The Bible in Basic English BBE
Orthodox Jewish Bible OJB
1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all Israel had come together to make him king,
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2 And Rechav‘am went to Shechem; for kol Yisroel were come to Shechem to make him Melech.
2 And, hearing of it, Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who was still in Egypt, where he had gone in flight from Solomon, and was living there, came back to his town Zeredah, in the hill-country of Ephraim;
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And it came to pass, when Yarov‘am Ben Nevat, who was yet in Mitzrayim, heard of it, (for he had fled from the presence of HaMelech Sh’lomo, and Yarov‘am dwelt in Mitzrayim);
3 And all the men of Israel came to Rehoboam and said,
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That they sent and called him. And Yarov‘am and kol Kehal Yisroel came, and spoke unto Rechav‘am, saying,
4 Your father put a hard yoke on us: if you will make the conditions under which your father kept us down less cruel, and the weight of the yoke he put on us less hard, then we will be your servants.
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Avicha made our ol (yoke) difficult; now therefore make thou the grievous avodat Avicha, and his heavy ol (yoke) which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
5 And he said to them, Go away for three days and then come back to me again. So the people went away.
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And he said unto them, Depart yet for shloshah yamim, then come back to me. And HaAm departed.
6 Then King Rehoboam took the opinion of the old men who had been with Solomon his father when he was living, and said, In your opinion, what answer am I to give to this people?
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And HaMelech Rechav‘am consulted with the Zekenim, that stood before Sh’lomo Aviv while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may return answer to HaAm Hazeh?
7 And they said to him, If you will be a servant to this people today, caring for them and giving them a gentle answer, then they will be your servants for ever.
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And they spoke unto him, saying, If thou wilt be an eved unto this people today, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak devarim tovim to them, then they will be thy avadim kol hayamim.
8 But he gave no attention to the opinion of the old men, and went to the young men of his generation who were waiting before him:
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But he forsook the atzat HaZekenim (counsel of the Elders), which they had given him, and consulted with the yeladim (young people) that were grown up with him, and which stood before him (i.e., were in his court);
9 And said to them, What is your opinion? What answer are we to give to this people who have said to me, Make less the weight of the yoke which your father put on us?
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And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may return answer to HaAm Hazeh, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the ol (yoke) which Avicha did put upon us lighter?
10 And the young men of his generation said to him, This is the answer to give to the people who came to you saying, Your father put a hard yoke on us; will you make it less? say to them, My little finger is thicker than my father's body;
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And the yeladim that were grown up with him spoke unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto HaAm hazeh that spoke unto thee, saying, Avicha made our ol (yoke) heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than the loins of Avi!
11 If my father put a hard yoke on you, I will make it harder: my father gave you punishment with whips, but I will give you blows with snakes.
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And now whereas Avi did lay on you an ol kaved (heavy yoke), I will add to your ol (yoke); Avi hath scourged you with shotim (whips), but I will scourge you with akrabim (scorpions).
12 So all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had given orders, saying, Come back to me the third day.
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So Yarov‘am and kol HaAm came to Rechav‘am the Yom HaShelishi, just as HaMelech had appointed, saying, Come to me again the Yom HaShelishi.
13 And the king gave them a rough answer, giving no attention to the suggestion of the old men;
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And HaMelech answered HaAm roughly, and forsook the atzat HaZekenim (counsel of the Elders) that they gave him;
14 But giving them the answer put forward by the young men, saying, My father made your yoke hard, but I will make it harder; my father gave you punishment with whips, but I will give it with snakes.
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And spoke to them according to atzat HaYeladim, saying, Avi made your ol (yoke) heavy, and I will add to your ol (yoke); Avi also scourged you with shotim (whips), but I will scourge you with akrabim.
15 So the king did not give ear to the people; and this came about by the purpose of the Lord, so that what he had said by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam, son of Nebat, might be effected.
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So HaMelech paid heed not unto HaAm; for the sibbah (turn of events) was from Hashem, in order that He might perform His davar, which Hashem spoke by Achiyah the Shiloni unto Yarov‘am Ben Nevat [See 1Kgs 11:29-39].
16 And when all Israel saw that the king would give no attention to them, the people in answer said to the king, What part have we in David? what is our heritage in the son of Jesse? to your tents, O Israel; now see to your people, David. So Israel went away to their tents.
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So when kol Yisroel saw that HaMelech paid heed not unto them, HaAm answered HaMelech, saying, What chelek have we in Dovid? Neither have we nachalah in Ben Yishai; to your ohalim, O Yisroel; now see to thine own Bais, Dovid. So Yisroel departed unto their ohalim.
17 (But Rehoboam was still king over those of the children of Israel who were living in the towns of Judah.)
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But as for the Bnei Yisroel which dwelt in the towns of Yehudah, Rechav‘am reigned over them.
18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, the overseer of the forced work; and he was stoned to death by all Israel. And King Rehoboam went quickly and got into his carriage to go in flight to Jerusalem.
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Then HaMelech Rechav‘am sent Adoram, who was over the mas (forced labor); and kol Yisroel stoned him, that he died. Therefore HaMelech Rechav‘am made speed to get himself up to his merkavah, to flee to Yerushalayim.
19 So Israel was turned away from the family of David to this day.
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So Yisroel has been in rebellion against the Bais Dovid unto this day.
20 Now when all Israel had news that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him to come before the meeting of the people, and made him king over Israel: not one of them was joined to the family of David but only the tribe of Judah.
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And it came to pass, when kol Yisroel heard that Yarov‘am was come again, that they sent and called him unto the Edah, and made him melech over kol Yisroel; there was none that followed the Bais Dovid, but the Shevet Yehudah only.
21 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he got together all the men of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand of his best fighting-men, to make war against Israel and get the kingdom back for Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.
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And when Rechav‘am was come to Yerushalayim he assembled kol Bais Yehudah, with the Shevet Binyamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand bachur oseh milchamah (chosen fighting men), to fight against Bais Yisroel, to regain the Kingdom for Rechav‘am Ben Sh’lomo.
22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying,
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But the Devar HaElohim came unto Shemayah the Ish HaElohim, saying,
23 Say to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the men of Judah and Benjamin and the rest of the people:
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Speak unto Rechav‘am Ben Sh’lomo Melech Yehudah, and unto kol Bais Yehudah and Binyamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
24 The Lord has said, You are not to go to war against your brothers, the children of Israel; go back, every man to his house, because this thing is my purpose. So they gave ear to the word of the Lord, and went back, as the Lord had said.
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Thus saith Hashem, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the Bnei Yisroel; Shuvu (go back! return!) every ish to his bais; for this thing is from Me. They paid heed therefore to the Devar Hashem, and turned around to depart, according to the Devar Hashem.
25 Then Jeroboam made the town of Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim a strong place, and was living there; and from there he went out and did the same to Penuel.
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Then Yarov‘am built Shechem in har Ephrayim, and dwelt therein; and went out from there, and built Penuel.
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom will go back to the family of David:
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And Yarov‘am said in his lev, Now shall the mamlachah return to the Bais Dovid:
27 If the people go up to make offerings in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, their heart will be turned again to their lord, to Rehoboam, king of Judah; and they will put me to death and go back to Rehoboam, king of Judah.
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If HaAm Hazeh go up to offer zevakhim (sacrifices) at the Beis Hashem at Yerushalayim, then shall lev HaAm Hazeh turn back unto adoneihem, even unto Rechav`am Melech Yehudah, and they shall kill me, and return to Rechav`am Melech Yehudah.
28 So after taking thought the king made two oxen of gold; and he said to the people, You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough; see! these are your gods, O Israel, who took you out of the land of Egypt.
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Whereupon HaMelech took counsel, and made two eglei zahav (calves of gold), and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Yerushalayim; hinei, eloheicha, O Yisroel, which brought thee up out of Eretz Mitzrayim.
29 And he put one in Beth-el and the other in Dan.
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He set the one in Beit-El, the other put he in Dan.
30 And this became a sin in Israel; for the people went to give worship to the one at Beth-el, and to the other at Dan.
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And this thing became chattat (sin); for the people went to worship before the one, even as far as Dan.
31 And he made places for worship at the high places, and made priests, who were not Levites, from among all the people.
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And he made a bais for the [idolatrous] high places, and made kohanim of the lowest of the people, which were not of the Bnei Levi.
32 And Jeroboam gave orders for a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is kept in Judah, and he went up to the altar. And in the same way, in Beth-el, he gave offerings to the oxen which he had made, placing in Beth-el the priests of the high places he had made.
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And Yarov`am ordained a chag in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the chag that is in Yehudah, and he offered upon the mizbe’ach. So did he in Beit-El, sacrificing unto the agalim (calves) that he had made; and he installed in Beit-El the kohanim of the [idolatrous] high places which he had made.
33 He went up to the altar he had made in Beth-el on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the month fixed by him at his pleasure; and he gave orders for a feast for the people of Israel, and went up to the altar, and there he made the smoke of his offerings go up.
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So he offered upon the mizbe’ach which he had made in Beit-El the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own lev; and ordained a chag unto the Bnei Yisroel; and he offered upon the mizbe’ach, and burned ketoret.
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The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.