Old/New Testament
Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam
12 Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had gone there to make him king.
2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon, he heard about this, and he returned from Egypt.[a] 3 So the people sent for him.
Then Jeroboam and the entire assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, 4 “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke he laid on us, and we will serve you.”
5 Rehoboam said to them, “Leave me for three days and then return to me.” So the people left.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was alive. He asked, “What answer do you advise me to give to these people?”
7 They said to him, “If today you become a servant to this people—if you serve them and answer them with kind words—then they will be your servants for all time.”[b]
8 But he rejected the advice which the old men offered him. Instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He said to them, “What answer do you advise that we should give to these people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father laid on us’?”
10 The young men who had grown up with him said, “This is what you should say to this people who said to you, ‘Your father laid a heavy yoke on us. Now lighten our yoke.’ Tell them this: ‘My little finger[c] is thicker than my father’s waist.[d] 11 My father imposed a heavy yoke on you. I will make your yoke heavier. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.’”[e]
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, because the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.”
13 The king answered the people harshly, because he had rejected the advice which the old men had offered. 14 He spoke to them as the young men advised him: “My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.”
15 The king did not listen to the people, because this turn of events was from the Lord, in order to fulfill his word, which the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah from Shiloh.
16 All Israel saw that the king had not listened to them. So the people answered the king:
What share do we have in David?
No portion in the son of Jesse!
To your tents, Israel!
Now look after your own house, David!
So Israel went to their tents.[f]
17 Rehoboam continued to rule over the people of Israel who were living in the cities of Judah.
18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoram,[g] who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, was able to get in his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.
19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David until this day.
Jeroboam Becomes King of Israel
20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. No tribe was left which followed the house of David, except the tribe of Judah alone.
(2 Chronicles 11:1-4)
21 When Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, he assembled the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand specially chosen soldiers, to fight against the house of Israel and to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.
22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God: 23 “Say the following to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the rest of the people. 24 This is what the Lord says. Do not attack and do not fight against your brothers, the people of Israel. Go home, every one of you, for this turn of events is from me.”
So they listened to the word of the Lord, and they returned home, just as the Lord said. 25 But Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and he lived there. From there he also went out and fortified Penuel.[h]
The Sin of Jeroboam Son of Nebat
26 But Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingship will go back to the house of David. 27 If this people goes up to offer sacrifices at the House of the Lord in Jerusalem, then the hearts of the people will return to their master, Rehoboam king of Judah. Then they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
28 After the king sought advice, he made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much trouble for you. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 29 He set up one in Bethel and the other one in Dan.
30 This sin took hold, and the people traveled as far as Dan to worship. 31 Jeroboam also made shrines[i] on the high places,[j] and he appointed priests from all kinds of people, even though they were not Levites. 32 Jeroboam instituted a festival in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival[k] that is held in Judah. He offered sacrifices on the altar. He did this in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. He appointed priests in Bethel for the high places he had made. 33 He instituted sacrifices on the altar which he had made in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month which he chose on his own. He instituted a festival for the people of Israel. He went up to the altar to send offerings up in smoke.
The Prophet From Judah Testifies Against Jeroboam
13 At that moment, by the word of the Lord, a man of God came from Judah to Bethel while Jeroboam was standing in front of the altar to send offerings up in smoke. 2 He cried out against the altar by the word of Lord, “Altar! Altar! This is what the Lord says. Listen! A son will be born to the house of David. Josiah will be his name. On you he will slaughter the priests of the high places, who are burning offerings on you, and human bones will be burned on you.”
3 On that day he gave them a sign: “This is the sign which the Lord announces: This very altar will be torn apart, and the ashes on it will be poured out.”
4 When King Jeroboam heard this message that the man of God had proclaimed against the altar at Bethel, he pointed at him from the altar and cried, “Seize him!” But the hand that the king pointed at the man withered, and he could not pull it back. 5 Then the altar was torn apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar in fulfillment of the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.
6 Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede before the Lord your God and pray on my behalf that my hand may be restored for me.” So the man of God interceded before the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored for him, so that it was like it had been before.
7 Then the king said to the man of God, “Come to the palace with me and eat something, and I will give you a gift.”
8 But the man of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half your wealth, I would not go with you, and I would not eat bread or drink water in this place. 9 For this is what I was commanded by the word of the Lord: Do not eat bread and do not drink water, and do not return by the way you came.” 10 So he left by a different road. He did not go back the same way he had come to Bethel.
The Prophets’ Sins
11 Another prophet, an old man, was living in Bethel. His sons[l] came and told him everything that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also reported to their father the words he had spoken to the king.
12 Then their father said to them, “Which road did he take?” So his sons showed him the road[m] which the man of God from Judah had taken.
13 He told his sons, “Saddle my donkey.” So they saddled his donkey, and he got on it. 14 He went after the man of God and found him sitting under a terebinth tree.
He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
He answered, “I am.”
15 The old prophet said to him, “Come with me to my house and have something to eat.”
16 But he said, “No, I cannot return with you, or go with you, or eat bread and drink water with you in this place. 17 For I was told by the word of the Lord, ‘Do not eat bread and do not drink water there, and do not return by the same road you came on.’”
18 But the old prophet said to him, “I also am a prophet, just like you, and an angel told me by the word of the Lord, ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he was lying to him. 19 Then the man of God returned with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.
20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought the man of God back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, saying, “This is what the Lord says. Because you have rebelled against the mouth of the Lord and have not obeyed the command which the Lord your God gave you, 22 but instead you came back and ate bread and drank water in the place about which he had told you, ‘Do not eat bread or drink water there,’ your corpse will not enter the tomb of your fathers.”
23 Then after he ate and drank, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 As the man of God went on his way, a lion attacked him and killed him. His corpse was left lying on the road, and his donkey remained standing next to it. The lion was also standing next to the corpse. 25 Then some men who were passing by saw the corpse lying on the road, and the lion was standing next to the corpse. They came and told the story in the city where the old prophet lived.
26 When the prophet who had brought the man of God back from his journey heard this, he said, “This is the man of God who rebelled against the mouth of the Lord. Now the Lord has given him to the lion. It mauled him and killed him according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him.”
27 He said to his sons, “Saddle my donkey.” So they saddled it. 28 Then he went and found the corpse of the man of God lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor had it mauled the donkey.
29 The old prophet picked up the corpse of the man of God, placed it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn and to bury it. 30 He laid the corpse in his own tomb, and they mourned over him, “Oh, my brother!”
31 After he had buried him, the old prophet said to his sons, “When I die and you bury me, lay my bones to rest beside the bones of the man of God, in the same tomb where he is buried. 32 For the message which he proclaimed by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines of the high places in the cities of Samaria will certainly come true.”
33 Even after this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but he continued to appoint all kinds of people as priests for the high places. He ordained anyone who wanted to be a priest for the high places. 34 This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, which erased and exterminated it from the face of the earth.
The Plot to Kill Jesus
22 The Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. 2 The chief priests and the experts in the law were trying to find some way to put Jesus to death, because they were afraid of the people. 3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve. 4 He went away and spoke with the chief priests and officers of the temple guard about how he could betray Jesus to them. 5 They were glad and agreed to give him money. 6 He promised to do it and was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus to them away from the crowd.
Jesus Celebrates the Passover
7 The day of Unleavened Bread arrived, when it was necessary to sacrifice the Passover lamb. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.”
9 They said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?”
10 He told them, “Just as you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters. 11 Tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ 12 He will show you a large, furnished upper room. Make preparations there.” 13 They went and found things just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
14 When the hour had come, Jesus reclined at the table with the twelve apostles. 15 He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, 16 for I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 He took a cup, gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves, 18 for I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
The Lord’s Supper
19 He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, he took the cup after the supper, saying, “This cup is the new testament[a] in my blood, which is being poured out for you.
One Will Betray Jesus
21 “But look, the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man is going to go as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”
23 They began to discuss with one another which of them it was who was going to do this.
Who Is Greatest?
24 A dispute arose among the disciples about which of them was considered to be greatest. 25 But he told them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called Benefactors. 26 But it is not to be that way with you. Instead, let the greatest among you become like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, one who reclines at the table or one who serves? Isn’t it the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28 You are those who have remained with me in my trials. 29 I am going to grant a kingdom to you, just as my Father granted to me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.