CHAPTER 10

¹And Rehoboam came to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ²And it happened when Jeroboam son of Nebat heard—and he was in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon—that Jeroboam came back from Egypt. ³And they sent and called to him, and Jeroboam and all Israel came and they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴“Your father made our yoke heavy, and now, lighten the hard labor of your father and his heavy yoke that he put on us, that we may serve you.” ⁵And he said to them, “Come back to me in another three days.” And the people went off. ⁶And King Rehoboam took counsel with the elders who stood in the service of Solomon his father while he was alive, “How do you counsel to respond to this people?” ⁷And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be good to this people and show favor to them and speak good words to them, they will be your servants always.” ⁸And he forsook the counsel of the elders that they had given him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who were standing in his service. ⁹And he said to them, “What do you counsel that we should respond to this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” ¹⁰And the young men with whom he had grown up spoke to him, saying, “Thus shall you say to the people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, and now lighten it from upon us.’ Thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. ¹¹And now, my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, and I will add to your yoke. My father scourged you with whips, and I will scourge you with scorpions.’ ” ¹²And Jeroboam, and all the people with him, came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had spoken, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” ¹³And the king answered them harshly, and the king forsook the counsel of the elders, ¹⁴and he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy and I will add to it. My father scourged you with whips, and I will scourge you with scorpions.” ¹⁵And the king did not hearken to the people, for it was brought about by the LORD in order to fulfill His word that He had spoken through Abijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat. ¹⁶And all Israel [saw] that the king had not hearkened to them, and the people responded to the king, saying,

“We have no share in David

nor an estate in the son of Jesse.

To your tents, each man of Israel.

See to your house, O David!”

And all Israel went to their tents. ¹⁷As to the Israelites dwelling in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam was king over them. ¹⁸And King Rehoboam sent out Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and the Israelites stoned him and he died. Then King Rehoboam hastened to mount a chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹And Israel has rebelled against the house of David to this day.