1K 12:1Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
1K 12:2And 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;
1K 12:3And they sent word to him and called him), Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
1K 12:4Your 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.
1K 12:5And he said to them, Go away for another three days, then return to me. And the people went away.
1K 12:6Then 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?
1K 12:7And 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.
1K 12:8But 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.
1K 12:9And 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?
1K 12:10And 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.
1K 12:11And 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.
1K 12:12And 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.
1K 12:13And the king answered the people harshly; and he forsook the counsel of the elders that they had given him
1K 12:14And 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.
1K 12:15So 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.
1K 12:16And 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.
1K 12:17But as for the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
1K 12:18Then 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.
1K 12:19So Israel has rebelled against the house of David until this day.
1K 12:20And 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.
1K 12:21And 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.
1K 12:22But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
1K 12:23Speak 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,
1K 12:24Thus 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.
1K 12:25Then 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.
1K 12:26And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.
1K 12:27If 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.
1K 12:28And 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!
1K 12:29And he set one in Bethel, and he put the other one in Dan.
1K 12:30And this thing became a sin; and the people went to worship the one as far as Dan.
1K 12:31And he made a house of high places and appointed priests from among the people who were not from the sons of Levi.
1K 12:32And 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.
1K 12:33And 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.
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