12 Rehavam went to Shekem, because all Israel had assembled there to make him king. 2 Meanwhile, Nebat’s son Yarobam (Jeroboam) in Egypt (where he’d fled from King Shelomoh) heard the news and returned to Israel. 3 The leaders of the northern tribes summoned him, and they all went to petition King Rehavam, 4 “Your father Shelomoh required us to contribute too much labour. If you’ll lighten the burden on us, then we’ll serve you.”

5 “Come back in three days,” he replied, “and I’ll give my response.” So the people left.

6 Then King Rehavam consulted with the elders (who’d served his father Shelomoh while he was alive), asking them for advice on how to respond.

7 “If you want to serve these people well,” they replied, “answer them with kindness now then they’ll serve you well in the future.”

8 However he dediced to ignore that advice from the elders, and he consulted with the young men who were standing in front of him and that he’d grown up with, 9 so he asked them, “What would you all recommend that we tell the people who wanted me to lighten the burden that my father placed on them?”

10 “You should tell them this,” his young companions replied. “They’ve asked that you should lighten the load on them from what your father demanded, but on the contrary, you should tell them that your little finger is thicker than your father’s thigh bone was. 11 Tell them that your father placed a heavy burden on them, but that you’ll add to that. He punished them with whips, but you’ll punish them with scorpions.”

12 So when Yarobam and all the leaders came back to King Rehavam on the third day as he’d instructed them, 13 he answered them harshly—ignoring the advice of the elders at the beginning. 14 Instead he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father placed a heavy burden on you all, but as for me, I’ll add to those demands. My father punished you all with whips, but as for me, I’ll punish you all with scorpions.” 15 So the king didn’t listen to the people. This change came from Yahweh so that what he’d had Ahiyyah the Shilonite tell Nebat’s son Yarobam would all indeed happen.[ref]

16 When all Israel saw that the king hadn’t listened to them, the people responded,

“What share in David do we have?

≈We won’t get any inheritance from Yeshai’s son.

Go back to your tents, Israel.

Look at your dynasty now, David.”[ref]

So the northern Israeli leaders went home again. 17 However, Rehavam continued to rule over the cities in Yehudah.

18 Then King Rehavam took Adoniram who was over the forced labour, to go north but the people killed him by throwing rocks at him and the king had to hurriedly jump into his chariot to flee to Yerushalem. 19 Ever since then, the northern tribes of Israel have rebelled against David’s dynasty.

20 So as soon as all Israel heard that Yarobam had returned from Egypt, they summoned him to their assembly and appointed him as king over all northern Israel. Only the Yehudah region was left under the rule of David’s grandson Rehavam.