1 Kings 12
New American Standard Bible 1995
King Rehoboam Acts Foolishly
12 (A)Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to (B)Shechem to make him king. 2 Now (C)when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, [a]he was living in Egypt (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon). 3 Then they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “(D)Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” 5 Then he said to them, “(E)Depart [b]for three days, then return to me.” So the people departed.
6 King Rehoboam (F)consulted with the elders who had [c]served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to answer this people?” 7 Then they spoke to him, saying, “(G)If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and [d]grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8 But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him [e]and served him. 9 So he said to them, “What counsel do you give that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” 10 The young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!’ But you shall speak to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! 11 Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”
12 Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had [f]directed, saying, “(H)Return to me on the third day.” 13 The king answered the people harshly, for he forsook the advice of the elders which they had [g]given him, 14 and he spoke to them according to the advice 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; (J)for it was a turn of events from the Lord, (K)that He might establish His word, which the Lord spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
The Kingdom Divided; Jeroboam Rules Israel
16 When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying,
“What portion do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;
(L)To your tents, O Israel!
Now look after your own house, David!”
So Israel departed to their tents. 17 But (M)as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent (N)Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him [h]to death. And King Rehoboam made haste 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 It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. (P)None but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.
21 (Q)Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were 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, saying, 23 “Speak 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, saying, 24 ‘Thus says the Lord, “You must not go up and fight against your [i]relatives the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, (T)for this thing has come from Me.”’” So they listened to the word of the Lord, and returned and went their way according to the word of the Lord.
Jeroboam’s Idolatry
25 Then (U)Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived [j]there. And he went out from there and built (V)Penuel. 26 Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. 27 (W)If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 28 So the king [k]consulted, and (X)made two golden (Y)calves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; (Z)behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 29 He set (AA)one in (AB)Bethel, and the other he put in (AC)Dan. 30 Now (AD)this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. 31 And (AE)he made houses on high places, and (AF)made priests from among [l]all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. 32 Jeroboam [m]instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, (AG)like the feast which is in Judah, and he [n]went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel (AH)the priests of the high places which he had made. 33 Then he [o]went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had [p](AI)devised [q]in his own heart; and he [r]instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and [s]went up to the altar (AJ)to burn [t]incense.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 12:2 Lit Jeroboam
- 1 Kings 12:5 Lit yet three
- 1 Kings 12:6 Lit stood before
- 1 Kings 12:7 Lit answer them
- 1 Kings 12:8 Lit who stood before
- 1 Kings 12:12 Lit spoken
- 1 Kings 12:13 Lit advised
- 1 Kings 12:18 Lit with stones that he died
- 1 Kings 12:24 Lit brothers
- 1 Kings 12:25 Lit in it
- 1 Kings 12:28 Lit took counsel
- 1 Kings 12:31 Or extremities of
- 1 Kings 12:32 Lit made
- 1 Kings 12:32 Or offered upon
- 1 Kings 12:33 Or offered upon
- 1 Kings 12:33 Lit made
- 1 Kings 12:33 Lit from
- 1 Kings 12:33 Lit made
- 1 Kings 12:33 Or offered upon
- 1 Kings 12:33 Or sacrifices
1 Kings 12
Living Bible
12 Rehoboam’s inauguration was at Shechem, and all Israel came for the coronation ceremony. 2-4 Jeroboam, who was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon, heard about the plans from his friends. They urged him to attend, so he joined the rest of Israel at Shechem and was the ringleader in getting the people to make certain demands upon Rehoboam.
“Your father was a hard master,” they told Rehoboam. “We don’t want you as our king unless you promise to treat us better than he did.”
5 “Give me three days to think this over,” Rehoboam replied. “Come back then for my answer.” So the people left.
6 Rehoboam talked it over with the old men who had counseled his father Solomon.
“What do you think I should do?” he asked them.
7 And they replied, “If you give them a pleasant reply and agree to be good to them and serve them well, you can be their king forever.”
8 But Rehoboam refused the old men’s counsel and called in the young men with whom he had grown up.
9 “What do you think I should do?” he asked them.
10 And the young men replied, “Tell them, ‘If you think my father was hard on you, well, I’ll be harder! 11 Yes, my father was harsh, but I’ll be even harsher! My father used whips on you, but I’ll use scorpions!’”
12 So when Jeroboam and the people returned three days later, 13-14 the new king answered them roughly. He ignored the old men’s advice and followed that of the young men; 15 so the king refused the people’s demands. (But the Lord’s hand was in it—he caused the new king to do this in order to fulfill his promise to Jeroboam, made through Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh.)
16-17 When the people realized that the king meant what he said and was refusing to listen to them, they began shouting, “Down with David and all his relatives! Let’s go home! Let Rehoboam be king of his own family!”
And they all deserted him except for the tribe of Judah, who remained loyal and accepted Rehoboam as their king. 18 When King Rehoboam sent Adoram (who was in charge of the draft) to conscript men from the other tribes, a great mob stoned him to death. But King Rehoboam escaped by chariot and fled to Jerusalem. 19 And Israel has been in rebellion against the dynasty of David to this day.
20 When the people of Israel learned of Jeroboam’s return from Egypt, he was asked to come before an open meeting of all the people; and there he was made king of Israel. Only the tribe of Judah[a] continued under the kingship of the family of David.
21 When King Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned his army—all the able-bodied men of Judah and Benjamin: 180,000 special troops—to force the rest of Israel to acknowledge him as their king. 22 But God sent this message to Shemaiah, the prophet:
23-24 “Tell Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and all the people of Judah and Benjamin that they must not fight against their brothers, the people of Israel. Tell them to disband and go home, for what has happened to Rehoboam is according to my wish.” So the army went home as the Lord had commanded.
25 Jeroboam now built the city of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and it became his capital. Later he built Penuel. 26 Jeroboam thought, “Unless I’m careful, the people will want a descendant of David as their king. 27 When they go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Temple, they will become friendly with King Rehoboam; then they will kill me and ask him to be their king instead.”
28 So on the advice of his counselors, the king had two golden calf idols made and told the people, “It’s too much trouble to go to Jerusalem to worship; from now on these will be your gods—they rescued you from your captivity in Egypt!”
29 One of these calf idols was placed in Bethel and the other in Dan. 30 This was of course a great sin, for the people worshiped them. 31 He also made shrines on the hills and ordained priests from the rank and file of the people—even those who were not from the priestly tribe of Levi. 32-33 Jeroboam also announced that the annual Tabernacle Festival would be held at Bethel on the first of November[b] (a date he decided upon himself), similar to the annual festival at Jerusalem; he himself offered sacrifices upon the altar to the calves at Bethel and burned incense to them. And it was there at Bethel that he ordained priests for the shrines on the hills.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 12:20 Only the tribe of Judah. Judah and Benjamin were sometimes (as in this instance) counted together as one tribe.
- 1 Kings 12:32 on the first of November, literally, “on the fifteenth day of the eighth month” (of the Hebrew calendar). This was a month later than the annual celebration in Jerusalem, which God had ordained.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.