Beginning

12 Forsooth Rehoboam came into Shechem; for all Israel was gathered thither to make him king.

² And soothly Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, when he was yet in Egypt, and fled from the face of king Solomon, turned again from Egypt, for the death of Solomon was heard; (And Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, when he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon, heard of Solomon’s death, and returned from Egypt;)

³ and they sent, and called him. Therefore Jeroboam came, and all the multitude of Israel, and they spake to Rehoboam, and said,

⁴ Thy father putted the most hard yoke upon us, therefore abate thou a little now of the hardest commandment of thy father, and of the full grievous yoke that he hath put upon us, and we shall serve to thee. (Thy father put the hardest yoke upon us, but now, if thou abate a little thy father’s hardest commands, and the most grievous yoke that he hath put upon us, then we shall serve thee.)

⁵ And Rehoboam said to them, Go ye till to the third day, and turn ye again to me (Go ye away until the third day, and then return ye here). And when the people had gone,

⁶ king Rehoboam took counsel with the elder men, that stood before Solomon, his father, while he lived yet (while yet he lived); and Rehoboam said, What counsel give ye to me, that I answer to the people?

⁷ Which said to him, If thou obeyest today to this people, and servest this people, and givest stead to their asking, and speakest to them light, or easy, words, they shall be servants to thee in all days (they shall be thy servants forevermore).

⁸ And Rehoboam forsook the counsel of [the] eld men, which they gave to him, and took (counsel with the) young men, that were nourished with him, and stood nigh [to] him; (But Rehoboam forsook the elders’ counsel, which they gave him, and sought counsel with the young men, who grew up with him, and stood close to him;)

⁹ and he said to them, What counsel give ye to me, that I answer to this people, that said to me, Make thou easier the yoke that thy father hath put upon us?

¹⁰ And the young men, that were nourished with him (who grew up with him), said to him, Thus speak thou to this people, that spake to thee, and said, Thy father made grievous our yoke, relieve thou us; thus thou shalt speak to them, My least finger is greater than the back of my father;

¹¹ and now (though) my father putted on you a grievous yoke, forsooth I shall add on(to) your yoke (but I shall add to your yoke); my father beat you with scourges, but I shall beat you with scorpions^[a].

¹² Therefore Jeroboam, and all the people, came to Rehoboam, in the third day, as the king spake, saying, Turn ye again to me in the third day (Come ye back to me in three days).

¹³ And the king answered hard things to the people, while the counsel of [the] elder men was forsaken, that they had given to him;

¹⁴ and he spake to them by the counsel of [the] young men, and said, My father made grievous your yoke, forsooth I shall add to your yoke; my father beat you with scourges, but I shall beat you with scorpions.

¹⁵ And the king assented not to the people, for the Lord had turned him away, that the Lord should raise up his word, that he had spoken in the hand of the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. (And the king assented not to the people, for the Lord had turned him away from them, so that the Lord could raise up his word, which he had spoken by the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.)

¹⁶ Then the people saw, that the king would not hear them, and the people answered to the king, and said, What part is to us in David, either what heritage in the son of Jesse? Israel, turn thou again into thy tabernacles; now, David, see thou (to) thine house. And Israel went into his tabernacles. (Then the people saw that the king would not listen to them, and the people answered to the king, and said, What part is for us with David, or what inheritance with the son of Jesse? Israel, return thou to thy homes; and David, see thou to thy own house. And the people of Israel went back to their homes.)

¹⁷ Forsooth Rehoboam reigned on the sons of Israel, which dwelled in the cities of Judah. (And so Rehoboam reigned only upon those Israelites, who lived in the cities of Judah.)

¹⁸ Therefore king Rehoboam sent Adoram, that was on the tributes; and all the people of Israel stoned him, and he was dead (And so King Rehoboam sent out Adoram, who was over the taxes, or the levies; and all the people of Israel stoned him, and he died). Forsooth king Rehoboam went up hastily upon his chariot, and fled into Jerusalem;

¹⁹ and Israel departed from the house of David, till into this present day. (and so Israel, that is, the Northern Kingdom, hast been in rebellion against the house of David, unto this present day.)

²⁰ Forsooth it was done, when all Israel had heard that Jeroboam [was] turned again, they sent, and called him, when the company was gathered together, and they made him king upon all Israel; and no man followed the house of David, except the lineage alone of Judah. (And so it was done, when all Israel had heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent for him, and when the people were gathered together, they made him king upon all Israel; and no man followed the house of David, except the tribe of Judah.)

²¹ And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, and gathered together all the house of Judah, and the lineage of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand of chosen men and warriors, that they should fight against the house of Israel, and should bring again the realm to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon (to fight against the house of Israel, and bring back the kingdom to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon).

²² Forsooth the word of God was made to Shemaiah, the man of God, and said,

²³ Speak thou to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and of Benjamin, and to the residue of the people, and say thou,

²⁴ The Lord saith these things, Ye shall not go up, neither ye shall fight against your brethren, the sons of Israel; turn each man again into his house, for this word is done of me (every man return to his house, for this word is from me). (And) They heard the word of the Lord, and they turned again from the journey, as the Lord commanded to them.

²⁵ And Jeroboam builded Shechem, in the hill of Ephraim, and dwelled there (Then Jeroboam built Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there); and he went out from thence, and builded Penuel.

²⁶ And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the realm shall turn again to the house of David, (And Jeroboam said in his heart, Even now the kingdom shall return to the house of David,)

²⁷ if this people ascendeth to Jerusalem, that it make sacrifice in the house of the Lord in Jerusalem; and then the heart of this people shall turn again to their lord, Rehoboam, king of Judah; and they shall slay me, and shall turn again to him. (if these people goeth up to Jerusalem, to make sacrifice in the House of the Lord in Jerusalem; for then the heart of these people shall return to their lord, Rehoboam, the king of Judah; and they shall kill me, and they shall return to him.)

²⁸ And by counsel thought out, Jeroboam made twain golden calves, and he said to the people, Do not ye ascend more into Jerusalem; Israel, lo! thy gods, that led thee out of the land of Egypt. (And so, by counsel carefully thought out, Jeroboam made two gold calves, and he said to the people, Do not ye go up to Jerusalem any more; Israel, lo! thy gods, that led thee out of the land of Egypt.)

²⁹ And he set one calf in Bethel, and the tother in Dan.

³⁰ And this word was made to Israel into sin; for the people went into Dan, to worship the calf. (And this thing became a sin in Israel; and some people went all the way up to Dan to worship the calf there.)

³¹ And Jeroboam made temples in high places (And Jeroboam made temples at the hill shrines), and he made priests (out) of the last men of the people, the which were not of the sons of Levi.

³² And the king ordained a solemn day in the eighth month, in the fifteen day of the month, by [the] likeness of the solemnity that was hallowed in Judah. And the king went up, and made in like manner an altar in Bethel, that he should offer to the calves, which he had made; and he ordained in Bethel priests of the high places, which he had made. (And the king ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteen day of the month, like the feast that was kept in Judah. And the king went up to Bethel, and offered on the altar that he had made to the calves, which he had made; and he ordered the priests of the hill shrines, to serve at the altar in Bethel, which he had made.)

³³ And he went up upon the altar, which he had builded in Bethel, in the fifteenth day of the eighth month, which he had feigned of his heart; and he made a solemnity to the sons of Israel, and he went upon the altar, that he should burn incense. (And so he went up to the altar, which he had built in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, which month he had chosen out of his own heart; and he made a feast for the sons of Israel, and he went up to the altar, so that he could burn incense on it.)

13 And lo! a man of God came from Judah, by the word of the Lord, into Bethel, while Jeroboam stood upon the altar, casting incense (while Jeroboam stood by the altar, throwing incense).

² And he cried out against the altar, by the word of the Lord, and said, Altar! altar! the Lord saith these things, Lo! a son, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and he shall offer upon thee the priests of (the) high things, the which burn now incense in thee, and he shall burn the bones of men upon thee (and he shall offer upon thee the priests of the hill shrines, who now burn incense upon thee, and he shall burn men’s bones upon thee).

³ And he gave a sign in that day, and said, This shall be the sign that the Lord spake, Lo! the altar shall be cut, and the ash which is therein, shall be shed out. (And he gave a sign on that day, and said, This shall be the sign that the Lord spoke, Lo! the altar shall be split open, and the ashes that are upon it, shall be poured out.)

⁴ And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried against the altar in Bethel, the king held forth his hand from the altar, and said, Take ye him. And his hand dried (up), which he had held forth, and he might not draw it again to himself.

⁵ Also the altar was cut, and the ash was shed out of the altar, by the sign which the man of God before-said, in the word of the Lord. (And the altar was split open, and the ashes were poured out of the altar, by the sign which the man of God had foretold, by the word of the Lord.)

⁶ And the king said to the man of God, Beseech thou (before) the face of the Lord thy God, and pray thou for me, that mine hand be restored to me. And the man of God prayed (before) the face of the Lord; and the hand of the king turned again to him (and the king’s hand was restored to him), and it was made as it was before.

⁷ And the king spake to the man of God, (and said,) Come thou home with me, that thou eat, and I shall give gifts to thee.

⁸ And the man of God said to the king, Though thou shalt give to me the half part of thine house, I shall not come with thee, neither I shall eat bread, neither I shall drink water in this place.

⁹ for so it was commanded to me by the word of the Lord, commanding, Thou shalt not eat bread, neither thou shalt drink water, neither thou shalt turn again by the way by which thou camest.

¹⁰ Therefore he went by another way, and turned not again by the way, by which he came into Bethel.

¹¹ Forsooth an eld prophet dwelled then in Bethel, to whom his sons came, and told to him all the works which the man of God had done in that day in Bethel; and they [also] told to their father the words which he spake to the king.

¹² And the father of them said to them, By what way went he? His sons showed to him the way, by which the man of God went, that came from Judah (who came from Judah).

¹³ And he said to his sons, Saddle ye an ass to me. And when they had saddled the ass, he went up, (And he said to his sons, Saddle ye up a donkey for me. And when they had saddled up the donkey, he rode on it,)

¹⁴ and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a terebinth. And he said to the man of God, Whether thou art the man of God, that camest from Judah? He answered, I am.

¹⁵ And he said to him, Come thou with me home, that thou eat bread. (And he said to him, Come thou home with me, so that thou can eat some bread.)

¹⁶ And he said, I may not turn again (I cannot return), neither come with thee, neither I shall eat bread, neither I shall drink water in this place;

¹⁷ for the Lord spake to me in the word of the Lord (for the Lord spoke to me by the word of the Lord), and said, Thou shalt not eat bread, and thou shalt not drink water there, neither thou shalt turn again by the way by which thou wentest thither.

¹⁸ And he said to him, And I am a prophet like thee; and an angel spake to me by the word of the Lord, and said, Lead again him into thine house, that he eat bread, and drink water (Bring him back to thy house, so that he can eat some food, and drink some water). (But) He deceived the man of God,

¹⁹ and brought him (back) again with him. Therefore he ate bread in his house, and drank water.

²⁰ And when he sat at the table, the word of the Lord was made to the prophet^[b] that brought him (back) again;

²¹ and he cried [out] to the man of God that came from Judah, and said, The Lord saith these things, For thou obeyedest not to the mouth of the Lord, and keptest not the commandment which thy Lord God commanded to thee,

²² and thou turnedest (back) again, and atest bread, and drankest water in the place in which I commanded to thee, that thou shouldest not eat bread, neither shouldest drink water, thy dead body shall not be borne into the sepulchre of thy fathers.

²³ And when he had eaten and drunk, the prophet, whom he had brought again, saddled his ass (the prophet, whom he had brought back, saddled up his donkey).

²⁴ And when he had gone forth, a lion found him in the way, and killed him. And his dead body was cast forth in the way; soothly the ass stood beside him, and the lion also stood beside the dead body. (And when he had gone forth, a lion found him on the way, and killed him. And his dead body was thrown down on the way; and the donkey stood beside him, and the lion also stood beside his dead body.)

²⁵ And lo! men passing saw the dead body cast forth in the way (And lo! men passing by saw the dead body thrown down on the way), and the lion standing beside the dead body; and they came, and published it in the city, in which the eld prophet dwelled.

²⁶ And when that prophet, that brought him (back) again from the way, had heard this, he said, It is the man of God, that was unobedient to the mouth of God; and the Lord betook him to the lion, that hath broken him, and killed him, by the word of the Lord which he spake to him.

²⁷ And he said to his sons, Saddle ye an ass to me (Saddle ye up a donkey for me). And when they had saddled (it up),

²⁸ and he had gone, he found his dead body cast forth in the way, and the ass and the lion standing beside the dead body; and the lion ate not the dead body, neither hurted the ass. (and he had gone there, he found his dead body thrown down on the way, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the dead body; and the lion had not eaten the dead body, nor had hurt the donkey.)

²⁹ Therefore the prophet took the dead body of the man of God, and put it on the ass; and he turned again, and brought it into the city of the eld prophet, that he should bewail him. (And so the prophet took the dead body of the man of God, and put it on his donkey; and then the old prophet returned, and brought the body back to the city, so that he could bewail, or mourn, him.)

³⁰ And he put his dead body in his (own) sepulchre, and they bewailed him, and said, Alas! alas! my brother!

³¹ And when they had bewailed him, he said to his sons, When I shall be dead (When I shall die), bury me in the sepulchre, in which the man of God is buried; put ye my bones beside his bones.

³² For soothly the word shall come, which he before-said in the word of the Lord, against the altar that is in Bethel, and against all the temples of [the] high places, which be in the cities of Samaria. (For truly the word shall come to pass, which he foretold by the word of the Lord, against the altar that is in Bethel, and against all the temples of the hill shrines, which be in the cities of Samaria.)

³³ After these words Jeroboam turned not again from his worst way, but on the contrary, of the last of the people he made priests of (the) high places; whoever would, [he] fulfilled his hand, and he was made [a] priest of (the) high places. (And after this thing Jeroboam turned not away from his worst ways, but on the contrary, he made priests for the hill shrines from the lowest people; yea, whoever desired it, he consecrated him, and he was made a priest of the hill shrines.)

³⁴ And for this cause the house of Jeroboam sinned, and it was destroyed, and done away from the face of the earth.

14 In that time Abijah, (the) son of Jeroboam, was sick.

² And Jeroboam said to his wife, Rise thou up, and change clothing, that thou be not known, that thou art the wife of Jeroboam; and go thou into Shiloh, where Ahijah, the prophet, is, which spake to me, that I should reign upon this people. (And Jeroboam said to his wife, Rise thou up, and change your clothes, so that thou shalt not be known, that thou art Jeroboam’s wife; and go thou to Shiloh, where the prophet Ahijah is, who spoke to me, and said that I would reign upon this people.)

³ Also take thou in thine hand ten loaves, and a cake, and a vessel of honey, and go thou to him; for he shall show to thee, what shall befall to this child.

⁴ The wife of Jeroboam did as he said, and she rose up, and went into Shiloh, and came into the house of Ahijah; and Ahijah might not see, for his eyes dimmed for eld (age). (And Jeroboam’s wife did as he said, and she rose up, and went to Shiloh, and came to Ahijah’s house; and Ahijah could not see, for his eyes had dimmed because of old age.)

⁵ Forsooth the Lord said to Ahijah, Lo! the wife of Jeroboam entereth, that she counsel (with) thee on her son, which is sick (who is sick); thou shalt speak these and these things to her. Therefore when she had entered, and had feigned herself to be that (which) she was not,

⁶ Ahijah heard the sound of the feet of her entering by the door, and he said, Enter thou, the wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thee to be another? Forsooth I am sent (to be) an hard messenger, that is, (one) telling hard things, to thee (For I am sent with a hard message for thee).

⁷ Go thou, and say to Jeroboam, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, For I enhanced thee from the midst of the people, and I gave thee (to be) duke on my people Israel (and I made thee the leader of my people Israel),

⁸ and I cutted the realm of the house of David, and I gave it to thee, and (yet) thou were not as my servant David, that kept my behests, and followed me in all his heart, and did that that was pleasant in my sight; (and I cut away the kingdom from the house of David, and I gave it to thee, and yet thou were not like my servant David, who obeyed my commands, and followed me with all his heart, and did what was pleasing in my sight;)

⁹ but thou hast wrought evil, over all men that were before thee, and madest to thee alien gods, and welled those together, that thou shouldest excite me/thou shouldest stir me to wrathfulness, soothly thou hast cast forth me behind thy back. (but thou hast brought forth evil, more than all the men who were before thee, and madest other gods for thyself, and welded those together, so that thou shouldest stir me to anger, truly thou hast thrown me behind thy back.)

¹⁰ Therefore lo! I shall bring in evils upon the house of Jeroboam, and I shall smite the house of Jeroboam unto a pisser to the wall, and unto him that is imprisoned, and the last in Israel (and I shall strike down the house of Jeroboam unto a pisser on the wall, and unto him who is imprisoned, and the last in Israel); and I shall cleanse the relics, or remnants, of the house of Jeroboam, as dung is wont to be cleansed unto purity, either cleanness^[c];

¹¹ soothly dogs shall eat them, that shall die of the house of Jeroboam in the city; and birds of the air shall devour them, that shall die in the field; for the Lord spake. (truly the dogs shall eat those of the house of Jeroboam who shall die in the city; and the birds of the air shall devour those who shall die in the field; for the Lord hath spoken.)

¹² Therefore rise thou, and go into thine house; and in that entering of thy feet into the city, the child shall die. (And so rise thou up, and go to thy house; and with the entry of thy feet into the city, the child shall die.)

¹³ And all Israel shall bewail him, and shall bury him; for this child alone of Jeroboam shall be borne into the sepulchre, for a good word is found on him of the Lord God of Israel, in (all) the house of Jeroboam. (And all Israel shall bewail, or mourn, him, and shall bury him; for only this child of Jeroboam shall have a proper burial, because only in him is there found any good toward the Lord God of Israel, in all the house of Jeroboam.)

¹⁴ Forsooth the Lord shall ordain to him(self) a king upon Israel, that shall smite the house of Jeroboam, in this day, and in this time, that is, of nigh; (And the Lord shall ordain for himself a king upon Israel, who shall strike the house of Jeroboam, on this day, and at this time, that is, very soon;)

¹⁵ and the Lord God of Israel shall smite, as a reed in the water is wont to be moved; and he shall draw out Israel from this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and he shall winnow them over the flood, for they made to them maumet woods, that they should stir the Lord to ire. (and the Lord God shall strike Israel, like a reed in the water is wont to be shaken; and he shall pull Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their forefathers, and he shall scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, for they made for themselves sacred groves, and poles, and stirred the Lord to anger.)

¹⁶ And the Lord God shall betake Israel to his enemies, for the sins of Jeroboam, that sinned, and made Israel to do sin. (And the Lord God shall abandon Israel, for the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned, and made Israel to do sin.)

¹⁷ Therefore the wife of Jeroboam rose (up), and went (away), and came into Tirzah; and when she entered into the threshold of the house, the child was dead (the child died).

¹⁸ And they buried him; and all Israel bewailed him, by the word of the Lord, which he spake in the hand of his servant, Ahijah the prophet (which he spoke by his servant, the prophet Ahijah).

¹⁹ Forsooth, lo! the residue of the words of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he reigned, be written in the book of [the] words of the days of [the] kings of Israel.

²⁰ Forsooth the days, in which Jeroboam reigned, be two and twenty years; and Jeroboam slept with his fathers, and Nadab, his son, reigned for him.

²¹ Forsooth Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, reigned in Judah; Rehoboam was of one and forty years, when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord chose of all the lineages of Israel (the city which the Lord chose out of all the tribes of Israel), that he should set his name there. And the name of his mother was Naamah (the) Ammonite.

²² And Judah did evil before the Lord, and they stirred him to ire on all things, which their fathers did in their sins, by which they sinned. (And the people of Judah did evil before the Lord, and they stirred him to anger with their sins which they sinned, more than all the things that their forefathers had done.)

²³ For also they builded to themselves altars, and images, and woods (For they also built altars for themselves, and poles, and sacred groves), on each high hill, and under each tree full of boughs.

²⁴ But also men of women’s conditions/womanish men were in the land, and they did all the abominations of heathen men, which the Lord all-brake before the face of the sons of Israel. (And also male and female whores were in the land, serving at the hill shrines, and they did all the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the Israelites.)

²⁵ Forsooth in the fifth year of the realm of Rehoboam (Now in the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign), Shishak, the king of Egypt, went up into Jerusalem;

²⁶ and he took the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the king’s treasures, and he ravished all things; also he ravished the golden shields which Solomon made. (and he took away the treasures of the House of the Lord, and the king’s treasures, and he took everything that he could get his hands on; and he also took away the gold shields which Solomon had made.)

²⁷ For which king Rehoboam made brazen shields, and gave those in(to) the hands of [the] dukes of (the) shield-makers, and of them that watched before the door of the house of the king. (And King Rehoboam replaced them with bronze shields, and gave them to the officers who guarded the door of the house of the king.)

²⁸ And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, they that had office to go before (they who had the duty to go before him), bare those, and (then) they bare those again to the place of armour of [the] shield-makers.

²⁹ Forsooth, lo! the residue of the words of Rehoboam, and all things which he did, be written in the book of [the] words of [the] days of [the] kings of Judah.

³⁰ And battle was betwixt Rehoboam and Jeroboam, in all (their) days.

³¹ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David. And the name of his mother was Naamah (the) Ammonite; and Abijam, his son, reigned for him.