1 Kings 12

¹And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.

²And it came to pass, when Jeroboam son of Nebat heard it, he was still in Egypt—for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon, and Jeroboam had been dwelling in Egypt—

³and they sent and called to him, and came Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

⁴“Your father made heavy our yoke, and you now, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke that he put on us—and we will serve you.”

⁵And he said to them, “Depart yet for three days, and come back to me.” And the people departed.

⁶And King Rehoboam counseled with the elders who had been standing before Solomon his father while he still lived, and he said, “How do you counsel me to return an answer to this people?”

⁷And they spoke to him, saying, “If today you will be a servant to this people, and serve them and answer them, and speak to them good words, then they will be servants to you all the days.”

⁸And he rejected the counsel of the elders that they counseled him, and he counseled with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before his face.

⁹And he said to them, “What do you counsel that we should return as an answer to this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten of the yoke that your father put on us’?”

¹⁰And spoke to him the young men who had grown up with him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made heavy our yoke, and you make it lighter on us.’ Thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than the loins of my father.

¹¹And now my father put on you a heavy yoke, and I will add to your yoke. My father scourged you with whips, and I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

¹²And came Jeroboam and all the people to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.”

¹³And the king answered the people harshly, and he rejected the counsel of the elders that they had counseled him.

¹⁴And he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made heavy your yoke, and I will add to your yoke. My father scourged you with whips, and I will scourge you with scorpions.”

¹⁵And the king did not listen to the people, for the turning was from YHWH, that He might fulfill His word that YHWH had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

¹⁶And all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, and the people returned the answer to the king, saying, “What portion have we in David? And there is no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now see to your own house, O David!” And Israel departed to their tents.

¹⁷And the sons of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

¹⁸And King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. And King Rehoboam strengthened himself to go up into a chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

¹⁹And Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, that they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and they made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, except the tribe of Judah alone.

²¹And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, and he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand who were chosen warriors to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.

²²And the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

²³“Speak to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying,

²⁴thus says YHWH: ‘You shall not go up nor fight against your brothers the sons of Israel. And let return every man to his house, for from Me this thing is.’” And they listened to the word of YHWH and turned back to depart, according to the word of YHWH.

²⁵And Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and dwelt there. And he went out from there and built Penuel.

²⁶And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David.

²⁷If this people goes up to offer sacrifices in the house of YHWH at Jerusalem, the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

²⁸The king and took counsel and made two calves of gold, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

²⁹And he set up one in Bethel, and one he put in Dan.

³⁰And this thing became a sin, for the people went before the face of one of the calves as far as Dan to worship.

³¹And He made shrines on the high places, and he made priests from the ends of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

³²And Jeroboam ordained a feast of the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. Thus he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made, and he caused to stand in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.

³³And he made offerings on the altar that he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month that he had devised in his own heart, and he ordained a feast for the sons of Israel and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.