1 Kings Chapter 12

The Northern Tribes Rebel Against Rehoboam

¹ Rehoboam went to Shechem because all Israel had come there to make him king. ² Jeroboam heard about it in Egypt. ( ³ They sent and called him.) Jeroboam and all Israel came and told Rehoboam, ⁴ “Your father made our yoke hard. Lighten his hard service and his heavy yoke, and we’ll serve you.” ⁵ He said, “Leave for three days, then come back.” So they left.

⁶ King Rehoboam consulted with the elders that had served Solomon, “How do you advise me to answer the people?” ⁷ They said, “If you’ll serve this nation today, grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, they’ll serve you permanently.” ⁸ But he dismissed their advice and consulted with the young men he grew up with and served him. ⁹ “What’s your advice about answering the people, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ The young men said,

“Tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ My father loaded you with a heavy yoke; I’ll add to it. My father disciplined you with whips; I’ll discipline you with scorpions.’”

¹² Then Jeroboam and the people came to Rehoboam on the third day. ¹³ The king answered them harshly. He didn’t take the elders’ advice ¹⁴ and spoke to them according to the young men’s advice, “My father made your yoke heavy; I’ll add to it. My father disciplined you with whips; I’ll discipline you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ He ignored the people, a turn of affairs Yahveh let happen to bring about what he’d told Jeroboam through Ahijah of Shiloh. 1 Kg 12:1-15                                                                              

¹⁶ When Israel saw that he didn’t listen, they answered him,

            “What part do we have in David?

            We have no inheritance in Jesse’s son;

            Go home, Israel!

            Look after your own house, David!”

Israel went home, ¹⁷ but Rehoboam ruled the Israelites that lived in Judah. ¹⁸ He sent Adoram, supervisor over forced labor, and Israel stoned him to death. Rehoboam hurried and got in his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Israel has been in rebellion against David’s descendants ever since. ²⁰ When all Israel heard that Jeroboam was back, they called him to the assembly and crowned him king of all Israel. No tribe but Judah stayed with David’s dynasty.           1 Kg 12:16-20

Shemaiah’s Prophecy

²¹ When Rehoboam got to Jerusalem, he gathered Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen soldiers, to fight Israel to restore the kingdom to himself. ²² But a message from God came to Shemaiah, the man of God, 

²³ “Tell Rehoboam, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, ²⁴ Yahveh says not to fight their relatives the Israelites: go home; this thing has his approval.”

They listened and went home.

1 Kg 12:21-24

The Gold Calves at Bethel and Dan

²⁵ Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. He went out from there and built Penuel. ²⁶ He said to himself,

“The kingdom will revert to David’s descendants. ²⁷ If the people go up to offer sacrifices in Yahveh’s Temple at Jerusalem, their hearts will go back to Rehoboam, and they’ll kill me.”

²⁸ So he made two gold calves and said, “It’s too much trouble to go up to Jerusalem. Look, your gods, Israel, that brought you up from Egypt!” ²⁹ He set one in Bethel and the other in Dan. ³⁰ That thing became a sin because the people went to worship at the one as far as Dan. ³¹ He made houses on high places and appointed priests from among the people that didn’t descend from Levi. ^32-33 He instituted a festival in Bethel on the fifteenth day, eighth month like the festival in Judah. He went up to burn incense on the altar there and sacrificed to the calves he’d made. He stationed priests at the high places he’d made there.                                        1 Kg 12:25-33