I Regum 12
1 Venit autem Roboam in Sichem: illuc enim congregatus erat omnis Israel ad constituendum eum regem.
Rehoboam went to Shechem because that is where the whole of Israel had gone to make him king.
2 At vero Ieroboam filius Nabat, cum adhuc esset in Aegypto profugus a facie regis Salomonis, audita morte eius, reversus est de Aegypto.
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 Miseruntque et vocaverunt eum: venit ergo Ieroboam, et omnis multitudo Israel, et locuti sunt ad Roboam, dicentes:
The Israelite leaders sent for him. Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israelites went to talk with Rehoboam.
4 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.
“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.”
5 Qui ait eis: Ite usque ad tertium diem, et revertimini ad me. Cumque abiisset populus,
Rehoboam answered, “Go away and come back in three days time.” So the people left.
6 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?
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.
7 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.
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.”
8 Qui dereliquit consilium senum, quod dederant ei, et adhibuit adolescentes, qui nutriti fuerant cum eo, et assistebant illi,
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.
9 dixitque ad eos: Quod mihi datis consilium, ut respondeam populo huic, qui dixerunt mihi: Levius fac iugum quod imposuit pater tuus super nos?
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’?”
10 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.
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!
11 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
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.’”
12 Venit ergo Ieroboam, et omnis populus ad Roboam die tertia, sicut locutus fuerat rex, dicens: Revertimini ad me die tertia.
Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, because the king had told them, “Come back in three days time.”
13 Responditque rex populo dura, derelicto consilio seniorum, quod ei dederant,
The king answered the people sharply. Dismissing the advice of the elders,
14 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.
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.”
15 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.
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.
16 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.
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.
17 Super filios autem Israel, quicumque habitabant in civitatibus Iuda, regnavit Roboam.
However, Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites who lived in Judah.
18 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:
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.
19 recessitque Israel a domo David, usque in praesentem diem.
As a result, Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
20 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.
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.
21 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.
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.
22 Factus est autem sermo Domini ad Semeiam virum Dei, dicens:
But a message from the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God that said,
23 Loquere ad Roboam filium Salomonis regem Iuda, et ad omnem domum Iuda, et Beniamin, et reliquos de populo, dicens:
“Tell Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah, to Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people:
24 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.
‘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.
25 Aedificavit autem Ieroboam Sichem in monte Ephraim, et habitavit ibi: et egressus inde aedificavit Phanuel.
Jeroboam strengthened the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went and built Penuel.
26 Dixitque Ieroboam in corde suo: Nunc revertetur regnum ad domum David,
Jeroboam said to himself, “The kingdom could easily return to the house of David.
27 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.
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.”
28 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.
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.”
29 Posuitque unum in Bethel, et alterum in Dan:
He placed one in Bethel, and the other in Dan.
30 et factum est verbum hoc in peccatum: ibat enim populus ad adorandum vitulum usque in Dan.
This action brought about sin, because the people went as far north as Dan to worship the idol there.
31 Et fecit fana in excelsis, et sacerdotes de extremis populi, qui non erant de filiis Levi.
In addition Jeroboam had shrines built on high places and appointed as priests all kinds of people who were not Levites.
32 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.
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.
33 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.
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.
