The Revolt Against Rehoboam^(A)

12 And ^(B)Rehoboam went to ^(C)Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. ² So it happened, when ^(D)Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in ^(E)Egypt, for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt), ³ that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made our ^(F)yoke ^[a]heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵ So he said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” And the people departed.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”

⁷ And they spoke to him, saying, ^(G)“If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

⁸ But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. ⁹ And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”

¹⁰ Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with ^[b]scourges!’ ”

Symbol of the Bonds and Yokes

27 In^[a] the beginning of the reign of ^[b]Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, ^(A)king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord to me: ‘Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, ^(B)and put them on your neck, ³ and send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. ⁴ And command them to say to their masters, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel—thus you shall say to your masters: ^5 (C)‘I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and ^(D)have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. ^6 (E)And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(F)My servant; and ^(G)the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. ^7 (H)So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, ^(I)until the time of his land comes; ^(J)and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. ⁸ And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,’ says the Lord, ‘with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. ⁹ Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your ^[c]dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon.” ¹⁰ For they prophesy a ^(K)lie to you, to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish. ¹¹ But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain in their own land,’ says the Lord, ‘and they shall till it and dwell in it.’ ” ’ ”