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 ^(A)Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, ^(B)who said of me that I should be king over this people. ^3 (C)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 ^(D)Shiloh and came to the house of ^(E)Ahijah. Now ^(F)Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. ⁵ And the Lord said to ^(G)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 ^(H)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: ^(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, and yet you have not been ^(K)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 ^(L)made for yourself other gods and ^(M)metal images, provoking me to anger, and ^(N)have cast me behind your back, ¹⁰ therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and ^(O)will cut off from Jeroboam every male, ^(P)both bond and free in Israel, and ^(Q)will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. ^11 (R)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. ^(S)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 ^(T)there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. ^14 (U)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 ^(V)root up Israel out of ^(W)this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them ^(X)beyond the Euphrates,^[a] because they have made their ^(Y)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 ^(Z)Tirzah. And ^(AA)as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. ¹⁸ And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, ^(AB)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, ^(AC)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 (AD)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, ^(AE)the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. ^(AF)His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. ^22 (AG)And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they ^(AH)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 ^(AI)high places ^(AJ)and pillars and ^(AK)Asherim on every high hill and ^(AL)under every green tree, ²⁴ and there were also ^(AM)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 (AN)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. ^(AO)He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold ^(AP)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 (AQ)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 (AR)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. ^(AS)His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. And ^(AT)Abijam his son reigned in his place.

The Revolt Against Rehoboam

10 ^(A)Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, ^(B)where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³ And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam, ^4 (C)“Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men,^[a] who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷ And they said to him, ^(D)“If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. ⁹ And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. ¹¹ And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” ¹³ And the king answered them harshly; and forsaking the counsel of the old men, ¹⁴ King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill his word, ^(E)which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶ And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. ^(F)Each of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents. ¹⁷ But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent ^(G)Hadoram,^[b] who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Rehoboam Secures His Kingdom

11 ^(H)When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ² But the word of the Lord came to ^(I)Shemaiah the man of God: ³ “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, ⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against ^(J)your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built ^(K)cities for defense in Judah. ⁶ He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, ^(L)Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. ¹¹ He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. ¹² And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem

¹³ And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. ¹⁴ For the Levites left ^(M)their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, ^(N)because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, ¹⁵ and he appointed his own ^(O)priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for ^(P)the calves that he had made. ^16 (Q)And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. ^17 (R)They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.

Rehoboam's Family

¹⁸ Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of ^(S)Eliab the son of Jesse, ¹⁹ and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he took ^(T)Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him ^(U)Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). ^22 (V)And Rehoboam appointed ^(W)Abijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. ²³ And he dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions and procured wives for them.^[c]

Egypt Plunders Jerusalem

12 ^(X)When the rule of Rehoboam was established ^(Y)and he was strong, ^(Z)he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. ^2 (AA)In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, ^(AB)Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem ³ with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt—^(AC)Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. ⁴ And he took ^(AD)the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. ⁵ Then ^(AE)Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, ^(AF)‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” ⁶ Then the princes of ^(AG)Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, ^(AH)“The Lord is righteous.” ⁷ When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: ^(AI)“They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, ^(AJ)and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸ Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, ^(AK)that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

^9 (AL)So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away ^(AM)the shields of gold that Solomon had made, ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom. ¹² And when ^(AN)he humbled himself the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, ^(AO)conditions were good^[d] in Judah.

^13 (AP)So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. 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. ¹⁴ And he did evil, ^(AQ)for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

^15 (AR)Now the acts of Rehoboam, ^(AS)from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of ^(AT)Shemaiah the prophet and of ^(AU)Iddo ^(AV)the seer?^[e] There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¹⁶ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and ^(AW)Abijah^[f] his son reigned in his place.

Abijam Reigns in Judah

15 ^(A)Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ³ And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and ^(B)his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. ⁴ Nevertheless, for David's sake the Lord his God gave him ^(C)a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, ⁵ because ^(D)David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, ^(E)except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ^6 (F)Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. ^7 (G)The rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^(H)And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. ^8 (I)And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place.

Asa Reigns in Judah

⁹ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, ¹⁰ and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ^11 (J)And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done. ¹² He put away the ^(K)male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed ^(L)all the idols that his fathers had made. ^13 (M)He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her image and ^(N)burned it at the brook Kidron. ^14 (O)But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, ^(P)the heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days. ¹⁵ And ^(Q)he brought into the house of the Lord the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels.

^16 (R)And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. ^17 (S)Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and ^(T)built Ramah, ^(U)that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ Then Asa took all the silver and the gold ^(V)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. ^(W)And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, ^(X)who lived in Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ “Let there be ^(Y)a covenant^[a] between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” ²⁰ And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and conquered ^(Z)Ijon, ^(AA)Dan, ^(AB)Abel-beth-maacah, and all ^(AC)Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ And when Baasha heard of it, ^(AD)he stopped building Ramah, and he lived in ^(AE)Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, none was exempt, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them King Asa built ^(AF)Geba of Benjamin and ^(AG)Mizpah. ^23 (AH)Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But in his old age he was diseased in his feet. ²⁴ And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and ^(AI)Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

Nadab Reigns in Israel

^25 (AJ)Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ^(AK)and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin ^(AL)which he made Israel to sin.

^27 (AM)Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha struck him down at ^(AN)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. ²⁸ So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his place. ²⁹ And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, ^(AO)according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. ³⁰ It was for the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and ^(AP)that he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.

³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ^32 (AQ)And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

Baasha Reigns in Israel

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ^(AR)and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

Abijah Reigns in Judah

13 ^(A)In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, ^(B)Abijah began to reign over Judah. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was ^(C)Micaiah^[a] the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

^(D)Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam ^(E)drew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. ⁴ Then Abijah stood up on Mount ^(F)Zemaraim that is in ^(G)the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! ⁵ Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel ^(H)gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by ^(I)a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up ^(J)and rebelled against his lord, ⁷ and certain ^(K)worthless scoundrels^[b] gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was ^(L)young and irresolute^[c] and could not withstand them.

⁸ “And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you ^(M)the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. ^9 (N)Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes ^(O)for ordination^[d] with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are ^(P)not gods. ¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. ¹¹ They offer to the Lord ^(Q)every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out ^(R)the showbread on the table of pure gold, ^(S)and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may ^(T)burn every evening. For we ^(U)keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him. ¹² Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests ^(V)with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, ^(W)do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”

¹³ Jeroboam had sent ^(X)an ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops^[e] were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. ^(Y)And they cried to the Lord, and the priests ^(Z)blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, ^(AA)God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The men of Israel fled before Judah, ^(AB)and God gave them into their hand. ¹⁷ Abijah and his people struck them with great force, so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men. ¹⁸ Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, ^(AC)because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. ¹⁹ And Abijah pursued Jeroboam ^(AD)and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and ^(AE)Ephron^[f] with its villages. ²⁰ Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah. ^(AF)And the Lord struck him down, ^(AG)and he died. ²¹ But Abijah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the ^(AH)story of the prophet ^(AI)Iddo.

Asa Reigns in Judah

14 ^{[g] (AJ)}Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. ^2 [h] And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. ³ He took away the foreign altars ^(AK)and the high places and broke down ^(AL)the pillars and cut down the ^(AM)Asherim ⁴ and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. ⁵ He also took out of all the cities of Judah ^(AN)the high places and the ^(AO)incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. ⁶ He built ^(AP)fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, ^(AQ)for the Lord gave him peace. ⁷ And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with ^(AR)walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, ^(AS)and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸ And Asa had an army of ^(AT)300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.

⁹ Zerah ^(AU)the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as ^(AV)Mareshah. ¹⁰ And Asa went out to meet him, and ^(AW)they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at ^(AX)Mareshah. ¹¹ And Asa ^(AY)cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, ^(AZ)for we rely on you, ^(BA)and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” ^12 (BB)So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^(BC)Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah^[i] carried away very much spoil. ¹⁴ And they attacked all the cities around ^(BD)Gerar, ^(BE)for the fear of the Lord was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.