²⁸ Now the man Jeroboam was a man of ability, and Solomon saw that the young man was a diligent worker,^[a] so he appointed him over all of the forced labor for the house of Joseph. ²⁹ It happened at that time that Jeroboam went out from Jerusalem, and he accidentally met Ahijah the Shilonite the prophet on the way. Now he had clothed himself with new clothing. While the two of them were alone in the field, ³⁰ Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces.