1 Kings 12–13

CHAPTER 12

Rehoboam Forsakes the Elders’ Counsel

^1aThen Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to ^bShechem to make him king.

²And it happened, ^awhen Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, ¹he was living in Egypt (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon).

³Then they sent and called for him. And Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

⁴“^aYour father made our yoke harsh; but you, now, lighten the harsh service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵Then he said to them, “^aGo ¹for three days, then return to me.” So the people went away.

⁶Then King Rehoboam ^atook counsel with the elders who had stood before his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to respond to this people?”

⁷And they spoke to him, saying, “^aIf you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and ¹grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

⁸But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had counseled him, and took counsel with the young men who grew up with him and stood before him.

⁹So he said to them, “What counsel do you give that we may respond to this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”

¹⁰Then the young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!’ Thus you shall speak to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins!

¹¹‘So now, my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

¹²So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had spoken, saying, “^aReturn to me on the third day.”

¹³And the king answered the people harshly, and he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had ¹given him,

¹⁴and he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “^aMy father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”

¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people; ^afor it was a turn of events from Yahweh, ^bthat He might establish His word, which Yahweh spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Israel Rebels Against Judah

¹⁶Then all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them. So the people responded to the king with this word, saying,

“What portion do we have in David?

We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;

^aTo your tents, O Israel!

Now see to your own house, David!”

So Israel went to their tents.

¹⁷But ^aas for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent ^aAdoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel ¹stoned him and he died. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

^19aSo Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰Now it happened when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the congregation and made him king over all Israel. ^aNone but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.

^21aThen Rehoboam came to Jerusalem and assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who could wage war, to fight against the house of Israel to return the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

²²But the word of God came to ^aShemaiah the man of God, saying,

²³“Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the ^arest of the people, saying,

²⁴‘Thus says Yahweh, “You shall not go up and fight against your brothers, the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, ^afor this thing is from Me.” ’ ” So they listened to the word of Yahweh, and returned to go their way according to the word of Yahweh.

Jeroboam Makes Golden Calves

²⁵Then ^aJeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived ¹there. And he went out from there and built ^bPenuel.

²⁶And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.

²⁷“^aIf this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

²⁸So the king took counsel, and ^amade two golden ^bcalves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; ^cbehold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

²⁹And he set ^aone in ^bBethel, and one he put in ^cDan.

³⁰Now ^athis thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.

³¹And ^ahe made houses on high places, and ^bmade priests from among ¹all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.

³²And Jeroboam made a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, ^alike the feast which is in Judah, and he ¹went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, to sacrifice to the calves which he had made. And he had ^bthe priests of the high places, which he had made, stand in Bethel.

³³Then he ¹went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had ^2adevised ³in his own heart; and he made a feast for the sons of Israel and ⁴went up to the altar ^bto burn ⁵incense.

CHAPTER 13

The Altar Shall Be Torn Apart

¹Now behold, there came ^aa man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of Yahweh, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar ^bto burn incense.

^2aAnd he cried against the altar by the word of Yahweh, and said, “O altar, altar, thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, ^bJosiah is his name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’”

³Then he gave a miraculous sign the same day, saying, “^aThis is the miraculous sign which Yahweh has spoken, ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn apart and the ¹ashes which are on it shall be poured out.’”

⁴Now it happened that when the king heard the word of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” But his hand which he stretched out against him dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself.

⁵The altar also was torn apart and the ¹ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the miraculous sign which the man of God had given by the word of Yahweh.

⁶Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please ^1aentreat Yahweh your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So ^bthe man of God ²entreated Yahweh, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before.

⁷Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and ^aI will give you a gift.”

⁸But the man of God said to the king, “^aIf you were to give me half your house, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place.

⁹“For so ¹it was commanded me by the word of Yahweh, saying, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came.’”

¹⁰So he went another way and did not return by the way which he came to Bethel.

The Prophet Rebels Against Yahweh

¹¹Now ^aan old prophet was living in Bethel; and his ¹sons came and recounted to him all the work which the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken to the king, these also they recounted to their father.

¹²And their father said to them, “¹Which way did he go?” And his sons ²had seen the way which the man of God who came from Judah had gone.

¹³Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it.

¹⁴So he went after the man of God and found him sitting under ¹an oak; and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.”

¹⁵Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”

¹⁶And he said, “^aI cannot return with you, nor go with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place.

¹⁷“For a word came to me ^aby the word of Yahweh, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.’”

¹⁸And he said to him, “^aI also am a prophet like you, and ^ban angel spoke to me by the word of Yahweh, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But ^che dealt falsely with him.

¹⁹So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.

²⁰Now it happened as they were sitting down at the table, that the word of Yahweh came to the prophet who had brought him back;

²¹and he called out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Because you have rebelled against the ¹word of Yahweh, and have not kept the commandment which Yahweh your God commanded you,

²²but have returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water”; your body shall not come to the grave of your fathers.’”

²³Now it happened after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back.

²⁴Then he went and on the way ^aa lion met him and put him to death, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body.

²⁵And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the body; so they came and spoke about it in the city where ^athe old prophet lived.

²⁶Then the prophet, who brought him back from the way, heard it and said, “It is the man of God, who rebelled against the ¹command of Yahweh; therefore Yahweh has given him to the lion, which has mauled him and put him to death, according to the word of Yahweh which He spoke to him.”

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