A Man of God Confronts Jeroboam

13 And behold, ^(A)a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar ^(B)to make offerings. ^2 (C)And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, ^(D)Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” ³ And he gave ^(E)a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’” ⁴ And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. ⁵ The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. ⁶ And the king said to the man of God, ^(F)“Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it was before. ⁷ And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and ^(G)I will give you a reward.” ⁸ And the man of God said to the king, ^(H)“If you give me half your house, ^(I)I will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place, ⁹ for so was it commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came.’” ¹⁰ So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.

The Prophet's Disobedience

¹¹ Now ^(J)an old prophet lived in Bethel. And his sons^[a] came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told to their father the words that he had spoken to the king. ¹² And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone. ¹³ And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he mounted it. ¹⁴ And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” ¹⁵ Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” ¹⁶ And he said, ^(K)“I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, ¹⁷ for it was said to me ^(L)by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.’” ¹⁸ And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him. ¹⁹ So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.

²⁰ And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back. ²¹ And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the command that the Lord your God commanded you, ²² but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’” ²³ And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ And as he went away ^(M)a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. ²⁵ And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where ^(N)the old prophet lived.

²⁶ And when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word that the Lord spoke to him.” ²⁷ And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it. ²⁸ And he went and found his body thrown in the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or torn the donkey. ²⁹ And the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back to the city^[b] to mourn and to bury him. ³⁰ And he laid the body in his own grave. And they mourned over him, saying, ^(O)“Alas, my brother!” ³¹ And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; ^(P)lay my bones beside his bones. ^32 (Q)For the saying that he called out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against ^(R)all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of ^(S)Samaria shall surely come to pass.”

³³ After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he ordained to be priests of the high places. ^34 (T)And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, ^(U)so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.

Prophecy Against Jeroboam

14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. ² And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to ^(V)Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, ^(W)who said of me that I should be king over this people. ^3 (X)Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.”

⁴ Jeroboam's wife did so. She arose and went to ^(Y)Shiloh and came to the house of ^(Z)Ahijah. Now ^(AA)Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. ⁵ And the Lord said to ^(AB)Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.”

When she came, she pretended to be another woman. ⁶ But when ^(AC)Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you. ⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^(AD)“Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel ⁸ and ^(AE)tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been ^(AF)like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes, ⁹ but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and ^(AG)made for yourself other gods and ^(AH)metal images, provoking me to anger, and ^(AI)have cast me behind your back, ¹⁰ therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and ^(AJ)will cut off from Jeroboam every male, ^(AK)both bond and free in Israel, and ^(AL)will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. ^11 (AM)Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the Lord has spoken it.”’ ¹² Arise therefore, go to your house. ^(AN)When your feet enter 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 ^(AO)there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. ^14 (AP)Moreover, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth, ¹⁵ the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and ^(AQ)root up Israel out of ^(AR)this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them ^(AS)beyond the Euphrates,^[c] because they have made their ^(AT)Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. ¹⁶ And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.”

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed and came to ^(AU)Tirzah. And ^(AV)as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. ¹⁸ And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, ^(AW)according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, ^(AX)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 time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam Reigns in Judah

^21 (AY)Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, ^(AZ)the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. ^(BA)His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. ^22 (BB)And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they ^(BC)provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. ²³ For they also built for themselves ^(BD)high places ^(BE)and pillars and ^(BF)Asherim on every high hill and ^(BG)under every green tree, ²⁴ and there were also ^(BH)male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

^25 (BI)In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak 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. ^(BJ)He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold ^(BK)that Solomon had made, ²⁷ and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. ²⁸ And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.

^29 (BL)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 (BM)And there 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. ^(BN)His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. And ^(BO)Abijam his son reigned in his place.

Life in the Spirit

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.^{[a] 2} For the law of ^(A)the Spirit of life ^(B)has set you^[b] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³ For ^(C)God has done what the law, ^(D)weakened by the flesh, ^(E)could not do. ^(F)By sending his own Son ^(G)in the likeness of sinful flesh and ^(H)for sin,^[c] he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that ^(I)the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, ^(J)who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For ^(K)those who live according to the flesh set their minds on ^(L)the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on ^(M)the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to set ^(N)the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is ^(O)hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; ^(P)indeed, it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact ^(Q)the Spirit of God dwells in you. ^(R)Anyone who does not have ^(S)the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of ^(T)him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus^[d] from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies ^(U)through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Heirs with Christ

¹² So then, brothers,^[e] we are debtors, ^(V)not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you ^(W)put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are ^(X)led by the Spirit of God are ^(Y)sons^[f] of God. ¹⁵ For ^(Z)you did not receive ^(AA)the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of ^(AB)adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ^(AC)“Abba! Father!” ^16 (AD)The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then ^(AE)heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, ^(AF)provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Future Glory

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time ^(AG)are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for ^(AH)the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation ^(AI)was subjected to futility, not willingly, but ^(AJ)because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that ^(AK)the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that ^(AL)the whole creation ^(AM)has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have ^(AN)the firstfruits of the Spirit, ^(AO)groan inwardly as ^(AP)we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, ^(AQ)the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For ^(AR)in this hope we were saved. Now ^(AS)hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we ^(AT)wait for it with patience.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For ^(AU)we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but ^(AV)the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷ And ^(AW)he who searches hearts knows what is ^(AX)the mind of the Spirit, because^[g] the Spirit ^(AY)intercedes for the saints ^(AZ)according to the will of God. ²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together ^(BA)for good,^[h] for ^(BB)those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he ^(BC)foreknew he also ^(BD)predestined ^(BE)to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be ^(BF)the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also ^(BG)justified, and those whom he justified he also ^(BH)glorified.

God's Everlasting Love

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? ^(BI)If God is for us, who can be^[i] against us? ^32 (BJ)He who did not spare his own Son but ^(BK)gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? ^(BL)It is God who justifies. ^34 (BM)Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—^(BN)who is at the right hand of God, ^(BO)who indeed is interceding for us.^{[j] 35} Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than ^(BR)conquerors through ^(BS)him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.