1 Kings 12

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all Israel had come to proclaim him king.	1 And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither were all Israel come together to make him king.
2 Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon, returned from Egypt as soon as he learned this.	2 But Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who was yet in Egypt, a fugitive from the face of king Solomon, hearing of his death, returned out of Egypt.
3 They said to Rehoboam:	3 And they sent and called him: and Jeroboam came, and all the multitude of Israel, and they spoke to Roboam, saying:
4 "Your father put on us a heavy yoke. If you now lighten the harsh service and the heavy yoke your father imposed on us, we will serve you."	4 Thy father laid a grievous yoke upon us: now therefore do thou take off a little of the grievous service of thy father, and of his most heavy yoke, which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.
5 "Come back to me in three days," he answered them. When the people had departed,	5 And he said to them: Go till the third day, and come to me again. And when the people was gone,
6 King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had been in his father's service while he was alive, and asked, "What answer do you advise me to give this people?"	6 King Roboam took counsel with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and he said: What counsel do you give me, that I may answer this people?
7 They replied, "If today you will be the servant of this people and submit to them, giving them a favorable answer, they will be your servants forever."	7 They said to him: If thou wilt yield to this people to day, and condescend to them, and grant their petition, and wilt speak gentle words to them, they will be thy servants always.
8 But he ignored the advice the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were in his service.	8 But he left the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men, that had been brought up with him, and stood before him.
9 He said to them, "What answer do you advise me to give this people, who have asked me to lighten the yoke my father imposed on them?"	9 And he said to them: What counsel do you give me, that I may answer this people, who have said to me: Make the yoke which thy father put upon us lighter?
10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, "This is what you must say to this people who have asked you to lighten the yoke your father put on them: 'My little finger is thicker than my father's body.	10 And the young men that had been brought up with him, said: Thus shalt thou speak to this people, who have spoken to thee, saying: Thy father made our yoke heavy, do thou ease us. Thou shalt say to them: My little finger is thicker than the back of my father.
11 Whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will make it heavier. My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.'"	11 And now my father put a, heavy yoke upon you, but I will add to your yoke: my father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.
12 On the third day all Israel came back to King Rehoboam, as he had instructed them to do.	12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Roboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying: Come to me again the third day.
13 Ignoring the advice the elders had given him, the king gave the people a harsh answer.	13 And the king answered the people roughly, leaving the counsel of the old men, which they had given him,
14 He said to them, as the young men had advised: "My father put on you a heavy yoke, but I will make it heavier. My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions."	14 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 beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.
15 The king did not listen to the people, for the LORD brought this about to fulfill the prophecy he had uttered to Jeroboam, son of Nebat, through Ahijah the Shilonite.	15 And the king condescended not to the people: for the Lord was turned away from him, to make good his word, which he had spoken in the hand of Ahias the Silonite, to Jeroboam the son of Nabat.
16 When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king: "What share have we in David? We have no heritage in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now look to your own house, David."So Israel went off to their tents,	16 Then the people seeing that the king would not hearken to them, answered him, saying : What portion have we in David? or what inheritance in the son of Isai? Go home to thy dwellings, O Israel, now David look to thy own house. So Israel departed to their dwellings.
17 but Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.	17 But as for all the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Juda, Roboam reigned over them.
18 King Rehoboam then sent out Adoram, superintendent of the forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. Rehoboam managed to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem,	18 Then king Roboam sent Aduram, who was over the tribute: and all Israel stoned him, and he died. Wherefore king Roboam made haste to get him up into his chariot, and he fled to Jerusalem:
19 and Israel went into rebellion against David's house to this day.	19 And Israel revolted from the house of David, unto this day.
20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to an assembly and made him king over all Israel. None remained loyal to David's house except the tribe of Judah alone.	20 And it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they gathered an assembly, and sent and called him, and made him king over all Israel, and there was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Juda only.
21 On his arrival in Jersusalem, Rehoboam gathered together all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin--one hundred and eighty thousand seasoned warriors--to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam, son of Solomon.	21 And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and gathered together all the house of Juda, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred fourscore thousand chosen men for war, to fight against the house of Israel and to bring the kingdom again under Roboam the son of Solomon.
22 However, the LORD spoke to Shemaiah, a man of God:	22 But the word of the Lord came to Semeias the man of God, saying:
23 "Say to Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to the house of Judah and to Benjamin, and to the rest of the people:	23 Speak to Roboam the son of Solomon, the king of Juda, and to all the house of Juda, and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, saying:
24 'Thus says the LORD: You must not march out to fight against your brother Israelites. Let every man return home, for I have brought this about.'" They accepted this message of the LORD and gave up the expedition accordingly.	24 Thus saith the Lord: You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: let every man return to his house, for this thing is from me. They hearkened to the word of the Lord, and returned from their journey, as the Lord had commanded them.
25 Jeroboam built up Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. Then he left it and built up Penuel.	25 And Jeroboam built Sichem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt there, and going out from thence he built Phanuel.
26 Jeroboam thought to himself: "The kingdom will return to David's house.	26 And Jeroboam said in his heart: Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David,
27 If now this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, the hearts of this people will return to their master, Rehoboam, king of Judah, and they will kill me."	27 If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem: and the heart of this people will turn to their lord Roboam the king of Juda, and they will kill me, and return to him.
28 After taking counsel, the king made two calves of gold and said to the people: "You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. Here is your God, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt."	28 And finding out a device he made two golden calves, and said to them: Go ye up no more to Jerusalem: Behold thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
29 And he put one in Bethel, the other in Dan.	29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other in Dan:
30 This led to sin, because the people frequented these calves in Bethel and in Dan.	30 And this thing became an occasion of sin: for the people went to adore the calf as far as Dan.
31 He also built temples on the high places and made priests from among the people who were not Levites.	31 And he made temples in the high places, and priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
32 Jeroboam established a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month to duplicate in Bethel the pilgrimage feast of Judah, with sacrifices to the calves he had made; and he stationed in Bethel priests of the high places he had built.	32 And he appointed a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, after the manner of the feast that was celebrated in Juda. And going up to the altar, he did in like manner in Bethel, to sacrifice to the calves, which he had made : and he placed in Bethel priests of the high places, which he had made.
33 Jeroboam ascended the altar he built in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the month in which he arbitrarily chose to establish a feast for the Israelites; he was going to offer sacrifice.	33 And he went up to the altar, which he had built in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, which he had devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast to the children of Israel, and went upon the altar to burn incense.