1 Kings 12

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'd fled from King Solomon, and stayed there ³ They sent and called him. Jeroboam and all Israel's assembly came and said to Rehoboam: ⁴ "Your father made our yoke harsh. Now lighten your father's harsh labor and heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you."

⁵ He told them, "Leave for three days, then return to me." So the people left.

⁶ King Rehoboam consulted the elders who served his father Solomon while he lived. "How do you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.

⁷ They replied, "If today you serve these people, answer them kindly, they will be your servants forever."

⁸ But he rejected the elders' advice and consulted the young men who grew up with him and served him. ⁹ He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who said, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"

¹⁰ The young men who grew up with him replied, "Tell the people who said your father made the yoke heavy but you should lighten it: My little finger is thicker than my father's waist." ¹¹ "My father laid a heavy yoke on you; I will make it heavier. He disciplined you with whips; I'll use 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 advised: "My father made your yoke heavy; I'll make it heavier. My father disciplined you with whips; I'll discipline you with scorpions."

¹⁵ So the king ignored the people, for this turn of events came from our Father, fulfilling the word our Father spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw the king would not listen, they answered him: "What share have we in David? No inheritance in Jesse's son! To your tents, Israel! Now see to your own house, David!" So Israel went to their tents.

¹⁷ But Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah. ¹⁸ King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who oversaw forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam quickly mounted 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 Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.

²¹ When Rehoboam reached Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—180,000 chosen fighters—to fight against the house of Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.

²² But the word of our Father came to Shemaiah, the man of our Father:

²³ "Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and 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 is from me.' So they obeyed his word and turned back home, as he said.

Jeroboam Builds Idols at Bethel and Dan

²⁵ Jeroboam built Shechem in Ephraim's hill country and lived there. From there he went out and built Penuel. ²⁶ Jeroboam thought to himself, "Now the kingdom could revert to the house of David. ²⁷ If these people go up to sacrifice 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 gold calves. He told the people, "Going up to Jerusalem is too much 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 in Dan. ³⁰ This became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. ³¹ Jeroboam built shrines on the high places and made priests from all sorts of people, not Levites. ³² Jeroboam set up a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like Judah's festival, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made, and there installed priests for the high places he had made. ³³ On the fifteenth day of the eighth month—a month he devised himself—he went up to the altar he built at Bethel, and he set up a festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to burn incense.