1 Kings 12
He Answered Them Harshly and Lost Ten Tribes
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Israel Comes to Shechem
12:1King Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel were coming to Shechem to make him king.
12:3the people spoke to King Rehoboam, saying,
12:4“Your father made our collar heavy. Now lighten your father’s harsh servitude and his heavy collar, which he placed on us, and we will serve you.”
12:5He said to them, “Go away until three days have passed, and return to me.” They went away.
The Counsel of the Elders and of the Young Men
12:6The king instructed the elders who had stood before Solomon his father while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me, so that I may answer this people?”
12:7They said to him, “If today you become this people’s servant, serve them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants always.”
12:8He abandoned the elders’ counsel which they had given him and consulted the young men who had been brought up with him and stood before him.
12:9He said to them, “What do you advise, and what shall I answer this people who said to me, ‘Lighten the collar your father placed on us’?”
12:10The young men who had been brought up with him and stood before him said, “Thus speak to this people who told you, ‘Your father made our collar heavy; now lighten it for us.’ Thus speak to them: ‘My little part is thicker than my father’s loins.
12:11Now my father burdened you with a heavy collar, but I will add to your collar. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”
12:12All Israel came to King Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had told them, “Return to me on the third day.”
12:13The king answered the people harshly, and Rehoboam abandoned the elders’ counsel which they had given him.
12:14He spoke to them according to the young men’s counsel: “My father made your collar heavy, but I will add to your collar. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”
12:15The king did not listen to the people, for the turn of events came from the Lord, to establish His word which He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat.
What Portion Have We in David?
12:16All Israel saw that the king had not listened to them. The people answered the king, “What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Run away to your tents, Israel! Now shepherd your own house, David!” Israel went to their tents.
12:18The king sent Adoniram, who supervised the tribute. All Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. King Rehoboam managed to go up and flee to Jerusalem.
12:19Israel rejected David’s house, as it remains to this day.
12:20When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned from Egypt, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over Israel. None followed David’s house except Judah’s scepter and Benjamin alone.
Shemaiah Forbids the War
12:21Rehoboam entered Jerusalem and summoned Judah’s assembly and Benjamin’s scepter: a hundred twenty thousand young warriors, to fight Israel’s house and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.
12:22The word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying,
12:23“Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all Judah’s house and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people:
12:24‘Thus says the Lord: You shall not go up or fight your brothers, the sons of Israel. Let each return to his own house, because this matter has come from Me.’” They listened to the Lord’s word and stopped going, according to the Lord’s word.
Jeroboam the Servant of Solomon
12:24aKing Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Rehoboam his son reigned in his place in Jerusalem. He was sixteen years old when he became king, and reigned twelve years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Naanan, daughter of Anan son of Nahash, king of the sons of Ammon. He did evil before the Lord and did not walk in the way of David his father.
12:24bThere was a man from Ephraim’s hill country, Solomon’s servant, whose name was Jeroboam. His mother’s name was Sarira, a prostitute. Solomon made him a ruler of the staff over the burdens of Joseph’s house. He built Sarira in Ephraim’s hill country for Solomon, and he had three hundred horse-drawn chariots. He built the citadel through the burdens of Ephraim’s house; he enclosed the City of David and was rising up against the kingdom.
12:24cSolomon sought to put him to death. He became afraid and fled to Shishak king of Egypt, and remained with him until Solomon died.
12:24dJeroboam heard in Egypt that Solomon was dead. He spoke in the ears of Shishak king of Egypt, saying, “Send me away, so I may go to my land.” Shishak said to him, “Ask for something, and I will give it to you.”
12:24eShishak gave Jeroboam Ano as wife, the older sister of Thekemina his wife. She was prominent among the king’s daughters, and she bore Jeroboam his son Abijah.
12:24fJeroboam said to Shishak, “Do send me away, so I may go.” Jeroboam left Egypt and came to the land of Sarira in Ephraim’s hill country. All Ephraim’s scepter gathered there, and Jeroboam built a stockade there.
Ano Goes to Ahijah at Shiloh
12:24gHis child fell very seriously ill. Jeroboam went to inquire about the child, and said to Ano his wife, “Rise and go; inquire of God about the child, whether he will live through his illness.”
12:24hThere was a man in Shiloh named Ahijah. He was sixty years old, and the Lord’s word was with him. Jeroboam said to his wife, “Rise and take in your hand for the man of God loaves, little cakes for his children, grapes, and a jar of honey.”
12:24iThe woman rose and took in her hand loaves, two little cakes, grapes, and a jar of honey for Ahijah. The man was old, and his eyes were dim for seeing.
12:24kShe set out from Sarira and went. When she entered the city to see Ahijah the Shilonite, Ahijah said to his young attendant, “Go out now to meet Ano, Jeroboam’s wife, and say to her, ‘Come in, and do not stand there, because thus says the Lord: I will send harsh things upon you.’”
12:24lAno entered to the man of God, and Ahijah said to her, “Why have you brought me loaves, grapes, little cakes, and a jar of honey? Thus says the Lord: Look, you will leave me, and when you enter the gate into Sarira, your young women will come out to meet you and say, ‘The child is dead.’
12:24mFor thus says the Lord: Look, I will destroy from Jeroboam’s house every male who urinates against a wall. Dogs will eat Jeroboam’s dead in the city, and the birds of heaven will eat whoever dies in the field. They will mourn the child, saying, ‘Alas, lord!’ because a good word concerning the Lord was found in him.”
12:24nThe woman departed when she heard. When she entered Sarira, the child died, and the outcry came out to meet her.
Jeroboam Gathers Israel at Shechem
12:24oJeroboam went to Shechem in Ephraim’s hill country and gathered Israel’s tribes there. Rehoboam son of Solomon went up there. The Lord’s word came to Shemaiah the Elamite, saying, “Take a new garment which has not entered water, tear it into twelve pieces, give it to Jeroboam, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Take ten pieces for yourself, to clothe yourself.’” Jeroboam took them. Shemaiah said, “Thus says the Lord concerning Israel’s ten tribes.”
12:24pThe people said to Rehoboam son of Solomon, “Your father made his collar heavy upon us and made the food of his table a heavy burden. Now, if you lighten it upon us, we will serve you.” Rehoboam said to the people, “Three more days, and I will give you an answer.”
12:24qRehoboam said, “Bring the elders in to me, and I will consult them about what answer to give the people on the third day.” Rehoboam spoke in their ears according to what the people had sent to him, and the elders of the people said, “So the people have spoken to you.”
12:24rRehoboam dismissed their counsel, and it did not please him. He sent and brought in his companions and told them the same things: “These are the things the people sent to say to me.” His companions said, “Thus speak to the people: ‘My little part is thicker than my father’s loins. My father whipped you with whips, but I will rule you with scorpions.’”
12:24sThe saying pleased Rehoboam, and he answered the people as his companions, the young men, had advised him.
12:24tAll the people spoke as one man, each to his neighbor, and all cried out, “We have no share in David, nor inheritance in Jesse’s son. To your tents, Israel, because this man is fit neither for ruler nor for leader!”
12:24uAll the people dispersed from Shechem, and each went to his tent. Rehoboam took hold of himself, departed, mounted his chariot, and entered Jerusalem. All Judah’s scepter and all Benjamin’s scepter followed him.
12:24xAt the beginning of the year, Rehoboam gathered every man of Judah and Benjamin and went up to fight Jeroboam at Shechem.
12:24yThe Lord’s word came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying, “Say to Rehoboam king of Judah, to all Judah’s house and Benjamin, and to the remainder of the people: ‘Thus says the Lord: You shall not go up or fight your brothers, the sons of Israel. Return, each to his house, because this matter has come from Me.’”
12:24zThey listened to the Lord’s word and refrained from going, according to the Lord’s word.
The Two Golden Heifers
12:25Jeroboam built Shechem in Ephraim’s hill country and lived there. He went out from there and built Penuel.
12:26Jeroboam said in his heart, “Look, now the kingdom will return to David’s house.
12:27If this people goes up to offer sacrifices in the Lord’s house in Jerusalem, the people’s heart will return to the Lord and their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me.”
12:28The king took counsel, went, and made two golden heifers. He said to the people, “Let your going up to Jerusalem be enough. Look, your gods, Israel, who brought you up from Egypt!”
12:29He placed one in Bethel and put the other in Dan.
12:30This matter became a sin. The people went before the one as far as Dan.
The Houses on the High Places
12:31He made houses on high places and appointed some of the people as priests who were not from the sons of Levi.
12:32Jeroboam held a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast in the land of Judah, and went up onto the altar he had made in Bethel to sacrifice to the heifers he had made. He stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places he had made.
12:33He went up onto the altar he had made, on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, at the feast he had fashioned from his heart. He held a feast for the sons of Israel and went up onto the altar to offer sacrifice.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.