1 Kings 12–13

Chapter 12

¹And Rehoboam went to Shechem; for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ²And it came to pass when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (now he was yet in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt; ³and they sent and called him), that Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴Thy father made our yoke grievous; and now lighten thou the grievous servitude of thy father and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee. ⁵And he said to them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed. ⁶And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, How do ye advise to return answer to this people? ⁷And they spoke to him saying, If this day thou wilt be a servant to this people, and wilt serve them and answer them and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants for ever. ⁸But he forsook the advice of the old men which they had given him, and consulted with the young men, who had grown up with him, that stood before him. ⁹And he said to them, What advice give ye that we may return answer to this people who have spoken to me saying, Lighten the yoke which thy father put upon us? ¹⁰And the young men that had grown up with him spoke to him saying, Thus shalt thou say to this people that have spoken to thee saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, and lighten thou it for us, —thus shalt thou say to them: My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins; ¹¹and whereas my father laid a heavy yoke upon you, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. ¹²And Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed saying, Come again to me on the third day. ¹³And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the advice of the old men which they had given him; ¹⁴and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. ¹⁵So the king hearkened not to the people; for it was brought about by Jehovah, that he might give effect to his word, which Jehovah spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶And all Israel saw that the king hearkened not to them; and the people answered the king saying, What portion have we in David? And we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse: To your tents, O Israel! Now see to thine own house, David! And Israel went to their tents. ¹⁷But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸And king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the levy; but all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. And king Rehoboam hastened to mount his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹And Israel rebelled against the house of David, unto this day. ²⁰And it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, that they sent and called him to the assembly, and made him king over all Israel: none followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. ²¹And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem; and he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men apt for war, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²²But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ²³Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remainder of the people, saying, ²⁴Thus saith Jehovah: Go not up, nor fight with your brethren, the children of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing is from me. And they hearkened to the word of Jehovah, and returned to depart, according to the word of Jehovah.

²⁵And Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. ²⁶And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David. ²⁷If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, the heart of this people will turn again 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 made two calves of gold. And he said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt! ²⁹And he set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. ³⁰And this thing became a sin; and the people went to worship before the one, as far as Dan. ³¹And he made a house of high places, and made priests from all classes of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi. ³²And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made; and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. ³³And he offered upon the altar that he had made in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and he made a feast for the children of Israel, and he offered upon the altar, burning incense.

Chapter 13

¹And behold, there came a man of God from Judah, by the word of Jehovah, to Bethel; and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. ²And he cried against the altar by the word of Jehovah, and said, O altar, altar! thus saith Jehovah: Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he sacrifice the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burned upon thee. ³And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign that Jehovah hath spoken: Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. ⁴And it came to pass when the king heard the word of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, that Jeroboam stretched forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand which he stretched out against him dried up, so that he could not bring it back again to him. ⁵And the altar was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of Jehovah. ⁶And the king answered and said to the man of God, Intreat now Jehovah thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me again. And the man of God intreated Jehovah, and the king’s hand was restored to him again, and became as before. ⁷And the king said to the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a present. ⁸And the man of God said to the king, If thou wilt give me half thy house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place; ⁹for so was it charged me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way that thou shalt go. ¹⁰So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he had come to Bethel.

¹¹Now there dwelt a certain old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words that he had spoken to the king, them they told also to their father. ¹²And their father said to them, Which way went he? for his sons had seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah. ¹³And he said to his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass; and he rode thereon, ¹⁴and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a terebinth; and he said to him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. ¹⁵And he said to him, Come home with me, and eat bread. ¹⁶And he said, I cannot return with thee, nor go in with thee; neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place. ¹⁷For it was said to me by the word of Jehovah, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou wentest. ¹⁸And he said to him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spoke to me by the word of Jehovah saying, Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. He lied unto him. ¹⁹Then he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water. ²⁰And it came to pass as they sat at the table, that the word of Jehovah came to the prophet that brought him back; ²¹and he cried to the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the word of Jehovah, and hast not kept the commandment that Jehovah thy God commanded thee, ²²but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to thee, Eat no bread and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come to the sepulchre of thy fathers.

²³And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled the ass for him, for the prophet that he had brought back; ²⁴and he departed. And a lion met him by the way and slew him; and his corpse was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it; the lion also stood by the corpse. ²⁵And behold, men passed by, and saw the corpse cast in the way and the lion standing by the corpse; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. ²⁶And the prophet that brought him back from the way heard of it and said, It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of Jehovah; therefore Jehovah has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and slain him, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke to him. ²⁷And he spoke to his sons saying, Saddle me the ass; and they saddled it. ²⁸And he went and found his corpse cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the corpse: the lion had not eaten the corpse, nor torn the ass. ²⁹And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of…