The Kingdom Divided

12 Then Rehoboam^(A) went to Shechem,^(B) for all Israel^(C) had gone to Shechem to make him king.^{(D) 2} When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about it, he stayed in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon’s presence.^(E) Jeroboam stayed in Egypt.^{[a] 3} But they summoned him, and Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam: ⁴ “Your father made our yoke harsh.^(F) You, therefore, lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke he put on us,^(G) and we will serve you.”

⁵ Rehoboam replied, “Go away for three days and then return to me.” So the people left. ⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders^(H) who had served his father Solomon when he was alive, asking, “How do you advise me to respond to this people?”

⁷ They replied, “Today if you will be a servant to this people and serve them, and if you respond to them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”^(I)

⁸ But he rejected the advice of the elders who had advised him^(J) and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and attended him. ⁹ He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to this people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him told him, “This is what you should say to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us!’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ Although my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with barbed whips.’”^[b](K)

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had ordered: “Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ Then the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice the elders had given him ¹⁴ and spoke to them according to the young men’s advice: “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 barbed whips.”

¹⁵ The king did not listen to the people, because this turn of events came from the Lord^(L) to carry out his word, which the Lord had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.^{(M) 16} When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people answered him:

So Israel went to their tents, ¹⁷ but Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.^(P)

¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram,^[c](Q) who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to get into the chariot and flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Israel is still in rebellion against the house of David today.^(R)

Rehoboam in Jerusalem

²⁰ When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back,^(S) they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel.^(T) No one followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.^{(U) 21} When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem,^(V) he mobilized one hundred eighty thousand fit young soldiers from the entire house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin^(W) to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon. ²² But the word of God came to Shemaiah,^(X) the man of God: ²³ “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ²⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not to march up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you return home, for this situation is from me.’”^(Y)

So they listened to the word of the Lord and went back according to the word of the Lord.

Jeroboam’s Idolatry

²⁵ Jeroboam built Shechem^(Z) in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built Penuel.^{(AA) 26} Jeroboam said to himself, “The kingdom might now return to the house of David.^{(AB) 27} If these people regularly go to offer sacrifices in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem,^(AC) the heart of these people will return to their lord, King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and go back to the king of Judah.” ²⁸ So the king sought advice.

Then he made two golden calves, and he said to the people, “Going to Jerusalem is too difficult for you. Israel, here are your gods^[d] who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”^{(AD) 29} He set up one in Bethel,^(AE) and put the other in Dan.^{(AF) 30} This led to sin;^(AG) the people walked in procession before one of the calves all the way to Dan.^[e](AH)

³¹ Jeroboam also made shrines^[f] on the high places^(AI) and made priests from the ranks of the people who were not Levites.^{(AJ) 32} Jeroboam made a festival in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival in Judah.^(AK) He offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had made. He also stationed the priests in Bethel for the high places he had made.^{(AL) 33} He offered sacrifices on^[g] the altar he had set up in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month. He chose this month on his own.^(AM) He made a festival for the Israelites, offered sacrifices on the altar, and burned incense.^(AN)

The Kingdom Divided

10 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem,^(A) for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. ² When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about it—for he was in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon’s presence—Jeroboam returned from Egypt.^{(B) 3} So they summoned him. Then Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam: ⁴ “Your father made our yoke harsh. Therefore, lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵ Rehoboam replied, “Return to me in three days.” So the people left.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had attended his father Solomon when he was alive, asking, “How do you advise me to respond to this people?”

⁷ They replied, “If you will be kind to this people and please them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

⁸ But he rejected the advice of the elders who had advised him, and he consulted with the young men who had grown up with him, the ones attending him. ⁹ He asked them, “What message do you advise we send back to this people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

¹⁰ Then the young men who had grown up with him told him, “This is what you should say to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us!’ This is what you should say to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ Now therefore, my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I, with barbed whips.’”^[a]

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ordered, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ Then the king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the elders’ advice ¹⁴ and spoke to them according to the young men’s advice, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy,^[b](C) but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I, with barbed whips.”

¹⁵ The king did not listen to the people because the turn of events came from God,^(D) in order that the Lord might carry out his word that he had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.^(E)

¹⁶ When^(F) all Israel saw^[c](G) that the king had not listened to them, the people answered the king:

So all Israel went to their tents. ¹⁷ But as for the Israelites living in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram,^[d](H) who was in charge of the forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. However, King Rehoboam managed to get into his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Israel is in rebellion against the house of David until today.

Rehoboam in Jerusalem

11 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem,^(I) he mobilized the house of Judah and Benjamin—one hundred eighty thousand fit young soldiers—to fight against Israel to restore the reign to Rehoboam. ² But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah,^(J) the man of God: ³ “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not to march up and fight against your brothers.^(K) Each of you return home, for this incident has come from me.’”^(L)

So they listened to what the Lord said and turned back from going against Jeroboam.

Judah’s King Rehoboam

⁵ Rehoboam stayed in Jerusalem, and he fortified cities^[e](M) in Judah. ⁶ He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin. ¹¹ He strengthened their fortifications and put leaders in them with supplies of food, oil, and wine. ¹² He also put large shields and spears in each and every city to make them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were his.

¹³ The priests and Levites from all their regions throughout Israel took their stand with Rehoboam, ¹⁴ for the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions^(N) and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons refused to let them serve as priests of the Lord.^{(O) 15} Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places,^(P) the goat-demons,^(Q) and the golden calves he had made.^{(R) 16} Those from every tribe of Israel who had determined in their hearts to seek the Lord their God followed the Levites to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ¹⁷ So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years,^(S) because they walked in the ways of David and Solomon for three years.

¹⁸ Rehoboam married Mahalath, daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab.^{(T) 19} She bore sons to him: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After her, he married Maacah daughter^[f](U) of Absalom. She bore Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith to him. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines. He acquired eighteen wives^(V) and sixty concubines and was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

²² Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief, leader among his brothers, intending to make him king.^{(W) 23} Rehoboam also showed discernment by dispersing some of his sons to all the regions of Judah and Benjamin and to all the fortified cities. He gave them plenty of provisions and sought many wives for them.

Greeting

1 Paul,^(A) a servant of God^(B) and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for^[a] the faith of God’s elect^(C) and their knowledge of the truth^(D) that leads^[b] to godliness,^{(E) 2} in the hope of eternal life^(F) that God, who cannot lie,^(G) promised before time began.^{(H) 3} In his own time he has revealed^(I) his word^(J) in the preaching with which I was entrusted^(K) by the command^(L) of God our Savior:^(M)

⁴ To Titus,^(N) my true son^(O) in our common faith.

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.^(P)

Titus’s Ministry in Crete

⁵ The reason I left you in Crete^(Q) was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders^(R) in every town. ⁶ An elder^(S) must be blameless,^(T) the husband of one wife, with faithful^[c] children who are not accused of wildness or rebellion. ⁷ As an overseer^(U) of God’s household, he must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money, ⁸ but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, ⁹ holding to the faithful message as taught,^(V) so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching^(W) and to refute those who contradict it.

¹⁰ For there are many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception, especially those from the circumcision party. ¹¹ It is necessary to silence them; they are ruining entire households by teaching what they shouldn’t in order to get money dishonestly. ¹² One of their very own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹³ This testimony is true.^(X) For this reason, rebuke them sharply,^(Y) so that they may be sound in the faith ¹⁴ and may not pay attention to Jewish myths^(Z) and the commands of people who reject the truth.^(AA)

¹⁵ To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; in fact, both their mind and conscience^(AB) are defiled. ¹⁶ They claim to know God,^(AC) but they deny him by their works.^(AD) They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.^(AE)