1 Kings 12

1 Rehoboam went to Shechem because that is where the whole of Israel had gone to make him king.

And king Roboam goes to Sikima; for all Israel were coming to Sikima to make him king.

2 Jeroboam, son of Nebat, was still in Egypt when he heard about this. (He had run away to Egypt to escape from King Solomon and was living there.)

3 The Israelite leaders sent for him. Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israelites went to talk with Rehoboam.

And the people spoke to king Roboam, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy;

4 “Your father placed a heavy burden on us,” they told him. “But now if you lighten the load when we served your father and the heavy demands he put on us, we will serve you.”

but do thou now lighten somewhat of the hard service of thy father, and of his heavy yoke which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

5 Rehoboam answered, “Go away and come back in three days time.” So the people left.

And he said to them, Depart for three days, and return to me. And they departed.

6 King Rehoboam asked for advice from the elders who had served his father Solomon when he was alive. “How do you advise me to reply to these people about this?” he asked.

And the king referred [the matter] to the elders, who stood before Solomon his father while he was yet living, saying, How do ye advise that I should answer this people?

7 They replied, “If you are a servant to these people today, if you serve them and answer them, by speaking kindly to them, they will always serve you.”

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

8 But Rehoboam dismissed the advice of the elders. He instead asked advice from the young men who he had grown up with, and who were close to him.

But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they gave him, and consulted with the young men who were brought up with him, who stood in his presence.

9 He asked them, “What response do you advise that we send back to these people who have told me, ‘Lighten the burden your father put on us’?”

And he said to them, What counsel do ye give? And what shall I answer to this people who speak to me, saying, Lighten somewhat of the yoke which thy father has put upon us?

10 The young men who he had grown up with told him, “This is what you have to tell these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our burden heavy, but you should make it lighter.’ This is what you should answer them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's waist!

And the young men who had been brought up with him, who stood before his face, spoke to him, saying, Thus shalt thou say to this people who have spoken to thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, and do thou now lighten it from off us: thus shalt say to them, My little [finger shall be] thicker than my father's loins.

11 My father placed a heavy burden on you, and I will make it even heavier. My father punished you with whips; I will punish you with scorpions.’”

And whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I also will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

12 Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, because the king had told them, “Come back in three days time.”

And all Israel came to king Roboam on the third day, as the king spoke to them, saying, Return to me on the third day.

13 The king answered the people sharply. Dismissing the advice of the elders,

And the king answered the people harshly; and Roboam forsook the counsel of the old men which they counselled him.

14 he replied using the advice of the young men. He said, “My father placed a heavy burden on you, and I will make it even heavier. My father punished you with whips; I will punish you with scorpions.”

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

15 The king did not listen to what the people said, for this change in circumstances was from the Lord, to fulfill what the Lord had told Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

And the king hearkened not to the people, because the change was from the Lord, that he might establish his word which he spoke by Achia the Selonite concerning Jeroboam the son of Nabat.

16 When all the Israelites saw that the king wasn't listening to them, they told the king: “What share do we have in David, and what part do we have in the son of Jesse? Go home, Israel! You're on your own, house of David!” So all the Israelites went home.

And all Israel saw that the king did not hearken to them: and the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we any inheritance in the son of Jessae. Depart, O Israel, to thy tents: now feed thine own house, David. So Israel departed to his tents.

17 However, Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites who lived in Judah.

18 Then King Rehoboam sent out Hadoram, who was in charge of forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam quickly jumped into his chariot and raced back to Jerusalem.

And the king sent Adoniram who was over the tribute; and they stoned him with stones, and he died: and king Roboam made haste to rise to flee to Jerusalem.

19 As a result, Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

So Israel rebelled against the house of David until this day.

20 When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent for him, summoning him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah was left to the house of David.

And it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned out of Egypt, that they sent and called him to the assembly, and they made him king over Israel: and none followed the house of David except the tribe of Juda and Benjamin only.

21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he gathered the men from the households of Judah and Benjamin— 180,000 chosen warriors—to go and fight against Israel to bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam, son of Solomon.

And Roboam went into Jerusalem, and he assembled the congregation of Juda, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and twenty thousand young men, warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to recover the kingdom to Roboam the son of Solomon.

22 But a message from the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God that said,

And the word of the Lord came to Samaia the man of God, saying,

23 “Tell Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah, to Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people:

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

24 ‘This is what the Lord says. Don't fight against your Israelite relatives. Every one of you, go home! For it was me that made this happen.’” So they obeyed what the Lord told them and went home, as the Lord had said.

Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, neither shall ye fight with your brethren the sons of Israel: return each man to his own home; for this thing is from me; and they hearkened to the word of the Lord, and they ceased from going up, according to the word of the Lord.

25 Jeroboam strengthened the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went and built Penuel.

And Jeroboam built Sikima in mount Ephraim and dwelt in it, and went forth thence and built Phanuel.

26 Jeroboam said to himself, “The kingdom could easily return to the house of David.

And Jeroboam said in his heart, Behold, now the kingdom will return to the house of David.

27 When people from here go to offer sacrifices at the Lord's Temple in Jerusalem, they will transfer their loyalty back to Rehoboam, king of Judah. Then they will kill me and go back to King Rehoboam.”

If this people shall go up to offer sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of the people will return to the Lord, and to their master, to Roboam king of Juda, and they will slay me.

28 So after taking advice, the king had two golden calves made, and he told the people, “Don't bother going to Jerusalem any more. Look, Israel, here are your gods who led you out of the land of Egypt.”

And the king took counsel, and went, and made two golden heifers, and said to the people, Let it suffice you to have gone [hitherto] to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

29 He placed one in Bethel, and the other in Dan.

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

30 This action brought about sin, because the people went as far north as Dan to worship the idol there.

And this thing became a sin; and the people went before one as far as Dan, and left the house of the Lord.

31 In addition Jeroboam had shrines built on high places and appointed as priests all kinds of people who were not Levites.

And he made houses on the high places, and made priests of any part of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

32 Jeroboam initiated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the festival held in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. He made this offering in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made, and appointed priests in Bethel for the high places he had built.

And Jeroboam appointed a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, according to the feast in the land of Juda;

33 So on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month he had chosen himself, Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar he had set up in Bethel. In this way he instituted a festival for the Israelites, offering sacrifices on the altar and burning incense.

and went up to the altar which he made in Baethel to sacrifice to the heifers which he made, and he placed in Baethel the priests of the high places which he had made. And he went up to the altar which he had made, on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, at the feast which he devised out of his own heart; and he made a feast to the children of Israel, and went up to the altar to sacrifice.