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1 Kings 13-14
New English Translation

13 1 Just then[a] a prophet[b] arrived from Judah with[c] the Lord’s message for Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing near the altar ready to offer a sacrifice. 2 He cried out against the altar with the Lord’s message, “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord has said, ‘Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’”[d] 3 That day he had also given a sign, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has declared: The altar will split open and the ashes[e] on it will pour out.” 4 When the king heard the prophet’s message that he had cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam took his hand from the altar and pointed it[f] saying, “Seize him!” Then the hand that he had pointed at him stiffened up,[g] and he could not pull it back. 5 Meanwhile the altar split open, and the ashes[h] poured from the altar in fulfillment of the sign the prophet had given with the Lord’s message. 6 The king responded to[i] the prophet, “Seek the favor of[j] the Lord your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored.” So the prophet sought the Lord’s favor and the king’s hand was restored as it was at first. 7 The king then said to the prophet, “Come home with me and have something to eat, so that I may give you a gift.”[k] 8 But the prophet said to the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions,[l] I would not go with you. I am not allowed to eat food or drink water in this place. 9 For this is how I was commanded in the Lord’s message, ‘Eat no food. Drink no water. And do not return by the way you came.’” 10 So he started back on another road; he did not travel back on the same road he had taken to Bethel.

11 Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel. When his sons[m] came home, they told him everything the prophet[n] had done in Bethel that day. And they told their father all the words that he had spoken to the king.[o] 12 Their father asked them, “Which road did he take?” His sons showed him[p] the road the prophet from Judah had taken. 13 He then told his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” When they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14 and took off after the prophet, whom he found sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, “Are you the prophet from Judah?” He answered, “Yes, I am.” 15 He then said to him, “Come home with me and eat something.” 16 But he replied, “I can’t go back with you.[q] I am not allowed to eat food or to drink water with you in this place. 17 For an order came to me in the Lord’s message, ‘Eat no food. Drink no water there. And do not return by the way you came.’” 18 Then the old prophet[r] said, “I too am a prophet like you. And an angel has told me in a message from the Lord, ‘Bring him back with you to your house so he can eat food and drink water.’” But he had lied to him.[s] 19 So the prophet[t] went back with him. He ate food in his house and he drank water.

20 While they were sitting at the table, the Lord’s message came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 So he cried out to the prophet[u] who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘You[v] have rebelled against the Lord’s instruction[w] and have not obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. 22 You went back. You ate food. And you drank water in the place of which he had said to you, “Eat no food. Drink no water.” Therefore[x] your corpse will not be buried in your ancestral tomb.’”[y]

23 So this is what happened after he had eaten food and drunk water.[z] The old prophet[aa] saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 So the prophet from Judah travelled on. Then a lion attacked him on the road and killed him.

There was his body lying on the road, with the donkey standing next to it, and the lion just standing there by the body. 25 Then some men came passing by and saw the body lying in the road with the lion standing next to the body. They went and reported what they had seen[ab] in the city where the old prophet lived. 26 When the old prophet who had invited him to his house heard the news,[ac] he said, “It is the prophet[ad] who rebelled against the Lord.[ae] The Lord delivered him over to the lion and it tore him up[af] and killed him, in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken to him.” 27 He told his sons, “Saddle my donkey.” So they saddled it. 28 He went and found the body lying in the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside it;[ag] the lion had neither eaten the body nor attacked the donkey. 29 The old prophet[ah] picked up the prophet’s[ai] body, put it on the donkey, and brought it back. The old prophet then entered the city to mourn him and to bury him. 30 He put the body into his own tomb, and they[aj] mourned over him, saying, “Ah, my brother!” 31 After he buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the tomb where the prophet[ak] is buried; put my bones right beside his bones, 32 because the message that he announced as the Lord’s message against the altar in Bethel and against all the temples on the high places in the cities of the north[al] will certainly be fulfilled.”

A Prophet Announces the End of Jeroboam’s Dynasty

33 After this happened, Jeroboam still did not change his evil ways;[am] he continued to appoint common people[an] as priests at the high places. Anyone who wanted the job he consecrated as a priest.[ao] 34 This sin caused Jeroboam’s dynasty[ap] to come to an end and to be destroyed from the face of the earth.

14 [aq] At that time Jeroboam’s son Abijah became sick. 2 Jeroboam told his wife, “Disguise[ar] yourself so that people cannot recognize you are Jeroboam’s wife. Then go to Shiloh; Ahijah the prophet, who told me I would rule over this nation, lives there.[as] 3 Take[at] ten loaves of bread, some small cakes, and a container of honey and visit him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

4 Jeroboam’s wife did as she was told. She went to Shiloh and visited Ahijah.[au] Now Ahijah could not see; he had lost his eyesight in his old age.[av] 5 But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Look, Jeroboam’s wife is coming to find out from you what will happen to her son, for he is sick. Tell her such and such.[aw] When she comes, she will be in a disguise.” 6 When Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, “Come on in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have been commissioned to give you bad news.[ax] 7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: “I raised you up[ay] from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel. 8 I tore the kingdom away from the Davidic dynasty and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me wholeheartedly by doing only what I approve.[az] 9 You have sinned more than all who came before you. You went and angered me by making other gods, formed out of metal; you have completely disregarded me.[ba] 10 So I am ready to bring disaster[bb] on the dynasty[bc] of Jeroboam. I will cut off every last male belonging to Jeroboam in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated.[bd] I will burn up the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one burns manure until it is completely consumed.[be] 11 Dogs will eat the members of your family[bf] who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”’ Indeed, the Lord has announced it!

12 “As for you, get up and go home. When you set foot in the city, the boy will die. 13 All Israel will mourn him and bury him. He is the only one in Jeroboam’s family[bg] who will receive a decent burial, for he is the only one in whom the Lord God of Israel found anything good. 14 The Lord will raise up a king over Israel who will cut off Jeroboam’s dynasty.[bh] It is ready to happen![bi] 15 The Lord will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water.[bj] He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors[bk] and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River,[bl] because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles.[bm] 16 He will hand Israel over to their enemies[bn] because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he made Israel commit.”

17 So Jeroboam’s wife got up and went back to[bo] Tirzah. As she crossed the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18 All Israel buried him and mourned for him, in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.

Jeroboam’s Reign Ends

19 The rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, including the details of his battles and rule, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[bp] 20 Jeroboam ruled for twenty-two years; then he passed away.[bq] His son Nadab replaced him as king.

Rehoboam’s Reign over Judah

21 Now Rehoboam son of Solomon ruled in Judah. He[br] was forty-one years old when he became king and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel to be his home.[bs] His mother was an Ammonite woman[bt] named Naamah.

22 Judah did evil in the sight of[bu] the Lord. They made him more jealous by their sins than their ancestors had done.[bv] 23 They even built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. 24 There were also male cultic prostitutes[bw] in the land. They committed the same horrible sins as the nations[bx] that the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.

25 In King Rehoboam’s fifth year, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26 He took away the treasures of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace; he took everything, including all the golden shields that Solomon had made. 27 King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard[by] who protected the entrance to the royal palace. 28 Whenever the king visited the Lord’s temple, the royal guard carried them and then brought them back to the guardroom.

29 The rest of the events of Rehoboam’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[bz] 30 Rehoboam and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other. 31 Rehoboam passed away[ca] and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His mother was an Ammonite named Naamah. His son Abijah[cb] replaced him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 13:1 tn Heb The Hebrew particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) is a rhetorical device by which the author invites the reader to visualize the scene for dramatic effect.
  2. 1 Kings 13:1 tn Heb “the man of God.” Also in vv. 4-8.
  3. 1 Kings 13:1 tn Or “in keeping with” (also at vv. 2, 5, 9, 17, 18, 32).
  4. 1 Kings 13:2 sn “Look…you.” For the fulfillment of this prophecy see 2 Kgs 23:15-20.
  5. 1 Kings 13:3 tn Heb “the fat,” i.e., fat mixed with ashes from the altar (HALOT 234 s.v. דשׁן).
  6. 1 Kings 13:4 tn Heb “extended his hand from the altar.”
  7. 1 Kings 13:4 tn Heb The verb יָבֵשׁ (yavesh) usually describes water sources as dry or plants as dry and withered. Applied to a hand or an arm (Zech 11:17), it probably means to be(come) stiff, feeble, or both. TEV and NLT interpret this as “became paralyzed.”
  8. 1 Kings 13:5 tn The fat mixed with ashes. See note v. 3.
  9. 1 Kings 13:6 tn Heb “answered and said to.”
  10. 1 Kings 13:6 tn Heb “appease” or “soften the face of,” twice in this verse.
  11. 1 Kings 13:7 tn Or “reward.”
  12. 1 Kings 13:8 tn Heb “house,” representing one’s estate or possessions.
  13. 1 Kings 13:11 tc The MT has the singular but the LXX, Syriac, some Latin manuscripts and two medieval Hebrew manuscripts have the plural, which consistent with the end of the verse and vv. 12-13.
  14. 1 Kings 13:11 tn Heb “the man of God.” Also in vv. 12, 14.
  15. 1 Kings 13:11 tn Heb “the words which he had spoken to the king, and they told them to their father.”
  16. 1 Kings 13:12 tc The MT reads וַיִּרְאוּ (vayyirʾu, “they saw”) the Qal preterite of רָאָה (raʾah, “to see”). Some translations render this as pluperfect “they had seen” (KJV, NASB), but then the verb should have been preceded by a different construction. Other translations (NIV, ESV, NRSV) follow some ancient versions and emend the verbal form to a Hiphil with pronominal suffix וַיַּרְאֻהוּ (vayyarʾuhu, “and they showed him”).
  17. 1 Kings 13:16 tn Heb “I am unable to return with you or to go with you.”
  18. 1 Kings 13:18 tn Heb “he.”
  19. 1 Kings 13:18 sn He had lied to him. The motives and actions of the old prophet are difficult to understand. The old man’s response to the prophet’s death (see vv. 26-32) suggests he did not trick him with malicious intent. Perhaps the old prophet wanted the honor of entertaining such a celebrity, or perhaps simply desired some social interaction with a fellow prophet.
  20. 1 Kings 13:19 tn Heb “he.”
  21. 1 Kings 13:21 tn Heb “man of God.”
  22. 1 Kings 13:21 tn The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 21-22 are one long sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (vv. 21-22a) and the main clause announcing the punishment (v. 22b). The translation divides this lengthy sentence for stylistic reasons.
  23. 1 Kings 13:21 tn Heb “mouth.”
  24. 1 Kings 13:22 tn “Therefore” is added for stylistic reasons. See the note at 1 Kgs 13:21 pertaining to the grammatical structure of vv. 21-22.
  25. 1 Kings 13:22 tn Heb “will not come to the tomb of your fathers.”
  26. 1 Kings 13:23 tn The MT does not include “water” though it is implied and included in the LXX and Syriac versions.
  27. 1 Kings 13:23 tn Heb “he.”
  28. 1 Kings 13:25 tn The words “what they had seen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  29. 1 Kings 13:26 tn Heb “and the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard.”
  30. 1 Kings 13:26 tn Heb “the man of God.”
  31. 1 Kings 13:26 tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.”
  32. 1 Kings 13:26 tn Heb “destroyed him,” or “maimed him.”
  33. 1 Kings 13:28 tn Heb “the body.”
  34. 1 Kings 13:29 tn Heb “the prophet.” The word “old” has been supplied in the translation to distinguish this individual from the other prophet.
  35. 1 Kings 13:29 tn Heb “the man of God.”
  36. 1 Kings 13:30 tn “They” is the reading of the Hebrew text here; perhaps this is meant to include not only the old prophet but his sons (cf. v. 31).
  37. 1 Kings 13:31 tn Heb “the man of God.”
  38. 1 Kings 13:32 tn Heb “Samaria.” The name of Israel’s capital city here stands for the northern kingdom as a whole. Actually Samaria was not built and named until several years after this (see 1 Kgs 16:24), so it is likely that the author of Kings, writing at a later time, is here adapting the old prophet’s original statement.
  39. 1 Kings 13:33 tn Heb “did not turn from his evil way.”
  40. 1 Kings 13:33 sn The expression common people refers to people who were not Levites. See 1 Kgs 12:31.
  41. 1 Kings 13:33 tn Heb “and one who had the desire he was filling his hand so that he became [one of] the priests of the high places.”
  42. 1 Kings 13:34 tn Heb “house.”
  43. 1 Kings 14:1 tc Some mss of the Old Greek lack vv. 1-20.
  44. 1 Kings 14:2 tn Heb “Get up, change yourself.”
  45. 1 Kings 14:2 tn Heb “look, Ahijah the prophet is there; he spoke about me as king over this nation.”
  46. 1 Kings 14:3 tn Heb “take in your hand.”
  47. 1 Kings 14:4 tn Heb “and the wife of Jeroboam did so; she arose and went to Shiloh and entered the house of Ahijah.”
  48. 1 Kings 14:4 tn Heb “his eyes were set because of his old age.”
  49. 1 Kings 14:5 tn Heb “like this and like this.”sn Tell her such and such. Certainly the Lord gave Ahijah a specific message to give to Jeroboam’s wife (see vv. 6-16), but the author of Kings here condenses the Lord’s message with the words “so-and-so.” For dramatic effect he prefers to have us hear the message from Ahijah’s lips as he speaks to the king’s wife.
  50. 1 Kings 14:6 tn Heb “I am sent to you [with] a hard [message].”
  51. 1 Kings 14:7 tn The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 7-11 are one long sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (vv. 7-9) and the main clause announcing the punishment (vv. 10-11). The translation divides this lengthy sentence for stylistic reasons.
  52. 1 Kings 14:8 tn Heb “what was right in my eyes.”
  53. 1 Kings 14:9 tn Heb “you went and you made for yourself other gods, and metal [ones], angering me, and you threw me behind your back.”
  54. 1 Kings 14:10 sn Disaster. There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The word translated “disaster” (רָעָה, raʿah) is from the same root as the expression “you have sinned” in v. 9 (וַתָּרַע [vattaraʿ], from רָעַע, [raʿaʿ]). Jeroboam’s sins would receive an appropriate punishment.
  55. 1 Kings 14:10 tn Heb “house.”
  56. 1 Kings 14:10 tn Heb “and I will cut off from Jeroboam those who urinate against a wall (including both those who are) restrained and let free (or “abandoned”) in Israel.” The precise meaning of the idiomatic phrase עָצוּר וְעָזוּב (ʿatsur veʿazuv) is uncertain. For various options see HALOT 871 s.v. עצר 6 and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 107. The two terms are usually taken as polar opposites (“slaves and freemen” or “minors and adults”), but Cogan and Tadmor, on the basis of contextual considerations (note the usage with אֶפֶס [ʾefes], “nothing but”) in Deut 32:36 and 2 Kgs 14:26, argue convincingly that the terms are synonyms, meaning “restrained and abandoned,” and refer to incapable or incapacitated individuals.
  57. 1 Kings 14:10 tn The traditional view understands the verb בָּעַר (baʿar) to mean “burn.” Manure was sometimes used as fuel (see Ezek 4:12, 15). However, an alternate view takes בָּעַר as a homonym meaning “sweep away” (HALOT 146 s.v. II בער). In this case one might translate, “I will sweep away the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one sweeps away manure it is gone” (cf. ASV, NASB, TEV). Either metaphor emphasizes the thorough and destructive nature of the coming judgment.
  58. 1 Kings 14:11 tn The Hebrew text has “belonging to Jeroboam” here.
  59. 1 Kings 14:13 tn Heb “house.”
  60. 1 Kings 14:14 tn Heb “house.”
  61. 1 Kings 14:14 tn Heb “This is the day. What also now?” The precise meaning of the second half of the statement is uncertain.
  62. 1 Kings 14:15 tn The elliptical Hebrew text reads literally “and the Lord will strike Israel as a reed sways in the water.”
  63. 1 Kings 14:15 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 31).
  64. 1 Kings 14:15 tn Heb “the River.” In biblical Hebrew this is a typical reference to the Euphrates River. The name “Euphrates” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
  65. 1 Kings 14:15 tn Heb “because they made their Asherah poles that anger the Lord”; or “their images of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “their Asherim”; NCV “they set up idols to worship Asherah.”sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
  66. 1 Kings 14:16 tn Heb “and he will give [up] Israel.”
  67. 1 Kings 14:17 tn Heb “went and entered.”
  68. 1 Kings 14:19 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, how he fought and how he ruled, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
  69. 1 Kings 14:20 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
  70. 1 Kings 14:21 tn Heb “Rehoboam.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  71. 1 Kings 14:21 tn Heb “the city where the Lord chose to place his name from all the tribes of Israel.”
  72. 1 Kings 14:21 tn Heb “an Ammonite”; the word “woman” is implied by the gender of the word.
  73. 1 Kings 14:22 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  74. 1 Kings 14:22 tn Heb “and they made him jealous more than all which their fathers had done by their sins which they sinned.”
  75. 1 Kings 14:24 tc The Old Greek translation has “a conspiracy” rather than “male cultic prostitutes.”
  76. 1 Kings 14:24 tn Heb “they did according to all the abominable acts of the nations.”
  77. 1 Kings 14:27 tn Heb “runners.”
  78. 1 Kings 14:29 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Rehoboam, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
  79. 1 Kings 14:31 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
  80. 1 Kings 14:31 tn In the Hebrew text the name is spelled “Abijam” here and in 1 Kgs 15:1-8.
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1 Kings 13-14
New International Version

The Man of God From Judah

13 By the word of the Lord a man of God(A) came from Judah to Bethel,(B) as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. 2 By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah(C) will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places(D) who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’” 3 That same day the man of God gave a sign:(E) “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”

4 When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. 5 Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the Lord.

6 Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede(F) with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.

7 The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.”(G)

8 But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions,(H) I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread(I) or drink water here. 9 For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’” 10 So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.

11 Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. 12 Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13 So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14 and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

“I am,” he replied.

15 So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.”

16 The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread(J) or drink water with you in this place. 17 I have been told by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’”

18 The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord:(K) ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying(L) to him.) 19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.

20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied(M) the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. 22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.’”

23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24 As he went on his way, a lion(N) met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 25 Some people who passed by saw the body lying there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.

26 When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who defied(O) the word of the Lord. The Lord has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the Lord had warned him.”

27 The prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they did so. 28 Then he went out and found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. 29 So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. 30 Then he laid the body in his own tomb,(P) and they mourned over him and said, “Alas, my brother!”(Q)

31 After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones(R) beside his bones. 32 For the message he declared by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places(S) in the towns of Samaria(T) will certainly come true.”(U)

33 Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways,(V) but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts(W) of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. 34 This was the sin(X) of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction(Y) from the face of the earth.

Ahijah’s Prophecy Against Jeroboam

14 At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, 2 and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself, so you won’t be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah(Z) the prophet is there—the one who told me I would be king over this people. 3 Take ten loaves of bread(AA) with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.” 4 So Jeroboam’s wife did what he said and went to Ahijah’s house in Shiloh.

Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age. 5 But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else.”

6 So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense?(AB) I have been sent to you with bad news. 7 Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:(AC) ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler(AD) over my people Israel. 8 I tore(AE) the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right(AF) in my eyes. 9 You have done more evil(AG) than all who lived before you.(AH) You have made for yourself other gods, idols(AI) made of metal; you have aroused(AJ) my anger and turned your back on me.(AK)

10 “‘Because of this, I am going to bring disaster(AL) on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel—slave or free.[a](AM) I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone.(AN) 11 Dogs(AO) will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds(AP) will feed on those who die in the country. The Lord has spoken!’

12 “As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy will die. 13 All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the Lord, the God of Israel, has found anything good.(AQ)

14 “The Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam. Even now this is beginning to happen.[b] 15 And the Lord will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot(AR) Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they aroused(AS) the Lord’s anger by making Asherah(AT) poles.[c] 16 And he will give Israel up because of the sins(AU) Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”

17 Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left and went to Tirzah.(AV) As soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18 They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, as the Lord had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah.

19 The other events of Jeroboam’s reign, his wars and how he ruled, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. 20 He reigned for twenty-two years and then rested with his ancestors. And Nadab his son succeeded him as king.

Rehoboam King of Judah(AW)

21 Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.(AX)

22 Judah(AY) did evil in the eyes of the Lord. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger(AZ) more than those who were before them had done. 23 They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones(BA) and Asherah poles(BB) on every high hill and under every spreading tree.(BC) 24 There were even male shrine prostitutes(BD) in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable(BE) practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked(BF) Jerusalem. 26 He carried off the treasures of the temple(BG) of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields(BH) Solomon had made. 27 So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.(BI) 28 Whenever the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.

29 As for the other events of Rehoboam’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 30 There was continual warfare(BJ) between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 31 And Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.(BK) And Abijah[d] his son succeeded him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 14:10 Or Israel—every ruler or leader
  2. 1 Kings 14:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
  3. 1 Kings 14:15 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in 1 Kings
  4. 1 Kings 14:31 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (see also 2 Chron. 12:16); most Hebrew manuscripts Abijam
Listen to 1 Kings 13-14
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1 Kings 13-14
King James Version

13 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.

3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.

8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:

9 For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.

10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.

11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.

12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.

13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,

14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.

15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.

16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:

17 For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.

18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.

19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.

20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back:

21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,

22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.

24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.

25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him.

27 And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.

28 And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.

29 And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.

30 And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!

31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:

32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

33 After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.

34 And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.

14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.

3 And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.

4 And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.

5 And the Lord said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.

6 And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.

7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,

8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes;

9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:

10 Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

11 Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the Lord hath spoken it.

12 Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.

13 And 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 some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

14 Moreover the Lord shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.

15 For the Lord shall smite 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 their groves, provoking the Lord to anger.

16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.

17 And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;

18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.

19 And 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.

20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

22 And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.

23 For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.

24 And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:

26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

27 And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's house.

28 And it was so, when the king went into the house of the Lord, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.

29 Now 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 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.

31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

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