1 AND Rehoboam went to Shechem; for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.Kings 131 AND, behold, there came a prophet out of Judah by the word of the LORD to Beth-el; and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense on the fifteenth day of the month, according to the feast which was in Judah. And he burned incense on the altar.

2 And when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it (for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt)And the prophet cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, hear the word of the LORD, thus says the LORD: Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon you he shall offer the priests of the temples of idols who burn incense upon you, and men's bones shall be burnt upon you.

3 Then they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the people of Israel came, and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD has sent me: Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

4 Your father made our yoke harsh; now therefore lighten some of the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, and we will serve you.And when the king heard the saying of the prophet of God which he had cried against the altar in Beth-el, the king, standing at the altar, put forth his hand, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to him.

5 And he said to them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. So all the people departed.The altar also was broken, and the ashes which were upon it poured out, according to the sign which the prophet of God had given by the word of the LORD.

6 And King Rehoboam consulted with the old men who had stood before his father while he was still alive, and said to them, How do you advise that I may answer the people?And the king answered and said to the prophet of God, Pray for me before the LORD your God, and entreat for me that my hand may be restored to me. And the prophet of God prayed before the LORD, and the king's hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before.

7 And they said to him, If you will be a servant to this people this day and will serve them and answer them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants for ever.And the king said to the prophet of God, Come home with me to eat and I will give you presents.

8 But he forsook the counsel which the old men had given him and consulted with the young men who were grown up with him and who stood before him;And the prophet of God said to him, If you give me half your house, I will not go home with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place.

9 And he said to them, What counsel do you give, that we may answer the people who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which your father did put upon us lighter?For so it was charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, and drink no water, nor return again by the way that you came.

10 And the young men who were grown up with him spoke to him, saying, Thus shall you speak to the people who have said to you, Your father made our yoke heavy, but make you it lighter for us; thus shall you say to them, My little finger is thicker than my father's thumb.So he went by another way, and did not return by the way that he came to Beth-el.

11 And now whereas my father laid a heavy yoke upon you, I will add to your yoke; my father has chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with knouts.Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and his sons came and told him all the works that the prophet of God had done that day in Beth-el; and the words which he had spoken to the king, them they told also to their father.

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had commanded them, saying, Come to me again the third day.And their father said to them, Which way did he go? And his sons showed him the way by which the prophet of God went, who came from Judah.

13 And the king answered the people harshly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him;And he said to his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass; and he rode on it,

14 And spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with knouts.And went after the prophet of God, and found him sitting under an oak; and he said to him, Are you the prophet of God who came from Judah? And he said, I am.

15 Wherefore the king did not listen to the people; for the stirring of strife was from the LORD, that the LORD might perform his saying which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet, the Shilonite, unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.Then he said to him, Come home with me and eat bread.

16 So when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse; to your tents, O Israel; now see to your own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.And he answered. I cannot return with you nor go to your house; neither will I eat bread with you, nor drink water in this place;

17 And the children of Israel dwelt in their cities; but Judah made Rehoboam the son of Solomon king over them.For so it was said to me by the word of the LORD, You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return again by the same way that you came.

18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam made haste to ride in his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.He said to him, I am a prophet also as are you; and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied to him.

19 So Israel has rebelled against the house of David to this day.So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house and drank water.

20 And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the congregation and made him king over all Israel; there was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only.And as they sat at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who brought him back;

21 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men of war to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.And he cried to the prophet of God who came from Judah and said to him, Thus says the LORD. Because you have disobeyed the word of the LORD and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you.

22 But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the prophet of God, saying,But have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which the LORD said to you, You shall not eat bread, nor drink water; therefore your corpse shall not come into the sepulchre of your fathers.

23 Speak to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,And after the two prophets had eaten bread and had drunk, they saddled the ass for the prophet of God.

24 Thus says the LORD: You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel; return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned according to the word of the LORD.And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way and slew him; and his corpse was cast in the way, and the ass stood beside, and the lion also stood by the corpse.

25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.And, behold, men passed by and saw the corpse cast in the way and the ass standing beside it, and the lion also standing beside the corpse; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom will return to the house of David;And when the prophet who brought him back from the way heard of it, he said. It is the prophet of God who disobeyed the word of the LORD; therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke to him.

27 If this people go up to do sacrifices at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.And he said to his sons, Saddle me the ass, and they saddled it.

28 So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said to all Israel, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!And he went and found the corpse cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing beside the corpse; the lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the ass.

29 And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other he put in Dan.And the prophet took up the corpse of the prophet of God, and laid it upon the ass and brought it back to the city where the old prophet dwelt, to mourn over him and to bury him.

30 And this thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.And he laid his corpse in the grave; and he mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother! Alas, my brother!

31 And he made a temple of idols, and made priests from among the people who were not of the sons of Levi.And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, When I die, bury me in the sepulchre wherein the prophet of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones;

32 And Jeroboam made a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar to offer sacrifices. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing to the calves that he had made; and he appointed in Beth-el priests for the temples of idols which he had made.For the saying which he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Beth-el and against all the temples of idols which are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass.

33 And he went to the altar which he had made in Beth-el, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and made a feast to the children of Israel; and he went up to the altar to burn incense.After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made again from among the people priests for the temples of idols; whosoever would become a priest, he offered an offering and thus became the priest of the temple of idols.