2.
Rehoboam suffering the division of the kingdom and losing ten tribes
12:1-24
1 Kings 12
:1
12:1
aThen Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
1 Kings 12
:2
12:2
And when
aJeroboam 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;
1 Kings 12
:3
12:3
And they sent
word to him and called him), Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
1 Kings 12
:4
12:4
Your father made our
1ayoke 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.
1 Kings 12
:5
12:5
And he said to them, Go away for another three days, then return to me. And the people went away.
1 Kings 12
:6
12:6
Then King Rehoboam took
acounsel 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?
1 Kings 12
:7
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.
1 Kings 12
:8
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.
1 Kings 12
:9
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?
1 Kings 12
:10
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.
1 Kings 12
:11
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.
1 Kings 12
:12
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.
1 Kings 12
:13
12:13
And the king answered the people harshly; and he forsook the counsel of the elders that they had given
him
1 Kings 12
:14
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.
1 Kings 12
:15
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
aAhijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
1 Kings 12
:16
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
aportion 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.
1 Kings 12
:17
12:17
But as for the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
1 Kings 12
:18
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.
1 Kings 12
:19
12:19
So Israel has rebelled against the house of David until this day.
1 Kings 12
:20
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.
1 Kings 12
:21
12:21
aAnd 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.
1 Kings 12
:22
12:22
But the word of God came to
aShemaiah the man of God, saying,
1 Kings 12
:23
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,
1 Kings 12
:24
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.
3.
The apostasy of Jeroboam
12:25-33
1 Kings 12
:25
12:25
Then Jeroboam built up
aShechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and he dwelt in it; and he went forth from there and built up
bPenuel.
1 Kings 12
:26
12:26
And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.
1 Kings 12
:27
12:27
If this people go up to make sacrifices in the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, the heart of this people will
1return to their lord, to Rehoboam the king of Judah; and they will slay me and return to Rehoboam the king of Judah.
1 Kings 12
:28
12:28
And the king took counsel and made two
1acalves of gold. And he said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold your
bgods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!
1 Kings 12
:29
12:29
And he set one in
aBethel, and he put the other one in Dan.
1 Kings 12
:30
12:30
And this thing became a
1asin; and the people went
to worship the one as far as Dan.
1 Kings 12
:31
12:31
And he made a
1ahouse of
2high places and appointed
bpriests from among the people who were not from the sons of Levi.
1 Kings 12
:32
12:32
And Jeroboam ordained a
afeast 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.
1 Kings 12
:33
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.
