| English Standard Version | International Standard Version |
| 1Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. | 1Rehoboam traveled to Shechem, because all of Israel went there to install him as king. |
| 2And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. | 2Nebat's son Jeroboam heard about it in Egypt, where he had fled to get away from Solomon the king. Jeroboam returned from Egypt |
| 3And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam, | 3after being summoned. When Jeroboam and all of Israel arrived, they spoke to Rehoboam, |
| 4“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” | 4"Your father made our burdens unbearable. Therefore you must lighten your father's requirements and his heavy burden that he placed on us, and we'll serve you." |
| 5He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away. | 5"Come back again in three days," Rehoboam told them. So the people left |
| 6Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” | 6while King Rehoboam conferred with his advisors who had worked with his father Solomon during his administration. He asked them, "What is your advice as to what response I should return to these people?" |
| 7And they said to him, “If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” | 7In reply, they told him, "If you will be kind to this people, please them, and speak appropriately to them with kind words, they'll serve you forever." |
| 8But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. | 8But Rehoboam ignored the counsel that his elder advisors had given him. Instead, he consulted the younger men who had grown up with him and worked for him. |
| 9And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” | 9As a result, he asked them, "What's your advice, so we can give an answer to these people who have asked me, 'Please lighten the burden that your father put on us'?" |
| 10And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs. | 10"This is what you should tell the people who asked you 'Your father made our burden heavy, but you must make it lighter for us!'" the young men who had grown up with Rehoboam replied. "Tell them 'My little finger will be thicker than my father's whole body! |
| 11And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’” | 11Not only that, but since my father loaded you down heavily, I'm going to add to that burden. If my father disciplined you with whips, I'm going to do so with scorpions!'" |
| 12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” | 12So Jeroboam and all the people went back to Rehoboam on the third day, just as they had been directed when the king said, "Come back again in three days." |
| 13And the king answered them harshly; and forsaking the counsel of the old men, | 13But the king answered them strictly and ignored the counsel of his elders. |
| 14King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” | 14Instead, Rehoboam spoke to them along the lines of what the younger men suggested. He told them "My father burdened you heavily, but I will add to that burden. If my father disciplined you with whips, I will, too—with scorpions!" |
| 15So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the LORD might fulfill his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. | 15The king would not listen to the people because the turn of events was from God, so that the LORD might fulfill his prediction that he spoke through Nebat's son Ahijah the Shilonite. |
| 16And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents. | 16All of Israel—since the king wasn't going to listen to them—the people responded to the king, "What's the point in following David? We have no inheritance in the descendants of Jesse. Let's go home, Israel! David, take care of your own household!' So all of Israel left for home. |
| 17But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. | 17And so Rehoboam ruled over the Israelis who lived in the cities of Judah. |
| 18Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. | 18King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of conscripted labor, but the Israelis stoned him to death, and King Rehoboam had to jump in his chariot and flee back in a hurry to Jerusalem. |
| 19So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. | 19That's how Israel came to be in rebellion against David's dynasty to this day. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
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