The Monarchy before Hezekiah

Chapter 10

The Kingdom Divided. ¹ Rehoboam immediately went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there. ² When Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, learned about this in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon, he then returned from Egypt.

³ The people thereupon summoned Jeroboam, and he and all Israel came to Rehoboam and said to him: ⁴ “Your father laid a heavy yoke upon us. However, if you agree to lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke that he imposed on us, we will serve you.” ⁵ Rehoboam replied to them: “Come back to me again in three days, and then I will inform you of my decision.” On hearing this, the people departed.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam sought the counsel of the elders who had served as attendants and advisors to his father Solomon during his lifetime. He asked them: “What answer do you advise me to give to this people?” ⁷ They replied: “If you will treat this people with kindness and be fair in your dealings with them, they will remain your servants forever.”

⁸ However, Rehoboam rejected the advice that the elders had given him and proceeded to consult the young men who had grown up with him and who now attended him. ⁹ He said to them: “What reply do you advise me to give to this people who have requested that I lighten the yoke that my father imposed on them?”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him replied: “This is the answer that you should give to this people who said to you: ‘Your father made our yoke heavy. We implore you to lighten it for us.’ Tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. ¹¹ Although my father laid a heavy yoke on you, I shall make it heavier. My father beat you with whips, but I will scourge you with scorpions.’ ”

¹² On the third day, Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam as the king had instructed them to do. ¹³ The king replied to them sharply, having rejected the advice which the elders had given him. ¹⁴ Rather, he followed the advice of the younger men and said: “My father laid a heavy yoke on you, but I will make it even heavier. My father beat you with whips, but I will scourge you with scorpions.”

¹⁵ Thus the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was ordained by God so that the Lord might fulfill his word that he had spoken to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, through Ahijah the Shilonite.

^16 [a]When all Israel realized that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king:

Then all Israel departed to their tents. ¹⁷ Therefore, Rehoboam reigned over only those Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah.

¹⁸ When King Rehoboam sent forth Hadoram, the commander in charge of the forced labor, the Israelites stoned him to death. However, King Rehoboam managed to mount his chariot and flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Thus from that day to this, Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David.