1 Kings 12

The Kingdom Splits Up & Jeroboam Starts New Worship

1 Rehoboam rolled up to Shechem, because all Israel had gone there to make him king.

2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about it, he was still in Egypt, where he had bounced to get away from King Solomon, he came back from Egypt.

3 They sent for him, and Jeroboam and the whole crew of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

4 “Your daddy laid a heavy burden on us. Now, lighten up the tough work and the heavy grind your pops put on us, and we will serve you.”

5 He told them, “Bounce for three days, then come back to me.” So the people left.

6 King Rehoboam talked to the old heads who used to advise his daddy Solomon when he was alive. He asked, “What is your take, How should I answer these people?”

7 They told him, “If you act like a servant to these people today, and you hook them up and give them a good answer, they will be your loyal servants forever.”

8 But he dismissed the advice of the old heads and went and chopped it up with the young dudes who grew up with him and were now serving him.

9 He asked them, “What is your advice, How should we answer these people who told me, ‘Lighten up the load your daddy put on us’?”

10 The young dudes who grew up with him told him, “Tell these people who said to you, ‘Your daddy made our grind heavy, but you lighten it for us', tell them this: ‘My pinky finger is thicker than my daddy’s whole waist!’”

11 “So now, my pops put a heavy load on you, but I am going to add to your load. My pops whipped you with regular whips, but I am going to whip you with whips that got thorns on them!”

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam on the third day, just like the king had told them, saying, “Come back to me on the third day.”

13 The king gave them a harsh answer, dismissing the old heads’ advice.

14 He spoke to them according to the young dudes’ advice, saying, “My pops made your load heavy; I am going to add to your load. My pops whipped you with regular whips; I am going to whip you with whips that got thorns on them!”

15 So the king did not listen to the people, because this whole situation was actually set up by the Lord to make good on His word that He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

16 When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people talked back to the king, saying, “What share do we got in David, No inheritance with” Jesse’s son! To your tents, O Israel! Now look after your own house, David!” So Israel bounced to their tents.

17 But Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites living in the towns of Judah.

18 King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam had to jump in his chariot and flee to Jerusalem to save his life.

19 So Israel has been rebelling against the house of David to this day.

20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Nobody followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.

21 When Rehoboam rolled up to Jerusalem, he rounded up all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred eighty thousand choice warriors, to fight against the house of Israel and get the kingdom back for Rehoboam, Solomon’s son.

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

23 “Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people,”

24 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not go up and do not fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Everybody go back to their own cribs, because this whole thing came from Me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and bounced back, as the Lord had commanded.

Jeroboam’s Fake Altars

25 Then Jeroboam built up Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Penuel.

26 Jeroboam thought to himself, “Now the kingdom might swing back to the house of David.”

27 “If these people keep going up to offer sacrifices in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, then their hearts will turn back to their master, Rehoboam king of Judah. Then they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

28 So the king talked it over, then he made two golden calves. He told the people, “Look, it is too much for you all to keep going up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

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

30 And this whole thing became a major sin, because the people started going to Bethel and even all the way to Dan to worship those calves.

31 He also built shrines on high places and appointed priests from just regular people who were not from the Levites.

32 And Jeroboam set up a festival in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, just like the festival in Judah. He went up to the altar in Bethel, offering sacrifices to the calves he had made. He also put priests in Bethel for the high places he had set up.

33 So he went up to the altar he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the month he had picked out of his own head. He set up a festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to burn incense.