Israel Pleads for a Lighter Yoke
12 1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of it—he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon, and Jeroboam was living in Egypt— 3 they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam: 4 "Your father made our yoke harsh. Now therefore lighten the harsh labor of your father and the heavy yoke he laid on us, and we will serve you."
5 He said to them, "Go away for three days, then come back to me." So the people went away.
6 King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How do you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.
7 They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them, giving them a favorable answer, they will be your servants forever."
8 But he rejected the advice the elders had given him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who have said to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"
10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people who said to you, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it'—tell them this: 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.'" 11 "My father laid a heavy yoke on you; I will make it heavier. My father disciplined you with whips; I will discipline you with scorpions."
12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days." 13 The king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice the elders had given him 14 and spoke to them as the young men had advised: "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it heavier. My father disciplined you with whips; I will discipline you with scorpions."
15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from our Father, to fulfill the word our Father had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.
The Kingdom Torn in Two
16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: "What share do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse! To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David!" So Israel went home to their tents.
17 But Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah. 18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam scrambled into his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent for him to come to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.
21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors—to fight against the house of Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.
The Father Forbids the War
22 But the word of our Father came to Shemaiah, the man of our Father:
23 "Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people: 24 'This is what our Father says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you, go home, for this thing is from me.'" So they obeyed his word and turned back, going home as he had told them.
Jeroboam Builds Idols at Bethel and Dan
25 Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Penuel. 26 Jeroboam thought to himself, "Now the kingdom could revert to the house of David. 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the house of our Father in Jerusalem, their hearts will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah." 28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." 29 He set up one in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. 31 Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people who were not Levites. 32 Jeroboam instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made, and in Bethel he installed priests for the high places he had set up. 33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month—the month he had devised on his own—he went up to the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted a festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to burn incense.