12:1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king.
12:2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt.
12:3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him:
12:4 “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.”
12:5 Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.
12:6 Then 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.
12:7 They 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.”
12:8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.
12:9 He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”
12:10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, “Tell these people who have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter’–tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.
12:11 My 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.’”
12:12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.”
12:13 The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders,
12:14 he 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.”
12:15 So 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.
12:16 When 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, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home.
12:17 But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.
12:18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, 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.
12:19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
12:20 When 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.
12:21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin–a hundred and eighty thousand fighting men–to make war against the house of Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.
12:22 But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God:
12:23 “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people,
12:24 ‘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.
12:25 Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.
12:26 Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David.
12:27 If 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.”
12:28 After 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, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
12:29 One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.
12:30 And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to worship the one there.
12:31 Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites.
12:32 He 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.
12:33 On 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.
12:1 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
12:2 And when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon; and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;
12:3 And they sent word to him and called him), Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
12:4 Your father made our yoke hard. Now therefore make the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke that he put upon us lighter, and we will serve you.
12:5 And he said to them, Go away for another three days, then return to me. And the people went away.
12:6 Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the elders who attended Solomon his father while he was alive, saying, What counsel do you give me to return as an answer to this people?
12:7 And they spoke to him, saying, If today you will be a servant to this people and serve them and answer them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants always.
12:8 But he forsook the counsel of the elders with which they counseled him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who attended him.
12:9 And he said to them, What counsel do you give me that we may return an answer to this people who have spoken to me, saying, Lighten the yoke that your father put upon us?
12:10 And the young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, Thus shall you say to this people who have spoken to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must make it lighter on us; thus shall you speak to them, My little finger is thicker than my father s loins.
12:11 And now, whereas my father laid a heavy yoke upon you, I will increase your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
12:12 And Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had spoken, saying, Return to me on the third day.
12:13 And the king answered the people harshly; and he forsook the counsel of the elders that they had given him
12:14 And spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will increase your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
12:15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was of Jehovah that He might establish His word which Jehovah had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
12:16 And when all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people returned an answer to the king, saying, What portion do we have in David? Neither do we have an inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel. Now see to your own house, O David. And Israel went to their tents.
12:17 But as for the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
12:18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to get up into his chariot and flee to Jerusalem.
12:19 So Israel has rebelled against the house of David until this day.
12:20 And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent word to him and called him to the assembly; and they made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.
12:21 And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he gathered all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand choice warriors, to wage war with the house of Israel in order to return the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
12:22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
12:23 Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, the king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the rest of the people, saying,
12:24 Thus says Jehovah, You shall not go up and wage war with your brothers the children of Israel. Every man return to his house; for this matter is of Me. So they listened to the word of Jehovah and returned and went their way according to the word of Jehovah.
12:25 Then Jeroboam built up Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and he dwelt in it; and he went forth from there and built up Penuel.
12:26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.
12:27 If this people go up to make sacrifices in the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, the heart of this people will return to their lord, to Rehoboam the king of Judah; and they will slay me and return to Rehoboam the king of Judah.
12:28 And the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!
12:29 And he set one in Bethel, and he put the other one in Dan.
12:30 And this thing became a sin; and the people went to worship the one as far as Dan.
12:31 And he made a house of high places and appointed priests from among the people who were not from the sons of Levi.
12:32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; he did likewise at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.
12:33 And he went up to the altar that he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day, in the eighth month, that is, the month he had devised in his own heart; and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense.