2 Chronicles 10
1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all the Israelites had gone to Shechem to make him king.
And Roboam came to Sychem: for all Israel came to Sychem 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.)
And it came to pass when Jeroboam the son of Nabat heard [it], (now he was in Egypt, forasmuch as he had fled there from the face of king Solomon, and Jeroboam lived in Egypt, ) that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.
3 The Israelite leaders sent for him. Jereboam and all the Israelites went to talk with Rehoboam.
And they sent and called him: and Jeroboam and all the congregation came to Roboam, saying,
4 “Your father placed a heavy burden on us,” they told him. “But now if you lighten the load your father imposed and the heavy demands he laid on us, we will serve you.”
Your father made our yoke grievous: now then abate [somewhat] of your father's grievous rule, and of his heavy yoke which he put upon us, and we will serve you.
5 Rehoboam answered, “Come back in three days time.” So the people left.
And he said to them, Go away for three days, and [then] come to me. So the people 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 king Roboam assembled the elders that stood before his father Solomon in his life-time, saying, How do you counsel [me] to return an answer to this people?
7 They replied, “If you treat these people well, and please them by speaking kindly to them, they will always serve you.”
And they spoke to him, saying, If you would this day befriend this people, and be kind to them, and speak to them good words, then will they be your servants for ever.
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 advice of the old men, who took counsel with him, and he took counsel with the young men who had been brought up with him, who stood before him.
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 do you advise that I should answer this people, who spoke to me, saying, Ease [somewhat] of the yoke which your father laid 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 that had been brought up with him spoke to him, saying, Thus shall you speak to the people that spoke to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, and do you lighten [somewhat of it] from us; thus shall you say, 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 chastised you with a heavy yoke, I will also add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, and 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 Jeroboam and all the people came to Roboam on the third day, as the king had spoken, saying, Return to me on the third day.
13 The king answered them sharply. Dismissing the advice of the elders,
And the king answered harshly; and king Roboam forsook the counsel of the old men,
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 spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it: 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 God, to fulfill what Lord had told Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
And the king listened not to the people, for there was a change [of their minds] from God, saying, The Lord has confirmed his word, which he spoke by the hand of Achia the Selonite concerning Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and [concerning] all Israel;
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.
for the king did not listen to them. And the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David, or inheritance in the son of Jessae? to your tents, O Israel: now see to your own house, David. So all Israel went to their tents.
17 However, Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites who lived in Judah.
But the men of Israel, even those who lived in the cities of Juda, [remained] and made Roboam king over them.
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 king Roboam sent to them Adoniram that was over the tribute; and the children of Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. And king Roboam hasted to mount [his] chariot, 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.
