Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
The Message Bible MSG
1 At that time Abia, the son of Jeroboam, fell sick.
1
At about this time Jeroboam's son Abijah came down sick.
2 And Jeroboam said to his wife: Arise, and change thy dress, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Silo, where Ahias, the prophet is, who told me that I should reign over this people.
2
Jeroboam said to his wife, "Do something. Disguise yourself so no one will know you are the queen and go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet lives there, the same Ahijah who told me I'd be king over this people.
3 Take also with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a pot of honey, and go to him: for he will tell thee what will become of this child.
3
Take along ten loaves of bread, some sweet rolls, and a jug of honey. Make a visit to him and he'll tell you what's going on with our boy."
4 Jeroboam’s wife did as he told her: and rising up, went to Silo, and came to the house of Ahias; but he could not see, for his eyes were dim by reason of his age.
4
Jeroboam's wife did as she was told; she went straight to Shiloh and to Ahijah's house. Ahijah was an old man at this time, and blind,
5 And the Lord said to Ahias: Behold the wife of Jeroboam cometh in, to consult thee concerning her son, that is sick: thus and thus shalt thou speak to her. So when she was coming in, and made as if she were another woman,
5
but God had warned Ahijah, "Jeroboam's wife is on her way to consult with you regarding her sick son; tell her this and this and this."
6 Ahias heard the sound of her feet, coming in at the door, and said: Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam: why dost thou feign thyself to be another? But I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.
6
Ahijah heard her come through the door and said, "Welcome, wife of Jeroboam! But why the deception? I've got bad news for you.
7 Go, and tell Jeroboam: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: For as much as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel;
7
Go and deliver this message I received firsthand from God, the God of Israel, to Jeroboam: I raised you up from obscurity and made you the leader of my people Israel.
8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to thee, and thou hast not been as my servant, David, who kept my commandments, and followed me with all his heart, doing that which was well pleasing in my sight:
8
I ripped the kingdom from the hands of David's family and gave it to you, but you weren't at all like my servant David who did what I told him and lived from his undivided heart, pleasing me.
9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee, and hast made thee strange gods, and molten gods, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:
9
Instead you've set a new record in works of evil by making alien gods - tin gods! Pushing me aside and turning your back - you've made me mighty angry.
10 Therefore, behold I will bring evils upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the last in Israel: and I will sweep away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as dung is swept away till all be clean.
10
"And I'll not put up with it: I'm bringing doom on the household of Jeroboam, killing the lot of them right down to the last male wretch in Israel, whether slave or free. They've become nothing but garbage and I'm getting rid of them.
11 Them that shall die of Jeroboam in the city, the dogs shall eat: and them that shall die in the field, the birds of the air shall devour: for the Lord hath spoken it.
11
The ones who die in the city will be eaten by stray dogs; the ones who die out in the country will be eaten by carrion crows. God's decree!
12 Arise thou, therefore, and go to thy house: and when thy feet shall be entering into the city, the child shall die,
12
"And that's it. Go on home - the minute you step foot in town, the boy will die.
13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and shall bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall be laid in a sepulchre, because in his regard there is found a good word from the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.
13
Everyone will come to his burial, mourning his death. He is the only one in Jeroboam's family who will get a decent burial; he's the only one for whom God, the God of Israel, has a good word to say.
14 And the Lord hath appointed himself a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam in this day, and in this time:
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 And the Lord God shall strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water: and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river: because they have made to themselves groves, to provoke the Lord.
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 And the Lord shall give up Israel for the sins of Jeroboam, who hath sinned, and made Israel to sin.
16
He'll wash his hands of Israel because of Jeroboam's sins, which have led Israel into a life of sin."
17 And the wife of Jeroboam arose, and departed, and came to Thersa: and when she was coming in to the threshold of the house, the child died,
17
Jeroboam's wife left and went home to Tirzah. The moment she stepped through the door, the boy died.
18 And they buried him. And all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Ahias, the prophet.
18
They buried him and everyone mourned his death, just as God had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah.
19 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he reigned, behold they are written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel.
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 And the days that Jeroboam reigned, were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers: and Nadab, his son, reigned in his stead.
20
He ruled for twenty-two years. He died and was buried with his ancestors. Nadab his son was king after him.
21 And Roboam, the son of Solomon, reigned in Juda: Roboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord chose out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naama, an Ammonitess.
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 And Juda did evil in the sight of the Lord, and provoked him above all that their fathers had done, in their sins which they committed.
22
Judah was openly wicked before God, making him very angry. They set new records in sin, surpassing anything their ancestors had done.
23 For they also built them altars, and statues, and groves, upon every high hill, and under every green tree:
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 There were also the effeminate in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the people, whom the Lord had destroyed before the face of the children of Israel.
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.
25 And in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Sesac, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem.
25
In the fifth year of King Rehoboam's rule, Shishak king of Egypt made war against Jerusalem.
26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the king’s treasures, and carried all off: as also the shields of gold which Solomon had made:
26
He plundered The Temple of God and the royal palace of their treasures, cleaned them out - even the gold shields that Solomon had made.
27 And Roboam made shields of brass instead of them, and delivered them into the hand of the captains of the shieldbearers, and of them that kept watch before the gate of the king’s house.
27
King Rehoboam replaced them with bronze shields and outfitted the royal palace guards with them.
28 And when the king went into the house of the Lord, they whose office it was to go before him, carried them: and afterwards they brought them back to the armoury of the shieldbearers.
28
Whenever the king went to God's Temple, the guards carried the shields but always returned them to the guardroom.
29 Now the rest of the acts of Roboam, and all that he did, behold they are written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda.
29
The rest of Rehoboam's life, what he said and did, is all written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.
30 And there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam always.
30
There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam the whole time.
31 And Roboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with them, in the city of David: and his mother’s name was Naama, an Ammonitess: and Abiam, his son, reigned in his stead.
31
Rehoboam died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His mother was Naamah, an Ammonite. His son Abijah ruled after him.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.
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.