1 *Kings 12

₁Rehoboam went to the town of Shechem where all the Israelites came to make him king. ₂They told Jeroboam, son of Nebat, about it. He was still in Egypt. A few years before that, he had fled to Egypt because he was afraid of King Solomon and he stayed in Egypt. ₃But the people of Israel called Jeroboam and he went to them. Jeroboam and all the people of the congregation_of_Israel talked to Rehoboam. ₄They said: ‘Your father gave us very hard work to do. You must not make us work so hard, and then we will serve you.’

₅Rehoboam told them to go and to come back after 3 days, and so they went away. ₆There were older advisors who had worked for King Solomon when he was alive. King Rehoboam asked them what he must do. He asked them: ‘What do you say? What must I answer these people?’ ₇They said to him: ‘If you want to serve these people today and you do what they want and give them a good answer as they want, then they will always serve you.’

₈But Rehoboam did not listen to what they told him. He went to the young men who had grown up with him and who became his officials ₉and he asked them: ‘What do you say? What must I answer these people? They asked me not to make them work as hard as they had to work for my father.’ ₁₀The young men who grew up with Rehoboam told him: ‘These people have told you that your father made them work hard and you must not make them work as hard. You must tell them that you are harsher than your father. Tell them your little finger is thicker than your father's body. ₁₁Your father gave them hard work to do, but you will make them work even harder. Your father ruled them with whips but you will rule over them with whips that bite like scorpions.’

₁₂Rehoboam had told the people that they must come back after 3 days. Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam on the 3rd day. ₁₃The king did not listen to what the older leaders told him and he was harsh with Jeroboam and the people with him. ₁₄He did what the young men told him and Rehoboam said to them: ‘My father gave you hard work to do, but I will make you work even harder. He ruled you with whips, but I will rule you with whips that bite like scorpions.’

₁₅The king did not listen to the people, because the Lord made it happen this way. The Lord wanted to do what He had told Jeroboam, son of Nebat, when He sent Ahijah from Shiloh to talk to him. ₁₆When all the people of Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, they said to the king:

The people of Israel went back to their homes and left Rehoboam. ₁₇Then Rehoboam was king only of the people who lived in the towns of Judah. ₁₈Adoniram was the leader of the people who had to work for the king. King Rehoboam sent Adoniram to the people of Israel, but they threw stones at Adoniram and killed him. King Rehoboam quickly got on his war-chariot and he fled to Jerusalem. ₁₉This is how the people of Israel started to rebel_against the royal family of David and that is still the same today.

₂₀When they told the people of Israel that Jeroboam had come back, they called him to come to the meeting of the leaders and they made him king of the people of Israel. There were not many people who stayed with the family of David. Only the people of the Judah tribe stayed with Rehoboam.

₂₁Rehoboam came to Jerusalem and he called all the men of the Judah and Benjamin tribes to come to him. There were 180 000 soldiers. Rehoboam, son of Solomon, wanted to go to war_against the people of Israel. He wanted to get the land back again. ₂₂But God said to Shemaiah, a man of God: ₂₃‘You must talk to Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king_of_Judah, and to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and to the other people. You must tell them: ₂₄The Lord says: “Do not go to war_against your brothers, the people of Israel. Go back to your homes because it is I who made these things happen.” ’

They listened to the message from God and they went back as He said.

₂₅Jeroboam built the town of Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim again and he went to live there. Later he went from there and he built the town of Peniel. ₂₆He was afraid that the people of Israel would go back to serve the family of David. ₂₇He said: ‘If my people keep on going to the temple in Jerusalem to sacrifice, then maybe they will go back and start serving King Rehoboam of Judah. Then they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam.’

₂₈King Jeroboam then asked his advisors what he must do, and they told him to make 2 golden bull-calf images. Then he told his people: ‘People of Israel, you went to Jerusalem for a long time, but here are your gods who saved you from the land of Egypt.’

₂₉He put one bull-calf image in the town of Bethel and the other one in the town of Dan. ₃₀This was a big sin that the people started to do, going as far as Dan to worship this idol.

₃₁Jeroboam also built temples at the places_of_sacrifice and he chose priests who were not from the Levi tribe. ₃₂They celebrated a feast on the 15th day of the 8th month, the same as the feast that they had celebrated in Judah, but at a different time. Jeroboam went to the altar in Bethel and he sacrificed offerings to the bull-calf images that he had made. He chose priests to work at the places_of_sacrifice that he had built.

₃₃On the 15th day of the 8th month Jeroboam sacrificed an offering on the altar that he had built in Bethel. He decided that the people of Israel must celebrate a feast on that day.