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Saturday, December 20th, 2025
the Third Week of Advent
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

1 Kings 12:5

"Give me three days to think it over, then come back," Rehoboam said.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Government;   Jeroboam;   Petition;   Rehoboam;   Revolt;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Kings;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Jeroboam;   Rehoboam;   Shechem;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Jeroboam;   Jerusalem;   Rehoboam;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Kings, First and Second, Theology of;   Wages;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Israel, Kingdom of;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Kings, the Books of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Kings, 1 and 2;   Tribes of Israel, the;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Israel;   Rehoboam,;   Solomon;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Rehoboam ;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Government of the Hebrews;   Jeroboam;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Revolt;   Kingdom of Israel;   Kingdom of Judah;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Kings, Books of;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Rehoboam replied, “Go away for three days and then return to me.” So the people left.
Hebrew Names Version
He said to them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. The people departed.
King James Version
And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
English Standard Version
He said to them, "Go away for three days, then come again to me." So the people went away.
New Century Version
Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days, and then come back to me." So the people left.
New English Translation
He said to them, "Go away for three days, then return to me." So the people went away.
Amplified Bible
Rehoboam replied to them, "Leave for three days, then come back to me [for my decision]." So the people left.
New American Standard Bible
Then he said to them, "Depart for three days, then return to me." So the people departed.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And he said vnto them, Depart yet for three dayes, then come againe to me. And the people departed.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then he said to them, "Go for three days, then return to me." So the people went away.
Contemporary English Version
"Give me three days to think about it," Rehoboam replied, "then come back for my answer." So the people left.
Complete Jewish Bible
He said to them, "Leave me alone for three days, then come back to me." So the people left.
Darby Translation
And he said to them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
Easy-to-Read Version
Rehoboam answered, "Come back to me in three days, and I will answer you." So the people left.
George Lamsa Translation
And he said to them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. So all the people departed.
Good News Translation
"Come back in three days and I will give you my answer," he replied. So they left.
Lexham English Bible
He said, "Go up for three days and then return to me"; so the people went away.
Literal Translation
And he said to them, Go; yet in three days come back to me. And the people went.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He sayde vnto them: Go youre waye vnto the thirde daye, and then come to me agayne. And the people wete their waye.
American Standard Version
And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
Bible in Basic English
And he said to them, Go away for three days and then come back to me again. So the people went away.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he sayde vnto them: Depart yet for the space of three dayes, and then come againe to me. And the people departed.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he said unto them: 'Depart yet for three days, then come again to me.' And the people departed.
King James Version (1611)
And hee said vnto them, Depart yet for three daies, then come againe to me. And the people departed.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he said to them, Depart for three days, and return to me. And they departed.
English Revised Version
And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
Berean Standard Bible
Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then return to me." So the people departed.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Which Roboam seide to hem, Go ye `til to the thridde dai, and turne ye ayen to me.
Young's Literal Translation
And he saith unto them, `Go -- yet three days, and come back unto me;' and the people go.
Update Bible Version
And he said to them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
Webster's Bible Translation
And he said to them, Depart yet [for] three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
World English Bible
He said to them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. The people departed.
New King James Version
So he said to them, "Depart for three days, then come back to me." And the people departed.
New Living Translation
Rehoboam replied, "Give me three days to think this over. Then come back for my answer." So the people went away.
New Life Bible
Rehoboam said to them, "Leave for three days. Then return to me." So the people left.
New Revised Standard
He said to them, "Go away for three days, then come again to me." So the people went away.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And he said unto them - Depart ye for yet three days, and then come again unto me. And the people departed.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said to them: Go till the third day, and come to me again. And when the people was gone,
Revised Standard Version
He said to them, "Depart for three days, then come again to me." So the people went away.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then he said to them, "Depart for three days, then return to me." So the people departed.

Contextual Overview

1Rehoboam traveled to Shechem where all Israel had gathered to inaugurate him as king. Jeroboam had been in Egypt, where he had taken asylum from King Solomon; when he got the report of Solomon's death he had come back. 3Rehoboam assembled Jeroboam and all the people. They said to Rehoboam, "Your father made life hard for us—worked our fingers to the bone. Give us a break; lighten up on us and we'll willingly serve you." 5 "Give me three days to think it over, then come back," Rehoboam said. 6 King Rehoboam talked it over with the elders who had advised his father when he was alive: "What's your counsel? How do you suggest that I answer the people?" 7 They said, "If you will be a servant to this people, be considerate of their needs and respond with compassion, work things out with them, they'll end up doing anything for you." 8But he rejected the counsel of the elders and asked the young men he'd grown up with who were now currying his favor, "What do you think? What should I say to these people who are saying, ‘Give us a break from your father's harsh ways—lighten up on us'?" 10The young turks he'd grown up with said, "These people who complain, ‘Your father was too hard on us; lighten up'—well, tell them this: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. If you think life under my father was hard, you haven't seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I'll beat you bloody with chains!'" 12Three days later Jeroboam and the people showed up, just as Rehoboam had directed when he said, "Give me three days to think it over, then come back." The king's answer was harsh and rude. He spurned the counsel of the elders and went with the advice of the younger set, "If you think life under my father was hard, you haven't seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I'll beat you bloody with chains!" 15 Rehoboam turned a deaf ear to the people. God was behind all this, confirming the message that he had given to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah of Shiloh.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 12:12 - Come to me again 2 Chronicles 10:5 - Come again Luke 2:46 - after

Cross-References

Genesis 11:31
Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and Sarai his daughter-in-law (his son Abram's wife) and set out with them from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there.
Genesis 12:8
He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there and prayed to God .
Genesis 12:9
Abram kept moving, steadily making his way south, to the Negev.
Genesis 14:21
The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me back the people but keep all the plunder for yourself."
Acts 7:4
"So he left the country of the Chaldees and moved to Haran. After the death of his father, he immigrated to this country where you now live, but God gave him nothing, not so much as a foothold. He did promise to give the country to him and his son later on, even though Abraham had no son at the time. God let him know that his offspring would move to an alien country where they would be enslaved and brutalized for four hundred years. ‘But,' God said, ‘I will step in and take care of those slaveholders and bring my people out so they can worship me in this place.'

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he said unto them, depart yet for three days, then come again to me,.... Suggesting that he would consider of their proposal and inquire into the merits of it and as things should appear to him he would give them an answer in three days time; which at first sight may seem a point of prudence in him, to take time for deliberation and counsel in this affair, but in his case and circumstance it was very imprudent; for he might easily see there was discontent among the people, and a faction forming against him, and, by taking time to himself, he gave them time to take their measures, and hasten and ripen them for a revolt; for, by giving them such an answer, they might plainly perceive he was not inclined to give them satisfaction; it would have been the most advisable in him to have promised them at once that he would make them easy:

and the people departed; to their quarters, and there remained to the third day.


 
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