1 Kings 12

¹And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

²And it happened, when Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of it — he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from before King Solomon — that Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt.

³And they sent and called for him, and they came, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

⁴Your father made our yoke harsh. Now therefore lighten the harsh service of your father and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve you.

⁵And he said to them, Go away for yet three days, then return to me. And the people went away.

⁶And King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had stood before Solomon his father while he was alive, saying, How do you advise me to return an answer to this people?

⁷And they spoke to him, saying, If today you will be a servant to this people and serve them, and answer them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants all the days.

⁸But he forsook the counsel of the elders that they had given him, and he consulted with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

⁹And he said to them, What do you advise, that we may give an answer to this people who have spoken to me, saying, Lighten the yoke which your father put on us?

¹⁰And the young men who had grown 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, but you, lighten it from upon us — thus you shall say to them, My little finger is thicker than my father's loins.

¹¹And now, my father loaded on you a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.

¹²And Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had spoken, saying, Return to me on the third day.

¹³And the king answered the people harshly, and he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him.

¹⁴And he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, 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.

¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, so that he might bring to pass his word which the Lord had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

¹⁶And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now see to your own house, David! So Israel went to their tents.

¹⁷But as for the sons of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. And King Rehoboam managed to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

¹⁹So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰And it happened, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.

²¹And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, and he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingship to Rehoboam son of Solomon.

²²But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

²³Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, saying,

²⁴Thus says the LORD: You shall not go up, and you shall not fight against your brothers, the sons of Israel. Return, each man to his house, for this thing has come about from me. And they listened to the word of the LORD, and they turned back to go their way, according to the word of the LORD.

²⁵Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and dwelt there. And he went out from there and built Penuel.

²⁶And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom may return to the house of David.

²⁷If this people goes up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.

²⁸And the king took counsel, and he made two calves of gold, and he said to them, It is too much for you all to go up to Jerusalem. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.

²⁹And he set the one in Bethel, and the other he placed in Dan.

³⁰And this thing became a sin, for the people went before the one, as far as Dan.

³¹And he made a house of high places, and he made priests from all sorts of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

³²And Jeroboam made a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up on the altar. Thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made, and he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.

³³And he went up on the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised of his own heart, and he made a feast for the sons of Israel, and he went up on the altar to offer incense.