Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2When Jeroboam Ibn Nebat heard about it (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Sulayman, and Jeroboam lived in Egypt, 3and they sent and called him), that Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came, and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you. 5 Rehoboam said to them, Leave and come back in three days. The people left. 6King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Sulayman his father while he yet lived, saying, What advice do you give me to say to this people? 7They spoke to him, saying, 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 forever. 8But Rehoboam rejected the advice that the old men had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. 9He said to them, What advice do you give, that we may say to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter? 10The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, Thus shall you tell this people who spoke to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter to us; thus shall you speak to them, My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. 11Now whereas my father gave you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had said, Come to me again the third day. 13The king answered the people roughly, and rejected the counsel that the old men had given him, 14and spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 15So the king did not listen to the people; for it was a thing brought about by Allah, that he might establish his word, which Allah spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam Ibn Nebat. 16When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in Dawud? Neither have we inheritance in Ibn Jesse: to your tents, Israel: now see to your own house, Dawud. So Israel departed to their tents. 17But as for the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 18Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the men subject to forced labour; and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. 19So Israel rebelled against the house of Dawud to this day. 20It happened that when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly, and made him king over all Israel: there was no one who followed the house of Dawud, but the tribe of Judah only. 21When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, and the tribe of Binyamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam Ibn Sulayman. 22But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23Speak to Rehoboam Ibn Sulayman, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Binyamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, 24Thus says Allah, You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers Bani-Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. So they listened to the word of Allah, and returned and went their way, according to the word of Allah. 25Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and lived there; and he went out from there, and built Penuel. 26Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom will return to the house of Dawud: 27if these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Allah at Jerusalem, then the heart of these people will turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah. 28So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to the people, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: see your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 29He set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30This thing became a sin; for the people went to worship as far as the one at Dan. 31He made shrines on high places, and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi. 32Jeroboam ordained 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; so he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. 33He went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised in his own heart: and he ordained a feast for Bani-Israel, and went up to the altar, to burn incense.