1 Kings 12
1 All [HYP] the people of [northern] Israel went to Shechem [city] in order to appoint Rehoboam to be their king. So Rehoboam also went there.
And Rehoboam goes to Shechem, for all Israel has come to Shechem to make him king.
2 When Jeroboam, who was still in Egypt, heard about that, he returned from Egypt [to Israel].
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 The [leaders of the northern tribes] summoned him, and they went together [to talk] to Rehoboam. They said to him,
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 [Solomon] forced us to work very hard [MET] for him. If you (lighten these loads/do not force us to work that hard), and if you charge us less taxes than we were paying to him, we will serve you [faithfully].”
“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 He replied, “Go away, and come back three days from now [and I will give you my answer].” So those leaders and Jeroboam left.
And he says to them, “Yet go [for] three days, and come back to me”; and the people go.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the older men who had advised his father Solomon while he was still living. He asked them, “What shall I say to answer those men?”
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 They replied, “If you want to serve your people well, speak kindly to those men when you reply to them. If you do that, your people will always serve you faithfully.”
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 ignored what the older men advised him to do. Instead, he consulted the younger men who had grown up with him, who were now (his advisors/the ones who told him what would be good to do).
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 He said to them, “What should I say to the men who are asking me to reduce the [work and taxes] that my father required from them?”
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 They replied, “This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.
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 What I mean is that my father required you [to work hard and pay high taxes]. But I will make those loads heavier. [It was as though] my father whipped you, but [it will be as though] I will whip you with whips that have pieces of metal in them.’”
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 three days later, Jeroboam and all the leaders came to Rehoboam again, as he had told them to do.
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 The king ignored the advice of the older men and spoke harshly to the Israeli leaders.
And the king answers the people sharply, and forsakes the counsel of the elderly which they counseled him,
14 [He told them what the younger men had advised.] He said, “My father put heavy burdens [of work and taxes] on you, but I will put heavier burdens on you. [It was as though] he beat you with whips, but I will beat you with whips that have pieces of metal in them!”
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 pay any attention to the Israeli leaders. But this happened in order that what Yahweh wanted would occur, what he had told the prophet Ahijah about Jeroboam [becoming king of the ten tribes].
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 When the Israeli leaders realized that the king did not pay any attention to what they said, they shouted, “We do not [RHQ] want anything to do with this descendant of King David! We will not pay attention to what this grandson of Jesse says! You people of Israel, let’s go home! As for this descendant of David [MTY], he can rule his own kingdom [MTY]!” So the Israeli leaders returned to their homes.
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 And [after that, ] the [only Israeli] people whom Rehoboam ruled over were those who lived in the territory of [the tribe 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 [to talk to the Israeli people]. Adoniram was the man who supervised [all the men who were] forced to work [for Rehoboam]. But the Israeli people killed him by throwing stones at him. When that happened, King Rehoboam quickly got in his chariot and escaped 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 Ever since that time, the people of [the northern tribes of] Israel have been rebelling against the descendants [MTY] of [King] David.
and Israel transgresses against the house of David to this day.
20 When the Israeli people heard that Jeroboam had returned [from Egypt], they invited him to come to a meeting, and there they appointed him to be the king of Israel. Only the people of the tribes of Judah [and Benjamin] continued to be loyal to [the kings descended from King] [MTY] David.
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 arrived in Jerusalem, he gathered 180,000 of the best soldiers from the tribes [MTY] of Judah and Benjamin. He wanted them to fight against the northern tribes of [MTY] Israel [and defeat them], in order that he could [rule all the tribes of] his kingdom again.
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 God spoke to the prophet Shemaiah and said this to him:
And the word of God is to Shemaiah a man of God, saying,
23 “Go and tell this to [Solomon’s son] Rehoboam, the king of Judah, and to all the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and the people from the northern tribe who live in Judah:
“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 ‘Yahweh says that you must not go to fight against your own relatives, the people of Israel. All of you must go home. What has happened is what Yahweh wanted to happen.’” [So Shemaiah went and told that to them, ] and they all paid attention to what Yahweh had commanded them to do, and they went home.
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’s workers built [walls around] Shechem [city] in the hilly area [where the descendants] of Ephraim [lived], and he ruled from there for a while. He and his workers then left there and went to Peniel [town], and they built walls around that town.
And Jeroboam builds Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and dwells in it, and goes out there, and builds Penuel;
26 Then Jeroboam said to himself, “If my people [continue to] go to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices to Yahweh at the temple there, soon they will again become loyal to Rehoboam, the king of Judah [DOU], and they will kill me.”
and Jeroboam says in his heart, “Now the kingdom turns back to the house of David—
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 he consulted [his advisors, and then he did what they suggested]. He [told his workers to] make gold [statues of] two calves. Then he said to the people, “You have been going to Jerusalem [to worship] for a long time. It is a big trouble for you to continue going there. You people of Israel, look! These statues are the gods that brought our [ancestors] up from Egypt! [So you can worship these, here!]”
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 He [told his workers to] place one of the statues in Bethel [city in the south] and one in Dan [city in the north].
And he sets the one in Beth-El, and the other he has put in Dan,
30 So [what Jeroboam did caused] the people [to] sin. Some of them went and worshiped the calf at Bethel, and others went and worshiped the other calf at Dan.
and this thing becomes a sin, and the people go before the one—to Dan.
31 [Moses had declared that only men from the tribe of Levi would be priests, but] Jeroboam also told his workers to build shrines on hilltops, and then he appointed men who were not from the tribe of Levi to be priests.
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 He also appointed Adonijah and two priests, Elishama and Jehoram. They had a celebration at the end of October, like the celebration [of Living in Temporary Shelters] that occurred in Judah [each year]. On the altar [that they built] in Bethel, he offered sacrifices to the gold statues of calves that they had made, and he stationed the priests there at the shrines that his workers had built.
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 Jeroboam went up to that altar on that day in October which he himself had chosen. There on that altar he burned incense [to be a sacrifice]. And he declared that the people should celebrate that festival [on that same day every year].
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.
