heavy yoke upon you, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

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.

12 And Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed saying, Come again to me on the third day.

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.

13 And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the advice of the old men which they had given him;

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

14 and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

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.

15 So the king hearkened not to the people; for it was brought about by Jehovah, that he might give effect to his word, which Jehovah spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

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.

16 And all Israel saw that the king hearkened not to them; and the people answered the king saying, What portion have we in David? And [we have] no inheritance in the son of Jesse: To your tents, O Israel! Now see to thine own house, David! And Israel went to their tents.

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.

17 But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

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

18 And king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the levy; but all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. And king Rehoboam hastened to mount his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

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.

19 And Israel rebelled against the house of David, unto this day.

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

20 And it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, that they sent and called him to the assembly, and made him king over all Israel: none followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

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.

21 And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem; and he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men apt for war, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

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.

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

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

23 Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remainder of the people, saying,

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:

24 Thus saith Jehovah: Go not up, nor fight with your brethren, the children of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing is from me. And they hearkened to the word of Jehovah, and returned to depart, according to the word of Jehovah.

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.

25 And Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.

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.

26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David.

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

27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.

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.

28 And the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. And he said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!

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.

29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

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

30 And this thing became a sin; and the people went [to worship] before the one, as far as Dan.

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.

31 And he made a house of high places, and made priests from all classes of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

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

32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made; and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.

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.

33 And he offered upon the altar that he had made in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and he made a feast for the children of Israel, and he offered upon the altar, burning incense.

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.