1 Kings 12
1 Rehoboam went to Shechem because that is where the whole of Israel had gone to make him king.
Venit autem Roboam in Sichem: illuc enim congregatus erat omnis Israël ad constituendum eum regem.
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.)
At vero Jeroboam filius Nabat, cum adhuc esset in Ægypto profugus a facie regis Salomonis, audita morte ejus, reversus est de Ægypto.
3 The Israelite leaders sent for him. Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israelites went to talk with Rehoboam.
Miseruntque et vocaverunt eum: venit ergo Jeroboam, et omnis multitudo Israël, et locuti sunt ad Roboam, dicentes:
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.”
Pater tuus durissimum jugum imposuit nobis: tu itaque nunc imminue paululum de imperio patris tui durissimo, et de jugo gravissimo quod imposuit nobis, et serviemus tibi.
5 Rehoboam answered, “Go away and come back in three days time.” So the people left.
Qui ait eis: Ite usque ad tertium diem, et revertimini ad me. Cumque abiisset populus,
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.
iniit consilium rex Roboam cum senioribus qui assistebant coram Salomone patre ejus cum adhuc viveret, et ait: Quod datis mihi consilium, ut respondeam populo huic?
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.”
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 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.
Qui dereliquit consilium senum, quod dederant ei, et adhibuit adolescentes, qui nutriti fuerant cum eo, et assistebant illi,
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’?”
dixitque ad eos: Quod mihi datis consilium, ut respondeam populo huic, qui dixerunt mihi: Levius fac jugum quod imposuit pater tuus super nos?
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!
Et dixerunt ei juvenes qui nutriti fuerant cum eo: Sic loqueris populo huic, qui locuti sunt ad te, dicentes: Pater tuus aggravavit jugum nostrum: tu releva nos. Sic loqueris ad eos: Minimus digitus meus grossior est dorso patris mei.
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.’”
Et nunc pater meus posuit super vos jugum grave, ego autem addam super jugum vestrum: pater meus cecidit vos flagellis, ego autem cædam vos scorpionibus.
12 Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, because the king had told them, “Come back in three days time.”
Venit ergo Jeroboam et omnis populus ad Roboam die tertia, sicut locutus fuerat rex, dicens: Revertimini ad me die tertia.
13 The king answered the people sharply. Dismissing the advice of the elders,
Responditque rex populo dura, derelicto consilio seniorum quod ei dederant,
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.”
et locutus est eis secundum consilium juvenum, dicens: Pater meus aggravavit jugum vestrum, ego autem addam jugo vestro: pater meus cecidit vos flagellis, ego autem cædam vos scorpionibus.
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.
Et non acquievit rex populo: quoniam aversatus fuerat eum Dominus, ut suscitaret verbum suum quod locutus fuerat in manu Ahiæ Silonitæ, ad Jeroboam filium 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.
Videns itaque populus quod noluisset eos audire rex, respondit ei dicens: Quæ nobis pars in David? vel quæ hæreditas in filio Isai? vade in tabernacula tua, Israël: nunc vide domum tuam, David. Et abiit Israël in tabernacula sua.
17 However, Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites who lived in Judah.
Super filios autem Israël, quicumque habitabant in civitatibus Juda, regnavit Roboam.
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.
Misit ergo rex Roboam Aduram, qui erat super tributa: et lapidavit eum omnis Israël, et mortuus est. Porro rex Roboam festinus ascendit currum, et fugit in Jerusalem:
19 As a result, Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
recessitque Israël a domo David usque in præsentem diem.
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.
Factum est autem cum audisset omnis Israël quod reversus esset Jeroboam, miserunt, et vocaverunt eum congregato cœtu, et constituerunt eum regem super omnem Israël: nec secutus est quisquam domum David præter tribum Juda solam.
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.
Venit autem Roboam Jerusalem, et congregavit universam domum Juda, et tribum Benjamin, centum octoginta millia electorum virorum bellatorum, ut pugnarent contra domum Israël, et reducerent regnum Roboam filio Salomonis.
22 But a message from the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God that said,
Factus est autem sermo Domini ad Semeiam virum Dei, dicens:
23 “Tell Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah, to Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people:
Loquere ad Roboam filium Salomonis regem Juda, et ad omnem domum Juda, et Benjamin, et reliquos de populo, dicens:
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.
Hæc dicit Dominus: Non ascendetis, neque bellabitis contra fratres vestros filios Israël: revertatur vir in domum suam: a me enim factum est verbum hoc. Audierunt sermonem Domini, et reversi sunt de itinere, sicut eis præceperat Dominus.
25 Jeroboam strengthened the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went and built Penuel.
Ædificavit autem Jeroboam Sichem in monte Ephraim, et habitavit ibi: et egressus inde ædificavit Phanuel.
26 Jeroboam said to himself, “The kingdom could easily return to the house of David.
Dixitque Jeroboam in corde suo: Nunc revertetur regnum ad domum 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.”
si ascenderit populus iste ut faciat sacrificia in domo Domini in Jerusalem: et convertetur cor populi hujus ad dominum suum Roboam regem Juda, interficientque me, et revertentur ad eum.
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.”
Et excogitato consilio fecit duos vitulos aureos, et dixit eis: Nolite ultra ascendere in Jerusalem: ecce dii tui Israël, qui te eduxerunt de terra Ægypti.
29 He placed one in Bethel, and the other in Dan.
Posuitque unum in Bethel, et alterum in Dan:
30 This action brought about sin, because the people went as far north as Dan to worship the idol there.
et factum est verbum hoc in peccatum: ibat enim populus ad adorandum vitulum usque in Dan.
31 In addition Jeroboam had shrines built on high places and appointed as priests all kinds of people who were not Levites.
Et fecit fana in excelsis, et sacerdotes de extremis populi, qui non erant de filiis 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.
Constituitque diem solemnem in mense octavo, quintadecima die mensis, in similitudinem solemnitatis quæ celebrabatur in Juda. Et ascendens altare, similiter fecit in Bethel, ut immolaret vitulis quos fabricatus fuerat: constituitque in Bethel sacerdotes excelsorum quæ fecerat.
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.
Et ascendit super altare quod exstruxerat in Bethel, quintadecima die mensis octavi, quem finxerat de corde suo: et fecit solemnitatem filiis Israël, et ascendit super altare, ut adoleret incensum.
