Judgment on the House of Jeroboam

14 At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam fell sick. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself so that it will not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh, for the prophet Ahijah is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people.^{(A) 3} 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.”^(B)

⁴ Jeroboam’s wife did so; she set out and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age.^{(C) 5} But the Lord said to Ahijah, “The wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus you shall say to her when she comes. She will pretend to be another woman.”^(D)

⁶ But when 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 heavy tidings for you. ⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because I exalted you from among the people, made you leader over my people Israel,^{(E) 8} and tore the kingdom away from the house of David to give it to you, yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my sight,^{(F) 9} but you have done evil above all those who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and cast images, provoking me to anger, and have thrust me behind your back,^{(G) 10} therefore I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will consume the house of Jeroboam, just as one burns up dung until it is all gone.^{(H) 11} 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 air shall eat, for the Lord has spoken.’^{(I) 12} Therefore set out, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die.^{(J) 13} All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.^{(K) 14} Moreover the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today, even right now!^[a](L)

¹⁵ “The Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water; he will root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their sacred poles,^[b] provoking the Lord to anger.^{(M) 16} He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and which he caused Israel to commit.”^(N)

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and went away, and she came to Tirzah. As she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. ¹⁸ All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant the prophet Ahijah.

Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred and how he reigned, are written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel.^{(O) 20} The time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years; then he slept with his ancestors, and his son Nadab succeeded him.

Rehoboam Reigns over Judah

²¹ Now Rehoboam son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.^{(P) 22} Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their ancestors had done.^{(Q) 23} For they also built for themselves high places, pillars, and sacred poles^[c] on every high hill and under every green tree;^{(R) 24} there were also illicit priests in the land. They committed all the abominations of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel.^(S)

²⁵ In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem;^{(T) 26} he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made,^{(U) 27} so King Rehoboam made shields of bronze instead and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard who kept the door of the king’s house. ²⁸ As often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.

²⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?^{(V) 30} There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.^{(W) 31} Rehoboam slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. His son Abijam succeeded him.^(X)

Abijam Reigns over Judah: Idolatry and War

15 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah.^{(Y) 2} He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. ³ He committed all the sins that his father did before him; his heart was not true to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father David.^{(Z) 4} Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him and establishing Jerusalem,^{(AA) 5} because David did what was right in the sight of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.^{(AB) 6} The war begun between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continued all the days of his life.^{(AC) 7} The rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.^{(AD) 8} Abijam slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David. Then his son Asa succeeded him.^(AE)

Asa Reigns over Judah

⁹ In the twentieth year of King Jeroboam of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah; ¹⁰ he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.^{(AF) 11} Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord, as his father David had done.^{(AG) 12} He put away the illicit priests out of the land and removed all the idols that his ancestors had made.^{(AH) 13} He also removed his mother Maacah from being queen mother, because she had made an abominable image for Asherah; Asa cut down her image and burned it at the Wadi Kidron.^{(AI) 14} But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was true to the Lord all his days.^{(AJ) 15} He brought into the house of the Lord the votive gifts of his father and his own votive gifts—silver, gold, and utensils.^(AK)

Alliance with Aram against Israel

¹⁶ There was war between Asa and King Baasha of Israel all their days.^{(AL) 17} King Baasha of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to King Asa of Judah.^{(AM) 18} Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house and gave them into the hands of his servants. King Asa sent them to King Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon son of Hezion of Aram, who resided in Damascus, saying,^{(AN) 19} “Let there be an alliance between me and you, like that between my father and your father: I am sending you a present of silver and gold; go, break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel, so that he may withdraw from me.” ²⁰ Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.^{(AO) 21} When Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and lived in Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah; none was exempt: they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building; with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.^{(AP) 23} Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his power, all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? But in his old age he was diseased in his feet.^{(AQ) 24} Then Asa slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his father David; his son Jehoshaphat succeeded him.^(AR)

Nadab Reigns over Israel

²⁵ Nadab son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of King Asa of Judah; he reigned over Israel two years.^{(AS) 26} He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of his ancestor and in the sin that he caused Israel to commit.^(AT)

²⁷ Baasha son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.^{(AU) 28} So Baasha killed Nadab^[d] in the third year of King Asa of Judah and succeeded him. ²⁹ As soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam; he left to the house of Jeroboam not one who breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite^(AV)— ³⁰ because of the sins of Jeroboam that he committed and that he caused Israel to commit and because of the anger to which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.^(AW)

³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?^{(AX) 32} There was war between Asa and King Baasha of Israel all their days.

Second Dynasty: Baasha Reigns over Israel

³³ In the third year of King Asa of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah; he reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin that he caused Israel to commit.^(AY)