2 Chronicles 10:4
New International Version
“Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

New Living Translation
“Your father was a hard master,” they said. “Lighten the harsh labor demands and heavy taxes that your father imposed on us. Then we will be your loyal subjects.”

English Standard Version
“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.”

Berean Standard Bible
“Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you should lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

King James Bible
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

New King James Version
“Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

New American Standard Bible
“Your father made our yoke hard; but now, lighten the hard labor imposed by your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

NASB 1995
“Your 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.”

NASB 1977
“Your 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.”

Legacy Standard Bible
“Your father made our yoke harsh; but now, lighten the harsh service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

Amplified Bible
“Your father [King Solomon] made our yoke hard (heavy, difficult); so now lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

Christian Standard Bible
“Your father made our yoke harsh. Therefore, lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
“Your father made our yoke difficult. Therefore, lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

American Standard Version
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“Your father greatly oppressed us, and you now take away from the hard oppression of your father and from his severe dominion, and we will serve you.”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now then abate somewhat of thy father's grievous rule, and of his heavy yoke which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

Contemporary English Version
"Your father Solomon forced us to work very hard. But if you make our work easier, we will serve you and do whatever you ask."

Douay-Rheims Bible
Thy father oppressed us with a most grievous yoke, do thou govern us with a lighter hand than thy father, who laid upon us a heavy servitude, and ease some thing of the burden, that we may serve thee.

English Revised Version
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Your father made us carry a heavy burden. Reduce the hard work and lighten the heavy burden he put on us, and we will serve you."

Good News Translation
"Your father placed heavy burdens on us. If you make these burdens lighter and make life easier for us, we will be your loyal subjects."

International Standard Version
"Your father made our burdens unbearable. Therefore you must lighten your father's requirements and his heavy burden that he placed on us, and we'll serve you."

JPS Tanakh 1917
Thy father made our yoke grievous; now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.'

Literal Standard Version
“Your father made our yoke sharp, and now, make light [some] of the sharp service of your father, and [some] of his heavy yoke that he put on us, and we serve you.”

Majority Standard Bible
“Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you should lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

New American Bible
“Your father put on us a heavy yoke. If you now lighten the harsh servitude and the heavy yoke your father imposed on us, we will be your servants.”

NET Bible
"Your father made us work too hard! Now if you lighten the demands he made and don't make us work as hard, we will serve you."

New Revised Standard Version
“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke that he placed on us, and we will serve you.”

New Heart English Bible
"Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you."

Webster's Bible Translation
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

World English Bible
“Your father made our yoke grievous. Now therefore make the grievous service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you.”

Young's Literal Translation
Thy father made our yoke sharp, and now, make light somewhat of the sharp service of thy father, and of his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we serve thee.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Rebellion Against Rehoboam
3So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel came to Rehoboam and said, 4“Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you should lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.” 5Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days.” So the people departed.…

Cross References
1 Kings 5:13
Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel.

2 Chronicles 10:3
So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel came to Rehoboam and said,

2 Chronicles 10:5
Rehoboam answered, "Come back to me in three days." So the people departed.


Treasury of Scripture

Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease you somewhat the grievous servitude of your father, and his heavy yoke that he put on us, and we will serve you.

thy father

1 Samuel 8:11-18
And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots…

1 Kings 12:4
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.

Isaiah 47:6
I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

grievous

Exodus 1:13,14
And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: …

Exodus 2:23
And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.

1 Kings 4:20,25
Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry…

Jump to Previous
Conditions Cruel Ease Grievous Hard Harsh Heavy Kept Less Lighter Servants Serve Service Servitude Sharp Somewhat Weight Yoke
Jump to Next
Conditions Cruel Ease Grievous Hard Harsh Heavy Kept Less Lighter Servants Serve Service Servitude Sharp Somewhat Weight Yoke
2 Chronicles 10
1. The Israelites, assembled at Shechem to crown Rehoboam,
3. by Jeroboam make a suit of relaxation unto him,
6. Rehoboam, refusing the old mens' counsel, answers them roughly,
16. Ten tribes revolting, kill Hadoram, and make Rehoboam flee














(4) Made . . . grievous . . . ease thou.--Made hard . . . lighten.

Now therefore.--And now. Kings and the Syriac here, "and thou now"--w'attah 'attah: an assonance which the chronicler has avoided, at the expense of the proper emphasis, which lies on thou. (Some Hebrew MSS. and the Vulgate and Arabic read, and thou.) (Comp. 2Chronicles 10:10, and thou . . . lighten it.)

Verse 4. - The grievous servitude... heavy yoke. These may, for conciseness' sake, be supposed to correspond with the naturally enough hated "forced labour" (1 Kings 4:6, 7; 1 Kings 5:13-16; 1 Kings 11:27, 28) and the burdensome "taxes" (1 Kings 4:19-28) which had not failed to become more odious to the people as familiarity with them grew. The refreshing New Testament contrast to all this (Matthew 11:28-30) will occur to every memory.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“Your father
אָבִ֖יךָ (’ā·ḇî·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 1: Father

put a heavy
הִקְשָׁ֣ה (hiq·šāh)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7185: To be hard, severe or fierce

yoke
עֻלֵּ֑נוּ (‘ul·lê·nū)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common plural
Strong's 5923: A yoke

on us.
אֶת־ (’eṯ-)
Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

But now
וְעַתָּ֡ה (wə·‘at·tāh)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 6258: At this time

you should lighten
הָקֵל֩ (hā·qêl)
Verb - Hifil - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 7043: To be slight, swift or trifling

the burden
הַקָּשָׁ֗ה (haq·qā·šāh)
Article | Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 7186: Hard, severe

of your father’s
אָבִ֜יךָ (’ā·ḇî·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 1: Father

service
מֵעֲבֹדַ֨ת (mê·‘ă·ḇō·ḏaṯ)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 5656: Work of any kind

and the heavy
הַכָּבֵ֛ד (hak·kā·ḇêḏ)
Article | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 3515: Heavy

yoke
וּמֵעֻלּ֧וֹ (ū·mê·‘ul·lōw)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5923: A yoke

he put
נָתַ֥ן (nā·ṯan)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

on us,
עָלֵ֖ינוּ (‘ā·lê·nū)
Preposition | first person common plural
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

and we will serve you.”
וְנַֽעַבְדֶֽךָּ׃ (wə·na·‘aḇ·ḏe·kā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative if contextual - first person common plural | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave


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OT History: 2 Chronicles 10:4 Your father made our yoke grievous: now (2 Chron. 2Ch iiCh ii ch 2 chr 2chr)
2 Chronicles 10:3
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