1 Kings 12

1 And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither were all Israel come together to make him king.

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel was coming to Shechem to make him king.

2 But Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who was yet in Egypt, a fugitive from the face of king Solomon, hearing of his death, returned out of Egypt.

It happened that Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of this (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), for Jeroboam had settled down in Egypt.

3 And they sent and called him: and Jeroboam came, and all the multitude of Israel, and they spoke to Roboam, saying:

So they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam,

4 Thy father laid a grievous yoke upon us: now therefore do thou take off a little of the grievous service of thy father, and of his most heavy yoke, which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now make lighter the hard work of your father and make lighter the heavy yoke that he put on us, and we will serve you.”

5 And he said to them: Go till the third day, and come to me again. And when the people was gone,

Rehoboam said to them, “Go away for three days, then come back to me.” So the people went away.

6 King Roboam took counsel with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and he said: What counsel do you give me, that I may answer this people?

King Rehoboam consulted with the old men who had stood before Solomon his father while he was alive, and he said, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”

7 They said to him: If thou wilt yield to this people today, and condescend to them, and grant their petition, and wilt speak gentle words to them, they will be thy servants always.

They spoke to him and said, “If you will be a servant today to these people and serve them, and answer them by saying good words to them, then they will always be your servants.”

8 But he left the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men, that had been brought up with him, and stood before him.

But Rehoboam ignored the advice that the old men had given him and he consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him.

9 And he said to them: What counsel do you give me, that I may answer this people, who have said to me: Make the yoke which thy father put upon us lighter?

He said to them, “What advice do you give me that we may answer the people who spoke to me and said, 'Lighten the yoke that your father put on us'?”

10 And the young men that had been brought up with him, said: Thus shalt thou speak to this people, who have spoken to thee, saying: Thy father made our yoke heavy, do thou ease us. Thou shalt say to them: My little finger is thicker than the back of my father.

The young men who had grown up with Rehoboam spoke to him, saying, “Speak to these people who told you that your father Solomon made their yoke heavy but that you must make it lighter. You should say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.

11 And now my father put a, heavy yoke upon you, but I will add to your yoke: my father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.

So now, although my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.'”

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Roboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying: Come to me again the third day.

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had instructed when he said, “Come back to me on the third day.”

13 And the king answered the people roughly, leaving the counsel of the old men, which they had given him,

The king answered the people roughly and ignored the advice of the old men that they had given him.

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

He spoke to them following the advice of the young men; he said, “My father burdened you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.”

15 And the king condescended not to the people: for the Lord was turned away from him, to make good his word, which he had spoken in the hand of Ahias the Silonite, to Jeroboam the son of Nabat.

So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of events brought about by Yahweh, that he might carry out his word that he had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

16 Then the people seeing that the king would not hearken to them, answered him, saying: What portion have we in David? or what inheritance in the son of Isai? Go home to thy dwellings, O Israel, now David look to thy own house. So Israel departed to their dwellings.

When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered him and said, “What share do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse! Go to your tents, Israel. Now see to your own house, David.” So Israel went back to their tents.

17 But as for all the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Juda, Roboam reigned over them.

But as for the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam became king over them.

18 Then king Roboam sent Aduram, who was over the tribute: and all Israel stoned him, and he died. Wherefore king Roboam made haste to get him up into his chariot, and he fled to Jerusalem:

Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was over the forced laborers, but all Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam fled quickly in his chariot to Jerusalem.

19 And Israel revolted from the house of David, unto this day.

So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

20 And it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they gathered an assembly, and sent and called him, and made him king over all Israel, and there was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Juda only.

It happened that when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to their assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was no one who followed the family of David, except only the tribe of Judah.

21 And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and gathered together all the house of Juda, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred four-score thousand chosen men for war, to fight against the house of Israel and to bring the kingdom again under Roboam the son of Solomon.

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin; there were 180,000 chosen men who were soldiers, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.

22 But the word of the Lord came to Semeias the man of God, saying:

But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God; it said,

23 Speak to Roboam the son of Solomon, the king of Juda, and to all the house of Juda, and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, saying:

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

24 Thus saith the Lord: You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: let every man return to his house, for this thing is from me. They hearkened to the word of the Lord, and returned from their journey, as the Lord had commanded them.

'Yahweh says this: You must not attack or fight against your brothers the people of Israel. Each man must return to his home, for this thing has been made to happen by me.'” So they listened to the word of Yahweh and turned back and went their way, and they obeyed his word.

25 And Jeroboam built Sichem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt there, and going out from thence he built Phanuel.

Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there. He went out from there and built Peniel.

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

Jeroboam thought in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.

27 If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem: and the heart of this people will turn to their lord Roboam the king of Juda, and they will kill me, and return to him.

If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of Yahweh at Jerusalem, then the heart of these people will turn again to their master, to Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

28 And finding out a device he made two golden calves, and said to them: Go ye up no more to Jerusalem: Behold thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

So King Jeroboam sought advice and made two calves of gold; he said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look, these are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

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

He set up one in Bethel and the other in Dan.

30 And this thing became an occasion of sin: for the people went to adore the calf as far as Dan.

So this act became a sin. The people went to one or the other, all the way to Dan.

31 And he made temples in the high places, and priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

Jeroboam made houses on high places and he also made priests from among all the people, who were not among the sons of Levi.

32 And he appointed a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, after the manner of the feast that was celebrated in Juda. And going up to the altar, he did in like manner in Bethel, to sacrifice to the calves, which he had made: and he placed in Bethel priests of the high places, which he had made.

Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar. He did so at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made, and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places he had made.

33 And he went up to the altar, which he had built in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, which he had devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast to the children of Israel, and went upon the altar to burn incense.

Jeroboam went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month he had planned in his own mind; he ordained a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense.