1 Kings 14
New American Standard Bible
Ahijah Prophesies against the King
14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. 2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Now arise and (A)disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to (B)Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who (C)said regarding me that I would be king over this people. 3 (D)Take ten loaves with you, some pastries, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”
4 And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and set out and went to (E)Shiloh, and came to the house of (F)Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see (G)because his eyes were [a]glossy from his old age. 5 Now the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to [b]inquire of you about her son, because he is sick. You shall say such and such to her, for it will be when she arrives, that (H)she is going to make herself unrecognizable.”
6 So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet coming in the doorway, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam; why do you make yourself unrecognizable? Nevertheless, I am sent to you with a harsh message. 7 Go, say to Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: “(I)Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel, 8 and (J)tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you—(K)yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and followed Me with all his heart, (L)to do only that which was right in My sight; 9 you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and (M)you have gone and made for yourself other gods and (N)cast metal images to provoke Me to anger, and have (O)thrown Me behind your back— 10 therefore behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and (P)I will eliminate from Jeroboam [c]every male person, (Q)both [d]bond and free in Israel, and I (R)will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, just as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone. 11 (S)Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city, the dogs will eat. And anyone who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat; for the Lord has spoken it.”’ 12 Now you, arise, go to your house. (T)When your feet enter the city the child will die. 13 Then all Israel will mourn for him and bury him, for [e]he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to the grave, because in him (U)something good was found toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. 14 Moreover, (V)the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will eliminate the house of Jeroboam this day [f]and from now on.
15 “For the Lord will strike Israel, just as a reed sways in the water; and (W)He will uproot Israel from (X)this good land which He gave to their fathers, and (Y)will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, (Z)because they have made their [g]Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. 16 He will give up Israel (AA)because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he [h]committed and with which he misled Israel into sin.”
17 Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed, and came to (AB)Tirzah. (AC)As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 (AD)Then all Israel buried him and mourned for him, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servant Ahijah the prophet.
19 Now as for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, (AE)how he made war 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 [i]lay down with his fathers, and his son Nadab reigned in his place.
Rehoboam Misleads Judah
21 (AF)Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, (AG)the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. 22 And the people of (AH)Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they (AI)provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they [j]committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For they, too, built for themselves (AJ)high places, (AK)memorial stones, and [k](AL)Asherim on every high hill and (AM)under every luxuriant tree. 24 There were also (AN)male cult prostitutes in the land. They committed [l]all the same abominations of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.
25 (AO)Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak the king of Egypt marched against Jerusalem. 26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house, and (AP)he took everything; (AQ)he even took all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. 27 So King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and (AR)entrusted them to the [m]care of the commanders of the [n]guard who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. 28 And it happened as often as the king entered the house of the Lord, that the [o]guards would carry them and would bring them back into the [p]guards’ room.
29 (AS)Now as for 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 (AT)And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 31 And Rehoboam [q]lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and (AU)his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. And his son Abijam became king in his place.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 14:4 Lit set
- 1 Kings 14:5 Lit seek a word from
- 1 Kings 14:10 Lit him who urinates against the wall
- 1 Kings 14:10 Or children and adults in
- 1 Kings 14:13 Lit this one
- 1 Kings 14:14 Lit and what even now?
- 1 Kings 14:15 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
- 1 Kings 14:16 Lit sinned
- 1 Kings 14:20 I.e., died
- 1 Kings 14:22 Lit sinned
- 1 Kings 14:23 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
- 1 Kings 14:24 Lit according to all
- 1 Kings 14:27 Lit hand
- 1 Kings 14:27 Lit runners
- 1 Kings 14:28 Lit runners
- 1 Kings 14:28 Lit runners
- 1 Kings 14:31 I.e., died
1 Kings 14
International Standard Version
God Disciplines Jeroboam’s Family
14 Right at that time, Jeroboam’s son Abijah became ill, 2 so Jeroboam suggested to his wife, “Get up, disguise yourself so that no one will know that you’re Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh where the prophet Ahijah lives. He’s the one who told me that I would be king over this people. 3 Take ten loaves with you, some[a] cakes, and a jar of honey and go visit him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”
4 So that’s what Jeroboam’s wife did. She got up, went to Shiloh, and found Ahijah’s home. Ahijah was blind, because his eyes could not focus[b] due to his age. 5 Meanwhile, the Lord had spoken to Ahijah, “Be on your guard! Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son, because he is ill. You’re to say such and such to her. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else!”
6 When she arrived, Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came through the doorway. He said this to her:
“Come in, wife of Jeroboam. What is this pretension at being someone else? I have some harsh news.[c] 7 Go tell Jeroboam:
‘I raised you up from among the people.
‘I made you Commander-in-Chief[d] over my people Israel.
8 ‘I tore the kingdom away from David’s dynasty.
‘Then I gave it to you.
But you have not lived like my servant David, who kept my commands with all his heart, and did only what I considered to be right.
9 ‘Instead, you have done more evil than everyone who lived before you.
‘You have gone out and crafted other gods for yourself.
‘You made cast images.
‘You have provoked me to anger.
‘You have thrown me behind your back.
10 ‘Therefore, watch while I bring calamity on Jeroboam’s dynasty!
‘I will eliminate every male,[e] both slave and free in Israel, from Jeroboam.
‘I will burn up Jeroboam’s dynasty, as a man burns up manure until it is gone. 11 Dogs will eat anyone who dies in the city that belongs to Jeroboam’s household. The birds of the sky will eat anyone who dies in the open field, because the Lord has determined it.’
12 “Now get up and go home. When your feet cross the city line, your child will die. 13 Everyone in Israel will mourn for him and will bury him, because he alone from Jeroboam’s family will receive a decent burial, because something good was observed in him with respect to the Lord God of Israel out of all the household of Jeroboam!
14 “In addition to this, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will eliminate Jeroboam’s dynasty, starting today and from now on. 15 The Lord will attack Israel, and Israel will shake like a reed shakes in a river current! He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and he will scatter them beyond the Euphrates[f] River, because they erected their Asherim[g] and provoked the Lord to become angry! 16 He will give up Israel because of Jeroboam’s sins that he committed and by which Jeroboam[h] caused Israel to sin.”
17 Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left for Tirzah. As soon as she set foot over the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 All of Israel mourned him at his burial, just as the Lord had said when he spoke through Ahijah the prophet.
The Death of Jeroboam
19 Now as for the rest of Jeroboam’s accomplishments, including how he waged war and how he reigned, you may read about them in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 20 Jeroboam reigned for 22 years and then died, as had his ancestors, and his son Nadab reigned in his place.
Rehoboam Reigns over Judah(A)
21 Meanwhile, Solomon’s son Rehoboam reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city where the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to place his Name. His mother was an Ammonite named Naamah. 22 Judah practiced what the Lord considered to be evil. They did more to provoke him to jealousy than their ancestors had ever done by committing the sins that they committed. 23 They erected high places, sacred pillars, and Asherim[i] for themselves on every high hill and under every green tree. 24 They even maintained male shrine prostitutes throughout the land, and imitated every detestable practice that the nations practiced whom the Lord had expelled in front of the Israelis.
25 As a result, during the fifth year of the reign of[j] King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt invaded and attacked Jerusalem. 26 He stripped the Lord’s Temple and the royal palace of their treasures. He took everything, even the gold shields that Solomon had made. 27 King Rehoboam made shields out of bronze to take their place, and then committed them to the care and custody of the commanders of those who guarded the entrance to the royal palace. 28 Whenever the king entered the Lord’s Temple, the guards would carry them to and from the guard’s quarters.
29 As to the rest of Rehoboam’s accomplishments, and everything else that he undertook, they are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, aren’t they? 30 There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam, 31 but eventually Rehoboam died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His mother’s name had been Naamah the Ammonite, and his son Abijah became king to replace him.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 14:3 Lit. loaves in your hand
- 1 Kings 14:4 Lit. eyes were set
- 1 Kings 14:6 The Heb. lacks news
- 1 Kings 14:7 Lit. Nagid; i.e. a senior officer entrusted with dual roles of operational oversight and administrative authority
- 1 Kings 14:10 Lit. everyone who urinates against a wall
- 1 Kings 14:15 The Heb. lacks Euphrates
- 1 Kings 14:15 I.e. cultic pillars erected in worship to Canaanite deities
- 1 Kings 14:16 Lit. he
- 1 Kings 14:23 I.e. cultic pillars erected in worship to Canaanite deities
- 1 Kings 14:25 The Heb. lacks the reign of
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