1 Kings 14
Christian Standard Bible
Disaster on the House of Jeroboam
14 At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became sick.(A) 2 Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go disguise yourself,(B) so they won’t know that you’re Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh.(C) The prophet Ahijah is there; it was he who told about me becoming king over this people.(D) 3 Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey,(E) and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”
4 Jeroboam’s wife did that: she went to Shiloh and arrived at Ahijah’s house. Ahijah could not see; he was blind[a] due to his age.(F) 5 But the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming soon to ask you about her son, for he is sick. You are to say such and such to her. When she arrives, she will be disguised.”(G)
6 When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet entering the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you disguised?(H) I have bad news for you. 7 Go tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I raised you up from among the people, appointed you ruler over my people Israel, 8 tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you.(I) But you were not like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what is right in my sight. 9 You behaved more wickedly than all who were before you.(J) In order to anger me, you have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and cast images,(K) but you have flung me behind your back.(L) 10 Because of all this, I am about to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam:
I will wipe out all of Jeroboam’s males,[b]
both slave and free,[c] in Israel;
I will sweep away the house of Jeroboam
as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone!(M)
11 Anyone who belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city,
the dogs will eat,
and anyone who dies in the field,
the birds[d] will eat,(N)
for the Lord has spoken!’
12 “As for you, get up and go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the boy will die.(O) 13 All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He alone out of Jeroboam’s house will be given a proper burial because out of the house of Jeroboam something favorable to the Lord God of Israel was found in him.(P) 14 The Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel, who will wipe out the house of Jeroboam.(Q) This is the day, yes,[e] even today! 15 For the Lord will strike Israel so that they will[f] shake as a reed shakes in water. He will uproot Israel from this good soil that he gave to their ancestors.(R) He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates(S) because they made their Asherah poles, angering the Lord.(T) 16 He will give up Israel because of Jeroboam’s sins that he committed and caused Israel to commit.”(U)
17 Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left and went to Tirzah.(V) As she was crossing the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18 He was buried, and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord he had spoken through his servant the prophet Ahijah.(W)
19 As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, how he waged war(X) and how he reigned, note that they are written in the Historical Record of Israel’s Kings. 20 The length of Jeroboam’s reign was twenty-two years. He rested with his ancestors, and his son Nadab became king in his place.(Y)
Judah’s King Rehoboam
21 Now Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, reigned in Judah.(Z) Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city where the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put his name.(AA) Rehoboam’s mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.(AB)
22 Judah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.(AC) They provoked him to jealous anger(AD) more than all that their ancestors had done with the sins they committed. 23 They also built for themselves high places,(AE) sacred pillars,(AF) and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree; 24 there were even male cult prostitutes in the land.(AG) They imitated all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.(AH)
25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt(AI) went to war against Jerusalem.(AJ) 26 He seized the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the treasuries of the royal palace. He took everything. He took all the gold shields that Solomon had made.(AK) 27 King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and committed them into the care of the captains of the guards[g](AL) who protected the entrance to the king’s palace. 28 Whenever the king entered the Lord’s temple, the guards would carry the shields, then they would take them back to the armory.[h](AM)
29 The rest of the events of Rehoboam’s reign,(AN) along with all his accomplishments, are written about in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings. 30 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their reigns.(AO) 31 Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.(AP) His son Abijam[i](AQ) became king in his place.
Footnotes
- 14:4 Lit see, for his eyes stood; 1Sm 4:15
- 14:10 Lit eliminate Jeroboam’s one who urinates against the wall
- 14:10 Or males, even the weak and impaired; Hb obscure
- 14:11 Lit birds of the sky
- 14:14 Hb obscure
- 14:15 so that they will supplied for clarity
- 14:27 Lit the runners
- 14:28 Lit the chamber of the runners
- 14:31 = Abijah in 2Ch 13
1 Kings 14
The Voice
14 About this same time, Abijah (Jeroboam’s son) became very ill.
Jeroboam (to his wife): 2 Get up quickly, and dress in a disguise so that no one will know you are my wife. Then travel as fast as you can to Shiloh, where the prophet Ahijah is dwelling. He is the one who prophesied that I would be king of these people. 3 Pack 10 loaves of bread, a few cakes, and a honey jar. Go find him quickly; he should be able to prophesy the boy’s fate.
4 Jeroboam’s wife did this urgent thing. She traveled quickly to Shiloh and found the dwelling place of Ahijah. Ahijah was blind in his old age and could not see a thing. 5 The Eternal One had already told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is on her way to ask you to prophesy the fate of her boy who is ill. This is what you are to say to her. But beware, when she comes to your house, she will pretend to be someone else.”
6 Ahijah heard her footsteps come into his house, and he called out to her.
Ahijah: Come inside. You are Jeroboam’s wife, but why do you wear a disguise? I have an urgent and severe message for you from the Eternal One.
7 Go back to Jeroboam right now, and tell him this is the message of the Eternal One, the God of Israel: “I appointed you from the community and granted you leadership over My people Israel. 8-9 I stripped the kingdom out from under the house of David, and I handed it over to you. But you have committed evil which exceeds those before you; and you have not been an honorable servant like David, for he honored My laws and gave his entire heart to Me. Unlike you, he sought to do My will. You have made yourself other gods and cast false idols in their honor. You have aroused My wrath by putting Me behind you. 10 Therefore, beware.
“I will bring destruction to Jeroboam’s house; and I will keep every Israelite man—both free and slave—away from him. I will wipe out Jeroboam’s house, just as one burns the dung from animals, so his house will be burned up and wiped out. There will be nothing left of his house. 11 All who remain devoted to Jeroboam, if they die in the city, will be devoured by dogs. If they die in the fields, they will be devoured by birds of the heavens.” The Eternal One has already said that is what will happen.
12 Get up quickly, and go back to your home. As soon as you set foot in the city, your son will die. 13 All of Israel will grieve for him and bury him. He is the only member of Jeroboam’s family who will have a proper burial, for he was the only one within Jeroboam’s house in whom the Eternal God of Israel found something good.
14 The Eternal will appoint for Himself a new king over Israel, and this new king will separate the kingdom from Jeroboam’s house from this day and beyond. 15 The Eternal One will strike Israel, and Israel will be rattled just as water rattles a reed. The Eternal One will tear out Israel from this promised land given to their ancestors, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River. He will do this because they have crafted their sacred poles and aroused the fiery wrath of the Eternal One. 16 He will abandon Israel because of Jeroboam’s wickedness, which caused all of Israel to be wicked as well.
17 Jeroboam’s wife then got up and traveled to Tirzah. As soon as she stepped into the house, her son died. 18 All Israel buried him and grieved for him, just as the Eternal One said they would in the message He gave through the prophet Ahijah.
19 Is not the rest of Jeroboam’s story—how he caused war, as well as the general history of his actions and reign—documented in the book of the chronicles of Israel’s kings?
20 Jeroboam ruled over Israel for 22 years, then he left this world to sleep with his fathers. Jeroboam’s son, Nadab, then inherited the throne.
21 Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, ruled over Judah. He was granted kingship when he was 41 years old, and he ruled 17 years. He lived out his reign in Jerusalem, the city which the Eternal chose from all of Israel’s tribes as the dwelling place for His name. His mother was Naamah the Ammonitess, one of Solomon’s foreign wives.
22 Judah was also wicked in the Eternal’s eyes. Their wickedness aroused His jealousy more than the wickedness of all their ancestors combined. 23 They constructed high places and crafted holy pillars. They infected the pure earth with their sacred poles on every mountain and beneath every beautiful tree. 24 There were also temple prostitutes who worked throughout the land. They followed the examples of the nations and were wicked just as the nations were before the arrival of the Israelites.
25 During the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Shishak, Egypt’s king, waged war against Jerusalem. 26 He stole all the treasures from the Eternal’s temple and from the palace. He stole everything, even the golden shields Solomon had crafted.
Paying tribute to the powerful Egyptian pharaoh, who is also known as Shoshenq I, may have saved Judah from destruction, but Jeroboam and Israel are not so safe. This record describes what happens to Israel, but Shishak records another perspective in a relief at the temple at Karnak. In the relief, Shishak’s god is shown pulling a rope with 120 slaves attached to it. Each slave carries the name of a town Shishak claims to have conquered. Even if the information in the relief is embellished, history does agree that Shishak has control of Judah and Israel in the eighth century.
27 King Rehoboam crafted bronze shields to replace the golden shields. He put the shields in the hands of the leaders of the guard who stood guard at the entrance of the palace. 28 On ceremonial occasions, such as when the king entered the Eternal’s temple, the guards carried the shields. They would then return the shields to their room.
29 Is not the rest of Rehoboam’s story documented in the book of the chronicles of Judah’s kings? 30 There were always wars taking place between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 31 Rehoboam left this world to sleep with his fathers and was laid to rest with his ancestors in the city of David. His mother was called Naamah the Ammonitess. Then his son, Abijam, inherited the throne.
1 Kings 14
King James Version
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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