1 Kings 12
12
Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam
1Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 2When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from#12:2 Or he remained in Egypt. 3So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4“Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
5Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.
6Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.
7They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”
8But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”
10The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’ ”
12Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” 13The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, 14he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” 15So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
16When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:
“What share do we have in David,
what part in Jesse’s son?
To your tents, Israel!
Look after your own house, David!”
So the Israelites went home. 17But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.
18King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram,#12:18 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 4:6 and 5:14); Hebrew Adoram who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 19So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
20When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.
21When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.
22But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: 23“Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 24‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’ ” So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.
Golden Calves at Bethel and Dan
25Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.#12:25 Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel
26Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”
28After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 29One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.#12:30 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text people went to the one as far as Dan
31Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. 32He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. 33On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.
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1 Kings 12: NIV
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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3 Kings 12
12
1And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither were all Israel come together to make him king.
2But 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.
3And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam came, and all the multitude of Israel; and they spoke to Roboam, saying:
4Thy 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.
5And he said to them: Go till the third day, and come to me again. And when the people was gone,
6King 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?
7They said to him: If thou wilt yield to this people to-day, and condescend to them, and grant their petition, and wilt speak gentle words to them, they will be thy servants always.
8But 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.
9And 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?
10And 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.
11And 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.
12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Roboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying: Come to me again the third day.
13And the king answered the people roughly, leaving the counsel of the old men, which they had given him.
14And 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.
15And 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.
16Then 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.
17But as for all the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Juda, Roboam reigned over them.
18Then 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.
19And Israel revolted from the house of David, unto this day.
20And 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.
21And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and gathered together all the house of Juda, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred fourscore thousand chosen men for war, to fight against the house of Israel and to bring the kingdom again under Roboam the son of Solomon.
22But the word of the Lord came to Semeias, the man of God, saying:
23Speak 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:
24Thus 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.
25And Jeroboam built Sichem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt there: and going out from thence he built Phanuel.
26And Jeroboam said in his heart: Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David,
27If 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.
28And 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.
29And he set the one in Bethel, and the other in Dan.
30And this thing became an occasion of sin: for the people went to adore the calf as far as Dan.
31And he made temples in the high places, and priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
32And 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.
33And 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.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.