Rehoboam's Folly

12 ^(A)Rehoboam went to ^(B)Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² And as soon as ^(C)Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for ^(D)he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from^[a] Egypt. ³ And they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, ^4 (E)“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ He said to them, ^(F)“Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷ And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. ⁹ And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,’ thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. ¹¹ And now, whereas ^(G)my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, ^(H)“Come to me again the third day.” ¹³ And the king answered the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him, ¹⁴ he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, ^(I)“My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for ^(J)it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which ^(K)the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The Kingdom Divided

¹⁶ And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. ^(L)To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents. ¹⁷ But Rehoboam reigned over ^(M)the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent ^(N)Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ^19 (O)So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. ²⁰ And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but ^(P)the tribe of Judah only.

^21 (Q)When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²² But the word of God came to ^(R)Shemaiah the man of God: ²³ “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the ^(S)rest of the people, ²⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, ^(T)for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and went home again, according to the word of the Lord.

Jeroboam's Golden Calves

²⁵ Then Jeroboam ^(U)built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And he went out from there and ^(V)built Penuel. ²⁶ And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. ²⁷ If this people ^(W)go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” ²⁸ So the king took counsel and ^(X)made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. ^(Y)Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” ²⁹ And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. ³⁰ Then ^(Z)this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.^{[b] 31} He also made ^(AA)temples on high places and ^(AB)appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. ³² And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like ^(AC)the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel ^(AD)the priests of the high places that he had made. ³³ He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar ^(AE)to make offerings.

The Righteous Will Never Be Moved

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of Christ Jesus ^(B)by the will of God, and Timothy ^(C)our brother,

² To the ^(D)saints and faithful brothers^[a] in Christ at Colossae:

^(E)Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

^3 (F)We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴ since we heard of ^(G)your faith in Christ Jesus and of ^(H)the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵ because of ^(I)the hope ^(J)laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in ^(K)the word of the truth, the gospel, ⁶ which has come to you, as indeed ^(L)in the whole world it is ^(M)bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you ^(N)heard it and understood ^(O)the grace of God in truth, ⁷ just as you learned it from ^(P)Epaphras our beloved ^(Q)fellow servant.^[b] He is ^(R)a faithful minister of Christ on your^[c] behalf ⁸ and has made known to us your ^(S)love in the Spirit.

⁹ And so, ^(T)from the day we heard, ^(U)we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that ^(V)you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all ^(W)spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as ^(X)to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^(Y)fully pleasing to him: ^(Z)bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ^11 (AA)being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for ^(AB)all endurance and patience ^(AC)with joy; ^12 (AD)giving thanks^[d] to the Father, who has qualified you^[e] to share in ^(AE)the inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³ He ^(AF)has delivered us from ^(AG)the domain of darkness and transferred us to ^(AH)the kingdom of ^(AI)his beloved Son, ^14 (AJ)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Preeminence of Christ

^15 (AK)He is the image of ^(AL)the invisible God, ^(AM)the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by^[f] him all things were created, ^(AN)in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^(AO)thrones or ^(AP)dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created ^(AQ)through him and for him. ¹⁷ And ^(AR)he is before all things, and in him all things ^(AS)hold together. ¹⁸ And ^(AT)he is the head of the body, the church. He is ^(AU)the beginning, ^(AV)the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹ For ^(AW)in him all the ^(AX)fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and ^(AY)through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, ^(AZ)making peace ^(BA)by the blood of his cross.

^21 (BB)And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, ^(BC)doing evil deeds, ²² he has now reconciled ^(BD)in his body of flesh by his death, ^(BE)in order to present you holy and blameless and ^(BF)above reproach before him, ^23 (BG)if indeed you continue in the faith, ^(BH)stable and steadfast, not shifting from ^(BI)the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed ^(BJ)in all creation^[g] under heaven, ^(BK)and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Paul's Ministry to the Church

²⁴ Now ^(BL)I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^(BM)I am filling up ^(BN)what is lacking in Christ's afflictions ^(BO)for the sake of his body, that is, the church, ^25 (BP)of which I became a minister according to ^(BQ)the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, ^26 (BR)the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. ^27 (BS)To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are ^(BT)the riches of the glory of ^(BU)this mystery, which is Christ in you, ^(BV)the hope of glory. ²⁸ Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that ^(BW)we may present everyone ^(BX)mature in Christ. ²⁹ For this ^(BY)I toil, ^(BZ)struggling ^(CA)with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

2 For I want you to know ^(CB)how great a ^(CC)struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, ² that ^(CD)their hearts may be encouraged, being ^(CE)knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of ^(CF)God's mystery, which is Christ, ^3 (CG)in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I say this in order ^(CH)that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. ⁵ For ^(CI)though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your ^(CJ)good order and ^(CK)the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Alive in Christ

^6 (CL)Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, ^7 (CM)rooted and ^(CN)built up in him and ^(CO)established in the faith, just ^(CP)as you were taught, abounding ^(CQ)in thanksgiving.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive by ^(CR)philosophy and ^(CS)empty deceit, according to ^(CT)human tradition, according to the ^(CU)elemental spirits^[h] of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For ^(CV)in him the whole fullness of deity dwells ^(CW)bodily, ¹⁰ and ^(CX)you have been filled in him, who is ^(CY)the head of all rule and authority. ¹¹ In him also ^(CZ)you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by ^(DA)putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ^12 (DB)having been buried with him in baptism, in which ^(DC)you were also raised with him through faith in ^(DD)the powerful working of God, ^(DE)who raised him from the dead. ^13 (DF)And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God ^(DG)made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ by ^(DH)canceling ^(DI)the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. ^15 (DJ)He disarmed the rulers and authorities^[i] and ^(DK)put them to open shame, by ^(DL)triumphing over them in him.^[j]

Let No One Disqualify You

¹⁶ Therefore let no one ^(DM)pass judgment on you ^(DN)in questions of food and drink, or with regard to ^(DO)a festival or ^(DP)a new moon or a Sabbath. ^17 (DQ)These are a shadow of the things to come, but ^(DR)the substance belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one ^(DS)disqualify you, ^(DT)insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ^(DU)going on in detail about visions,^{[k] (DV)}puffed up without reason by ^(DW)his sensuous mind, ¹⁹ and ^(DX)not ^(DY)holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

²⁰ If with Christ ^(DZ)you died to the ^(EA)elemental spirits of the world, ^(EB)why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ^21 (EC)“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” ²² (^(ED)referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to ^(EE)human precepts and teachings? ²³ These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in ^(EF)promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are ^(EG)of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.