Information Retrieved -> 1 Kings 12 - 13(NLT)

Book Chapter Verse Text
1 Kings 12 1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all Israel had gathered to make him king.
1 Kings 12 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of Solomon's death, he returned from Egypt, for he had fled to Egypt to escape from King Solomon.
1 Kings 12 3 The leaders of Israel sent for Jeroboam, and the whole assembly of Israel went to speak with Rehoboam.
1 Kings 12 4 "Your father was a hard master," they said. "Lighten the harsh labor demands and heavy taxes that your father imposed on us. Then we will be your loyal subjects."
1 Kings 12 5 Rehoboam replied, "Give me three days to think this over. Then come back for my answer." So the people went away.
1 Kings 12 6 Then King Rehoboam went to discuss the matter with the older men who had counseled his father, Solomon. "What is your advice?" he asked. "How should I answer these people?"
1 Kings 12 7 The older counselors replied, "If you are willing to serve the people today and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your loyal subjects."
1 Kings 12 8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders and instead asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with him and who were now his advisers.
1 Kings 12 9 "What is your advice?" he asked them. "How should I answer these people who want me to lighten the burdens imposed by my father?"
1 Kings 12 10 The young men replied, "This is what you should tell those complainers: `My little finger is thicker than my father's waist--if you think he was hard on you, just wait and see what I'll be like!
1 Kings 12 11 Yes, my father was harsh on you, but I'll be even harsher! My father used whips on you, but I'll use scorpions!'"
1 Kings 12 12 Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people returned to hear Rehoboam's decision, just as the king had requested.
1 Kings 12 13 But Rehoboam spoke harshly to them, for he rejected the advice of the older counselors
1 Kings 12 14 and followed the counsel of his younger advisers. He told the people, "My father was harsh on you, but I'll be even harsher! My father used whips on you, but I'll use scorpions!"
1 Kings 12 15 So the king paid no attention to the people's demands. This turn of events was the will of the LORD, for it fulfilled the LORD's message to Jeroboam son of Nebat through the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh.
1 Kings 12 16 When all Israel realized that the king had rejected their request, they shouted, "Down with David and his dynasty! We have no share in Jesse's son! Let's go home, Israel! Look out for your own house, O David!" So the people of Israel returned home.
1 Kings 12 17 But Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah.
1 Kings 12 18 King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the labor force, to restore order, but all Israel stoned him to death. When this news reached King Rehoboam, he quickly jumped into his chariot and fled to Jerusalem.
1 Kings 12 19 The northern tribes of Israel have refused to be ruled by a descendant of David to this day.
1 Kings 12 20 When the people of Israel learned of Jeroboam's return from Egypt, they called an assembly and made him king over all Israel. So only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the family of David.
1 Kings 12 21 When Rehoboam arrived at Jerusalem, he mobilized the armies of Judah and Benjamin--180,000 select troops--to fight against the army of Israel and to restore the kingdom to himself.
1 Kings 12 22 But God said to Shemaiah, the man of God,
1 Kings 12 23 "Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the people of Judah and Benjamin,
1 Kings 12 24 `This is what the LORD says: Do not fight against your relatives, the Israelites. Go back home, for what has happened is my doing!'" So they obeyed the message of the LORD and went home, as the LORD had commanded.
1 Kings 12 25 Jeroboam then built up the city of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and it became his capital. Later he went and built up the town of Peniel.
1 Kings 12 26 Jeroboam thought to himself, "Unless I am careful, the kingdom will return to the dynasty of David.
1 Kings 12 27 When they go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Temple of the LORD, they will again give their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and make him their king instead."
1 Kings 12 28 So on the advice of his counselors, the king made two gold calves. He said to the people, "It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!"
1 Kings 12 29 He placed these calf idols at the southern and northern ends of Israel--in Bethel and in Dan.
1 Kings 12 30 This became a great sin, for the people worshiped them, traveling even as far as Dan.
1 Kings 12 31 Jeroboam built shrines at the pagan high places and ordained priests from the rank and file of the people--those who were not from the priestly tribe of Levi.
1 Kings 12 32 Jeroboam also instituted a religious festival in Bethel, held on a day in midautumn, similar to the annual Festival of Shelters in Judah. There at Bethel he himself offered sacrifices to the calves he had made. And it was at Bethel that he appointed priests for the pagan shrines he had made.
1 Kings 12 33 So on the appointed day in midautumn, a day that he himself had designated, Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar at Bethel. He instituted a religious festival for Israel, and he went up to the altar to burn incense.
1 Kings 13 1 At the LORD's command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, and he arrived there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to offer a sacrifice.
1 Kings 13 2 Then at the LORD's command, he shouted, "O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you."
1 Kings 13 3 That same day the man of God gave a sign to prove his message, and he said, "The LORD has promised to give this sign: This altar will split apart, and its ashes will be poured out on the ground."
1 Kings 13 4 King Jeroboam was very angry with the man of God for speaking against the altar. So he pointed at the man and shouted, "Seize that man!" But instantly the king's hand became paralyzed in that position, and he couldn't pull it back.
1 Kings 13 5 At the same time a wide crack appeared in the altar, and the ashes poured out, just as the man of God had predicted in his message from the LORD.
1 Kings 13 6 The king cried out to the man of God, "Please ask the LORD your God to restore my hand again!" So the man of God prayed to the LORD, and the king's hand became normal again.
1 Kings 13 7 Then the king said to the man of God, "Come to the palace with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift."
1 Kings 13 8 But the man of God said to the king, "Even if you gave me half of everything you own, I would not go with you. I would not eat any food or drink any water in this place.
1 Kings 13 9 For the LORD gave me this command: `You must not eat any food or drink any water while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.'"
1 Kings 13 10 So he left Bethel and went home another way.
1 Kings 13 11 As it happened, there was an old prophet living in Bethel, and his sons came home and told him what the man of God had done in Bethel that day. They also told him what he had said to the king.
1 Kings 13 12 The old prophet asked them, "Which way did he go?" So they told their father which road the man of God had taken.
1 Kings 13 13 "Quick, saddle the donkey," the old man said. And when they had saddled the donkey for him,
1 Kings 13 14 he rode after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. The old prophet asked him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?Yes," he replied, "I am."
1 Kings 13 15 Then he said to the man of God, "Come home with me and eat some food."
1 Kings 13 16 "No, I cannot," he replied. "I am not allowed to eat any food or drink any water here in this place.
1 Kings 13 17 For the LORD gave me this command: `You must not eat any food or drink any water while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.'"
1 Kings 13 18 But the old prophet answered, "I am a prophet, too, just as you are. And an angel gave me this message from the LORD: `Bring him home with you, and give him food to eat and water to drink.'" But the old man was lying to him.
1 Kings 13 19 So they went back together, and the man of God ate some food and drank some water at the prophet's home.
1 Kings 13 20 Then while they were sitting at the table, a message from the LORD came to the old prophet.
1 Kings 13 21 He cried out to the man of God from Judah, "This is what the LORD says: You have defied the LORD's message and have disobeyed the command the LORD your God gave you.
1 Kings 13 22 You came back to this place and ate food and drank water where he told you not to eat or drink. Because of this, your body will not be buried in the grave of your ancestors."
1 Kings 13 23 Now after the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet saddled his own donkey for him,
1 Kings 13 24 and the man of God started off again. But as he was traveling along, a lion came out and killed him. His body lay there on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it.
1 Kings 13 25 People came by and saw the body lying in the road and the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported it in Bethel, where the old prophet lived.
1 Kings 13 26 When the old prophet heard the report, he said, "It is the man of God who disobeyed the LORD's command. The LORD has fulfilled his word by causing the lion to attack and kill him."
1 Kings 13 27 Then the prophet said to his sons, "Saddle a donkey for me." So they saddled a donkey,
1 Kings 13 28 and he went out and found the body lying in the road. The donkey and lion were still standing there beside it, for the lion had not eaten the body nor attacked the donkey.
1 Kings 13 29 So the prophet laid the body of the man of God on the donkey and took it back to the city to mourn over him and bury him.
1 Kings 13 30 He laid the body in his own grave, crying out in grief, "Oh, my brother!"
1 Kings 13 31 Afterward the prophet said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones.
1 Kings 13 32 For the message the LORD told him to proclaim against the altar in Bethel and against the pagan shrines in the towns of Samaria will surely come true."
1 Kings 13 33 But even after this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to choose priests from the rank and file of the people. Anyone who wanted to could become a priest for the pagan shrines.
1 Kings 13 34 This became a great sin and resulted in the destruction of Jeroboam's kingdom and the death of all his family.
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