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.

Rehoboam Reigns in Judah

^21 (A)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, ^(B)the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. ^(C)His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. ^22 (D)And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they ^(E)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 ^(F)high places ^(G)and pillars and ^(H)Asherim on every high hill and ^(I)under every green tree, ²⁴ and there were also ^(J)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.

^13 (A)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, ^(B)for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

Rehoboam's Family

¹⁸ Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of ^(A)Eliab the son of Jesse, ¹⁹ and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he took ^(B)Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him ^(C)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 (D)And Rehoboam appointed ^(E)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.^[a]

Egypt Plunders Jerusalem

12 ^(A)When the rule of Rehoboam was established ^(B)and he was strong, ^(C)he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. ^2 (D)In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, ^(E)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—^(F)Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. ⁴ And he took ^(G)the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. ⁵ Then ^(H)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, ^(I)‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” ⁶ Then the princes of ^(J)Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, ^(K)“The Lord is righteous.” ⁷ When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: ^(L)“They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, ^(M)and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸ Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, ^(N)that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

^9 (O)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 ^(P)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 ^(Q)he humbled himself the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, ^(R)conditions were good^[a] in Judah.

^25 (A)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. ^(B)He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold ^(C)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.

^13 (A)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, ^(B)for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

^15 (C)Now the acts of Rehoboam, ^(D)from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of ^(E)Shemaiah the prophet and of ^(F)Iddo ^(G)the seer?^[a] There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¹⁶ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and ^(H)Abijah^[b] his son reigned in his place.

^29 (A)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 (B)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. ^(C)His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. And ^(D)Abijam his son reigned in his place.

Abijam Reigns in Judah

15 ^(E)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 ^(F)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 ^(G)a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, ⁵ because ^(H)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, ^(I)except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

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.