The Israelites Ask Rehoboam to Make Their Work Lighter |
1 Kings 12:1-33 1 Kings [in Smaller Chunks] |
Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all [of] Israel [had gone] to make him king, [because Solomon, his father, died]. When Jeroboam, [Nebat’s] son was [still] in Egypt, he heard of it (for he had fled from the presence of king Solomon & [he lived] in Egypt.) |
They sent for Jeroboam. Jeroboam & all the congregation of Israel came & spoke to [king] Rehoboam, [Solomon’s son] & said, Your father made a [heavy] yoke on us [& made us work too hard]. |
Therefore, now make the [heavy work] of your father lighter & we will serve you. [Rehoboam] said to them, [Go] away for 3 days & [return] to me, [so] the people [left]. |
King Rehoboam consulted with the old men who stood before his father, Solomon, while he was [still] alive & said, Advise me [about] how I should answer [these] people? |
They [said] to him, If you will be a servant to [these] people & will serve & answer them with [kind] words this day, they will be your servants forever. |
[Rehoboam] rejected the [advice] the old men had given him & consulted the young men [who had] grown up with him & stood before him. [Rehoboam said,] What [advice do you have for me] to answer [these] people [who asked] me, Make the yoke lighter [that] your father put on us? |
The young men [who had] grown up with him [said,] You shall tell the people [who said] to you, Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter [for] us: You shall stay to them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s [waist]. |
[Since] my father [gave] you a heavy [workload,] I will add to your [work]. My father [corrected] you with whips, but I will [correct] you with scorpions. So, Jeroboam & all the people [returned] to [king] Rehoboam the 3rd day, [like] the king [requested]. |
The king answered the people [harshly & rejected] the old men’s [advice] they gave him. He [spoke] the [advice] of the young men to them, saying, My father made your [workload] heavy & I will add to your [work]. |
Also, my father [corrected] you with whips, but I will [correct] you with scorpions [scourges with points]. |
The king didn’t [listen] to the people, [since it] was from the Lord [God,] so He could [fulfill] what the Lord [had said] to Jeroboam, [Nebat’s] son, by Ahijah, the Shilonite [about making Jeroboam king over 10 portions of the land, since they worshiped false gods]. |
So, when all Israel saw [that] king [Rehoboam] didn’t [listen] to them, the people answered, What portion [do] we have in [David’s descendants]? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. [Return] to your tents, O Israel. |
[Take care] of your own house, David. So, Israel departed to their tents. But Rehoboam [still ruled] over the children [people] of Israel [who lived] in the cities of Judah. |
King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over [forced labor] & all Israel stoned him [to death]. Therefore, king Rehoboam [hurried] to get [into] his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. So, Israel has rebelled against the house of David to this day. |
It [happened] when all [of] Israel heard Jeroboam, [Nebat’s] son, had [returned,] they called him to the congregation & made him king over all of Israel. There [were] none [who] followed the house of David [except] only the tribe of Judah. |
When Rehoboam, [Solomon’s son] came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to [restore] the kingdom again to Rehoboam. |
But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying, Speak to Rehoboam, [Solomon’s] son, [Judah’s] king & to all the house of Judah & Benjamin & the [rest] of the people, saying, The Lord [says this,] You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren, the [people] of Israel. |
Every man return to his house; [since] this is from Me [the Lord God]. They [listened] to the word of the Lord & [turned to leave] according to the word of the Lord. Then, Jeroboam, [Nebat’s son, rebuilt] Sheshem in Mount Ephraim & [lived there]. [Jeroboam] went out from there & built Penuel. |
Jeroboam said in his heart, Now, the kingdom shall return to the house of David. If [these] people go to Jerusalem to sacrifice in the house of the Lord, then the [hearts] of [these] people will [return] again to Rehoboam, [Judah’s] king. They [will] kill me & go again to Rehoboam, [Solomon’s son]. |
[Therefore,] king [Jeroboam, Nebat’s son got advice] & made 2 gold calves [false gods] & said to them, It’s too much for you [to have] to go up to Jerusalem [to sacrifice]. [See, these are] your gods [idols], O Israel [that] brought you up out of the land of Egypt. |
He [put] 1 [gold calf] [idol] in Bethel & put the other [idol] in Dan. This became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one [false god,] even to Dan. [Jeroboam] made a house [of worship for the false gods] in high places & made the [false] priests [of these idols] of [the lowliest of people who] weren’t [Levites]. |
Jeroboam ordained a feast in the 8th month, on the 15th day, of the month, like the feast that is in Judah & [Jeroboam] offered [sacrifices] on the altar. So, in Bethel, [Jeroboam] sacrificed to the [gold] calves [false gods] he had made. |
He placed in Bethel the [false] priests of the high places [that Jeroboam] made [for the people to worship the false gods]. |
So, [Jeroboam] offered upon the altar [that] he made in Bethel, [on] the 15th day, of the 8th month, even in the month [that] he had [came up with] in his own [mind] & ordained a feast to the children [people] of Israel. [Jeroboam] offered upon the altar & burnt incense [to the false gods he made]. |