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& Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

& Now when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard {of it,} he was living in Egypt (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon).

1 Kings 12:3

& Then they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

1 Kings 12:4

& "Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you."

1 Kings 12:5

& Then he said to them, "Depart for three days, then return to me." So the people departed.

1 Kings 12:6

& King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, "How do you counsel {me} to answer this people?"

1 Kings 12:7

& Then they spoke to him, saying, "If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever."

1 Kings 12:8

& But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him.

1 Kings 12:9

& So he said to them, "What counsel do you give that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, `Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?"

1 Kings 12:10

& 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!' But you shall speak to them, `My little finger is thicker than my father's loins!

1 Kings 12:11

& ~`Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions."'

1 Kings 12:12

& Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had directed, saying, "Return to me on the third day."

1 Kings 12:13

& The king answered the people harshly, for he forsook the advice of the elders which they had given him,

1 Kings 12:14

& and 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 disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions."

1 Kings 12:15

& So the king did not listen to the people; for it was a turn {of events} from the LORD, that He might establish His word, which the LORD spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

1 Kings 12:16

& When all Israel {saw} that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, "What portion do we have in David? {We have} no inheritance in the son of Jesse; To your tents, O Israel! Now look after your own house, David!" So Israel departed to their tents.

1 Kings 12:17

& But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

1 Kings 12:18

& Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

1 Kings 12:19

& So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

1 Kings 12:20

& It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.

1 Kings 12:21

& Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

1 Kings 12:22

& But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

1 Kings 12:23

& "Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the rest of the people, saying,

1 Kings 12:24

& `Thus says the LORD, "You must not go up and fight against your relatives the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing has come from Me.""' So they listened to the word of the LORD, and returned and went {their way} according to the word of the LORD.

1 Kings 12:25

& Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel.

1 Kings 12:26

& Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.

1 Kings 12:27

& ~"If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD 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."

1 Kings 12:28

& So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt."

1 Kings 12:29

& He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

1 Kings 12:30

& Now this thing became a sin, for the people went {to worship} before the one as far as Dan.

1 Kings 12:31

& And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.

1 Kings 12:32

& Jeroboam instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

1 Kings 12:33

& Then he went 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 devised in his own heart; and he instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense.

1 Kings 12

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