The First Book of Kings (Commonly Called The Third Book of Kings )

Now Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.

So it was, 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),

that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole congregation of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

"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."

So he said to them, "Depart for three days, then come back to me." And the people departed.

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?"

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."

But he rejected the counsel which the elders gave him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

And he said to them, "What counsel do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, 'Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?"

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!

'And now, whereas my father laid a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!' "

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king directed, saying, "Come back to me the third day."

Then the king answered the people roughly, and rejected the counsel which the elders had given him;

and he spoke to them according to the counsel 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!"

So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of affairs 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.

Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying: "What portion 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.

But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.

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.

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

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.