1 Kings 14:14-24

14 "Then God will appoint a king over Israel who will wipe out Jeroboam's family, wipe them right off the map - doomsday for Jeroboam!
15 He will hit Israel hard, as a storm slaps reeds about; he'll pull them up by the roots from this good land of their inheritance, weeding them out, and then scatter them to the four winds. And why? Because they made God so angry with Asherah sex-and-religion shrines.
16 He'll wash his hands of Israel because of Jeroboam's sins, which have led Israel into a life of sin."
17 Jeroboam's wife left and went home to Tirzah. The moment she stepped through the door, the boy died.
18 They buried him and everyone mourned his death, just as God had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah.
19 The rest of Jeroboam's life, the wars he fought and the way he ruled, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
20 He ruled for twenty-two years. He died and was buried with his ancestors. Nadab his son was king after him.
21 Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he took the throne and was king for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city God selected from all the tribes of Israel for the worship of his Name. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah, an Ammonite.
22 Judah was openly wicked before God, making him very angry. They set new records in sin, surpassing anything their ancestors had done.
23 They built Asherah sex-and-religion shrines and set up sacred stones all over the place - on hills, under trees, wherever you looked.
24 Worse, they had male sacred prostitutes, polluting the country outrageously - all the stuff that God had gotten rid of when he brought Israel into the land.

1 Kings 14:14-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 14

This chapter relates the sickness of Jeroboam's son, the application of his wife, at his instance, to the prophet Ahijah, in the child's favour, 1Ki 14:1-6, the prophecy of the prophet concerning the ruin of Jeroboam's house, and the death of the child, which came to pass, 1Ki 14:7-18, an account of the years of Jeroboam's reign, and also of Rehoboam's, 1Ki 14:19-21, and of the evil things done and suffered by the latter in his kingdom, and the calamities that came upon him for it, 1Ki 14:22-28 and the conclusion of his reign, 1Ki 14:29-31.

Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.