Rehoboam’s Reign of Folly

¹Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard about the new king (for he was in ^[a]Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³ And the people sent messengers and summoned him. So when Jeroboam and all Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father [King Solomon] made our yoke hard (heavy, difficult); so now lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ Rehoboam replied, “Come back to me again in three days.” So the people departed.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon [as advisers] while he was alive, asking, “What advice do you give me in answer to these people?” ⁷ They answered him, saying, “If you are kind to these people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But the king rejected the advice which the elders gave him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him [as advisers]. ⁹ He asked them, “What advice do you give to us regarding the answer to these people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ The young men who grew up with him told him, “Tell the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us’: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s ^[b]loins! ¹¹ Now my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, but I will add [more weight] to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions (extremely painful scourges).’”

¹² So on the third day Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam just as the king had directed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ The king answered them harshly, for King Rehoboam rejected the counsel of the elders. ¹⁴ He spoke to them in accordance with the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for the ^[c]turn of events was from God that the Lord might fulfill His word, which He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king did not listen and pay attention to them, the people answered him,

So all Israel went to their tents. ¹⁷ But as for the Israelites who lived in Judah’s cities, Rehoboam ruled over them. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam ^[d]sent Hadoram, who was over the forced labor, and the Israelites stoned him and he died. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his [royal] chariot to escape to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ And Israel has rebelled against the house of David to this day.