And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither were all Israel come together to make him king.

Venit autem Roboam in Sichem: illuc enim congregatus erat omnis Israël ad constituendum eum regem.

This Roboam betook himself to Sichem; at Sichem the whole of Israel had assembled to crown him king.

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.

At vero Jeroboam filius Nabat, cum adhuc esset in Ægypto profugus a facie regis Salomonis, audita morte ejus, reversus est de Ægypto.

But meanwhile Jeroboam, son of Nabat, who had fled to Egypt to be out of king Solomon’s reach, had come back home upon hearing the news of his death;

And they sent and called him: and Jeroboam came, and all the multitude of Israel, and they spoke to Roboam, saying:

Miseruntque et vocaverunt eum: venit ergo Jeroboam, et omnis multitudo Israël, et locuti sunt ad Roboam, dicentes:

and he, too, was summoned to meet them. He, and all Israel with him, came to make a request of Roboam;

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.

Pater tuus durissimum jugum imposuit nobis: tu itaque nunc imminue paululum de imperio patris tui durissimo, et de jugo gravissimo quod imposuit nobis, et serviemus tibi.

Thy father, they said, made us bear a bitter yoke. That cruel sway of his, that hard yoke, do thou mitigate, and we will be thy servants on that condition.

And he said to them: Go till the third day, and come to me again. And when the people was gone,

Qui ait eis: Ite usque ad tertium diem, et revertimini ad me. Cumque abiisset populus,

Give me two days, said he, and then come back to hear my answer. So, when the people had left him,

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?

iniit consilium rex Roboam cum senioribus qui assistebant coram Salomone patre ejus cum adhuc viveret, et ait: Quod datis mihi consilium, ut respondeam populo huic?

king Roboam asked advice first of the older men that had been courtiers in the life-time of his father, king Solomon; what answer should he make to the people?

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.

Qui dixerunt ei: Si hodie obedieris populo huic, et servieris, et petitioni eorum cesseris, locutusque fueris ad eos verba lenia, erunt tibi servi cunctis diebus.

Why, they told him, if thou dost defer to them and do their will, granting this request of theirs and speaking graciously to them, they will never cease giving thee loyal service.

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.

Qui dereliquit consilium senum, quod dederant ei, et adhibuit adolescentes, qui nutriti fuerant cum eo, et assistebant illi,

But he left their advice unheeded, and took counsel instead with the younger men who had grown up with him;

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?

dixitque ad eos: Quod mihi datis consilium, ut respondeam populo huic, qui dixerunt mihi: Levius fac jugum quod imposuit pater tuus super nos?

How think you, he asked, I should make answer to the people’s request, that I would lighten the yoke my father laid on them?

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.

Et dixerunt ei juvenes qui nutriti fuerant cum eo: Sic loqueris populo huic, qui locuti sunt ad te, dicentes: Pater tuus aggravavit jugum nostrum: tu releva nos. Sic loqueris ad eos: Minimus digitus meus grossior est dorso patris mei.

And these, men of his own upbringing, gave him advice in their turn. Do they complain that thy father laid a heavy yoke on them, and ask for relief? Then tell them there is more strength in thy little finger than in all the breadth of thy father’s back;

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.

Et nunc pater meus posuit super vos jugum grave, ego autem addam super jugum vestrum: pater meus cecidit vos flagellis, ego autem cædam vos scorpionibus.

if his yoke fell heavy on them, thine shall be heavier still; if thy father’s weapon was the lash, thine shall be the scorpion.

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.

Venit ergo Jeroboam et omnis populus ad Roboam die tertia, sicut locutus fuerat rex, dicens: Revertimini ad me die tertia.

So the third day came, and Jeroboam, with all the people at his back, kept the tryst which the king had made with them for the third day following.

And the king answered the people roughly, leaving the counsel of the old men, which they had given him,

Responditque rex populo dura, derelicto consilio seniorum quod ei dederant,

And the king, instead of heeding the advice which the older men had given, spoke to the people harshly,

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.

et locutus est eis secundum consilium juvenum, dicens: Pater meus aggravavit jugum vestrum, ego autem addam jugo vestro: pater meus cecidit vos flagellis, ego autem cædam vos scorpionibus.

with such words as the younger men had prescribed to him. If my father’s yoke fell heavy on you, he told them, mine shall be heavier still; if his weapon was the lash, mine shall be the scorpion.

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.

Et non acquievit rex populo: quoniam aversatus fuerat eum Dominus, ut suscitaret verbum suum quod locutus fuerat in manu Ahiæ Silonitæ, ad Jeroboam filium Nabat.

Thus the king refused to fall in with his people’s will; the Lord had left him to his own devices, in fulfilment of the promise Ahias the Silonite made, in his name, to Jeroboam son of Nabat.

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.

Videns itaque populus quod noluisset eos audire rex, respondit ei dicens: Quæ nobis pars in David? vel quæ hæreditas in filio Isai? vade in tabernacula tua, Israël: nunc vide domum tuam, David. Et abiit Israël in tabernacula sua.

And when the people found that the king would not listen to them, they were quick with their answer. David is none of ours, they cried; not for us the son of Jesse; go back, men of Israel, to your homes! Let David look to the affairs of his own tribe! And with that, the people dispersed to their homes;

But as for all the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Juda, Roboam reigned over them.

Super filios autem Israël, quicumque habitabant in civitatibus Juda, regnavit Roboam.

none but the Israelites living in the cities of Juda would acknowledge Roboam as king.

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:

Misit ergo rex Roboam Aduram, qui erat super tributa: et lapidavit eum omnis Israël, et mortuus est. Porro rex Roboam festinus ascendit currum, et fugit in Jerusalem:

And now, when Adoram, who had charge of the levy, came to them in the king’s name, the Israelites stoned him to death; whereupon Roboam mounted his chariot and betook himself, with all speed, to Jerusalem.

And Israel revolted from the house of David, unto this day.

recessitque Israël a domo David usque in præsentem diem.

From that day to this, the men of Israel have refused allegiance to the dynasty of David.

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.

Factum est autem cum audisset omnis Israël quod reversus esset Jeroboam, miserunt, et vocaverunt eum congregato cœtu, et constituerunt eum regem super omnem Israël: nec secutus est quisquam domum David præter tribum Juda solam.

Hearing of Jeroboam’s return, they met and summoned him to be present; and so they made him king of all Israel, leaving none to take part with David’s line except the one tribe of Juda.

And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and gathered together all the house of Juda, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred four-score thousand chosen men for war, to fight against the house of Israel and to bring the kingdom again under Roboam the son of Solomon.

Venit autem Roboam Jerusalem, et congregavit universam domum Juda, et tribum Benjamin, centum octoginta millia electorum virorum bellatorum, ut pugnarent contra domum Israël, et reducerent regnum Roboam filio Salomonis.

Roboam, indeed, upon reaching Jerusalem, mustered the whole tribe of Juda, including Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand choice warriors, to make war on the men of Israel; their cry was that Roboam, Solomon’s heir, must be restored to his kingdom.

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

Factus est autem sermo Domini ad Semeiam virum Dei, dicens:

But the Lord sent word to the prophet Semeias,

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:

Loquere ad Roboam filium Salomonis regem Juda, et ad omnem domum Juda, et Benjamin, et reliquos de populo, dicens:

Here is a message for Roboam, son of Solomon, king of Juda, and for the men of Juda and Benjamin, the loyal remnant of the people.

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.

Hæc dicit Dominus: Non ascendetis, neque bellabitis contra fratres vestros filios Israël: revertatur vir in domum suam: a me enim factum est verbum hoc. Audierunt sermonem Domini, et reversi sunt de itinere, sicut eis præceperat Dominus.

You are not to march out, the Lord says, and make war upon the sons of Israel, your own brethren; go home, every man of you; all this is my doing. So they obeyed the Lord’s will, and gave up their journey at his bidding.

And Jeroboam built Sichem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt there, and going out from thence he built Phanuel.

Ædificavit autem Jeroboam Sichem in monte Ephraim, et habitavit ibi: et egressus inde ædificavit Phanuel.

As for Jeroboam, he fortified Sichem, in the hill-country of Ephraim, to be his capital; then he went on to fortify Phanuel.

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

Dixitque Jeroboam in corde suo: Nunc revertetur regnum ad domum David,

And it came into his mind, The kingdom will go back to the dynasty of David

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.

si ascenderit populus iste ut faciat sacrificia in domo Domini in Jerusalem: et convertetur cor populi hujus ad dominum suum Roboam regem Juda, interficientque me, et revertentur ad eum.

if these subjects of mine are allowed to go and sacrifice in the Lord’s house at Jerusalem. Their loyalties will go out again to their old master, king Roboam of Juda; they will kill me, and return to his allegiance.

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.

Et excogitato consilio fecit duos vitulos aureos, et dixit eis: Nolite ultra ascendere in Jerusalem: ecce dii tui Israël, qui te eduxerunt de terra Ægypti.

And this was the plan he devised; he made two golden calves, and said to the men of Israel, Here are your gods; the same gods that rescued you from the land of Egypt; no need to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem any more.

And he set the one in Bethel, and the other in Dan:

Posuitque unum in Bethel, et alterum in Dan:

One of the calves he set up at Bethel, and the other at Dan.

And this thing became an occasion of sin: for the people went to adore the calf as far as Dan.

et factum est verbum hoc in peccatum: ibat enim populus ad adorandum vitulum usque in Dan.

Here was great sin caused; all the way to Dan men would go on pilgrimage, to worship a calf.

And he made temples in the high places, and priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

Et fecit fana in excelsis, et sacerdotes de extremis populi, qui non erant de filiis Levi.

Jeroboam made shrines, too, on the hill-tops, and chose men to be priests here and there and everywhere among the people, men that were not of Levi’s race.

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.

Constituitque diem solemnem in mense octavo, quintadecima die mensis, in similitudinem solemnitatis quæ celebrabatur in Juda. Et ascendens altare, similiter fecit in Bethel, ut immolaret vitulis quos fabricatus fuerat: constituitque in Bethel sacerdotes excelsorum quæ fecerat.

And he appointed a feast-day of his own, on the fifteenth day of the month, to match the feast-day kept in Juda, but it was in the eighth month. He too, in Bethel, would mount the steps of the altar and do sacrifice, but to calf-gods of his own making. And at Bethel he established the priests that served the hill-shrines he had made.

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.

Et ascendit super altare quod exstruxerat in Bethel, quintadecima die mensis octavi, quem finxerat de corde suo: et fecit solemnitatem filiis Israël, et ascendit super altare, ut adoleret incensum.

On the fifteenth day, then, of the eighth month, his self-devised feast-day for the sons of Israel, Jeroboam went up to the altar he had built in Bethel, and began, standing there, to offer incense.