1 Kings 12

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

And Rehoboam goes to Shechem, for all Israel has come to Shechem 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.)

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

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 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.”

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

And he says to them, “Yet go [for] three days, and come back to me”; and the people go.

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.

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 are a servant to these people today, if you serve them and answer them, by speaking kindly to them, they will always serve you.”

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 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.

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, because the king had told them, “Come back in three days time.”

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 answered the people sharply. Dismissing the advice of the elders,

And the king answers the people sharply, and forsakes the counsel of the elderly which they counseled 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 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 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 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 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.

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

As for the sons of Israel, those dwelling in the cities of Judah—Rehoboam reigns 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.

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

and Israel transgresses against the house of David to 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 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 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 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 a message from the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God that said,

And the word of God is to Shemaiah a 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 Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah 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 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 Jeroboam strengthened the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went and built Penuel.

And Jeroboam builds Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and dwells in it, and goes out there, and builds Penuel;

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

and Jeroboam says in his heart, “Now the kingdom turns back 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 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 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 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 placed one in Bethel, and the other in Dan.

And he sets the one in Beth-El, and the other he has put 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 becomes a sin, and the people go before the one—to 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 makes the house of high places, and makes priests from the extremities 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 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 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 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.