1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel came to Shechem to make him king. 2 And when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard, he was still in Egypt where he fled from before King Solomon. And Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt. 3 And they sent and called to him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came, and they spoke with Rehoboam, saying: 4 Your father made harsh our yoke, and you now lighten up from the harsh service of your father and from his heavy yoke that he gave upon us, and we will serve you. 5 And he said to them: Go, and wait until three days, and return unto me. And the people went away. 6 And King Rehoboam took counsel with the elders who were serving before Solomon his father while he was alive, saying: How are you counselling to bring word back to this people? 7 And they spoke with him, saying: If this day you submit yourself to this people and you serve them and answer them good words and speak with them right words, they will be servants to you all the days. 8 And he abandoned the counsel of the elders that they counseled him, and he took counsel with the youngsters who had grown up with him, who were serving before him. 9 And he said to them: What are you counselling that we send word back to this people who are speaking with me, saying: Lighten up from the yoke that your father gave upon us? 10 And the youngsters who had grown up with him spoke with him, saying: Thus you will say to this people who spoke with you, saying: Your father has made heavy our yoke, and you lighten up from us. Thus you will speak with them: My weakness is stronger than the strength of my father. 11 And now my father raised upon you a heavy yoke, and I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with rods, and I will chastise you with whips. 12 And Jeroboam and all the people came unto Rehoboam on the third day just as the king spoke, saying: Return unto me on the third day. 13 And the king answered the people in harsh words, and he abandoned the counsel of the elders that they counseled him. 14 And he spoke with them according to the counsel of the youngsters, saying: My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with rods, and I will chastise you with whips. 15 And the king did not accept from the people, for there was division from before the Lord in order to fulfill his word that the Lord spoke by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite about Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 16 And all Israel saw that the king did not accept them, and the people answered the king a word, saying: What portion is there for us in David? And there is no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each man to your cities, O Israel.⁠a Now rule over the men of your house, O David. And Israel went to its cities. 17 And the sons of Israel who were dwelling in the cities of the house of Judah, Rehoboam ruled over them. 18 And King Rehoboam sent Adoram who was appointed over the tribute bearers, and all Israel stoned him with stone, and he died. And King Rehoboam succeeded to go up on the chariot, to go forth to Jerusalem. 19 And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. 20 And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam returned, they sent and called him to the assembly, and they made him king over all Israel. None was after the house of David except the tribe of the house of Judah alone. 21 And Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, and he gathered all those of the house of Judah and the tribe of the house of Benjamin, 180,000, each a warrior, wagers of battle, to wage battle with the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 And the word of prophecy was from before the Lord with Shemaiah the prophet of the Lord, saying: 23 Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, the king of the tribe of the house of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and the rest of the people, saying: 24 Thus said the Lord: You shall not go up and you shall not wage battle with your brothers, the sons of Israel. Return, each man to his house, for from before my Memra was the word. And they received the word of the Lord, and they turned to go according to the word of the Lord. 25 And Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of the house of Ephraim, and he dwelt in it; and he went forth from there and built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart: Now perhaps the kingdom will return to the house of David, if this people will go up to make the sacrifice of holy things in the house of the sanctuary of the Lord in Jerusalem, and the heart of this people will turn itself after their master, after Rehoboam, the king of the tribe of the house of Judah, and they will kill me, and they will turn unto Rehoboam the king of the tribe of the house of Judah. 27 And the king took counsel and made two calves of gold, and he said to them: Too much for you is the way from going up to Jerusalem. Behold these are your deities, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. 28 And he set up one in Bethel, and he put one in Dan. 29 And this act was a sin, and the people went before one unto Dan. 30 And he made a house of high places, and he made idol priests from a part of the people that were not from the sons of Levi. 31 And Jeroboam made a festival in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival that was in the tribe of Judah, and he went up to the altar, thus he did in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves that he made, and he appointed in Bethel the idol priests of the high places that he made. 32 And he went up to the altar that he made in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month that he appointed from his own good pleasure, and he made a festival for the sons of Israel, and he went up to the altar to burn incense.