⁴ As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,^(A) and his heart was not fully devoted^(B) to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ He followed Ashtoreth^(C) the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek^(D) the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil^(E) in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

²⁸ Now Jeroboam was a man of standing,^(A) and when Solomon saw how well^(B) the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph.

²⁹ About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah^(C) the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, ³⁰ and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore^(D) it into twelve pieces. ³¹ Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear^(E) the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. ³² But for the sake^(F) of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe.

³ So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: ⁴ “Your father put a heavy yoke^(A) on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵ Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders^(B) who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.

⁷ They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer,^(C) they will always be your servants.”

⁸ But Rehoboam rejected^(D) the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 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’?”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 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 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” ¹³ The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, 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^(E) you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord,^(F) to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah^(G) the Shilonite.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:

So the Israelites went home.^(J)

²⁶ Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. ²⁷ If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem,^(A) they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”

²⁸ After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves.^(B) He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”^{(C) 29} One he set up in Bethel,^(D) and the other in Dan.^{(E) 30} And this thing became a sin;^(F) the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.^[a]