1Kings:12-14
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And Rehoboam went to Shechem :
for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king .
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And it came to pass ,
when Jeroboam the son of Nebat ,
who was yet in Egypt ,
heard of it , (
for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon ,
and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt ;)
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That they sent and called him .
And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came ,
and spake unto Rehoboam ,
saying ,
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Thy father made our yoke grievous :
now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father ,
and his heavy yoke which he put upon us ,
lighter ,
and we will serve thee .
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And he said unto them ,
Depart yet for three days ,
then come again to me .
And the people departed .
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And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men ,
that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived ,
and said ,
How do ye advise that I may answer this people ?
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And they spake unto him ,
saying ,
If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day ,
and wilt serve them ,
and answer them ,
and speak good words to them ,
then they will be thy servants for ever .
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But he forsook the counsel of the old men ,
which they had given him ,
and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him ,
and which stood before him :
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And he said unto them ,
What counsel give ye that we may answer this people ,
who have spoken to me ,
saying ,
Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter ?
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And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him ,
saying ,
Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee ,
saying ,
Thy father made our yoke heavy ,
but make thou it lighter unto us ;
thus shalt thou say unto them ,
My little finger shall be thicker than my father '
s loins .
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And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke ,
I will add to your yoke :
my father hath chastised you with whips ,
but I will chastise you with scorpions .
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So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day ,
as the king had appointed ,
saying ,
Come to me again the third day .
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And the king answered the people roughly ,
and forsook the old men '
s counsel that they gave him ;
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And spake to them after the counsel of the young men ,
saying ,
My father made your yoke heavy ,
and I will add to your yoke :
my father also chastised you with whips ,
but I will chastise you with scorpions .
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Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people ;
for the cause was from the LORD ,
that he might perform his saying ,
which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat .
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So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them ,
the people answered the king ,
saying ,
What portion have we in David ?
neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse :
to your tents ,
O Israel :
now see to thine own house ,
David .
So Israel departed unto their tents .
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But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah ,
Rehoboam reigned over them .
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Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram ,
who was over the tribute ;
and all Israel stoned him with stones ,
that he died .
Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot ,
to flee to Jerusalem .
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So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day .
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And it came to pass ,
when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again ,
that they sent and called him unto the congregation ,
and made him king over all Israel :
there was none that followed the house of David ,
but the tribe of Judah only .
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And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem ,
he assembled all the house of Judah ,
with the tribe of Benjamin ,
an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men ,
which were warriors ,
to fight against the house of Israel ,
to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon .
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But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God ,
saying ,
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Speak unto Rehoboam ,
the son of Solomon ,
king of Judah ,
and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin ,
and to the remnant of the people ,
saying ,
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Thus saith the LORD ,
Ye 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 to depart ,
according to the word of the LORD .
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Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim ,
and dwelt therein ;
and went out from thence ,
and built Penuel .
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And Jeroboam said in his heart ,
Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David :
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If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem ,
then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord ,
even unto Rehoboam king of Judah ,
and they shall kill me ,
and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah .
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Whereupon the king took counsel ,
and made two calves of gold ,
and said unto them ,
It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem :
behold thy gods ,
O Israel ,
which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt .
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And he set the one in Bethel ,
and the other put he in Dan .
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And this thing became a sin :
for the people went to worship before the one ,
even unto Dan .
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And he made an house of high places ,
and made priests of the lowest of the people ,
which were not of the sons of Levi .
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And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month ,
on the fifteenth day of the month ,
like unto the feast that is in Judah ,
and he offered upon the altar .
So did he in Bethel ,
sacrificing unto the calves that he had made :
and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made .
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So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month ,
even in the month which he had devised of his own heart ;
and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel :
and he offered upon the altar ,
and burnt incense .
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And ,
behold ,
there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel :
and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense .
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And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD ,
and said ,
O altar ,
altar ,
thus saith the LORD ;
Behold ,
a child shall be born unto the house of David ,
Josiah by name ;
and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee ,
and men '
s bones shall be burnt upon thee .
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And he gave a sign the same day ,
saying ,
This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken ;
Behold ,
the altar shall be rent ,
and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out .
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And it came to pass ,
when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God ,
which had cried against the altar in Bethel ,
that he put forth his hand from the altar ,
saying ,
Lay hold on him .
And his hand ,
which he put forth against him ,
dried up ,
so that he could not pull it in again to him .
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The altar also was rent ,
and the ashes poured out from the altar ,
according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD .
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And the king answered and said unto the man of God ,
Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God ,
and pray for me ,
that my hand may be restored me again .
And the man of God besought the LORD ,
and the king '
s hand was restored him again ,
and became as it was before .
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And the king said unto the man of God ,
Come home with me ,
and refresh thyself ,
and I will give thee a reward .
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And the man of God said unto the king ,
If thou wilt give me half thine house ,
I will not go in with thee ,
neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place :
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For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD ,
saying ,
Eat no bread ,
nor drink water ,
nor turn again by the same way that thou camest .
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So he went another way ,
and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel .
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Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel ;
and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel :
the words which he had spoken unto the king ,
them they told also to their father .
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And their father said unto them ,
What way went he ?
For his sons had seen what way the man of God went ,
which came from Judah .
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And he said unto his sons ,
Saddle me the ass .
So they saddled him the ass :
and he rode thereon ,
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And went after the man of God ,
and found him sitting under an oak :
and he said unto him ,
Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah ?
And he said ,
I am .
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Then he said unto him ,
Come home with me ,
and eat bread .
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And he said ,
I may not return with thee ,
nor go in with thee :
neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place :
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For it was said to me by the word of the LORD ,
Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there ,
nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest .
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He said unto him ,
I am a prophet also as thou art ;
and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD ,
saying ,
Bring him back with thee into thine house ,
that he may eat bread and drink water .
But he lied unto him .
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So he went back with him ,
and did eat bread in his house ,
and drank water .
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And it came to pass ,
as they sat at the table ,
that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back :
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And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah ,
saying ,
Thus saith the LORD ,
Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD ,
and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee ,
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But camest back ,
and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place ,
of the which the LORD did say to thee ,
Eat no bread ,
and drink no water ;
thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers .
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And it came to pass ,
after he had eaten bread ,
and after he had drunk ,
that he saddled for him the ass ,
to wit ,
for the prophet whom he had brought back .
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And when he was gone ,
a lion met him by the way ,
and slew him :
and his carcase was cast in the way ,
and the ass stood by it ,
the lion also stood by the carcase .
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And ,
behold ,
men passed by ,
and saw the carcase cast in the way ,
and the lion standing by the carcase :
and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt .
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And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof ,
he said ,
It is the man of God ,
who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD :
therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion ,
which hath torn him ,
and slain him ,
according to the word of the LORD ,
which he spake unto him .
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And he spake to his sons ,
saying ,
Saddle me the ass .
And they saddled him .
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And he went and found his carcase cast in the way ,
and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase :
the lion had not eaten the carcase ,
nor torn the ass .
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And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God ,
and laid it upon the ass ,
and brought it back :
and the old prophet came to the city ,
to mourn and to bury him .
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And he laid his carcase in his own grave ;
and they mourned over him ,
saying ,
Alas ,
my brother !
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And it came to pass ,
after he had buried him ,
that he spake to his sons ,
saying ,
When I am dead ,
then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried ;
lay my bones beside his bones :
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For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel ,
and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria ,
shall surely come to pass .
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After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way ,
but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places :
whosoever would ,
he consecrated him ,
and he became one of the priests of the high places .
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And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam ,
even to cut it off ,
and to destroy it from off the face of the earth .
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At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick .
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And Jeroboam said to his wife ,
Arise ,
I pray thee ,
and disguise thyself ,
that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam ;
and get thee to Shiloh :
behold ,
there is Ahijah the prophet ,
which told me that I should be king over this people .
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And take with thee ten loaves ,
and cracknels ,
and a cruse of honey ,
and go to him :
he shall tell thee what shall become of the child .
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And Jeroboam '
s wife did so ,
and arose ,
and went to Shiloh ,
and came to the house of Ahijah .
But Ahijah could not see ;
for his eyes were set by reason of his age .
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And the LORD said unto Ahijah ,
Behold ,
the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son ;
for he is sick :
thus and thus shalt thou say unto her :
for it shall be ,
when she cometh in ,
that she shall feign herself to be another woman .
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And it was so ,
when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet ,
as she came in at the door ,
that he said ,
Come in ,
thou wife of Jeroboam ;
why feignest thou thyself to be another ?
for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings .
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Go ,
tell Jeroboam ,
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel ,
Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people ,
and made thee prince over my people Israel ,
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And rent the kingdom away from the house of David ,
and gave it thee :
and yet thou hast not been as my servant David ,
who kept my commandments ,
and who followed me with all his heart ,
to do that only which was right in mine eyes ;
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But hast done evil above all that were before thee :
for thou hast gone and made thee other gods ,
and molten images ,
to provoke me to anger ,
and hast cast me behind thy back :
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Therefore ,
behold ,
I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam ,
and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall ,
and him that is shut up and left in Israel ,
and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam ,
as a man taketh away dung ,
till it be all gone .
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Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat ;
and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat :
for the LORD hath spoken it .
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Arise thou therefore ,
get thee to thine own house :
and when thy feet enter into the city ,
the child shall die .
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And all Israel shall mourn for him ,
and bury him :
for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave ,
because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam .
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Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel ,
who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day :
but what ?
even now .
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For the LORD shall smite Israel ,
as a reed is shaken in the water ,
and he shall root up Israel out of this good land ,
which he gave to their fathers ,
and shall scatter them beyond the river ,
because they have made their groves ,
provoking the LORD to anger .
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And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam ,
who did sin ,
and who made Israel to sin .
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And Jeroboam '
s wife arose ,
and departed ,
and came to Tirzah :
and when she came to the threshold of the door ,
the child died ;
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And they buried him ;
and all Israel mourned for him ,
according to the word of the LORD ,
which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet .
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And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam ,
how he warred ,
and how he reigned ,
behold ,
they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel .
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And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years :
and he slept with his fathers ,
and Nadab his son reigned in his stead .
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And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah .
Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign ,
and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem ,
the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel ,
to put his name there .
And his mother '
s name was Naamah an Ammonitess .
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And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD ,
and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed ,
above all that their fathers had done .
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For they also built them high places ,
and images ,
and groves ,
on every high hill ,
and under every green tree .
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And there were also sodomites in the land :
and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel .
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And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam ,
that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem :
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And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD ,
and the treasures of the king '
s house ;
he even took away all :
and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made .
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And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields ,
and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard ,
which kept the door of the king '
s house .
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And it was so ,
when the king went into the house of the LORD ,
that the guard bare them ,
and brought them back into the guard chamber .
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Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam ,
and all that he did ,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ?
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And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days .
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And Rehoboam slept with his fathers ,
and was buried with his fathers in the city of David .
And his mother '
s name was Naamah an Ammonitess .
And Abijam his son reigned in his stead .
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Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah .