1 Kings 14

Ahijah Prophesies against the King

1At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. 2And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Now arise and 1disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to 2Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who 3said regarding me that I would be king over this people. 34Take ten loaves with you, some pastries, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

4And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and set out and went to 5Shiloh, and came to the house of 6Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see 7because his eyes were 8glossy from his old age. 5Now the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to 9inquire of you about her son, because he is sick. You shall say such and such to her, for it will be when she arrives, that 10she is going to make herself unrecognizable.”

6So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet coming in the doorway, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam; why do you make yourself unrecognizable? Nevertheless, I am sent to you with a harsh message. 7Go, say to Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: “11Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel, 8and 12tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you--13yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and followed Me with all his heart, 14to do only that which was right in My sight; 9you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and 15you have gone and made for yourself other gods and 16cast metal images to provoke Me to anger, and have 17thrown Me behind your back-- 10therefore behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and 18I will eliminate from Jeroboam 19every male person, 20both 21bond and free in Israel, and I 22will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, just as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone. 1123Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city, the dogs will eat. And anyone who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat; for the Lord has spoken it.”’ 12Now you, arise, go to your house. 24When your feet enter the city the child will die. 13Then all Israel will mourn for him and bury him, for 25he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to the grave, because in him 26something good was found toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. 14Moreover, 27the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will eliminate the house of Jeroboam this day 28and from now on.

15“For the Lord will strike Israel, just as a reed sways in the water; and 29He will uproot Israel from 30this good land which He gave to their fathers, and 31will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, 32because they have made their 33Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. 16He will give up Israel 34because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he 35committed and with which he misled Israel into sin.”

17Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed, and came to 36Tirzah. 37As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child died. 1838Then all Israel buried him and mourned for him, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

19Now as for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, 39how he made war and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 20And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years; and he 40lay down with his fathers, and his son Nadab reigned in his place.

Rehoboam Misleads Judah

2141Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, 42the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. 22And the people of 43Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they 44provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they 45committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23For they, too, built for themselves 46high places, 47memorial stones, and 4849Asherim on every high hill and 50under every luxuriant tree. 24There were also 51male cult prostitutes in the land. They committed 52all the same abominations of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.

2553Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak the king of Egypt marched against Jerusalem. 26And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house, and 54he took everything; 55he even took all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. 27So King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and 56entrusted them to the 57care of the commanders of the 58guard who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. 28And it happened as often as the king entered the house of the Lord, that the 59guards would carry them and would bring them back into the 60guards’ room.

2961Now as for the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 3062And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 31And Rehoboam 63lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and 64his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. And his son Abijam became king in his place.