Roboam, following the counsel of young men alienates from him the minds of the people. They make Jeroboam king over ten tribes: he sets up idolatry.

¹ Then Rehoboam went to Shechem. For in that place, all of Israel had gathered to appoint him as king.

² Yet truly, Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, while he was still in Egypt as a fugitive from the face of king Solomon, hearing of his death, returned from Egypt.

³ And they sent and called him. Therefore, Jeroboam went, with the entire multitude of Israel, and they spoke to Rehoboam, saying:

⁴ “Your father imposed a very harsh yoke upon us. And so, you should now take away a little from the very harsh rule of your father and from his very grievous yoke, which he imposed upon us, and we will serve you.”

⁵ And he said to them, “Go away, until the third day, and then return to me.” And when the people had gone away,

⁶ king Rehoboam took counsel with the elders who had assisted before his father Solomon while he was still living. And he said, “What counsel do you give to me, so that I may respond to this people?”

⁷ They said to him, “If today you will obey and serve this people, and yield to their petition, and if you will speak lenient words to them, they will be your servants for all days.”

⁸ But he abandoned the counsel of the old men, which they had given to him. And he consulted the young men who had been raised with him, and who were assisting him.

⁹ And he said to them: “What counsel do you give to me, so that I may respond to this people, who have said to me: ‘Make light the yoke that your father imposed on us?’ ”

¹⁰ And the young men who had been raised with him, said: “You shall speak in this way to this people, who have spoken to you, saying: ‘Your father weighed down our yoke. You should relieve us.’ You shall say this to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than the back of my father.

¹¹ And now, my father placed a heavy yoke upon you, but I will add more upon your yoke. My father cut you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.’ ”

¹² Therefore, Jeroboam and all the people went to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had spoken, saying, “Return to me on the third day.”

¹³ And the king responded to the people harshly, leaving behind the counsel of the elders that they had given to him.

¹⁴ And he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying: “My father weighed down your yoke, but I will add more to your yoke. My father cut you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.”

¹⁵ And the king did not acquiesce to the people. For the Lord had turned him away, so that he might raise up his word, which he had spoken by the hand of Ahijah, the Shilonite, to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.

¹⁶ And so the people, seeing that the king had not been willing to listen to them, responded to him, saying: “What part do we have in David? Or what inheritance do we have in the son of Jesse? Go to your own tents, O Israel. Now David, see to your own house.” And Israel went away to their own tents.

¹⁷ But over all the sons of Israel who were living in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned.

¹⁸ Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute. And all of Israel stoned him, and he died. Therefore, king Rehoboam hurrying, climbed into the chariot, and fled to Jerusalem.

¹⁹ And Israel drew away from the house of David, even to the present day.

²⁰ And it happened that, when all of Israel had heard that Jeroboam had returned, gathering an assembly, they sent and called him, and they appointed him as king over all of Israel. And no one followed the house of David, except the tribe of Judah alone.¹

1. 12:20Juda only: Benjamin was a small tribe, and so intermixed with the tribe of Juda, (the very city of Jerusalem being partly in Juda, partly in Benjamin,) that they are here counted but as one tribe.(Challoner)

²¹ Then Rehoboam went to Jerusalem, and he gathered together the entire house of Judah, and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand elect men of war, so that they might fight against the house of Israel, and might bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.

²² But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying:

²³ “Speak to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, the king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah, and to Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying:

²⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord: You shall not go up, and you shall not make war against your brothers, the sons of Israel. Let each man return to his own house. For this word came from me.’ ” And they listened to the word of the Lord, and they returned from the journey, as the Lord had instructed them.

²⁵ Then Jeroboam built up Shechem, on mount Ephraim, and he lived there. And departing from there, he built up Penuel.

²⁶ And Jeroboam said in his heart: “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David,

²⁷ if this people ascend to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem. And the heart of this people will be converted to their lord Rehoboam, the king of Judah, and they will put me to death, and return to him.”

²⁸ And devising a plan, he made two golden calves. And he said to them: “No longer choose to ascend to Jerusalem. Behold, these are your gods, O Israel, who led you away from the land of Egypt!”¹

1. 12:28Golden calves: It is likely, by making his gods in this form, he mimicked the Egyptians, among whom he had sojourned, who worshipped their Apis and their Osiris under the form of a bullock.(Challoner)

²⁹ And he stationed one in Bethel, and the other in Dan.¹

1. 12:29Bethel and Dan: Bethel was a city of the tribe of Ephraim in the southern part of the dominions of Jeroboam, about six leagues from Jerusalem; Dan was in the extremity of his dominions to the north in the confines of Syria.(Challoner)

³⁰ And this word became an occasion of sin. For the people went to adore the calf, even to Dan.

³¹ And he made shrines on the high places, and he made priests out of the lowest people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

³² And he appointed a solemn day in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, in imitation of the solemnity that was celebrated in Judah. And ascending to the altar, he acted similarly in Bethel, so that he immolated to the calves, which he had made. And in Bethel, he appointed priests of the high places, which he had made.

³³ And he ascended to the altar, which he had raised up in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the day that he had decided in his own heart. And he made a solemnity to the sons of Israel, and he ascended to the altar, so that he might burn incense.¹

1. 12:33This foreshadows a heresy and schism in the Church which is perhaps related to some false private revelation, with a false teaching on the role of the Virgin Mary.(Conte)