1 Kings 12 ISV NIV Parallel

◄ 1 Kings 12 ►

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1Rehoboam traveled to Shechem because all of Israel went there to install him as king.

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

2Nebat's son Jeroboam heard about it while he was still in Egypt, where he had fled to get away from King Solomon. Jeroboam returned from Egypt

2When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt.

3after being summoned. When Jeroboam and the entire assembly of Israel arrived, they spoke to Rehoboam,

3So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him:

4"Your father made our burdens unbearable. Therefore lighten your father's requirements and his heavy burdens that he placed on us, and we'll serve you."

4"Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."

5"Come again in three days," Rehoboam told them. So the people left

5Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then come back to me." So the people went away.

6while King Rehoboam conferred with his advisors who had worked for his father Solomon during his administration. He asked them, "What is your advice as to how I should respond to these people?"

6Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.

7They advised him, "If today you are a servant, you will serve this people by answering them and speaking kindly to them. Then they will serve you forever."

7They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."

8But Rehoboam ignored the counsel that his elder advisors had given him. Instead, he consulted the younger men who had grown up with him and who worked for him.

8But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.

9As a result, he asked them, "What's your advice so that we can give an answer to these people who have asked me, 'Please lighten the burden that your father put on us.'?"

9He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"

10"This is what you should tell these people who asked you 'Your father made our burden heavy, but you must make it lighter for us!'" the young men who grew up with Rehoboam replied. "Tell them, 'My little finger will be thicker than my father's whole body!

10The young men who had grown up with him replied, "These people have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.' Now tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.

11Not only that, but since my father loaded you down heavily, I'm going to add to that burden. My father disciplined you with whips, but I'm going to discipline you with scorpions!'"

11My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.'"

12So Jeroboam and all the people went back to Rehoboam on the third day, just as they had been directed when the king said, "Come back again in three days."

12Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days."

13But the king gave the people a harsh response, because he was ignoring the counsel that his elders had given him.

13The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders,

14Instead, Rehoboam spoke to them along the lines of what the younger men suggested. He told them "My father burdened you heavily, but I will add to that burden. If my father disciplined you with whips, I'm going to discipline you with scorpions!"

14he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions."

15The king would not listen to the people, because the turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill his prediction that the LORD spoke by means of Ahijah the Shilonite to Nebat's son Jeroboam

15So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

16When all of Israel saw that the king wasn't listening to them, the people responded to the king's message, "What's the point in following David? We have no inheritance in the descendants of Jesse. Let's go home, Israel! David, take care of your own household!' So Israel left for home.

16When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: "What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse's son? To your tents, Israel! Look after your own house, David!" So the Israelites went home.

17And so Rehoboam ruled over the Israelis who lived in the cities of Judah.

17But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.

18King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of conscripted labor, but all of Israel stoned him to death, and King Rehoboam had to jump in his chariot and flee back in a hurry to Jerusalem.

18King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem.

19That's how Israel came to be in rebellion against David's dynasty to this day.

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

20Now when all of Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent for him and invited him to visit their assembly, where they installed him as king over all of Israel. Nobody (with the sole exception of the tribe of Judah) would align with David's dynasty.

20When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.

21As soon as Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, he assembled 180,000 elite soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, intending to attack the dynasty of Israel and restore the kingdom to Solomon's son Rehoboam.

21When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin--a hundred and eighty thousand able young men--to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.

22But a message from God came to Shemaiah, a man of God:

22But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God:

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

23"Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people,

24This is what the LORD says: "You are not to fight or even approach your fellow Israelis in battle. Every soldier is to return to his own home, because this development comes from me."'" So they listened to what the LORD had to say and returned home, just as the LORD had directed.

24This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.'" So they obeyed the word of the LORD and went home again, as the LORD had ordered.

25Later on, Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. He also expanded from there and built Penuel.

25Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.

26Jeroboam was thinking to himself, "The kingdom is about to return to David's control.

26Jeroboam thought to himself, "The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David.

27If these people keep going up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the LORD there, the hearts of these people will return to their lord, King Rehoboam of Judah. Then they'll kill me and return to Rehoboam, king of Judah!"

27If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam."

28So the king sought some advice and then built two golden calves and announced, "It's too difficult for you to travel to Jerusalem. So here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!"

28After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."

29He set one of them in Bethel and placed the other one in Dan.

29One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.

30Doing this was sinful, because the people traveled as far as Dan to appear before one of their idols.

30And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.

31Jeroboam built temples on the high places, and appointed his own priests from the fringe elements of the people who were not descendants of Levi.

31Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites.

32Jeroboam invented a festival for the fifteenth day of the eighth month similar to the festival that takes place in Judah. He approached the altar that he had set up in Bethel and sacrificed to the calves that he had made, having stationed in Bethel the priests that he had appointed.

32He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made.

33Then, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, he went up to burn incense on the altar that he had set up in Bethel, thus beginning the festival that he had made up out of his own heart for the Israelis.

33On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.

New International Version (NIV)

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