King Rehoboam Acts Foolishly

12 ^(A)Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had come to ^(B)Shechem to make him king. ² Now ^(C)when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard about this, ^[a]he was living in Egypt (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon). ³ Then they sent word and summoned him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “^(D)Your father made our yoke hard; but now, lighten the hard labor imposed by 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 And King Rehoboam ^(F)consulted with the elders who had ^[c]served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise 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 request, and speak pleasant words to them, then they will be your servants always.” ⁸ But he ignored the advice of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him ^[e]and served him. ⁹ He said to them, “What advice do you give, so that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ And the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “This is what you should say to this people who spoke to you, saying: ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!’ You should speak this way to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ Now then, my father loaded you with a heavy yoke; yet I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with ^[f]scorpions!’”

¹² Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ^[g]directed, saying, “^(H)Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ And the king answered the people harshly, for he ignored the advice of the elders which they had ^[h]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 ^[i]scorpions!” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people; ^(J)because it was ^[j]a turn of events from the Lord, ^(K)in order to 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 had not listened to them, the people replied to the king, saying,

So Israel went away 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 in charge of the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him ^[k]to death. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ^19 (O)So Israel has broken with the house of David to this day.

²⁰ And it came about, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent word and called him to the assembly, and made him king over all Israel. ^(P)None except the tribe of Judah alone 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 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 “Tell Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the ^(S)rest of the people, saying, ²⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: “You shall not go up nor fight against your 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 to go their way in accordance with the word of the Lord.

Jeroboam’s Idolatry

²⁵ Then ^(U)Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived ^[l]there. And he went out from there and built ^(V)Penuel. ²⁶ And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. ^27 (W)If this people go up to ^[m]offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” ²⁸ So the king ^[n]consulted, and he ^(X)made two golden ^(Y)calves; and he said to ^[o]the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; ^(Z)behold your gods, Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” ²⁹ And he set up ^(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 ^[p](AF)appointed priests from ^[q]all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. ³² Jeroboam also ^[r]instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, ^(AG)like the feast that is in Judah, and he ^[s]went up to the altar. So 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 ^[t]went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, the month that he had ^[u](AI)devised ^[v]in his own heart; and he ^[w]instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and ^[x]went up to the altar ^(AJ)to burn ^[y]incense.

The Goal of Life

3 Finally, my brothers and sisters, ^(A)rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble for me, and it is a safeguard for you.

² Beware of the ^(B)dogs, beware of the ^(C)evil workers, beware of the ^[a]false circumcision; ³ for ^(D)we are the true ^[b]circumcision, who ^(E)worship in the Spirit of God and take ^(F)pride in ^(G)Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh, ⁴ although ^(H)I myself could boast as having confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he is confident in the flesh, I have more reason: ^5 (I)circumcised the eighth day, of the ^(J)nation of Israel, of the ^(K)tribe of Benjamin, a ^(L)Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, ^(M)a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, ^(N)a persecutor of the church; as to the ^(O)righteousness which is in the Law, found ^(P)blameless.

⁷ But ^(Q)whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I count all things to be loss ^[c]in view of the surpassing value of ^[d](R)knowing ^(S)Christ Jesus my Lord, ^[e]for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, ⁹ and may be found in Him, not having ^(T)a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, ^(U)the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, ¹⁰ that I may ^(V)know Him and ^(W)the power of His resurrection and ^[f](X)the fellowship of His sufferings, being ^(Y)conformed to His death; ¹¹ if somehow I may ^(Z)attain to the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already ^[g](AA)grasped it all or have already ^(AB)become perfect, but I press on if I may also ^(AC)take hold of that ^[h]for which I ^(AD)was even taken hold of by ^(AE)Christ Jesus. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: ^(AF)forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I ^(AG)press on toward the goal for the prize of the ^(AH)upward call of God in ^(AI)Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Therefore, all who are ^[i](AJ)mature, let’s have this attitude; and if in anything you have a ^(AK)different attitude, ^(AL)God will reveal that to you as well; ¹⁶ however, let’s keep ^[j](AM)living by that same standard to which we have attained.

¹⁷ Brothers and sisters, ^(AN)join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the ^(AO)pattern you have in us. ¹⁸ For ^(AP)many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even as I ^(AQ)weep, that they are the enemies of ^(AR)the cross of Christ, ¹⁹ whose end is destruction, whose god is their ^[k](AS)appetite, and whose ^(AT)glory is in their shame, who ^(AU)have their minds on earthly things. ²⁰ For ^(AV)our ^[l]citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly ^(AW)wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; ²¹ who will ^(AX)transform the body of our lowly condition into ^(AY)conformity with ^[m]His ^(AZ)glorious body, ^(BA)by the exertion of the power that He has even to ^(BB)subject all things to Himself.