1 Kings 12
12
Civil War
1-3Jeroboam son of Nebat was still in Egypt where he had run away from Solomon. When he heard about Solomon’s death, he returned to his city, Zeredah, in the hills of Ephraim.#12:1-3 to his city … Ephraim This is from the ancient Greek version.
Rehoboam and all the Israelites went to Shechem to make him the king. The people said to Rehoboam, 4“Your father forced us to work very hard. Now, make it easier for us. Stop the heavy work that your father forced us to do and we will serve you.”
5Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days, and I will answer you.” So the people left.
6There were some older men who had helped Solomon make decisions when he was alive. So King Rehoboam asked these men what he should do. He said, “How do you think I should answer the people?”
7They answered, “If you are like a servant to them today, they will sincerely serve you. If you speak kindly to them, they will always work for you.”
8But Rehoboam did not listen to the advice from the older men. He asked the young men who were his friends. 9Rehoboam asked them, “The people said, ‘Give us easier work than your father gave us.’ How do you think I should answer them? What should I tell them?”
10Then the young men who grew up with him answered, “Those people came to you and said, ‘Your father forced us to work very hard. Now make our work easier.’ So you should tell them, ‘My little finger is stronger than my father’s whole body. 11My father forced you to work hard, but I will make you work much harder! My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with whips that have sharp metal tips.’”
12Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people came back as Rehoboam had said. 13King Rehoboam did not listen to the advice from the older men, and he was rude to the people. 14He did what his friends told him to do and said, “My father forced you to work hard, but I will make you work much harder! My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with whips that have sharp metal tips.” 15So the king did not do what the people wanted. The Lord caused this to happen. He did this in order to keep the promise he made to Jeroboam son of Nebat when he sent the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh to speak to him.
16The Israelites saw that the new king refused to listen to them, so they said to him,
“We are not part of David’s family are we?
We don’t get any of Jesse’s land, do we?
So, people of Israel, let’s go home
and let David’s son rule his own people!”
So the Israelites went home. 17But Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.
18A man named Adoniram was one of the men who directed the workers. King Rehoboam sent Adoniram to talk to the people, but the Israelites threw stones at him until he died. King Rehoboam ran to his chariot and escaped to Jerusalem. 19So Israel rebelled against the family of David, and this is how things are even today.
20When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had come back, they called him to a meeting and made him king over all Israel. The tribe of Judah was the only tribe that continued to follow the family of David.
21Rehoboam went back to Jerusalem and gathered together an army of 180,000 men from the families of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin. Rehoboam wanted to go fight against the Israelites and take back his kingdom. 22But God spoke to a prophet named Shemaiah. He said, 23“Talk to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to men of Judah and Benjamin. 24Say to them, ‘The Lord says that you must not go to war against your brothers. Everyone, go home! I made all this happen.’” So all the men in Rehoboam’s army obeyed the Lord. They went home, just as the Lord had commanded.
25Jeroboam rebuilt the city of Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there. Later he went to the city of Penuel#12:25 Penuel Or “Peniel.” and rebuilt it.
26-27Jeroboam said to himself, “If the people keep going to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Lord’s Temple, someday they will want to be ruled by their old masters. They will want to be ruled by King Rehoboam of Judah. And then they will kill me.” 28So the king asked his advisors what to do. They gave him their advice, and King Jeroboam made two golden calves. He said to the people, “You don’t have to go to Jerusalem to worship anymore. Israel, these are the gods that brought you out of Egypt.#12:28 Israel … out of Egypt This is exactly the same thing that Aaron said at the time he made the golden calf in the desert. See Ex. 32:4.” 29King Jeroboam put one golden calf in Bethel and the other one in the city of Dan.#12:29 Bethel, Dan Bethel was a city in the southern part of Israel, near Judah. Dan was in the northern part of Israel. 30What a terrible sin this was, because the Israelites started going to the cities of Dan and Bethel#12:30 and Bethel This is from the ancient Greek version. to worship the calves.
31Jeroboam also built temples at the high places and chose priests from among the different tribes of Israel. (He did not choose priests only from the tribe of Levi.) 32Then King Jeroboam started a new festival that was like the festival#12:32 the festival Probably the Festival of Shelters. See “Festival of Shelters” in the Word List. in Judah, but it was on the 15th day of the eighth month. At this time the king offered sacrifices on the altar at Bethel. He and the priests he chose offered the sacrifices to the calves that he had set up at the high places he had made. 33So King Jeroboam chose his own time for a festival for the Israelites, the 15th day of the eighth month. And during that time he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the altar he had built at Bethel.
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