1 Kings 12, 2 Chronicles 10-11, Titus 1 - NASB - New American Standard Bible

1 Kings 12

King Rehoboam Acts Foolishly

^aThen Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to ^bShechem to make him king. 2 Now ^awhen Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, ¹he was living in Egypt (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon). 3 Then they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “^aYour father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” 5 Then he said to them, “^aDepart ¹for three days, then return to me.” So the people departed.
6 King Rehoboam ^aconsulted with the elders who had ¹served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to answer this people?” 7 Then they spoke to him, saying, “^aIf you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and ¹grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8 But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him ¹and served him. 9 So he said to them, “What counsel do you give that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” 10 The young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!’ But you shall speak to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! 11 Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”
12 Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had ¹directed, saying, “^aReturn to me on the third day.” 13 The king answered the people harshly, for he forsook the advice of the elders which they had ¹given him, 14 and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “^aMy father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people; ^afor it was a turn of events from the Lord, ^bthat He might establish His word, which the Lord spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The Kingdom Divided; Jeroboam Rules Israel

16 When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying,

“What portion do we have in David?

We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;

^aTo your tents, O Israel!

Now look after your own house, David!”

So Israel departed to their tents. 17 But ^aas for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent ^aAdoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him ¹to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19 ^aSo Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
20 It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. ^aNone but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.
21 ^aNow when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 But the word of God came to ^aShemaiah the man of God, saying, 23 “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the ^arest of the people, saying, 24 ‘Thus says the Lord, “You must not go up and fight against your ¹relatives the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, ^afor this thing has come from Me.”’” So they listened to the word of the Lord, and returned and went their way according to the word of the Lord.

Jeroboam’s Idolatry

25 Then ^aJeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived ¹there. And he went out from there and built ^bPenuel. 26 Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. 27 ^aIf this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 28 So the king ¹consulted, and ^amade two golden ^bcalves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; ^cbehold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 29 He set ^aone in ^bBethel, and the other he put in ^cDan. 30 Now ^athis thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. 31 And ^ahe made houses on high places, and ^bmade priests from among ¹all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. 32 Jeroboam ¹instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, ^alike the feast which is in Judah, and he ²went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel ^bthe priests of the high places which he had made. 33 Then he ¹went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had ²^adevised ³in his own heart; and he ²instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and ¹went up to the altar ^bto burn ⁴incense.

2 Chronicles 10-11

Rehoboam’s Reign of Folly

^aThen Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for ^ahe was in Egypt where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), Jeroboam returned from Egypt. 3 So they sent and summoned him. When Jeroboam and all Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “Your father made our ^ayoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” 5 He said to them, “Return to me again in three days.” So the people departed.
6 Then King Rehoboam ^aconsulted with the elders who had ¹served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to answer this people?” 7 They spoke to him, saying, “If you will be kind to this people and please them and ^aspeak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8 But he ^aforsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him ¹and served him. 9 So he said to them, “What counsel do you give that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” 10 The young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to the people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us.’ Thus you shall say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! 11 Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had ¹directed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” 13 The king answered them harshly, and King Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the elders. 14 He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “¹My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, ^afor it was a turn of events from God ^bthat the Lord might establish His word, which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16 When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them the people answered the king, saying,

“^aWhat portion do we have in David?

We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.

Every man to your tents, O Israel;

Now look after your own house, David.”

^bSo all Israel departed to their tents. 17 But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was ^aover the forced labor, and the sons of Israel stoned him ¹to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So ^aIsrael has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Rehoboam Reigns over Judah and Builds Cities

^aNow when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2 But the word of the Lord came to ^aShemaiah the man of God, saying, 3 “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not go up or fight against ^ayour ¹relatives; return every man to his house, ^bfor this thing is from Me.”’” So they listened to the words of the Lord and returned from going against Jeroboam.
5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and ^abuilt cities for defense in Judah. 6 Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin. 11 He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and stores of food, oil and wine. 12 He put shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin.
13 Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him from all their districts.

Jeroboam Appoints False Priests

14 For ^athe Levites left their pasture lands and their property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for ^bJeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the Lord. 15 ^aHe set up priests of his own for the high places, for the satyrs and for the calves which he had made. 16 ^aThose from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord God of Israel ¹followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers. 17 ^aThey strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam’s Family

18 Then Rehoboam took as a wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of ^aEliab the son of Jesse, 19 and she bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham. 20 After her he took ^aMaacah the daughter of ¹Absalom, and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For ^ahe had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. 22 ^aRehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. 23 He acted wisely and distributed ¹some of his sons through all the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and he gave them food in abundance. And he sought many wives for them.

Titus 1

Salutation

Paul, ^aa bond-servant of God and an ^bapostle of Jesus Christ, ¹for the faith of those ^cchosen of God and ^dthe knowledge of the truth which is ^eaccording to godliness, 2 in ^athe hope of eternal life, which God, ^bwho cannot lie, ^cpromised ¹^dlong ages ago, 3 but ^aat the proper time manifested, even His word, in ^bthe proclamation ^cwith which I was entrusted ^daccording to the commandment of ^eGod our Savior,
4 To ^aTitus, ^bmy true child ¹in a ^ccommon faith: ^dGrace and peace from God the Father and ^eChrist Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications of Elders

5 For this reason I left you in ^aCrete, that you would set in order what remains and ^bappoint ^celders in every city as I directed you, 6 namely, ^aif any man is above reproach, the ^bhusband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of ^cdissipation or ^drebellion. 7 For the ¹^aoverseer must be above reproach as ^bGod’s steward, not ^cself-willed, not quick-tempered, not ^daddicted to wine, not pugnacious, ^enot fond of sordid gain, 8 but ^ahospitable, ^bloving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, 9 ^aholding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in ^bsound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.
10 ^aFor there are many ^brebellious men, ^cempty talkers and deceivers, especially ^dthose of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting ^awhole families, teaching ^bthings they should not teach ^cfor the sake of sordid gain. 12 One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “^aCretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. For this reason ^areprove them ^bseverely so that they may be ^csound in the faith, 14 not paying attention to Jewish ^amyths and ^bcommandments of men who ^cturn away from the truth. 15 ^aTo the pure, all things are pure; but ^bto those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their ^cmind and their conscience are defiled. 16 ^aThey profess to know God, but by their deeds they ^bdeny Him, being ^cdetestable and ^ddisobedient and ^eworthless ^ffor any good deed.

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