1 Kings 12

1 Rehoboam went to Shechem because that is where the whole of Israel had gone to make him king.

And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither were all Israel come together 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.)

But Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who was yet in Egypt, a fugitive from the face of king Solomon, hearing of his death, returned out of Egypt.

3 The Israelite leaders sent for him. Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israelites went to talk with Rehoboam.

And they sent and called him: and Jeroboam came, and all the multitude of Israel, and they spoke to Roboam, saying:

4 “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.”

Thy father laid a grievous yoke upon us: now therefore do thou take off a little of the grievous service of thy father, and of his most heavy yoke, which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

5 Rehoboam answered, “Go away and come back in three days time.” So the people left.

And he said to them: Go till the third day, and come to me again. And when the people was gone,

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.

King Roboam took counsel with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and he said: What counsel do you give me, that I may answer this people?

7 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.”

They said to him: If thou wilt yield to this people today, and condescend to them, and grant their petition, and wilt speak gentle words to them, they will be thy servants always.

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 left the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men, that had been brought up with him, and 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 counsel do you give me, that I may answer this people, who have said to me: Make the yoke which thy father put upon us lighter?

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, said: Thus shalt thou speak to this people, who have spoken to thee, saying: Thy father made our yoke heavy, do thou ease us. Thou shalt say to them: My little finger is thicker than the back of my father.

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 now my father put a, heavy yoke upon you, but I will add to your yoke: my father beat you with whips, but I will beat 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.”

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Roboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying: Come to me again the third day.

13 The king answered the people sharply. Dismissing the advice of the elders,

And the king answered the people roughly, leaving the counsel of the old men, which they had given him,

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 he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying: My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: my father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.

15 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.

And the king condescended not to the people: for the Lord was turned away from him, to make good his word, which he had spoken in the hand of Ahias the Silonite, to Jeroboam the son of Nabat.

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.

Then the people seeing that the king would not hearken to them, answered him, saying: What portion have we in David? or what inheritance in the son of Isai? Go home to thy dwellings, O Israel, now David look to thy own house. So Israel departed to their dwellings.

17 However, Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites who lived in Judah.

But as for all the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Juda, Roboam reigned 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.

Then king Roboam sent Aduram, who was over the tribute: and all Israel stoned him, and he died. Wherefore king Roboam made haste to get him up into his chariot, and he fled to Jerusalem:

19 As a result, Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

And Israel revolted from the house of David, unto this day.

20 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.

And it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they gathered an assembly, and sent and called him, and made him king over all Israel, and there was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Juda only.

21 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.

And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and gathered together all the house of Juda, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred four-score thousand chosen men for war, to fight against the house of Israel and to bring the kingdom again under Roboam the son of Solomon.

22 But a message from the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God that said,

But the word of the Lord came to Semeias the man of God, saying:

23 “Tell Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah, to Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people:

Speak to Roboam the son of Solomon, the king of Juda, and to all the house of Juda, and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, saying:

24 ‘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.

Thus saith the Lord: You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: let every man return to his house, for this thing is from me. They hearkened to the word of the Lord, and returned from their journey, as the Lord had commanded them.

25 Jeroboam strengthened the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went and built Penuel.

And Jeroboam built Sichem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt there, and going out from thence he built Phanuel.

26 Jeroboam said to himself, “The kingdom could easily return to the house of David.

And Jeroboam said in his heart: Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David,

27 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.”

If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem: and the heart of this people will turn to their lord Roboam the king of Juda, and they will kill me, and return to him.

28 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.”

And finding out a device he made two golden calves, and said to them: Go ye up no more to Jerusalem: Behold thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

29 He placed one in Bethel, and the other in Dan.

And he set the one in Bethel, and the other in Dan:

30 This action brought about sin, because the people went as far north as Dan to worship the idol there.

And this thing became an occasion of sin: for the people went to adore the calf as far as Dan.

31 In addition Jeroboam had shrines built on high places and appointed as priests all kinds of people who were not Levites.

And he made temples in the high places, and priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

32 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.

And he appointed a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, after the manner of the feast that was celebrated in Juda. And going up to the altar, he did in like manner in Bethel, to sacrifice to the calves, which he had made: and he placed in Bethel priests of the high places, which he had made.

33 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.

And he went up to the altar, which he had built in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, which he had devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast to the children of Israel, and went upon the altar to burn incense.