1 Kings 14 (New American Standard)

Ahijah Prophesies against the King

1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. 2 Jeroboam said to his wife, "Arise now, 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 ³spoke concerning me that I would be king over this people. 3 "⁴Take ten loaves with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy." 4 Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose and went to ⁵Shiloh, and came to the house of ⁶Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, ⁷for his eyes were ^adim because of his age. 5 Now the LORD had said to Ahijah, "Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to ^binquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. You shall say thus and thus to her, for it will be when she arrives that ⁸she will pretend to be another woman." 6 When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet coming in the doorway, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why do you pretend to be another woman ? For I am sent to you with a harsh message. 7 "Go, say to Jeroboam, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel, "⁹Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel, 8 and ¹⁰tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you-¹¹yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, ¹²to do only that which was right in My sight ; 9 you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and ¹³have gone and made for yourself other gods and ¹⁴molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have ¹⁵cast Me behind your back - 10 therefore behold, I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam, and ¹⁶will cut off from Jeroboam ^cevery male person, ¹⁷both bond and free in Israel, and I ¹⁸will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone. 11 "¹⁹Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat ; for the LORD has spoken it."' 12 "Now you, arise, go to your house. ²⁰When your feet enter the city the child will die. 13 "All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for ^dhe alone of Jeroboam's family will come to the grave, because in him ²¹something good was found toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. 14 "Moreover, ²²the LORD will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam this day ^eand from now on. 15 "For the LORD will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water ; and ²³He will uproot Israel from ²⁴this good land which He gave to their fathers, and ²⁵will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, ²⁶because they have made their ^fAsherim, provoking the LORD to anger. 16 "He will give up Israel ²⁷on account of the sins of Jeroboam, which he ^gcommitted and with which he made Israel to sin." 17 Then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed and came to ²⁸Tirzah. ²⁹As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 ³⁰All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet. 19 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, ³¹how he made war and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 20 The time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years ; and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam Misleads Judah

21 ³²Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, ³³the 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. 22 ³⁴Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they ³⁵provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with ^hthe sins which they ⁱcommitted. 23 For they also built for themselves ³⁶high places and sacred ³⁷pillars and ^j38Asherim on every high hill and ³⁹beneath every luxuriant tree. 24 There were also ⁴⁰male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 25 ⁴¹Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. 26 He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house, and ⁴²he took everything, ^k43even taking all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. 27 So King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and ⁴⁴committed them to the ^lcare of the commanders of the ^mguard who guarded the doorway of the king's house. 28 Then it happened as often as the king entered the house of the LORD, that the ⁿguards would carry them and would bring them back into the ^oguards' room. 29 ⁴⁵Now 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 ? 30 ⁴⁶There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually . 31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David ; and ⁴⁷his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. And Abijam his son became king in his place.