He said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke (burden) which your father put on us’?”

Then the young men who had grown up with him told him, “This is what you should say to these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us!’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins!

and now, my father laid on you a heavy yoke, and I add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, and I -- I chastise you with scorpions.'

And Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed saying, Come again to me on the third day.

and followed the advice of the younger ones. He said, "My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh."

and the king hearkened not unto the people, for the revolution was from Jehovah, in order to establish His word that Jehovah spake by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam son of Nebat.

So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.

But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

King Rehoboam sent Adoram who [was] over the forced labor, and all of Israel cast stones at him and he died, but King Rehoboam managed to get up on the chariot to flee [to] Jerusalem.

Israel is in rebellion against the house of David until today.

And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

Thus, saith Yahweh - Ye shall not go up, neither shall ye fight with your brethren the sons of Israel, - return ye every man to his own house, for, from me, hath this thing been brought about. So they hearkened unto the word of Yahweh, and turned back to depart, according to the word of Yahweh.

Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.

And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:

If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.

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

And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.

And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.

And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

And lo! a man of God, came in out of Judah, by the word of Yahweh, unto Bethel, - as Jeroboam was standing by the altar, to make a perfume.

And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.

And he hath given on that day a sign, saying, 'This is the sign that Jehovah hath spoken, Lo, the altar is rent, and the ashes poured forth that are on it.'

And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

And the altar was broken and the burned waste on it overturned; this was the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

Then the king responded and said to the man of God, "Please entreat the favor of Yahweh your God, and pray for me that my hand may return to me." So the man of God entreated the face of Yahweh, and the hand of the king returned to him, as it was in the beginning.

And the king speaketh unto the man of God, 'Come in with me to the house, and refresh thyself, and I give to thee a gift.'

And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:

for so He commanded me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Thou dost not eat bread nor drink water, nor turn back in the way that thou hast come.'

And he goeth on in another way, and hath not turned back in the way in which he came in unto Beth-El.

Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.

And their father said unto them, Which way then went he? Now his sons had seen the way which the man of God went who had come in out of Judah.

And he saith unto his sons, 'Saddle for me the ass,' and they saddle for him the ass, and he rideth on it,

And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.

And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:

for a word is unto me by the word of Jehovah, Thou dost not eat bread nor drink there water, thou dost not turn back to go in the way in which thou camest.'

He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.

So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.

and he cried out unto the man of God who had come in out of Judah, saying, Thus, saith Yahweh, - Forasmuch as thou hast rebelled against the bidding of Yahweh, and hast not kept the commandment which Yahweh thy God commanded thee;

But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

When the prophet from Judah finished his meal, the old prophet saddled his visitor's donkey for him.

And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.

And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him.

And he said to his sons, "Saddle me an ass." So they did.

And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.

And the prophet taketh up the carcase of the man of God, and placeth it on the ass, and bringeth it back, and the old prophet cometh in unto the city to mourn and to bury him,

And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!

And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:

For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.

And by this thing there was sin on the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.

Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go disguise yourself, so they won’t know that you’re Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there; it was he who told about me becoming king over this people.

and thou hast taken in thy hand ten loaves, and crumbs, and a bottle of honey, and hast gone in unto him; he doth declare to thee what becometh of the youth.'

Jeroboam's wife did as she was told. She went to Shiloh and visited Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see; he had lost his eyesight in his old age.

And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.

And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.

"Come in, wife of Jeroboam. What is this pretension at being someone else? I have some harsh news. Go tell Jeroboam: "I raised you up from among the people. "I made you Commander-in-Chief over my people Israel.

And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes;

You behaved more wickedly than all who were before you. In order to provoke Me, you have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and cast images, but you have flung Me behind your back.

Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it.

Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.

And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

Moreover, the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house (royal line) of Jeroboam this day and from now on.

For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.

That he may deliver up Israel, - on account of the sin of Jeroboam, which he committed, and which he caused, Israel, to commit.

And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;

And, when they buried him, all Israel lamented him, - according to the word of Yahweh, which he spake through his servant Ahijah the prophet.

And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.

For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.

And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:

And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's house.

And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.

Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah.

Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.

Nevertheless for David's sake did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:

Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.

And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.

And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.

Those used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods he sent out of the country, and he took away all the images which his fathers had made.

And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.

And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver, and gold, and vessels.

And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants: and king Asa sent them to Benhadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,

Let there be an agreement between me and you as there was between my father and your father: see, I have sent you an offering of silver and gold; go and put an end to your agreement with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he may give up attacking me.

Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa, and he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and he attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-Beth-Maacah, and all of Kinnereth, in addition to all the land of Naphtali.

And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.

Then King Asa proclaimed among all of Israel that there was no one free from obligation, so they carried the stones of Ramah and its wood with which Baasha had built, and King Asa rebuilt Geba in Benjamin with them, and the Mizpah.