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 in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of king Solomon) that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt. ³And they sent and called him; and Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam saying, ⁴Thy father made our yoke grievous; and now lighten 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, Come again to me after three days. 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 thou be kind to this people, and please 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 the people who 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 them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the advice of the old men, ¹⁴and spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; 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 God, that Jehovah might give effect to his word, which he 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: every man to your tents, O Israel. Now see to thine own house, David! And all 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 Hadoram, who was over the levy; but the children of 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.

Chapter 11

¹And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem; and he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men apt for war, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam. ²But the word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴Thus saith Jehovah: Go not up, nor fight with your brethren; return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. And they hearkened to the words of Jehovah, and returned from going against Jeroboam. ⁵And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah. ⁶And he built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa, ⁷and Beth-zur, and Soco, and Adullam, ⁸and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph, ⁹and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah, ¹⁰and Zorah, and Ajalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities. ¹¹And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of victuals, and of oil and wine; ¹²and in every several city, targets and spears, and made them exceedingly strong. And Judah and Benjamin were his.

¹³And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their districts; ¹⁴for the Levites left their suburbs and their possessions, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from exercising the priesthood to Jehovah; ¹⁵and he ordained for himself priests for the high places, and for the he-goats and for the calves that he had made. ¹⁶—And after them, those out of all the tribes of Israel that set their heart to seek Jehovah the God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to Jehovah the God of their fathers. ¹⁷And they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong three years; for during three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon. ¹⁸And Rehoboam took Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David as wife, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse. ¹⁹And she bore him children: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines; for he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ²²And Rehoboam established Abijah the son of Maachah at the head, to be ruler among his brethren; for he thought to make him king. ²³And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all the fortified cities; and he gave them food in abundance. And he desired for them a multitude of wives.

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