1 And Rehoboam {Rechav’am: Solomon’s heir} went to Shechem; for all Israel had gathered at Shechem to make him king {melek: sovereign ruler}.
2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam son of Nebat heard {kishmoa: when he perceived}, while he was still in Egypt, for he had fled {barach: fled hastily} from the presence of King Solomon, that Jeroboam was staying in Egypt.
3 And they sent and summoned him, and Jeroboam came with all the assembly{qahal: representative gathering} of Israel, and they spoke to Rehoboam{Rekhavam: royal successor}, saying:
4 Your father made our yoke {ol: oppressive burden} heavy, but now you lighten the hard labor {avodah: laborious service} of your father and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, and we will serve you.
5 And he said to them, “Go away for three days {sheloshah yamim: time period} and then return {veshuvu: sequential command} to me.” So the people departed.
6 And King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had stood before his father Solomon while he was alive, saying, “How do you advise {no‘atzim: give counsel} we should answer this people regarding this issue {davar: matter}?”
7 And they spoke to him, saying, “If today you become a servant {eved: subordinate role} to this people and serve them, and answer them, and speak words {devarim: courteous expressions} to them, then they will be your servants all your days.”
8 But he forsook the counsel of the elders {zekeenim: elder advisors} who had advised him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him as his attendants {omedim: personal attendants}.
9 And he said to them, “What are you advising {noatsim: considered advice} so that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke {ol: burdensome obligation} which your father placed upon us’?”
10 The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke {ullenu: oppressive burden} heavy, but you, lighten it from upon us.’ Thus you shall speak to them: ‘My little finger {qatani: smallest member} is thicker than my father’s loins.’”
11 And now my father laid a heavy yoke {ol: oppressive burden} on you, and I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, and I will discipline you with scorpions {aqrabim: instruments of severe torture}.
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day {hashlishi: formal ordinality}, just as the king {melekh: royal authority} had spoken, saying, “Return to me on the third day.”
13 But the king {melek: royal authority} answered the people harshly, and he abandoned the counsel {‘etsah: strategic guidance} of the elders that they had given him.
14 And he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke {‘ul: forced labor burden} heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined {yissar: corrective chastisement} you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”
15 But the king did not listen to the people, for this turn {sivbah: divine initiative} was from the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Director}, in order to establish His word, which the LORD spoke by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.
16 And all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, and the people answered the king with a word, saying, “What portion {chelek: tribal allotment} is there for us in David? And we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents {ohel: family dwellings}, Israel! Now see to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents.
17 But the sons of Israel {bnei yisrael: people of Israel} who were dwelling in the cities of Judah—over them Rehoboam {rechav’am: royal successor} reigned.
18 And King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor {mas: labor levy}, and all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Then King Rehoboam made a strong effort {hitametz: urgent resolve} to mount the chariot to flee to Jerusalem.
19 And Israel has rebelled {vayifshu’u: acted defiantly} against the house {bebeyt: royal lineage} of David until this day.
20 And it happened when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly {edah: formal council} and made him king over all Israel. None remained loyal to the house of David except the tribe {shevet: tribal clan} of Judah alone.
21 And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem {Yerushalayim: royal capital} and assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen warriors to fight against the house of Israel and restore the kingdom {hamelukhah: royal authority} to Rehoboam son of Solomon.
22 And the word of God {Elohim, Divine Revealer} came to Shemaiah, the man of God {ish haElohim: prophetic servant}, saying
23 Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house {beit: political faction} of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remainder {yeter: remnant group} of the people, saying:
24 Thus says the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Ruler}: You shall not go up or fight against your brothers, the sons of Israel. Return, each man, to his home, for this matter has come from Me. They listened to the word {davar: authoritative decree} of the LORD and returned to their homes, according to the word of the LORD.
25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem {shekhem: strategic city} in the hill country of Ephraim {ephrayim: tribal territory} and lived there. Then he went out from there and built Penuel.
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart {lev: inner thoughts}, “Now the kingdom {mamlakhah: dynastic rule} will return to the house of David.”
27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD {YHWH, Divine Authority} in Jerusalem, then the heart {lev: inner allegiance} of these people will return to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.
28 And 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, your gods {eloheykha: idol gods}, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt {mitsrayim: bondage land}.”
29 And he set the one in Bethel {beit-el: house of God}, and the other he placed {natan: deliberate placement} in Dan.
30 And this matter became a sin {chatat: moral offense}, and the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan {Dan: northern boundary sanctuary}.
31 And he made a house {beit: designated shrine} of high places and appointed priests from the extremities {miktsot: outermost segments} of the people who were not from the sons of Levi.
32 And Jeroboam {yarav’am: rival ruler} made a festival in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of that month, like the festival observed in Judah; then he went up to the altar {mizbe’ach: place of offering}. He did the same in Bethel, offering sacrifices to the calves he had made and appointing priests for the high places he had established.
33 And he went up upon the altar that he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the month he had devised from his own heart, and he instituted a festival {chag: feast celebration} for the children of Israel; then he went up upon the altar {mizbeach: raised platform} to burn incense.