Beginning

12 And Rechav‘am went to Shechem; for kol Yisroel were come to Shechem to make him Melech.

² And it came to pass, when Yarov‘am Ben Nevat, who was yet in Mitzrayim, heard of it, (for he had fled from the presence of HaMelech Sh’lomo, and Yarov‘am dwelt in Mitzrayim);

³ That they sent and called him. And Yarov‘am and kol Kehal Yisroel came, and spoke unto Rechav‘am, saying,

⁴ Avicha made our ol (yoke) difficult; now therefore make thou the grievous avodat Avicha, and his heavy ol (yoke) which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.

⁵ And he said unto them, Depart yet for shloshah yamim, then come back to me. And HaAm departed.

⁶ And HaMelech Rechav‘am consulted with the Zekenim, that stood before Sh’lomo Aviv while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may return answer to HaAm Hazeh?

⁷ And they spoke unto him, saying, If thou wilt be an eved unto this people today, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak devarim tovim to them, then they will be thy avadim kol hayamim.

⁸ But he forsook the atzat HaZekenim (counsel of the Elders), which they had given him, and consulted with the yeladim (young people) that were grown up with him, and which stood before him (i.e., were in his court);

⁹ And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may return answer to HaAm Hazeh, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the ol (yoke) which Avicha did put upon us lighter?

¹⁰ And the yeladim that were grown up with him spoke unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto HaAm hazeh that spoke unto thee, saying, Avicha made our ol (yoke) heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than the loins of Avi!

¹¹ And now whereas Avi did lay on you an ol kaved (heavy yoke), I will add to your ol (yoke); Avi hath scourged you with shotim (whips), but I will scourge you with akrabim (scorpions).

¹² So Yarov‘am and kol HaAm came to Rechav‘am the Yom HaShelishi, just as HaMelech had appointed, saying, Come to me again the Yom HaShelishi.

¹³ And HaMelech answered HaAm roughly, and forsook the atzat HaZekenim (counsel of the Elders) that they gave him;

¹⁴ And spoke to them according to atzat HaYeladim, saying, Avi made your ol (yoke) heavy, and I will add to your ol (yoke); Avi also scourged you with shotim (whips), but I will scourge you with akrabim.

¹⁵ So HaMelech paid heed not unto HaAm; for the sibbah (turn of events) was from Hashem, in order that He might perform His davar, which Hashem spoke by Achiyah the Shiloni unto Yarov‘am Ben Nevat [See 1Kgs 11:29-39].

¹⁶ So when kol Yisroel saw that HaMelech paid heed not unto them, HaAm answered HaMelech, saying, What chelek have we in Dovid? Neither have we nachalah in Ben Yishai; to your ohalim, O Yisroel; now see to thine own Bais, Dovid. So Yisroel departed unto their ohalim.

¹⁷ But as for the Bnei Yisroel which dwelt in the towns of Yehudah, Rechav‘am reigned over them.

¹⁸ Then HaMelech Rechav‘am sent Adoram, who was over the mas (forced labor); and kol Yisroel stoned him, that he died. Therefore HaMelech Rechav‘am made speed to get himself up to his merkavah, to flee to Yerushalayim.

¹⁹ So Yisroel has been in rebellion against the Bais Dovid unto this day.

²⁰ And it came to pass, when kol Yisroel heard that Yarov‘am was come again, that they sent and called him unto the Edah, and made him melech over kol Yisroel; there was none that followed the Bais Dovid, but the Shevet Yehudah only.

²¹ And when Rechav‘am was come to Yerushalayim he assembled kol Bais Yehudah, with the Shevet Binyamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand bachur oseh milchamah (chosen fighting men), to fight against Bais Yisroel, to regain the Kingdom for Rechav‘am Ben Sh’lomo.

²² But the Devar HaElohim came unto Shemayah the Ish HaElohim, saying,

²³ Speak unto Rechav‘am Ben Sh’lomo Melech Yehudah, and unto kol Bais Yehudah and Binyamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,

²⁴ Thus saith Hashem, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the Bnei Yisroel; Shuvu (go back! return!) every ish to his bais; for this thing is from Me. They paid heed therefore to the Devar Hashem, and turned around to depart, according to the Devar Hashem.

²⁵ Then Yarov‘am built Shechem in har Ephrayim, and dwelt therein; and went out from there, and built Penuel.

²⁶ And Yarov‘am said in his lev, Now shall the mamlachah return to the Bais Dovid:

²⁷ If HaAm Hazeh go up to offer zevakhim (sacrifices) at the Beis Hashem at Yerushalayim, then shall lev HaAm Hazeh turn back unto adoneihem, even unto Rechav`am Melech Yehudah, and they shall kill me, and return to Rechav`am Melech Yehudah.

²⁸ Whereupon HaMelech took counsel, and made two eglei zahav (calves of gold), and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Yerushalayim; hinei, eloheicha, O Yisroel, which brought thee up out of Eretz Mitzrayim.

²⁹ He set the one in Beit-El, the other put he in Dan.

³⁰ And this thing became chattat (sin); for the people went to worship before the one, even as far as Dan.

³¹ And he made a bais for the [idolatrous] high places, and made kohanim of the lowest of the people, which were not of the Bnei Levi.

³² And Yarov`am ordained a chag in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the chag that is in Yehudah, and he offered upon the mizbe’ach. So did he in Beit-El, sacrificing unto the agalim (calves) that he had made; and he installed in Beit-El the kohanim of the [idolatrous] high places which he had made.

³³ So he offered upon the mizbe’ach which he had made in Beit-El the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own lev; and ordained a chag unto the Bnei Yisroel; and he offered upon the mizbe’ach, and burned ketoret.

13 And, hinei, by the Devar Hashem there came an Ish HaElohim out of Yehudah unto Beit-El; and Yarov‘am stood by the mizbe’ach to burn ketoret.

² And he cried against the mizbe’ach by the Devar Hashem, and said, O mizbe’ach, mizbe’ach, thus saith Hashem; Hinei, ben nolad (a son shall be born) unto the Bais Dovid, Yoshiyah shmo; and upon thee shall he offer the kohanim of the [idolatrous] high places that burn ketoret upon thee, and atzmot adam shall be burned upon thee [2Kgs 23:15-16].

³ And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the mofet (sign) that Hashem hath spoken: Hinei, the mizbe’ach shall be split apart, and the deshen (fat ashes) that are upon it shall be poured out.

⁴ And it came to pass, when HaMelech Yarov`am heard the davar of the Ish HaElohim, which had cried against the mizbe’ach in Beit-El, that he put forth his yad from the mizbe’ach, saying, Lay hold on him. And his yad, which he put forth against him, shriveled up, so that he could not draw it back to him.

⁵ The mizbe’ach also was split apart, and the deshen poured out from the mizbe’ach, according to the mofet which the Ish HaElohim had given by the Devar Hashem.

⁶ And HaMelech answered and said unto the Ish HaElohim, Intercede now before the face of Hashem Eloheicha, and daven for me, that my yad may be restored to me. And the Ish HaElohim made intercessory prayer before Hashem, and the yad HaMelech was restored to him, and became as it was before.

⁷ And HaMelech said unto the Ish HaElohim, Come with me habaytah (home), and have seudah, and I will give thee a mattat (gift).

⁸ And the Ish HaElohim said unto HaMelech, If thou wilt give me half thine bais, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat lechem nor drink mayim in this makom;

⁹ For so was it charged me by the Devar Hashem, saying, Eat no lechem, nor drink mayim, nor return again by the same derech that thou camest.

¹⁰ So he went another derech, and returned not by the derech that he came to Beit-El.

¹¹ Now there dwelt a navi zaken (old prophet) in Beit-El; and his banim came and told him kol hama’aseh that the Ish HaElohim had done that day in Beit-El: the devarim which he had spoken unto HaMelech, them they told also to their av.

¹² And their av said unto them, What derech went he? For his banim had seen on what derech the Ish HaElohim, who came from Yehudah, went.

¹³ And he said unto his banim, Saddle me the chamor. So they saddled him the chamor; and he rode thereon,

¹⁴ And went after the Ish HaElohim, found him sitting under the elah (the oak tree); and he said unto him, Art thou the Ish HaElohim that camest from Yehudah? And he said, I am.

¹⁵ Then he said unto him, Come with me home, and eat lechem.

¹⁶ And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee; neither will I eat lechem nor drink mayim with thee in this makom;

¹⁷ For it was told to me by the Devar Hashem, Thou shalt eat no lechem nor drink mayim there, nor turn again to go by the derech on which thou camest.

¹⁸ He said unto him, I am a navi also as thou art; and a malach spoke unto me by the Devar Hashem, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine bais, that he may eat lechem and drink mayim. But he lied unto him.

¹⁹ So he went back with him, did eat lechem in his bais and drank mayim.

²⁰ And it came to pass, as they sat at shulchan, that the Devar Hashem came unto the navi that brought him back;

²¹ And he cried unto the Ish HaElohim that came from Yehudah, saying, Thus saith Hashem, Forasmuch as thou hast defied the mouth of Hashem, and hast not been shomer over the mitzvah which Hashem Eloheicha commanded thee,

²² But camest back, and hast eaten lechem and drunk mayim in the makom, of the which Hashem did say to thee, Eat no lechem, drink no mayim; thy nevelah shall not come unto kever avoteicha.

²³ And it came to pass, after he had eaten lechem, and after he had drunk, that he saddled the chamor for him, for the navi whom he had brought back.

²⁴ And when he was gone, an aryeh met him by the derech, and killed him; and his nevelah was cast down in the derech, and the chamor stood beside her [the lion], and the aryeh also stood beside the nevelah.

²⁵ And, hinei, anashim passed by, and saw the nevelah cast down in the derech, and the aryeh standing beside the nevelah; and they came and told it in the Ir where the navi hazaken dwelt.

²⁶ And when the navi that brought him back from the derech heard thereof, he said, It is the Ish HaElohim, who defied the mouth of Hashem; therefore Hashem hath delivered him unto the aryeh, which hath mauled him, and slain him, according to the Devar Hashem, which He spoke unto him.

²⁷ And he spoke to his banim, saying, Saddle me the chamor. And they saddled it.

²⁸ And he went and found his nevelah cast down in the derech, and the chamor and the aryeh standing beside the nevelah; the aryeh had not eaten the nevelah, nor mauled the chamor.

²⁹ The navi took up the nevelah of the Ish HaElohim, laid it upon the chamor, brought it back; and came to the Ir of the navi hazaken to mourn and to bury him.

³⁰ And he laid his nevelah in his own kever; and they mourned over him, saying, Hoy (alas), achi (my brother)!

³¹ And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his banim, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the kever wherein the Ish HaElohim is buried; lay my atzmot beside his atzmot;

³² For the davar which he cried by the Devar Hashem against the mizbe’ach in Beit-El, and against all the batim of the high places which are in the cities of Shomron, shall surely come to pass.

³³ After this thing Yarov‘am returned not from his derech har’ah, but installed again of the lowest of the people as kohanim of the high places; whosoever desired, he filled hands of [i.e., ordained] him, and he became one of the kohanim of the [idolatrous] high places [See Lv 7:37 and 8:25-36].

³⁴ And this thing became chattat (sin) unto the Bais Yarov`am, even to annihilate it, and to destroy it from off the face of ha’adamah.

14 At that time Aviyah Ben Yarov`am fell sick.

² And Yarov‘am said to his isha, Arise, now, and disguise thyself, that thou be not recognized to be eshet Yarov‘am; and get thee to Shiloh; hinei, there is Achiyah HaNavi, which told me that I should be melech over this people.

³ And take with thee asarah lechem, and nikkudim (wafers), and a bakbuk (bottle) of devash, and go to him; he shall tell thee what shall become of the na’ar.

⁴ And eshet Yarov’am did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the bais Achiyah. But Achiyah could not see; for his eyes had ceased by reason of his seiv (old age).

⁵ And Hashem said unto Achiyah, Hinei, the eshet Yarov‘am cometh to seek davar from thee for her ben; for he is choleh (ill); thus and thus shalt thou give davar unto her; for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign to be a stranger woman.

⁶ And it was so, when Achiyah heard the sound of her raglayim, as she came to the petach, that he said, Come in, thou eshet Yarov‘am; why feignest thou to be a stranger woman? For I am sent to thee with kashah (a harsh prophetic foresight).

⁷ Go, tell Yarov‘am, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee nagid over My people Yisroel,

⁸ And tore the Kingdom from the Bais Dovid, and gave it thee; and yet thou hast not been as Avdi Dovid, who was shomer over My mitzvot, and who followed after Me with all his lev, to do only yashar in Mine eyes;

⁹ But hast done rah more than all that were before thee; for thou hast gone and made for thee elohim acherim, and massekhot (metal idols), to provoke Me to anger, and hast thrust Me behind thy gav (back);

¹⁰ Therefore, hineni, I will bring ra’ah upon the Bais Yarov‘am, and will cut off from Yarov‘am mashtin b’kir (him that urinates against the wall, i.e., every male), atzur (bond) or azuv (free) in Yisroel, and I will sweep out after the Bais Yarov’am just as one sweepeth out the dung, till it be all gone.

¹¹ Him that dieth of Yarov‘am in the Ir shall the kelavim (dogs) eat; and him that dieth in the sadeh shall the oph haShomayim eat; for Hashem hath spoken.

¹² Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own bais; and when thy raglayim enter into the Ir (city, i.e. Tirtzah), the yeled shall die.

¹³ And kol Yisroel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for he only of Yarov‘am shall come to the kever (grave), because in him there is found some davar tov (good thing) toward Hashem Elohei Yisroel in the Bais Yarov‘am.

¹⁴ Moreover Hashem shall raise Him up a Melech over Yisroel, who shall cut off the Bais Yarov‘am even this day. This is the day! [See 1Kgs 15:27-29.] Even now.

¹⁵ For Hashem shall strike Yisroel, just as the kaneh (reed), is shaken in the mayim, and He shall uproot Yisroel out of this adamah hatovah, which He gave to Avoteihem, and shall scatter them beyond the Nahar (River, i.e., the Euphrates) because they have made their Ashera idols, provoking Hashem to anger.

¹⁶ And He shall give up Yisroel because of the chattot Yarov‘am, who did sin, and who made Yisroel to sin.

¹⁷ And eshet Yarov’am arose, and departed, and came to Tirtzah; and when she came to the saf HaBayit (the treshold of the house), the na’ar died.

¹⁸ And they buried him; and kol Yisroel mourned for him, according to the Devar Hashem, which He spoke by the yad of his eved Achiyah HaNavi.

¹⁹ And the rest of the acts of Yarov‘am, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim L’Malkhei Yisroel.

²⁰ And the yamim (days) which Yarov‘am reigned were two and twenty shanah; and he slept with his avot, and Nadav bno reigned in his place.

²¹ And Rechav‘am Ben Sh’lomo reigned in Yehudah. Rechav‘am was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Yerushalayim, the Ir which Hashem did choose out of kol Shivtei Yisroel, to put Shmo there. And shem immo was Naamah HaAmmonit (an Ammonitess).

²² And Yehudah did the rah in the eyes of Hashem, and they provoked Him to kina (jealousy) with their chattot which they had committed, which were more than all that their avot had done.

²³ For they also built them [idolatrous] high places, and matzevot (idol images), and Asherim [Canaanite female nature idols] on every high hill, and under every thickly foliaged green tree.

²⁴ And there were also kadesh (male and female cult prostitutes) in the land; and they did according to all the to’avot (abominations) of the Goyim which Hashem drove out before the Bnei Yisroel.

²⁵ And it came to pass in the fifth year of Melech Rechav‘am, that Shishak Melech Mitzrayim came up against Yerushalayim;

²⁶ And he carried away the otzarot of the Beis Hashem, and the otzarot of the Bais HaMelech; he even carried away everything: and he carried away all the moginnim (shields) of zahav which Sh’lomo had made.

²⁷ And Melech Rechav‘am made in their place moginnim of nechoshet, and committed them unto the hands of the commanders of the guard, which were the shomrim at the petach of the Bais HaMelech.

²⁸ And it was so, when HaMelech went into the Beis Hashem, that those on guard duty bore them, and brought them back into the guard room.

²⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Rechav‘am, and all that he did, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim L’Malkhei Yehudah?

³⁰ And there was milchamah between Rechav‘am and Yarov‘am all their yamim (days).

³¹ And Rechav‘am slept with his avot, and was buried with his avot in Ir Dovid. And the shem immo was Na’amah HaAmmonit (an Ammonite). And Aviyam bno reigned in his place.[T.N. 1Kgs 15:2,10 refers to [grand] daughter.]