NKJV

NKJV

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Copy
Copy Options
Format by: Verse Paragraph
Strong's
Red Letter
Audio Bibles
The Blue Letter Bible

1 Kings 12 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

toggle collapse
Choose a new font size and typeface
Audio Bibles
The Revolt Against Rehoboam
Rehoboam Made King
(2 Chr. 10:1–19; 11:1–4 )
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:1 - And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:2 - So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in Egypt, for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt ),
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:3 - that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:4 - “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:5 - So he said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” And the people departed.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:6 - Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:7 - And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:8 - But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:9 - And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:10 - Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist!
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:11 - ‘And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!’ ”[fn]
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:12 - So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:13 - Then the king answered the people roughly, and rejected the advice which the elders had given him;
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:14 - and he 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 scourges!”[fn]
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:15 - So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from the LORD, that He might fulfill His word, which the LORD had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:16 - Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:

“What share have we in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
To your tents, O Israel!
Now, see to your own house, O David!”
So Israel departed to their tents.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:17 - But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:18 - Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:19 - So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:20 - Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:21 - And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:22 - But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:23 - “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying,
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:24 - ‘Thus says the LORD: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the word of the LORD, and turned back, according to the word of the LORD.
Jeroboam’s Gold Calves
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:25 - Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:26 - And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David:
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:27 - “If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:28 - Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!”
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:29 - And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:30 - Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:31 - He made shrines[fn] on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:32 - Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made.
Unchecked Copy Box1Ki 12:33 - So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.
NKJV Footnotes
Literally scorpions
Literally scorpions
Literally a house
NKJV

New King James Version, © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The text of the New King James Version (NKJV) appearing on or deriving from this or any other web page is for personal use only. Any other use of the NKJV must be in conformity with the Quotation Policy for the New King James Version. For more information about the New King James Version, the Quotation Policy, and for inquiries about permission to use the New King James Version, go to Thomas Nelson, Inc..

For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.

BLB Searches
Search the Bible
NKJV
 [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
NKJV

Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan