2 Chronicles 10
1 And Rehoboam goeth to Shechem, for [to] Shechem have all Israel come to cause him to reign.
All the people of Israel went to Shechem [city] in order to appoint Rehoboam to be their king. So Rehoboam also went there.
2 And it cometh to pass, at Jeroboam son of Nebat's — who [is] in Egypt because he hath fled from the face of Solomon the king — hearing, that Jeroboam turneth back out of Egypt;
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had fled to Egypt [to escape] from King Solomon. But when he heard [about the people wanting to appoint Rehoboam to be their king], he returned [to Israel] from Egypt
3 and they send and call for him, and Jeroboam cometh in, and all Israel, and speak unto Rehoboam, saying,
So the [leaders of the northern tribes] summoned him, and he went with them [to talk] to Rehoboam. They said to Rehoboam,
4 'Thy father made our yoke sharp, and now, make light [somewhat] of the sharp service of thy father, and of his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we serve thee.'
“Your father [Solomon] forced us to work very hard for him. If you 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].”
5 And he saith unto them, 'Yet three days — then return ye unto me;' and the people go.
He replied, “Come back three days from now [and I will give you my answer].” So those leaders [and Jeroboam] left.
6 And king Rehoboam consulteth with the aged men who have been standing before Solomon his father in his being alive, saying, 'How are ye counselling to answer this people?'
Then King Rehoboam consulted his older men who had advised his father Solomon while he was still alive. He asked them, “What shall I say to answer these men?”
7 And they speak unto him, saying, 'If thou dost become good to this people, and hast been pleased with them, and spoken unto them good words, then they have been to thee servants all the days.'
They replied, “If you will be kind to these people and do things that will please them, and if you say kind things to them when you answer them, they will always serve you.”
8 And he forsaketh the counsel of the aged men that they counselled him, and consulteth with the lads who have grown up with him, those standing before him,
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.
9 and he saith unto them, 'What are ye counselling, and we answer this people that have spoken unto me, saying, Make light [somewhat] of the yoke that thy father put upon us?'
He said to them, “How should I answer the men who are asking me to reduce the [work and taxes] that my father required from them?”
10 And the lads who have grown up with him, speak with him, saying, 'Thus dost thou say to the people who have spoken unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, and thou, make light [somewhat] of our yoke; thus dost thou say unto them, My little finger is thicker than the loins of my father;
The young men who had grown up with him replied, “[Those men] have said that your father forced them to work very hard for him, so they want you to reduce the [work and taxes] that your father required from them. But this is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.
11 and now, my father laid on you a heavy yoke, and I — I add unto your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, and I — with scorpions.'
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 I will whip you with whips that have pieces of metal in them.’”
12 And Jeroboam cometh in, and all the people, unto Rehoboam on the third day, as the king spake, saying, 'Return unto me on the third day.'
Three days later, Jeroboam and all the leaders came to King Rehoboam again, which is what he had told them to do.
13 And the king answereth them sharply, and king Rehoboam forsaketh the counsel of the aged men,
The king ignored the advice of the older men and spoke harshly to the Israeli leaders.
14 and speaketh unto them according to the counsel of the lads, saying, 'My father made your yoke heavy, and I — I add unto it; my father chastised you with whips, and I — with scorpions.'
[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!”
15 And the king hath not hearkened unto the people, for the revolution hath been from God, for the sake of Jehovah's establishing His word that He spake by the hand of Abijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam son of Nebat.
So the king did not pay any attention to the Israeli leaders. But this happened in order that what Yahweh had told the prophet Ahijah about Jeroboam would happen.
16 And all Israel have seen that the king hath not hearkened to them, and the people send back [to] the king, saying, 'What portion have we in David? yea, there is no inheritance in a son of Jesse; each to thy tents, O Israel; now, see thy house — David,' and all Israel go to their tents.
When the Israeli leaders realized that the king did not pay any attention to what they said, they shouted, “We do not 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, he can rule his own kingdom!” So the Israeli leaders returned to their homes.
17 As to the sons of Israel who are dwelling in the cities of Judah — Rehoboam reigneth over them.
And [after that, the only Israeli] people whom Rehoboam ruled over were those who lived in the territory of [the tribes of] Judah [and Benjamin].
18 And king Rehoboam sendeth Hadoram, who [is] over the tribute, and the sons of Israel cast at him stones, and he dieth; and king Rehoboam hath strengthened himself to go up into a chariot to flee to Jerusalem;
Then King Rehoboam went with 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.
19 and Israel transgress against the house of David unto this day.
Ever since that time, [the people of the northern tribes of] Israel have been rebelling against the descendants of [King] David.
