Tanakh, Bible & Qu'ran: The Pillars of Three Faiths. Various Authors
counsel of the old men which they had given him; 14and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying: 'My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.' 15So the king hearkened not unto the people; for it was a thing brought about of the Lord, that He might establish His word, which the Lord spoke by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16And when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying: 'What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse; to your tents, O Israel; now see to thine own house, David.' So Israel departed unto their tents. 17But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 18Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the levy; and all Israel stoned him with stones, so that he died. And king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. 19So Israel rebelled against the house of David, unto this day. 20And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was returned, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel; there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
21And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, be assembled all the house of Judah, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men that were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying: 23'Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying: 24Thus saith the Lord: Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel; return every man to his house; for this thing is of Me.' So they hearkened unto the word of the Lord, and returned and went their way, according to the word of the Lord.
25Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and he went out from thence, and built Penuel. 26And Jeroboam said in his heart: 'Now will the kingdom return to the house of David. 27If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn back unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.' 28Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said unto them: 'Ye have gone up long enough to Jerusalem; behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' 29And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan. 30And this thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. 31And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, that were not of the sons of Levi. 32And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he went up unto the altar; so did he in Beth-el, to sacrifice unto the calves that he had made; and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places that he had made. 33And he went up unto the altar which he had made in Beth-el on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up unto the altar, to offer.
13And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el; and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to offer. 2And he cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said: 'O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord: Behold, a son shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he sacrifice the priests of the high places that offer upon thee, and men's bones shall they burn upon thee.' 3And he gave a sign the same day saying: 'This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken: Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.' 4And it came to pass, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Beth-el, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying: 'Lay hold on him.' And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to him. 5The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. 6And the king answered and said unto the man of God: 'Entreat now the favour of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me.' And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him, and became as it was before. 7And the king said unto the man of God: 'Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.' 8And the man of God said unto the king: 'If thou wilt give me half thy house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place. 9For it so was charged me by the word of the Lord, saying: Thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water, neither return by the way that thou camest.' 10So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el.
11Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el, and the words which he had spoken unto the king, and they told them unto their father. 12And their father said unto them: 'What way went he?' For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, that came from Judah. 13And he said unto his sons: 'Saddle me the ass.' So they saddled him the ass; and he rode thereon. 14And he went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a terebinth; and he said unto him: 'Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah?' And he said: 'I am.' 15Then he said unto him: 'Come home with me, and eat bread.' 16And he said: 'I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee; neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place. 17For it was said to me by the word of the Lord: Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn back to go by the way that thou camest.' 18And he said unto him: 'I also am a prophet as thou art; and an angel spoke unto me by the word of the Lord, saying: Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water.'—He lied unto him.—19So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
20And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back. 21And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying: 'Thus saith the Lord: Forasmuch as thou hast rebelled against the word of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, 22but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to thee: Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.' 23And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, namely, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him; and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it; the lion also stood by the carcass. 25And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcass cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcass; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
26And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said: 'It is the man of God, who rebelled against the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke unto him.' 27And he spoke to his sons, saying: 'Saddle me the ass.' And they saddled it. 28And he went and found his carcass cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass; the lion had not eaten the carcass, nor torn the ass. 29And the prophet took up the carcass of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back; and he came to the city of the old prophet, to lament, and to bury him. 30And he laid his carcass in his own grave; and they made lamentation for him: 'Alas, my brother!' 31And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying: 'When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.'
33After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places; whosoever would, he consecrated him,