Parallel Bible results for "1 kings 12"

1 Kings 12

Common English Bible CEB

1 Rehoboam went to Shechem where all Israel had come to make him king.

2 When Jeroboam, Nebat's son, heard the news, he returned from Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon.

3 The people sent and called for Jeroboam, who along with the entire Israelite assembly went and said to Rehoboam,

4 "Your father made our workload very hard for us. If you will lessen the demands your father made of us and lighten the heavy workload he demanded from us, then we will serve you."

5 He answered them, "Come back in three days." So the people left.

6 King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon when he was alive. "What do you advise?" Rehoboam asked. "How should I respond to these people?"

7 "If you will be a servant to this people by answering them and speaking good words today," they replied, "then they will be your servants forever."

8 But Rehoboam ignored the advice the elders gave him and instead sought the counsel of the young advisors who had grown up with him and now served him.

9 "What do you advise?" he asked them. "How should we respond to these people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the workload your father demanded of us'?"

10 The young people who had grown up with him said to him, "This people said to you, ‘Your father made our workload heavy; lighten it for us!' Now this is what you should say to them: ‘My baby finger is thicker than my father's entire waist!

11 So if my father made your workload heavy, I'll make it even heavier! If my father disciplined you with whips, I'll do it with scorpions!'"

12 Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had specified when he said, "Come back to me in three days."

13 The king then answered the people harshly. He ignored the elders' advice

14 and instead followed the young people's advice. He said, "My father made your workload heavy, but I'll make it even heavier! My father disciplined you with whips, but I'll do it with scorpions!"

15 The king didn't listen to the people because this turn of events came from the LORD so that he might keep the promise he delivered through Ahijah from Shiloh concerning Jeroboam, Nebat's son.

16 When all Israel saw that the king wouldn't listen to them, the people answered the king: "Why should we care about David? We have no stake in Jesse's son! Go back to your homes, Israel! You better look after your own house now, David!" Then the Israelites went back to their homes,

17 and Rehoboam ruled over only the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.

18 When King Rehoboam sent Adoram to them (he was the leader of the work gang), all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam quickly got into his chariot and fled to Jerusalem.

19 Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent for him. They called him to the assembly and crowned him king of all Israel. Nothing was left to the house of David except the tribe of Judah.

21 When Rehoboam arrived at Jerusalem, he assembled the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—one hundred eighty thousand select warriors—to fight against the house of Israel and restore the kingdom for Rehoboam, Solomon's son.

22 But God's word came to Shemaiah the man of God,

23 "Tell Judah's King Rehoboam, Solomon's son, and all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people,

24 ‘This is what the LORD says: Don't make war against your relatives the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, because this is my plan.'" When they heard the LORD's words, they went back home, just as the LORD had said.

25 Jeroboam fortified Shechem at Mount Ephraim and lived there. From there he also fortified Penuel.

26 Jeroboam thought to himself, The kingdom is in danger of reverting to the house of David.

27 If these people continue to sacrifice at the LORD's temple in Jerusalem, they will again become loyal to their master Rehoboam, Judah's king, and they will kill me so they can return to Judah's King Rehoboam.

28 So the king asked for advice and then made two gold calves. He said to the people, "It's too far for you to go all the way up to Jerusalem. Look, Israel! Here are your gods who brought you out from the land of Egypt."

29 He put one calf in Bethel, and the other he placed in Dan.

30 This act was sinful. The people went to worship before the one calf at Bethel and before the other one as far as Dan.

31 Jeroboam made shrines on the high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, but none were Levites.

32 Jeroboam set a date for a celebration on the fifteenth day of the eighth month. It was just like the celebration in Judah. He sacrificed on the altar. At Bethel he sacrificed to the calves he had made. There also he installed the priests for the shrines he had made.

33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month—the time he alone had decided—Jeroboam went up to the altar he had built in Bethel. He made a celebration for the Israelites and offered sacrifices on the altar by burning them up.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Rehoboam traveled to Shechem where all Israel had gathered to inaugurate him as king.

2 Jeroboam had been in Egypt, where he had taken asylum from King Solomon; when he got the report of Solomon's death he had come back.

3 Rehoboam assembled Jeroboam and all the people. They said to Rehoboam,

4 "Your father made life hard for us - worked our fingers to the bone. Give us a break; lighten up on us and we'll willingly serve you."

5 "Give me three days to think it over, then come back," Rehoboam said.

6 King Rehoboam talked it over with the elders who had advised his father when he was alive: "What's your counsel? How do you suggest that I answer the people?"

7 They said, "If you will be a servant to this people, be considerate of their needs and respond with compassion, work things out with them, they'll end up doing anything for you."

8 But he rejected the counsel of the elders and asked the young men he'd grown up with who were now currying his favor,

9 "What do you think? What should I say to these people who are saying, 'Give us a break from your father's harsh ways - lighten up on us'?"

10 The young turks he'd grown up with said, "These people who complain, 'Your father was too hard on us; lighten up' - well, tell them this: 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.

11 If you think life under my father was hard, you haven't seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I'll beat you bloody with chains!'"

12 Three days later Jeroboam and the people showed up, just as Rehoboam had directed when he said, "Give me three days to think it over, then come back."

13 The king's answer was harsh and rude. He spurned the counsel of the elders

14 and went with the advice of the younger set, "If you think life under my father was hard, you haven't seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I'll beat you bloody with chains!"

15 Rehoboam turned a deaf ear to the people. God was behind all this, confirming the message that he had given to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah of Shiloh.

16 When all Israel realized that the king hadn't listened to a word they'd said, they stood up to him and said, Get lost, David! We've had it with you, son of Jesse! Let's get out of here, Israel, and fast! From now on, David, mind your own business.

17 But Rehoboam continued to rule those who lived in the towns of Judah.

18 When King Rehoboam next sent out Adoniram, head of the workforce, the Israelites ganged up on him, pelted him with stones, and killed him. King Rehoboam jumped in his chariot and fled to Jerusalem as fast as he could.

19 Israel has been in rebellion against the Davidic regime ever since. Jeroboam of Israel

20 When the word was out that Jeroboam was back and available, the assembled people invited him and inaugurated him king over all Israel. The only tribe left to the Davidic dynasty was Judah.

21 When Rehoboam got back to Jerusalem, he called up the men of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand of their best soldiers, to go to war against Israel and recover the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.

22 At this time the word of God came to Shemaiah, a man of God:

23 "Tell this to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, along with everyone in Judah and Benjamin and anyone else who is around:

24 This is God's word: Don't march out; don't fight against your brothers the Israelites; go back home, every last one of you; I'm in charge here." And they did it; they did what God said and went home.

25 Jeroboam made a fort at Shechem in the hills of Ephraim, and made that his headquarters. He also built a fort at Penuel.

26 But then Jeroboam thought, "It won't be long before the kingdom is reunited under David.

27 As soon as these people resume worship at The Temple of God in Jerusalem, they'll start thinking of Rehoboam king of Judah as their ruler. They'll then kill me and go back to King Rehoboam."

28 So the king came up with a plan: He made two golden calves. Then he announced, "It's too much trouble for you to go to Jerusalem to worship. Look at these - the gods who brought you out of Egypt!"

29 He put one calf in Bethel; the other he placed in Dan.

30 This was blatant sin. Think of it - people traveling all the way to Dan to worship a calf!

31 And that wasn't the end of it. Jeroboam built forbidden shrines all over the place and recruited priests from wherever he could find them, regardless of whether they were fit for the job or not.

32 To top it off, he created a holy New Year festival to be held on the fifteenth day of the eighth month to replace the one in Judah, complete with worship offered on the Altar at Bethel and sacrificing before the calves he had set up there. He staffed Bethel with priests from the local shrines he had made.

33 This was strictly his own idea to compete with the feast in Judah; and he carried it off with flair, a festival exclusively for Israel, Jeroboam himself leading the worship at the Altar.