1 Kings 12

⁶Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo gathered beside the oak at the pillar in Shechem and proceeded to make Abimelech their king.

¹Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king.

²When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about this, he returned from Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon.

¹Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to his mother’s brothers at Shechem and said to them and to all the clan of his mother,

¹⁸After Jacob had come from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped just outside the city.

¹⁹And the plot of ground where he pitched his tent, he purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver.

³²And the bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up out of Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the plot of land that Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver. So it became an inheritance for Joseph’s descendants.

⁷So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

⁴⁰Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, where he remained until the death of Solomon.

²⁶Now Jeroboam son of Nebat was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. Jeroboam was a servant of Solomon, but he rebelled against the king,

²⁷and this is the account of his rebellion against the king. Solomon had built the supporting terraces and repaired the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.

²When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about this, he returned from Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon.

³So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel came to Rehoboam and said,

¹¹He said, “This will be the manner of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them to serve his own chariots and horses, and to run in front of his chariots.

¹²He will appoint some for himself as commanders of thousands and of fifties, and others to plow his ground, to reap his harvest, and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

⁷Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year,

²⁹Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

³⁰For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

⁴They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

²⁰The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.

²¹And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

⁴“Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you must lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days.” So the people departed.

¹²After three days, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, since the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.”

⁷I thought that age should speak, and many years should teach wisdom.

¹²Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.

¹⁰Do not forsake your friend or your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

⁵Then Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite as well, and let us hear what he too has to say.”

²and these were his chief officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;

²⁰Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give me counsel. What should we do?”

¹A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

⁷but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.

⁸And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.

³Absalom would say, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king has no deputy to hear you.”

⁴And he would add, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land, then everyone with a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would give him justice.”

⁶Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked.

⁷They replied, “If you will be kind to these people and please them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

¹³So the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me.

⁴³But it shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

⁴⁴and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all.

²⁰Listen to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days.

³⁰They accepted none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof.

²⁵because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction,

¹²Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man’s rebuke to a listening ear.

²A wise man’s heart inclines to the right, but the heart of a fool to the left.

³Even as the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking, and he shows everyone that he is a fool.

¹⁵Therefore the anger of the Lord burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet, who said, “Why have you sought this people’s gods, which could not deliver them from your hand?”

¹⁶While he was still speaking, the king asked, “Have we made you the counselor to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but he said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.”

⁵So the king of Israel assembled the prophets, four hundred men, and asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should we refrain?” “Go up,” they replied, “and God will deliver it into the hand of the king.”

⁶But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here of whom we can inquire?”

⁶So the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?” “Go up,” they replied, “and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”

⁷But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here of whom we can inquire?”

⁵Then Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite as well, and let us hear what he too has to say.”

⁶So Hushai came to Absalom, who told him, “Ahithophel has spoken this proposal. Should we carry it out? If not, what do you say?”

⁹He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to these people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

¹⁰The young men who had grown up with him replied, “This is how you should answer these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must make it lighter.’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist!

¹¹Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

²³A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.

⁷Hushai replied, “This time the advice of Ahithophel is not sound.”

⁸He continued, “You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Moreover, your father is a man of war who will not spend the night with the troops.

¹⁴The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool invites destruction.

⁶A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating.

⁷A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

⁶I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.

⁶But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns surround you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their presence, though they are a rebellious house.

³And out of the smoke, locusts descended on the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.

⁴They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

¹⁸Now get to work. You will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the full quota of bricks.”

¹⁰Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.

¹¹But the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave in its own land, to cultivate it and reside in it, declares the Lord.”

¹³“Go and tell Hananiah that this is what the Lord says: ‘You have broken a yoke of wood, but in its place you have fashioned a yoke of iron.’

¹⁴For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have even given him control of the beasts of the field.’”

⁵Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then return to me.” So the people departed.

¹²After three days, Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, since the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.”

¹³And the king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders

¹²The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.

²³The poor man pleads for mercy, but the rich man answers harshly.

¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

²⁰He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked is perverse.

¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

¹⁰The young men who had grown up with him replied, “This is how you should answer these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must make it lighter.’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist!

¹¹Whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

¹⁶No straw has been given to your servants, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”

¹⁷“You are slackers!” Pharaoh replied. “Slackers! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’

⁵Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you would be stopping them from their labor.”

⁶That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen:

¹⁴and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.

¹⁶And in the presence of the king and his princes, Memucan replied, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king, but all the princes and the peoples in all the provinces of King Xerxes.

¹⁷For the conduct of the queen will become known to all women, causing them to despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes ordered Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she did not come.’

¹¹The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?

¹²Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what the Lord of Hosts has planned against Egypt.

⁴(Now his father and mother did not know this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines; for at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.)

²⁴that this is what the Lord says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for this is My doing.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and turned back according to the word of the Lord.

²⁹During that time, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met Jeroboam on the road as he was going out of Jerusalem. Now Ahijah had wrapped himself in a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the open field.

³⁰And Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces,

²⁰But Amaziah would not listen, for this had come from God in order to deliver them into the hand of Jehoash, because they had sought the gods of Edom.

³⁰But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.

¹¹Then the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

¹Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Every man to his tent, O Israel!”

³⁶As the sun was setting, the cry rang out in the army: “Every man to his own city, and every man to his own land!”

⁵Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

⁶In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.

¹⁷So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”

¹⁵In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout for David a righteous Branch, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely, and this is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.

²¹then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant and with My ministers the Levites who are priests, so that David will not have a son to reign on his throne.

³⁶I will give one tribe to his son, so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name.

¹³Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

¹⁷but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.

¹³Moreover, the priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel stood with Rehoboam.

¹⁴For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the Lord.

⁶Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.

¹⁴He sent them to Lebanon in monthly shifts of 10,000 men, so that they would spend one month in Lebanon and two months at home. And Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

²⁴Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

⁵⁷At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him.

⁵⁸They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

¹The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

²A land in rebellion has many rulers, but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order.

²⁶At that point, the captain went with the officers and brought the apostles—but not by force, for fear the people would stone them.

²¹When the Lord had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the Lord and caused them to commit a great sin.

¹⁹So to this day Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David.

¹⁷Then Abijah and his people struck them with a mighty blow, and 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain.

⁹Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.

⁵Do you not know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?

⁶Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master.

¹⁷The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since the day Ephraim separated from Judah—He will bring the king of Assyria.”

¹³Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom away from him. I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

³²But one tribe will remain for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.

³⁶I will give one tribe to his son, so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name.

²⁴Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

⁴They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.

¹When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the house of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

²But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God:

⁸Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin bearing small shields and drawing the bow. All these were mighty men of valor.

⁵And Joab reported to David the total number of the troops. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, including 470,000 in Judah.

¹⁴These are their numbers according to the houses of their fathers: From Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, and with him 300,000 mighty men of valor;

¹⁵next to him, Jehohanan the commander, and with him 280,000;

³⁰There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the Lord.

³¹A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory is of the Lord.

¹¹Then Asa cried out to the Lord his God: “O Lord, there is no one besides You to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God. Do not let a mere mortal prevail against You.”

²But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God:

⁵Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have forsaken Me; therefore, I have forsaken you into the hand of Shishak.’”

⁶So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.”

¹¹Now a certain old prophet was living in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words that the man had spoken to the king.

¹Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord.

²²And the woman called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may go quickly to the man of God and return.”

¹¹But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

¹⁷but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.

¹⁵So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word He had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

⁴that this is what the Lord says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers. Each of you must return home, for this is My doing.’” So they listened to the words of the Lord and turned back from going against Jeroboam.

⁴²Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the Lord is not among you.

²⁹During that time, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met Jeroboam on the road as he was going out of Jerusalem. Now Ahijah had wrapped himself in a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the open field.

³⁰And Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces,

⁷But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the Ephraimites.

⁸Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has power to help and power to overthrow.”

¹⁰So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. And they were furious with Judah and returned home in great anger.

¹⁷He also pulled down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

⁸From there he went up to Penuel and asked the same from them, but the men of Penuel gave the same response as the men of Succoth.

⁴⁵And all that day Abimelech fought against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶On hearing of this, all the leaders in the tower of Shechem entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.

³⁰So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

³¹The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.

¹Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to his mother’s brothers at Shechem and said to them and to all the clan of his mother,

⁵Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built up cities for defense in Judah.

⁶He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,

¹⁸But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape their grasp.’”

¹⁹But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans, for the Chaldeans may deliver me into their hands to abuse me.”

²⁰Early in the morning they got up and left for the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Hear me, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be upheld; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.”

¹⁹Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You can see that this is doing you no good. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!”

¹⁶“What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it.

¹⁷But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.”

⁶But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking in their hearts,

⁷“Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

¹For the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.

⁶You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt.

¹⁴you must offer them only in the place the Lord will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you.

⁵Instead, you must seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.

⁶To that place you are to bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and heave offerings, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, as well as the firstborn of your herds and flocks.

²⁵The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is set securely on high.

⁴⁴When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the Lord in the direction of the city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name,

¹⁹For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

²⁰Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

⁴He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

⁸How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”

¹⁶They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal.

²⁹but he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.

¹⁵And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.

⁴They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.

⁵He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?

¹⁹and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.

²⁷After they had taken Micah’s idols and his priest, they went to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people, and they struck them with their swords and burned down the city.

²⁸There was no one to deliver them, because the city was far from Sidon and had no alliance with anyone; it was in a valley near Beth-rehob. And the Danites rebuilt the city and lived there.

¹Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho. And the Lord showed him the whole land—from Gilead as far as Dan,

¹Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

¹⁴And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan.

¹Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the Lord at Mizpah.

²¹When the Lord had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the Lord and caused them to commit a great sin.

³⁴And this was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its extermination and destruction from the face of the earth.

³¹Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

⁹But did you not drive out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites? And did you not make priests for yourselves as do the peoples of other lands? Now whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams can become a priest of things that are not gods.

³²for the message that he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.”

³³Even after these events, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways, but again he appointed priests for the high places from every class of people. He ordained anyone who desired to be a priest of the high places.

³²So the new residents worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed for themselves priests of all sorts to serve in the shrines of the high places.

¹⁴For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the Lord.

¹⁵And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.

¹⁰So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”

²⁵At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by.

¹²On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work, and you shall observe a feast to the Lord for seven days.

¹³As a pleasing aroma to the Lord, you are to present a food offering, a burnt offering of thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs a year old, all unblemished,

¹⁰Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words,

¹¹for this is what Amos has said: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”

²And all the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the feast in the seventh month, the month of Ethanim.

⁵There, before the ark, King Solomon and the whole congregation of Israel who had assembled with him sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

⁸‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.

⁹They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”

⁸When they placed their threshold next to My threshold and their doorposts beside My doorposts, with only a wall between Me and them, they defiled My holy name by the abominations they committed. Therefore I have consumed them in My anger.

¹Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord.

³⁹These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes.

⁶Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines, and he tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built cities near Ashdod and among the Philistines.

⁶he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

¹³Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”

¹³Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.