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.
Venit autem Roboam in Sichem: illuc enim congregatus erat omnis Israel ad constituendum eum regem.
2 When Jeroboam, who was still in Egypt, heard about that, he returned from Egypt [to Israel].
At vero Ieroboam filius Nabat, cum adhuc esset in Aegypto profugus a facie regis Salomonis, audita morte eius, reversus est de Aegypto.
3 The [leaders of the northern tribes] summoned him, and they went together [to talk] to Rehoboam. They said to him,
Miseruntque et vocaverunt eum: venit ergo Ieroboam, et omnis multitudo Israel, et locuti sunt ad Roboam, dicentes:
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].”
Pater tuus durissimum iugum imposuit nobis: tu itaque nunc imminue paululum de imperio patris tui durissimo, et de iugo gravissimo, quod imposuit nobis, et serviemus tibi.
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.
Qui ait eis: Ite usque ad tertium diem, et revertimini ad me. Cumque abiisset populus,
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?”
iniit consilium rex Roboam cum senioribus, qui assistebant coram Salomone patre eius, cum adhuc viveret, et ait: Quod datis mihi consilium, ut respondeam populo huic?
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.”
Qui dixerunt ei: Si hodie obedieris populo huic, et servieris, et petitioni eorum cesseris, locutusque fueris ad eos verba lenia, erunt tibi servi cunctis diebus.
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).
Qui dereliquit consilium senum, quod dederant ei, et adhibuit adolescentes, qui nutriti fuerant cum eo, et assistebant illi,
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?”
dixitque ad eos: Quod mihi datis consilium, ut respondeam populo huic, qui dixerunt mihi: Levius fac iugum quod imposuit pater tuus super nos?
10 They replied, “This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.
Et dixerunt ei iuvenes qui nutriti fuerant cum eo: Sic loqueris populo huic, qui locuti sunt ad te, dicentes: Pater tuus aggravavit iugum nostrum, tu releva nos. Minimus digitus meus grossior est dorso patris mei.
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.’”
Et nunc pater meus posuit super vos iugum grave, ego autem addam super iugum vestrum: pater meus cecidit vos flagellis, ego autem caedam vos scorpionibus
12 So three days later, Jeroboam and all the leaders came to Rehoboam again, as he had told them to do.
Venit ergo Ieroboam, et omnis populus ad Roboam die tertia, sicut locutus fuerat rex, dicens: Revertimini ad me die tertia.
13 The king ignored the advice of the older men and spoke harshly to the Israeli leaders.
Responditque rex populo dura, derelicto consilio seniorum, quod ei dederant,
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!”
et locutus est eis secundum consilium iuvenum, dicens: Pater meus aggravavit iugum vestrum, ego autem addam iugo vestro: pater meus cecidit vos flagellis, ego autem caedam vos scorpionibus.
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].
Et non acquievit rex populo: quoniam aversatus fuerat eum Dominus, ut suscitaret verbum suum, quod locutus fuerat in manu Ahiae Silonitae, ad Ieroboam filium Nabat.
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.
Videns itaque populus quod noluisset eos audire rex, respondit ei dicens: Quae nobis pars in David? vel quae hereditas in filio Isai? Vade in tabernacula tua Israel, nunc vide domum tuam David. Et abiit Israel in tabernacula sua.
17 And [after that, ] the [only Israeli] people whom Rehoboam ruled over were those who lived in the territory of [the tribe of] Judah.
Super filios autem Israel, quicumque habitabant in civitatibus Iuda, regnavit Roboam.
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.
Misit ergo rex Roboam Aduram, qui erat super tributa: et lapidavit eum omnis Israel, et mortuus est. Porro rex Roboam festinus ascendit currum, et fugit in Ierusalem:
19 Ever since that time, the people of [the northern tribes of] Israel have been rebelling against the descendants [MTY] of [King] David.
recessitque Israel a domo David, usque in praesentem diem.
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.
Factum est autem cum audisset omnis Israel, quod reversus esset Ieroboam, miserunt, et vocaverunt eum congregato coetu, et constituerunt eum regem super omnem Israel, nec secutus est quisquam domum David praeter tribum Iuda solam.
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.
Venit autem Roboam Ierusalem, et congregavit universam domum Iuda, et tribum Beniamin, centum octoginta millia electorum virorum et bellatorum, ut pugnarent contra domum Israel, et reducerent regnum Roboam filio Salomonis.
22 But God spoke to the prophet Shemaiah and said this to him:
Factus est autem sermo Domini ad Semeiam virum Dei, dicens:
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:
Loquere ad Roboam filium Salomonis regem Iuda, et ad omnem domum Iuda, et Beniamin, et reliquos de populo, dicens:
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.
Haec dicit Dominus: Non ascendetis, neque bellabitis contra fratres vestros filios Israel: revertatur vir in domum suam, a me enim factum est verbum hoc. Audierunt sermonem Domini, et reversi sunt de itinere sicut eis praeceperat Dominus.
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.
Aedificavit autem Ieroboam Sichem in monte Ephraim, et habitavit ibi: et egressus inde aedificavit Phanuel.
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.”
Dixitque Ieroboam in corde suo: Nunc revertetur regnum ad domum David,
si ascenderit populus iste ut faciat sacrificia in domo Domini in Ierusalem: et convertetur cor populi huius ad dominum suum Roboam regem Iuda, interficientque me, et revertentur ad eum.
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!]”
Et excogitato consilio fecit duos vitulos aureos, et dixit eis: Nolite ultra ascendere in Ierusalem: Ecce dii tui Israel, qui te eduxerunt de Terra Aegypti.
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].
Posuitque unum in Bethel, et alterum 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.
et factum est verbum hoc in peccatum: ibat enim populus ad adorandum vitulum usque in 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.
Et fecit fana in excelsis, et sacerdotes de extremis populi, qui non erant de filiis 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.
Constituitque diem sollemnem in mense octavo, quintadecima die mensis, in similitudinem sollemnitatis, quae celebrabatur in Iuda. Et ascendens altare, similiter fecit in Bethel, ut immolaret vitulis, quos fabricatus fuerat: constituitque in Bethel sacerdotes excelsorum, quae fecerat.
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].
Et ascendit super altare quod extruxerat in Bethel, quintadecima die mensis octavi, quem finxerat de corde suo: et fecit sollemnitatem filiis Israel, et ascendit super altare, ut adoleret incensum.
