¹⁹ and who knows whether he will be wise or foolish? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.^(A)

²² So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?^(A)

¹⁷ Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.^[a](A)

⁸ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.^(A)

Wisdom Superior to Folly

¹³ I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.

⁹ So King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made,^{(A) 10} but King Rehoboam made in place of them shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard who kept the door of the king’s house.

¹³ The king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the older men; ¹⁴ he spoke to them in accordance with the advice of the young men, “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 because it was a turn of affairs brought about by God so that the Lord might fulfill his word that he had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.^(A)

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

So all Israel departed to their tents.^(B)

²⁵ In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem;^{(A) 26} he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made,^{(B) 27} so King Rehoboam made shields of bronze instead and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard who kept the door of the king’s house. ²⁸ As often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.

¹⁴ and spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, “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.”^{(A) 15} So the king did not listen to the people because it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord to fulfill his word that the Lord had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.^(B)

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

So Israel went away to their tents.^{(C) 17} But Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah.^{(D) 18} When King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam then hurriedly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.^{(E) 19} So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.^(F)

First Dynasty: Jeroboam Reigns over Israel

²⁰ When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was no one who followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.^(G)