Old/New Testament
After the death of King Solomon, nothing is ever the same in Israel. Many of the Israelites rebel against God, no longer follow God’s elected Judahite kings, and form the new Northern Kingdom with their own kings and heretical temples.
10 After his father died, King Rehoboam went to Shechem in Northern Israel to be coronated before all the Israelites. 2 The news of the impending coronation reached Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, where he was living as an exile in Egypt, so he hastily returned to Israel.
King Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam when the prophet Ahijah predicted that Israel would divide into two countries with Jeroboam leading the Northern Kingdom.
3 The Israelites requested that Jeroboam meet them in Shechem at the coronation. Together, they made a request of Rehoboam, who would be their new king.
This next conversation between Rehoboam and the tribes is pivotal for the nation of Israel and the twelve tribes. The prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite in the 1 Kings 11 story foreshadows that God is going to give Judah—and neighboring Benjamin—to Rehoboam, but Jeroboam in the north gets ten tribes. The story is ironic since it appears that the Eternal favors Jeroboam by giving him most of the Israelite tribes and territory, and Rehoboam is portrayed as a despotic fool. In the end, the Davidic offspring, King Rehoboam, has a disastrous reign, and Jeroboam sets up Dan and Bethel as temple sites to worship the Eternal One. It seems that a king, whether in the Northern or Southern Kingdom, is a bad deal for the people.
Israelites (to Rehoboam): 4 Your father made us work very hard for the building of Israel. We built cities and palaces and temples and roads for him. We are tired of this constant work which your father required. If you will reduce the amount of work we are required to perform for the nation, then we will coronate you as king and serve you as your people.
Rehoboam: 5 Let me think about this for three days. Then I will give you an answer.
As the Israelites left, 6 King Rehoboam asked older men who were his father Solomon’s advisors for advice about the situation.
Rehoboam: What do you think I should tell the people?
Solomon’s Advisors: 7 Listen to their concerns, show them kindness, and please them. Then they will be your subjects and will always respect you.
8 But Rehoboam did not listen to the advisors’ recommendation. Instead he asked the opinions of his childhood friends who were more likely to give him the advice that he wanted to hear.
Rehoboam: 9 How do you think I should answer these people’s request that I reduce the amount of work my father required of them?
These younger childhood “counselors” encourage Rehoboam to be a stronger, more dominant ruler instead of a kinder, more respected ruler.
Rehoboam’s Friends: 10 Tell those who want a reduced workload, “I am stronger and more virile than my father ever was! 11 You will long for my father’s leniency. He made you work hard, but I will make you work even harder. He disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with the sting of scorpions.”
12 On the third day, Jeroboam and the Israelites returned to Rehoboam as the king had requested. 13-14 The king followed the advice of his young friends, answering harshly and ignoring the advice of his father’s advisors.
Rehoboam: You will long for my father’s leniency. He made you work hard, but I will make you work even harder. He disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with the sting of scorpions.
15 By ignoring the Israelites’ desires, the king fulfilled the Eternal God’s prophecy that was spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam, son of Nebat. 16 Just as predicted, the Northern tribes formed a nation separate from Judah because the king did not listen to them.
Israelites (to Rehoboam): God promised the kingdom of Israel to David and his sons. Why should we follow David’s descendants when we do not share in the inheritance of Jesse’s son? Let us form our own nation in the North, and so every Israelite should return to his house. In the same way, let the Judahites and the Benjaminites continue by themselves as the house of David in the South.
Most of the Israelites left Shechem to form a new Northern Kingdom, 17 but a few Israelites remained in the cities of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, because they recognized that Rehoboam was their rightful king.
18 In a final attempt to reunite his father Solomon’s kingdom, King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, the superintendent of Solomon’s forced labor, into Israel to compel the Northern Kingdom to accept Rehoboam as their king. But the Israelites stoned Hadoram to death. Realizing the anger of the Northern Kingdom, King Rehoboam fled in his chariot to Jerusalem. 19 Thus the Northern Kingdom of Israel has rebelled against the Southern Kingdom, the Davidic kings in Judah, until today.
11 Having returned to Jerusalem, King Rehoboam assembled 180,000 warriors from the territories of Judah and Benjamin in the South, and he charged them to fight against Israel and to reunite both kingdoms under one king, Rehoboam. 2 But the Eternal spoke to Shemaiah, the True God’s servant and prophet.
Eternal One: 3 Tell Rehoboam, Solomon’s son and the new king of Judah, and all the Israelites living in Judah and Benjamin, 4 what I am telling you: “I have decided to allow Israel to divide into two kingdoms. You will not fight against your Northern relatives and their king, Jeroboam. Return to your homes.”
The Southerners did as they were told, 5 and Rehoboam began to fortify Judah from his capital in Jerusalem. 6 He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, all of which are walled cities in the territories of Judah and Benjamin. 11 He reinforced the fortresses, staffed the defenses with leaders, and stocked the storage houses with food, oil, and wine. 12 In all the cities, he provided shields and spears for the citizens to protect them in case of attack. With these provisions, Rehoboam protected the Southern Kingdom in the territories of Judah and Benjamin.
13-15 Meanwhile, Jeroboam and the ruling family in the Northern Kingdom prohibited the priests and Levites from performing their duties for the Eternal. Jeroboam appointed his own priests to serve the religious centers of the Northern Kingdom, which honored false gods in the forms of goats and calves. So the priests and Levites left their homes among the Northern tribes, moved to the Southern Kingdom and Jerusalem, and supported Rehoboam as their king. 16 Likewise, those Israelites living in the Northern Kingdom who were dedicated to the Eternal One, the only True God of Israel, also moved to Jerusalem to make sacrifices to the Eternal One, True God of their fathers. 17 Those who moved south strengthened the Southern Kingdom with their dedication to the True God and His chosen King Rehoboam (son of Solomon) for three years. These people were faithful to God and followed the example of our beloved kings David and Solomon for three years.
As his nation is growing and strengthening, so is Rehoboam’s family.
18 His first wife, Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth (son of David) and Abihail (daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab) 19 gave birth to three sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 Rehoboam’s second wife, Maacah (granddaughter of Absalom), had four sons: Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved his second wife, Maacah, more than all his other 18 wives and 60 concubines, who gave him a total of 28 sons and 60 daughters. 22 Of those children, Rehoboam appointed Abijah (eldest son of his favorite wife Maacah) as the leader among his brothers and as the crown prince. 23 Rehoboam then wisely made some of his other sons governors of the territories and fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. He ensured their contentment and loyalty, giving them food and selecting their wives.
12 After three years of prosperity and military strength, Rehoboam and all Israel living in the Southern Kingdom rejected the Eternal’s laws. 2 Their unfaithfulness resulted in Shishak, king of Egypt, attacking Jerusalem during King Rehoboam’s fifth year. 3 Shishak’s army included 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and countless mercenaries from Libya, Suk, and Ethiopia.[a] 4 He conquered the fortified cities in Judah, and as he approached Jerusalem 5 Shemaiah the prophet brought another message from the True God to Rehoboam and Judah’s governors (who had fled to Jerusalem at the threat of Shishak’s army).
Eternal One (through Shemaiah): Because you have abandoned Me to follow your own gods, I have abandoned you and allowed you to be defeated by Shishak.
Rehoboam and the Governors (humbling themselves): 6 The Eternal’s punishment of us is just.
Eternal One (through Shemaiah): 7 Because you have humbled yourselves, I will not destroy you. I will save Jerusalem from My wrath, to be administered by Shishak. 8 But you will serve him since you no longer serve Me, and you will remember the pain of serving foreign kings and long for the ease of serving Me.
9 Then Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem and plundered the Eternal’s temple and the palace of the king. He took every treasure, including Solomon’s golden shields.
Shishak, a Libyan general who took over the Egyptian throne, has been interested in Israel’s affairs for some time. First, he harbored Jeroboam when he rebelled against Solomon. Now, Pharaoh is conquering the region. Although God does not allow Shishak to destroy Jerusalem, the Israelites lose a precious part of their heritage and a significant amount of wealth when he raids the palace and temple. This incident is enough to remind Rehoboam and the people of their ancestors’ servitude in Egypt and of God’s love of His people. If they don’t want to return to lives of bondage, they must humble themselves and resume proper worship of God.
10 To replace his father’s golden shields, King Rehoboam cast bronze shields and gave them to the commanders who guarded the palace entrance. 11 The commanders carried those shields whenever they accompanied the king to the Eternal’s temple, then they returned the shields to the guardroom.
12 Because Rehoboam had humbled himself, the Eternal subdued His anger and did not destroy him. Things were good in the Southern Kingdom 13 when 41-year-old King Rehoboam began his strong 17-year reign in Jerusalem (the city the Eternal had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to establish His reputation).
Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah the Ammonitess. 14 During his reign, he abandoned the ways of the Eternal and did evil. 15 The actions of King Rehoboam, from his birth to his death, are recorded in the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and in the visions of Iddo the seer (according to the genealogies).
Rehoboam and Jeroboam were constantly fighting one another. 16 After Rehoboam joined his ancestors in death and was laid with his fathers in the city of David, Jerusalem, his son Abijah ruled Israel in his place.
30 to the same spot where Martha had found Jesus outside the village. 31 The people gathered in her home offering support and comfort assumed she was going back to the tomb to cry and mourn, so they followed her. 32 Mary approached Jesus, saw Him, and fell at His feet.
Mary: Lord, if only You had been here, my brother would still be alive.
33 When Jesus saw Mary’s profound grief and the moaning and weeping of her companions, He was deeply moved by their pain in His spirit and was intensely troubled.
Jesus: 34 Where have you laid his body?
Jews: Come and see, Lord.
35 As they walked, Jesus wept; 36 and everyone noticed how much Jesus must have loved Lazarus. 37 But others were skeptical.
Others: If this man can give sight to the blind, He could have kept him from dying.
They are asking, if Jesus loves Lazarus so much, why didn’t He get here much sooner?
38 Then Jesus, who was intensely troubled by all of this, approached the tomb—a small cave covered by a massive stone.
Jesus: 39 Remove the stone.
Martha: Lord, he has been dead four days; the stench will be unbearable.
Jesus: 40 Remember, I told you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God.
41 They removed the stone, and Jesus lifted His eyes toward heaven.
Jesus: Father, I am grateful that You have heard Me. 42 I know that You are always listening, but I proclaim it loudly so that everyone here will believe You have sent Me.
43 After these words, He called out in a thunderous voice.
Jesus: Lazarus, come out!
44 Then, the man who was dead walked out of his tomb bound from head to toe in a burial shroud.
Jesus: Untie him, and let him go.
Once again Jesus amazes everyone around Him. How does He raise Lazarus? What kind of man can speak life into death’s darkness? Throughout His time on earth, those around Him are continually surprised by Jesus. He is unique. How does He have power over death? It takes a while, but more and more His followers become convinced this is no ordinary man.
45 As a result, many of the Jews who had come with Mary saw what happened and believed in Him. 46 But some went to the Pharisees to report what they witnessed Jesus doing. 47 As a result of these reports—and on short notice—the chief priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the high council.
Pharisees: What are we going to do about this man? He is performing many miracles. 48 If we don’t stop this now, every man, woman, and child will believe in Him. You know what will happen next? The Romans will think He’s mounting a revolution and will destroy our temple. It will be the end of our nation.
Caiaphas, the High Priest That Year: 49 You have no idea what you are talking about; 50 what you don’t understand is that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people so the whole nation won’t perish.
51 His speech was more than it seemed. As high priest that year, Caiaphas prophesied (without knowing it) that Jesus would die on behalf of the entire nation, 52 and not just for the children of Israel—He would die so all God’s children could be gathered from the four corners of the world into one people. 53 In that moment, they cemented their intentions to have Jesus executed.
54 From that day forward, Jesus refrained from walking publicly among the people in Judea. He withdrew to a small town known as Ephraim, a rural area near the wilderness, where He set up camp with His disciples.
55 The Passover was approaching, and Jews everywhere traveled to Jerusalem early so they could purify themselves and prepare for Passover. 56 People were looking for Jesus, hoping to catch a glimpse of Him in the city. All the while, some Jews were discussing Him in the temple.
Some Jews: Do you think He will decide not to come to Jerusalem this year for the feast?
57 In the midst of this confusion, the Pharisees and the chief priests ordered that if anyone knew the whereabouts of Jesus of Nazareth, it must be reported immediately so they could arrest Him.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.