The Breaking Point

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 labor; 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 among 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.

¹Behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the LORD’s word to Bethel; and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.

²He cried against the altar by the LORD’s word, and said, “Altar! Altar! The LORD says: ‘Behold, a son will be born to David’s house, Josiah by name. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and they will burn men’s bones on you.’”

³He gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the LORD has spoken: Behold, the altar will be split apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.”

⁴When the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” His hand, which he put out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to himself.

⁵The altar was also split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the LORD’s word.

⁶The king answered the man of God, “Now intercede for the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” The man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as it was before.

⁷The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”

⁸The man of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half of your house, I would not go in with you, neither would I eat bread nor drink water in this place;

⁹for so was it commanded me by the LORD’s word, saying, ‘You shall eat no bread, drink no water, and don’t return by the way that you came.’”

¹⁰So he went another way, and didn’t return by the way that he came to Bethel.

¹¹Now an old prophet lived in Bethel, and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.

¹²Their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” Now his sons had seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah.

¹³He said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it.

¹⁴He went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He said, “I am.”

¹⁵Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”

¹⁶He said, “I may not return with you, nor go in with you. I will not eat bread or drink water with you in this place.

¹⁷For it was said to me by the LORD’s word, ‘You shall eat no bread or drink water there, and don’t turn again to go by the way that you came.’”

¹⁸He said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are; and an angel spoke to me by the LORD’s word, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” He lied to him.

¹⁹So he went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water.

²⁰As they sat at the table, the LORD’s word came to the prophet who brought him back;

²¹and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “The LORD says, ‘Because you have been disobedient to the LORD’s word, and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you,

²²but came back, and have eaten bread and drank water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread, and drink no water,” your body will not come to the tomb of your fathers.’”

²³After he had eaten bread and after he drank, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.

²⁴When he had gone, a lion met him by the way and killed him. His body was thrown on the path, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the body.

²⁵Behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the path, and the lion standing by the body; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.

²⁶When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the LORD’s word. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, which has mauled him and slain him, according to the LORD’s word which he spoke to him.”

²⁷He said to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they saddled it.

²⁸He went and found his body thrown on the path, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body nor mauled the donkey.

²⁹The prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. He came to the city of the old prophet to mourn, and to bury him.

³⁰He laid his body in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!”

³¹After he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, bury me in the tomb in which the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones.

³²For the saying which he cried by the LORD’s word against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely happen.”

³³After this thing, Jeroboam didn’t turn from his evil way, but again made priests of the high places from among all the people. Whoever wanted to, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places.

³⁴This thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off and to destroy it from off the surface of the earth.

¹At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick.

²Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please get up and disguise yourself, so that you won’t be recognized as Jeroboam’s wife. Go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said that I would be king over this people.

³Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the child.”

⁴Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose and went to Shiloh, and came to Ahijah’s house. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were set by reason of his age.

⁵The LORD said to Ahijah, “Behold, Jeroboam’s wife is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Tell her such and such; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend to be another woman.”

⁶So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, Jeroboam’s wife! Why do you pretend to be another? For I am sent to you with heavy news.

⁷Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘The LORD, the God of Israel, says: “Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you prince over my people Israel,

⁸and tore the kingdom away from David’s house, and gave it to you; and yet you have 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 my eyes,

⁹but have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods, molten images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back,

¹⁰therefore, behold, I will bring evil on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam everyone who urinates on a wall, he who is shut up and he who is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweeps away dung until it is all gone.

¹¹The dogs will eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam who dies in the city; and the birds of the sky will eat whoever dies in the field, for the LORD has spoken it.”’

¹²Arise therefore, and go to your house. When your feet enter into the city, the child will die.

¹³All Israel will mourn for him and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam will come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.

¹⁴Moreover the LORD will raise up a king for himself over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam. This is the day! What? Even now.

¹⁵For the LORD will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger.

¹⁶He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin.”

¹⁷Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed, and came to Tirzah. As she came to the threshold of the house, the child died.

¹⁸All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the LORD’s word, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.

¹⁹The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

²⁰The days which Jeroboam reigned were twenty two years; then he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

²¹Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

²²Judah did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that their fathers had done.

²³For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.

²⁴There were also sodomites in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD drove out before the children of Israel.

²⁵In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem;

²⁶and he took away the treasures of the LORD’s house and the treasures of the king’s house. He even took away all of it, including all the gold shields which Solomon had made.

²⁷King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the door of the king’s house.

²⁸It was so, that as often as the king went into the LORD’s house, the guard bore them, and brought them back into the guard room.

²⁹Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

³⁰There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

³¹Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in David’s city. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam his son reigned in his place.