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,

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.

Rehoboam’s Reign of Folly

10 ^(A)Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for ^(B)he was in Egypt where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³ So they sent and summoned him. When Jeroboam and all Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made our ^(C)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 He said to them, “Return to me again in three days.” So the people departed.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam ^(D)consulted with the elders who had ^[a]served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to answer this people?” ⁷ They spoke to him, saying, “If you will be kind to this people and please them and ^(E)speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But he ^(F)forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him ^[b]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 the people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us.’ Thus you shall say 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 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had ^[c]directed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ The king answered them harshly, and King Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the elders. ¹⁴ He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “^[d]My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, ^(G)for it was a turn of events from God ^(H)that the Lord might establish His word, which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them the people answered the king, saying,

^(J)So all Israel departed to their tents. ¹⁷ But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was ^(K)over the forced labor, and the sons of Israel stoned him ^[e]to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So ^(L)Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Rehoboam Reigns over Judah and Builds Cities

11 ^(M)Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ² But the word of the Lord came to ^(N)Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³ “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not go up or fight against ^(O)your ^[f]relatives; return every man to his house, ^(P)for this thing is from Me.”’” So they listened to the words of the Lord and returned from going against Jeroboam.

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and ^(Q)built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶ Thus he built 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 also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and stores of food, oil and wine. ¹² He put shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

¹³ Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him from all their districts.

Jeroboam Appoints False Priests

¹⁴ For ^(R)the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for ^(S)Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the Lord. ^15 (T)He set up priests of his own for the high places, for the satyrs and for the calves which he had made. ^16 (U)Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord God of Israel ^[g]followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers. ^17 (V)They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam’s Family

¹⁸ Then Rehoboam took as a wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of ^(W)Eliab the son of Jesse, ¹⁹ and she bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he took ^(X)Maacah the daughter of ^[h]Absalom, and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For ^(Y)he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ^22 (Z)Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. ²³ He acted wisely and distributed ^[i]some of his sons through all the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and he gave them food in abundance. And he sought many wives for them.

Salutation

1 Paul, ^(A)a bond-servant of God and an ^(B)apostle of Jesus Christ, ^[a]for the faith of those ^(C)chosen of God and ^(D)the knowledge of the truth which is ^(E)according to godliness, ² in ^(F)the hope of eternal life, which God, ^(G)who cannot lie, ^(H)promised ^[b](I)long ages ago, ³ but ^(J)at the proper time manifested, even His word, in ^(K)the proclamation ^(L)with which I was entrusted ^(M)according to the commandment of ^(N)God our Savior,

⁴ To ^(O)Titus, ^(P)my true child ^[c]in a ^(Q)common faith: ^(R)Grace and peace from God the Father and ^(S)Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications of Elders

⁵ For this reason I left you in ^(T)Crete, that you would set in order what remains and ^(U)appoint ^(V)elders in every city as I directed you, ⁶ namely, ^(W)if any man is above reproach, the ^(X)husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of ^(Y)dissipation or ^(Z)rebellion. ⁷ For the ^[d](AA)overseer must be above reproach as ^(AB)God’s steward, not ^(AC)self-willed, not quick-tempered, not ^(AD)addicted to wine, not pugnacious, ^(AE)not fond of sordid gain, ⁸ but ^(AF)hospitable, ^(AG)loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, ^9 (AH)holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in ^(AI)sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

^10 (AJ)For there are many ^(AK)rebellious men, ^(AL)empty talkers and deceivers, especially ^(AM)those of the circumcision, ¹¹ who must be silenced because they are upsetting ^(AN)whole families, teaching ^(AO)things they should not teach ^(AP)for the sake of sordid gain. ¹² One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “^(AQ)Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹³ This testimony is true. For this reason ^(AR)reprove them ^(AS)severely so that they may be ^(AT)sound in the faith, ¹⁴ not paying attention to Jewish ^(AU)myths and ^(AV)commandments of men who ^(AW)turn away from the truth. ^15 (AX)To the pure, all things are pure; but ^(AY)to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their ^(AZ)mind and their conscience are defiled. ^16 (BA)They profess to know God, but by their deeds they ^(BB)deny Him, being ^(BC)detestable and ^(BD)disobedient and ^(BE)worthless ^(BF)for any good deed.