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

²When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was yet in Egypt , where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon , and Jeroboam lived in Egypt ;

³and they sent and called him ), Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came , and spoke to Rehoboam , saying ,

⁴“Your father made our yoke difficult . Now therefore make the hard service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us , lighter , and we will serve you .”

⁵He said to them , “Depart for three days , then come back to me .”

So the people departed .

⁶King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived , saying , “What counsel do you give me to answer these people ?”

⁷They replied , “If you will be a servant to this people today , and will serve them , and answer them with good words , then they will be your servants forever .”

⁸But he abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him , and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him , who stood before him .

⁹He said to them , “What counsel do you give , that we may answer these people who have spoken to me , saying , ‘Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter ’?”

¹⁰The young men who had grown up with him said to him , “Tell these people who spoke to you , saying , ‘Your father made our yoke heavy , but make it lighter to us ’—tell them , ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist .

¹¹Now my father burdened you with a heavy yoke , but I will add to your yoke . My father chastised you with whips , but I will chastise you with scorpions .’”

¹²So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day , as the king asked , saying , “Come to me again the third day .”

¹³The king answered the people roughly , and abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him ,

¹⁴and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men , saying , “My father made your yoke heavy , but I will add to your yoke . My father chastised you with whips , but I will chastise you with scorpions .”

¹⁵So the king didn’t listen to the people ; for it was a thing brought about from the LORD , that he might establish his word , which the LORD spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat .

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king didn’t listen to them , the people answered the king , saying , “What portion have we in David ? We don’t have an inheritance in the son of Jesse . To your tents, Israel ! Now see to your own house , David .” So Israel departed to their tents.

¹⁷But as for the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah , Rehoboam reigned over them .

¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the men subject to forced labour; and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam hurried to get himself up to his chariot , to flee to Jerusalem .

¹⁹So Israel rebelled against David ’s house to this day .

²⁰When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned , they sent and called him to the congregation , and made him king over all Israel . There was no one who followed David ’s house , except for the tribe of Judah only .

²¹When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem , he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin , a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors , to fight against the house of Israel , to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon .

²²But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying ,

²³“Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon , king of Judah , and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin , and to the rest of the people , saying,

²⁴‘The LORD says , “You shall not go up or fight against your brothers , the children of Israel . Everyone return to his house ; for this thing is from me .”’” So they listened to the LORD ’s word , and returned and went their way , according to the LORD ’s word .

²⁵Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived in it ; and he went out from there and built Penuel .

²⁶Jeroboam said in his heart , “Now the kingdom will return to David ’s house .

²⁷If this people goes up to offer sacrifices in the LORD ’s house at Jerusalem , then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord , even to Rehoboam king of Judah ; and they will kill me , and return to Rehoboam king of Judah .”

²⁸So the king took counsel , and made two calves of gold ; and he said to them , “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem . Look and behold your gods, Israel , which brought you up out of the land of Egypt !”

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

³⁰This thing became a sin , for the people went even as far as Dan to worship before the one there .

³¹He made houses of high places , and made priests from amongst all the people , who were not of the sons of Levi .

³²Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month , on the fifteenth day of the month , like the feast that is in Judah , and he went up to the altar . He did so in Bethel , sacrificing to the calves that he had made , and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made .

³³He went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month , even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel , and went up to the altar to burn incense .