1Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.2When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of it—he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from Solomon the king—he returned from Egypt.3They sent for him and called him, and Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,4Your father made our yoke harsh; now lighten the harsh service of your father and his heavy yoke that he placed on us, and we will serve you.5He said to them, "Give me three more days, then return to me." So the people went away.6King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was alive, and asked, How do you advise me to answer this people?7They replied, If you will be kind to this people and please them and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.8But he rejected the counsel the elders gave him and instead consulted the young men who had grown up with him and now attended him.9He asked them, "What do you advise, so that we may answer the people who said to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"10The young men who had grown up with him answered, "Tell the people who said to you, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter'; say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's loins.'"11Now my father laid a heavy yoke on you, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.12Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed when he said, Return to me on the third day.13And the king answered them severely, and King Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the elders.14He spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men: I will make your yoke heavier and will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.15The king did not listen to the people, because this turn of events was from God, so that the LORD might fulfill the word he had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.16When all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king, What share do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now look after your own house, David. So all Israel went to their tents.17As for the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.18King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to get into his chariot and flee to Jerusalem.19So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
Chapter 11
1When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he assembled the men of Judah and Benjamin—one hundred eighty thousand chosen warriors—to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to himself.2But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God:3Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin,4Thus says the LORD: Do not go up to fight against your brothers. Return, every man, to his house, for this matter is from me. So they listened to the words of the LORD and turned back from marching against Jeroboam.