1 Kings 12

1Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

2When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of it—while he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon—Jeroboam was still living in Egypt.

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

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

5He said to them, “Go away for three more days, then return to me.” So the people went away.

6Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had stood before Solomon his father while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”

7And he 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 all your days.”

8But he abandoned the advice of the elders that they had given him, and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

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

10The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “This is what you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter for us’: this is what you shall say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.’”

11And now, my father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.

12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had spoken, saying, “Return to me on the third day.”

13And the king answered the people harshly, and he abandoned the counsel of the elders who had advised him.

14He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”

15So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of events from Yahweh, in order to establish his word that Yahweh had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

16When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people answered the king, saying, “What share do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now see to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents.

17But Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.

18Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. And King Rehoboam made haste to get up into the chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

19So Israel has rebelled against the house of David to this day.

20And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.

21When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.

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

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

24Thus says Yahweh: ‘Do not go up or fight against your brothers, the sons of Israel. Return, each man to his house, for this thing is from me.’ So they listened to the word of Yahweh and turned back to go according to the word of Yahweh.

25Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there; and he went out from there and built Penuel.

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

27If this people goes up to offer sacrifices in the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.

28So 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 from the land of Egypt.”

29He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

30And this thing became a sin, and the people went before the one as far as Dan.

31He made houses of high places, and he appointed priests from among all the people, who were not from the sons of Levi.

32Jeroboam made a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he went up to the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made; and he installed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.

33And he went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart, and he made a feast for the sons of Israel; and he went up to the altar to burn incense.