2 Chronicles 10

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

²When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about this, he was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since.

¹So King Solomon ruled over Israel,

⁷Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa.

¹⁰Solomon’s son was Rehoboam: Abijah was his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,

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,

³⁸All these men of war, arrayed for battle, came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. And all the rest of the Israelites were of one mind to make David king.

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.

²When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about this, he was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since.

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,

²⁸Now Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor. So when Solomon noticed that the young man was industrious, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph.

³So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel came to Rehoboam and said,

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.”

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.

¹³They worked the Israelites ruthlessly

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.

²³After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.

³For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome,

¹⁵Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains,

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

²⁸Do not tell your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I will provide”—when you already have the means.

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

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

¹³Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His.

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

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to counsel.

²Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the Lord your God on behalf of this entire remnant. For few of us remain of the many, as you can see with your own eyes.

³Pray that the Lord your God will tell us the way we should walk and the thing we should do.”

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?”

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

²¹Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.

⁷They replied, “If you will be a servant to these people and serve them this day, and if you will respond by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”

²He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out and ask, “What city are you from?” And if he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,”

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

¹⁴Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.

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

⁹Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.

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.”

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

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

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.

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?”

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?”

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.

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

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.

²⁵A greedy man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will prosper.

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.

¹³They worked the Israelites ruthlessly

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.

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.

⁵The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the stinging of a scorpion.

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.

¹⁰They had tails with stingers like scorpions, which had the power to injure people for five months.

⁶Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?

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.”

¹³And the king answered the people harshly. He rejected the advice of the elders

⁶But about this time tomorrow I will send my servants to search your palace and the houses of your servants. They will seize and carry away all that is precious to you.’”

⁷Then the king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said, “Please take note and see that this man is looking for trouble, for when he demanded my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, I did not deny him.”

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

¹⁰But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.

¹¹Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”

²⁷If you cease to hear instruction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge.

⁷And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”

⁸But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him.

¹⁶Woe to you, O land whose king is a youth, and whose princes feast in the morning.

¹⁴But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.

¹⁹And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.

⁵The plans of the righteous are just, but the counsel of the wicked leads to deceit.

⁷All the royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce a decree that for thirty days anyone who petitions any god or man except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions.

¹⁴To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.

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,

²⁵If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the Lord intended to put them to death.

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.”

¹⁷Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent word to the king of Israel Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu. “Come, let us meet face to face,” he said.

²³He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.

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.

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.

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!”

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

²⁷And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me.’”

¹⁴But I will set him over My house and My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.”

¹Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

²The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the Lord and against His Anointed One:

⁶⁶From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

²¹But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of the Lord.

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.

¹⁶When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So all the Israelites went home,

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.

²²The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam had committed and did not turn away from them.

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

²⁰When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.

⁷From the days of our fathers to this day, our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities, we and our kings and priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the earth and subjected to the sword and to captivity, to pillage and humiliation, as we are this day.

³⁰If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments,

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.