9. He asked, “What do you think I should say to these people who asked me to make their work easier?”
10. His younger advisers said:Here's what we think you should say to them: “Compared to me, my father was weak.
11. He made you work hard, but I'll make you work even harder. He punished you with whips, but I'll use whips with pieces of sharp metal!”
12. Three days later, Jeroboam and the others came back.
13. Rehoboam ignored the advice of the older advisers.
14. He spoke bluntly and told them exactly what his own advisers had suggested: “My father made you work hard, but I'll make you work even harder. He punished you with whips, but I'll use whips with pieces of sharp metal!”
20. When the Israelites heard that Jeroboam was back, they called everyone together. Then they sent for Jeroboam and made him king of Israel. Only the people from the tribe of Judah remained loyal to David's family.
21. After Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, he decided to attack Israel and take control of the whole country. So he called together one hundred and eighty thousand soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
22. Meanwhile, God told Shemaiah the prophet
23. to give Rehoboam and everyone from Judah and Benjamin this warning:
24. “Don't go to war against the people from Israel—they are your relatives. Go home! I am the Lord, and I made these things happen.”Rehoboam and his army obeyed the Lord and went home.
25. Jeroboam rebuilt Shechem in Ephraim and made it a stronger town, then he moved there. He also fortified the town of Penuel.
28. Jeroboam asked for advice and then made two gold statues of calves. He showed them to the people and said, “Listen everyone! You won't have to go to Jerusalem to worship any more. Here are your gods who rescued you from Egypt.”