SECOND CHRONICLES

 

2 Chronicles Chapter 10

1 ¶ And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.

2 And when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Solomon, heard the news, he returned from Egypt.

3 And the people sent for him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam,

4 Your father made our yoke grievous: therefore now ease somewhat the grievous service of your father, and the heavy yoke that he put on us, and we will serve you.

5 And he said to them, Come back to me after three days. And the people left.

6 And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, What counsel do you give me in replying to these people?

7 And they said to him, If you are kind to this people, and please them, and speak kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.

8 But he turned away from the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had been brought up with him, who were serving him.

9 And he said to them, What answer do you advise that we give to these people, who have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that your father put upon us?

10 And the young men who had been brought up with him said to him, This is the way you should answer the people who spoke to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it somewhat lighter for us; you should say this to them, My little finger will be thicker than my father’s loins.

11 For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will increase your yoke: my father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.

12 ¶ So Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king told them, when he said, Come back to me on the third day.

13 And king Rehoboam answered them roughly; and he ignored the counsel of the old men,

14 And answered them according to the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it: my father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.

15 So the king did not listen to the people: for the cause was of God, that the LORD might perform his word, which he spoke by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

16 And when all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion do we have in David? we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your home, O Israel: and now, David, see to your own house. So all Israel returned to their homes.

17 But as for the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

18 Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram who was over the forced labor; but the children of Israel stoned him with stones, so that he died. And king Rehoboam got on his chariot as fast as he could, to flee to Jerusalem.

19 So Israel has rebelled against the house of David to this day.