1 Kings Chapter 12 to 13 : Easy-to-Read Version  | SearchSearch | Next Version | Previous Page | Next Page |

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Civil War

12 1–2Jeroboam son of Nebat was still in Egypt where he had run away from Solomon. When he heard about Solomon’s death, he returned to his city, Zeredah, in the hills of Ephraim. King Solomon died and was buried with his ancestors.* After that, his son Rehoboam became the new king. 3All of the people of Israel went to Shechem. They went to make Rehoboam the king. Rehoboam also went to Shechem to become king. The people said to Rehoboam, 4“Your father forced us to work very hard. Now, make it easier for us. Stop the heavy work that your father forced us to do. Then we will serve you.” 5Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days and I will answer you.” So the people left. 6There were some older men who had helped Solomon make decisions when he was alive. So King Rehoboam asked these men what he should do. He said, “How do you think I should answer these people?” 7The elders answered, “If you are like a servant to them today, then they will truly serve you. If you speak kindly to them, then they will work for you always.” 8But Rehoboam did not listen to this advice. He asked the young men that were his friends. 9Rehoboam said, “The people said, ‘Give us easier work than your father gave us.’ How do you think I should answer these people? What should I tell them?” 10The king’s young friends said, “Those people came to you and said, ‘Your father forced us to work very hard. Now make our work easier.’ So you should {brag and} tell them, ‘My little finger is stronger than my father’s whole body. 11My father forced you to work hard. But I will make you work much harder! My father used whips to force you to work. I will beat you with whips that have sharp pieces of metal in them* to cut you!’” 12Rehoboam had told the people, “Come back to me in three days.” So after three days all the people of Israel came back to Rehoboam. 13At that time, King Rehoboam spoke hard words to them. He did not listen to the advice from the elders. 14He did what his friends told him to do. Rehoboam said, “My father forced you to work hard. So I will give you even more work. My father used whips to force you to work. I will beat you with whips that have sharp pieces of metal in them* to cut you!” 15So the king did not do what the people wanted. The Lord caused this to happen. The Lord did this in order to keep the promise he made to Jeroboam son of Nebat. The Lord used Ahijah the prophet to make this promise. Ahijah was from Shiloh. 16All the people of Israel saw that the new king refused to listen to them. So the people said to the king: “Are we part of David’s family? No! Do we get any of Jesse’s land? No! So Israel, let’s go to our own homes. Let David’s son rule his own people!” So the people of Israel went home. 17But Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah. 18A man named Adoniram was the boss over all the workers. King Rehoboam sent Adoniram {to talk to the people}. But the people of Israel threw stones at him until he died. Then King Rehoboam ran to his chariot* and escaped to Jerusalem. 19So Israel rebelled (turned against) the family of David. And they are still against David’s family today. 20All the people of Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back. So they called him to a meeting and made him king over all of Israel. The family group of Judah was the only family group that continued to follow the family of David. 21Rehoboam went back to Jerusalem. He gathered together the families of Judah and the family group of Benjamin. This was an army of 180,000 men. Rehoboam wanted to fight against the people of Israel. He wanted to take his kingdom back. 22But the Lord spoke to a man of God.* His name was Shemaiah. The Lord said, 23“Talk to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and also to all the people of Judah and Benjamin. 24Say to them, ‘The Lord says that you must not go to war against your brothers. Every one of you should go home. I made all these things happen!’” So the men in Rehoboam’s army obeyed the Lord’s command. They all went home. 25Shechem was a city in the hill country of Ephraim. Jeroboam made Shechem a very strong city and lived there. Later he went to the city of Penuel* and made it stronger. 26–27Jeroboam said to himself, “If the people continue going to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, then they will want to be ruled by David’s family. The people will follow Rehoboam, king of Judah again. Then they will kill me. 28So the king asked his advisers what he should do. {They gave him their advice.} So Jeroboam made two golden calves. King Jeroboam said to the people, “You should not go to Jerusalem to worship. Israel, these are the gods that brought you out of Egypt.”* 29King Jeroboam put one golden calf in Bethel.* He put the other golden calf in the city of Dan.* 30But this was a very great sin. The people of Israel traveled to the cities of Bethel and Dan to worship the calves. But this was a very great sin. 31Jeroboam also built temples at the high places.* He also chose priests from among the different family groups of Israel. (He did not choose priests only from the family group of Levi.) 32And King Jeroboam started a new holiday. This holiday was like the {Passover} Festival in Judah. But this holiday was on the 15th day of the eighth month {not the 15th day of the first month}. During that time the king offered sacrifices on the altar in the city of Bethel. And he made the sacrifices to the calves that he had made. King Jeroboam also chose priests in Bethel to serve at the high places that he made. 33So King Jeroboam chose his own time for a holiday for the Israelites. It was the 15th day of the eighth month. During that time he offered sacrifices and burned incense* on the altar that he built. This was in the city of Bethel.

died and was buried with his ancestors Literally, “slept with his ancestors.” whips … metal in them Or, “scorpions.” chariot(s) A small wagon used in war. man of God Another name for a prophet. Penuel Or “Peniel.” Israel … out of Egypt This is exactly the same thing that Aaron said at the time he made the golden calf in the desert. See Ex. 32:4. Bethel, Dan Bethel was a city in the south part of Israel, near Judah. Dan was in the north part of Israel. high places Places for worshiping God or false gods. These places were often on the hills and mountains. incense Special dried tree sap. Burned to make a sweetsmelling smoke, it was offered as a gift to God.


God Speaks Against Bethel

13 The Lord commanded a man of God* from Judah to go to the city of Bethel. King Jeroboam was standing at the altar offering incense when the man of God arrived. 2The Lord had commanded the man of God to speak against the altar. He said, “Altar, the Lord says to you: ‘David’s family will have a son named Josiah. These priests are now worshiping at the high places.* But altar, Josiah will put those priests on you and he will kill them. Now those priests burn incense upon you. But Josiah will burn human bones on you. {Then you can’t be used again!}’” 3The man of God gave proof to the people that these things would happen. He said, “This is proof that the Lord told me about. The Lord said, ‘This altar will break apart. And the ashes on it will fall onto the ground.” 4King Jeroboam heard the message from the man of God* about the altar in Bethel. He took his hand off of the altar and pointed at the man. He said, “Arrest that man!” But when the king said this, his arm became paralyzed. He could not move it. 5Also, the altar broke into pieces. All its ashes fell onto the ground. This was the proof that the things the man of God said were from God. 6Then King Jeroboam said to the man of God, “Please pray to the Lord your God for me. Ask the Lord to heal my arm.” So the man of God* prayed to the Lord. And the king’s arm was healed. It became like it was before. 7Then the king said to the man of God, “Please come home with me. Come and eat with me. I will give you a gift.” 8But the man of God* said to the king, “I will not go home with you, even if you give me half of your kingdom! I will not eat or drink anything in this place. 9The Lord commanded me not to eat or drink anything. The Lord also commanded me not to travel on the same road that I used when I came here.” 10So he traveled on a different road. He did not travel on the same road that he used when he came to Bethel. 11There was an old prophet* living in the city of Bethel. His sons came and told him about what the man of God* did in Bethel. They told their father what the man of God had said to King Jeroboam. 12The old prophet said, “Which road did he use when he left?” So the sons showed their father which way the man of God from Judah had taken. 13The old prophet told his sons to put a saddle on his donkey. So they put the saddle on the donkey. Then the prophet left on his donkey. 14The old prophet went after the man of God.* The old prophet found the man of God sitting under an oak tree. The old prophet asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” The man of God answered, “Yes, I am.” 15So the old prophet said, “Please come home and eat with me.” 16But the man of God* answered, “I can’t go home with you. I can’t eat or drink with you in this place. 17The Lord said to me, ‘You must not eat or drink anything in that place. And you must not go back on the same road you came on.’” 18Then the old prophet said, “But I am also a prophet like you.” Then the old prophet told a lie. He said, “An angel from the Lord came to me. The angel told me to bring you to my home and allow you to eat and drink with me.” 19So the man of God* went to the old prophet’s house and ate and drank with him. 20While they were sitting at the table, the Lord spoke to the old prophet. 21And the old prophet spoke to the man of God from Judah. He said, “The Lord said that you did not obey him! You did not do the thing the Lord commanded. 22The Lord commanded you not to eat or drink anything in this place. But you came back and ate and drank. So your body will not be buried in your family grave.” 23The man of God* finished eating and drinking. Then the old prophet put the saddle on the donkey for him and the man left. 24On the road traveling home, a lion attacked and killed the man of God. The prophet’s body was lying on the road. The donkey and the lion stood near the body. 25Some other men were traveling on that road. They saw the body and the lion standing near the body. The men came to the city where the old prophet lived and told about what they had seen on the road. 26The old prophet had {tricked the man and} brought him back. He heard about what happened and he said, “That is the man of God* who did not obey the Lord’s command. So the Lord sent a lion to kill him. The Lord said that he would do this.” 27Then the prophet said to his sons, “Put a saddle on my donkey.” So his sons put a saddle on his donkey. 28The old prophet went and found the body lying on the road. The donkey and the lion were still standing near it. The lion had not eaten the body, and it did not hurt the donkey. 29The old prophet put the body on his donkey. He carried the body back to the city to cry for him and bury him. 30The old prophet buried the man in his own family grave. The old prophet cried for him. The old prophet said, “Oh, my brother, I am sorry for you.” 31So the old prophet buried the body. Then he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in this same grave. Put my bones next to his. 32The things which the Lord spoke through him will certainly come true. The Lord used him to speak against the altar at Bethel and against the high places* in the other towns in Samaria.” 33King Jeroboam did not change. He continued doing evil things. He continued to choose people from different family groups to become priests.* Those priests served at the high places.* Any person who wanted to be a priest was allowed to become a priest. 34That was the sin that caused the destruction and ruin of his kingdom.

man of God Another name for a prophet. high places Places for worshiping God or false gods. These places were often on the hills and mountains. incense Special dried tree sap. Burned to make a sweetsmelling smoke, it was offered as a gift to God. prophet A person called by God to be a special servant. God used dreams and visions to show them things to teach to the people.  people from different family groups to become priests The Law taught that only people from the family group of Levi could become priests. 

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