1 Kings 12:1-19

¹Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king.

²When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about this, he was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since.

³So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel came to Rehoboam and said,

⁴“Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you should lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then return to me.” So the people departed.

⁶Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked.

⁷They replied, “If you will be a servant to these people and serve them this day, and if you will respond by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

⁸But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him.

⁹He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to these people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

¹⁰The young men who had grown up with him replied, “This is how you should answer these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you should make it lighter.’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist!

¹¹Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

¹²After three days, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, since the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.”

¹³And the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the elders

¹⁴and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.”

¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word He had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king:

“What portion do we have in David,

and what inheritance in the son of Jesse?

To your tents, O Israel!

Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,

¹⁷but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.

¹⁸Then King Rehoboam sent out Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and escaped to Jerusalem.

¹⁹So to this day Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David.

Related Resources from Heartlight

Cross References for 1 Kings 12:1-19

The Berean Standard Bible