1At that time Abijah became ill. He was the son of Jeroboam.2Jeroboam said to his wife, ‘Go. Put on some different clothes. Then no one will recognise you as my wife. Go to Shiloh. That’s where Ahijah the prophet is. He told me I would be king over the Israelites.3Take ten loaves of bread with you. Take some cakes and a jar of honey. Go to him. He’ll tell you what will happen to our son.’4So Jeroboam’s wife did what he said. She went to Ahijah’s house in Shiloh. Ahijah couldn’t see. He was blind because he was so old.5But the LORD had told Ahijah, ‘Jeroboam’s wife is coming. Her son is ill. She’ll ask you about him. Give her the answer I give you. When she arrives, she’ll pretend to be someone else.’6Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door. He said, ‘Come in. I know that you are Jeroboam’s wife. Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have some bad news for you.7Go. Tell Jeroboam that the LORD has a message for him. The LORD is the God of Israel. He says, “I chose you from among the people. I appointed you king over my people Israel.8I tore the kingdom away from the royal house of David. I gave it to you. But you have not been like my servant David. He obeyed my commands. He followed me with all his heart. He did only what was right in my eyes.9You have done more evil things than all those who lived before you. You have made other gods for yourself. You have made statues of gods out of metal. You have made me very angry. You have turned your back on me.10‘ “Because of that, I am going to bring horrible trouble on your royal house. I will cut off from you every male in Israel. It does not matter whether they are slaves or free. I will burn up your royal house, just as someone burns up rubbish. I will burn it until it is all gone.11Some of the people who belong to you will die in the city. Dogs will eat them up. Others will die in the country. The birds will eat them. The LORD has spoken!”12‘Now go back home. When you enter your city, your son will die.13All the Israelites will mourn for him. Then he will be buried. He is the only one who belongs to Jeroboam who will be buried. That is because he is the only one in Jeroboam’s royal house in whom I have found anything good. I am the LORD, the God of Israel.14‘I will choose for myself a king over Israel. He will destroy the family of Jeroboam. This day your son will die. Even now this is beginning to happen.15I, the LORD, will strike down Israel. Israel will be like tall grass swaying in the water. I will pull Israel up from this good land by the roots. I gave it to their people who lived long ago. I will scatter Israel to the east side of the River Euphrates. That is because they made the LORD very angry. They made poles used to worship the female god named Asherah.16I will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed. He has also caused Israel to commit those same sins.’17Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left. She went to the city of Tirzah. As soon as she stepped through the doorway of the house, her son died.18He was buried and all the Israelites mourned for him. That’s what the LORD had said would happen. He had said it through his servant, Ahijah the prophet.19The other events of Jeroboam’s rule are written down. His wars and how he ruled are written down. They are written in the official records of the kings of Israel.20Jeroboam ruled for 22 years. Then he joined the members of his family who had already died. Jeroboam’s son Nadab became the next king after him.
Rehoboam king of Judah
21Rehoboam was king in Judah. He was the son of Solomon. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king. He ruled for 17 years in Jerusalem. It was the city the LORD had chosen out of all the cities in the tribes of Israel. He wanted to put his Name there. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah from Ammon.22The people of Judah did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. The sins they had committed made the LORD angry. The LORD was angry because they refused to worship only him. They did more to make him angry than their people who lived before them had done.23Judah also set up for themselves high places for worship. They set up sacred stones. They set up poles used to worship the female god named Asherah. They did it on every high hill and under every green tree.24There were even male prostitutes at the temples in the land. The people took part in all the practices of other nations. The LORD hated those practices. He had driven those nations out to make room for the Israelites.25Shishak attacked Jerusalem. It was in the fifth year that Rehoboam was king. Shishak was king of Egypt.26He carried away the treasures of the LORD’s temple. He also carried away the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything. That included all the gold shields Solomon had made.27So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to take their place. He gave them to the commanders of the guards on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.28Every time the king went to the LORD’s temple, the guards carried the shields. Later, they took them back to the room where they were kept.29The other events of Rehoboam’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Judah.30Rehoboam and Jeroboam were always at war with each other.31Rehoboam joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in his family tomb in the City of David. His mother was Naamah from Ammon. Rehoboam’s son Abijah became the next king after him.
1 Kings 14
English Standard Version
Prophecy Against Jeroboam
1At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.2And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. (Jos 18:1; 1Ki 11:29)3Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.” (1Sa 9:7)4Jeroboam’s wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. (1Ki 11:29; 1Ki 14:2)5And the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.” When she came, she pretended to be another woman. (1Ki 14:4)6But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you. (1Ki 14:4)7Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel (2Sa 12:7; 1Ki 16:2)8and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes, (1Ki 9:4; 1Ki 11:31; 1Ki 11:33; 1Ki 11:38; 1Ki 15:5)9but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back, (Ex 34:17; 1Ki 12:28; 2Ch 11:15; Ne 9:26; Ps 50:17; Eze 23:35)10therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. (De 32:36; 1Ki 16:3; 1Ki 21:21; 2Ki 9:8; 2Ki 14:26)11Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the Lord has spoken it.”’ (1Ki 16:4; 1Ki 21:24)12Arise therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. (1Ki 14:17)13And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. (2Ch 12:12; 2Ch 19:3)14Moreover, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth, (1Ki 15:27)15the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the Euphrates,[1] because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. (Ex 34:13; De 12:3; De 29:28; Jos 23:15; 2Ki 15:29; Ps 52:5; Pr 2:22)16And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.”17Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah. And as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. (1Ki 14:12; 1Ki 15:21; 1Ki 15:33; 1Ki 16:6; 1Ki 16:8; 1Ki 16:15; 1Ki 16:23)18And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet. (1Ki 14:13)
The Death of Jeroboam
19Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. (2Ch 13:2)20And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.
Rehoboam Reigns in Judah
21Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. (1Ki 11:32; 1Ki 11:36; 2Ch 12:13)22And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. (Nu 25:11; 2Ch 12:1; 2Ch 12:14)23For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, (Ex 23:24; De 12:2; 1Ki 14:15; 2Ki 16:4; Isa 57:5; Jer 2:20)24and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. (De 23:17)25In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. (2Ch 12:2; 2Ch 12:9)26He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made, (1Ki 10:17; 1Ki 15:18)27and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house.28And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.29Now 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? (2Ch 12:15)30And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. (1Ki 12:21; 1Ki 15:6)31And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Abijam his son reigned in his place. (2Ch 12:13; Mt 1:7)