Jeroboam Warned, Stricken

13 Now behold, there came ^(A)a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar ^(B)to burn incense. ^2 (C)He 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 on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” ³ Then he gave a ^[a]sign the same day, saying, “^(E)This is the ^[b]sign which the Lord has spoken, ‘Behold, the altar shall be split apart and the ^[c]ashes which are on it shall be poured out.’” ⁴ Now when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” But 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 split apart and the ^[d]ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the ^[e]sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. ⁶ The king said to the man of God, “Please ^[f](F)entreat the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So ^(G)the man of God ^[g]entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before. ⁷ Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and ^(H)I will give you a reward.” ⁸ But the man of God said to the king, “^(I)If you were to give me half your house I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. ⁹ For so ^[h]it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came.’” ¹⁰ So he went another way and did not return by the way which he came to Bethel.

The Disobedient Prophet

¹¹ Now ^(J)an old prophet was living in Bethel; and his ^[i]sons came and told him all the deeds which the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken to the king, these also they related to their father. ¹² Their father said to them, “^[j]Which way did he go?” Now his sons ^[k]had seen the way which the man of God who came from Judah had gone. ¹³ Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it. ¹⁴ So he went after the man of God and found him sitting under ^[l]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 He said, “^(K)I cannot return with you, nor go with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ For a command came to me ^(L)by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.’” ¹⁸ He said to him, “^(M)I also am a prophet like you, and ^(N)an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But ^(O)he lied to him. ¹⁹ So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.

²⁰ Now it came about, as they were sitting down at the table, that 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, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have ^[m]disobeyed the ^[n]command of the Lord, and have not observed the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, ²² but have returned and 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 grave of your fathers.’” ²³ It came about after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ Now when he had gone, ^(P)a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body. ²⁵ And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the body; so they came and told it in the city where ^(Q)the old prophet lived.

²⁶ Now when the prophet who brought him back from the way heard it, he said, “It is the man of God, who ^[o]disobeyed the ^[p]command of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” ²⁷ Then he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it. ²⁸ He went and found his body thrown on the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion had not eaten the body nor torn the donkey. ²⁹ So the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back, and he came to the city of the old prophet to mourn and to bury him. ³⁰ He laid his body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, “^(R)Alas, my brother!” ³¹ After he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; ^(S)lay my bones beside his bones. ^32 (T)For the thing shall surely come to pass which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and ^(U)against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of ^(V)Samaria.”

³³ After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but ^(W)again he made priests of the high places from among ^[q]all the people; ^(X)any who would, he ordained, to be priests of the high places. ^34 [r](Y)This event became sin to the house of Jeroboam, ^(Z)even to blot it out and destroy it from off the face of the earth.

Ahijah Prophesies against the King

14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise now, and ^(AA)disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to ^(AB)Shiloh; behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who ^(AC)spoke concerning me that I would be king over this people. ^3 (AD)Take ten loaves with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

⁴ Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose and went to ^(AE)Shiloh, and came to the house of ^(AF)Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, ^(AG)for his eyes were ^[s]dim because of his age. ⁵ Now the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to ^[t]inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. You shall say thus and thus to her, for it will be when she arrives that ^(AH)she will pretend to be another woman.”

⁶ When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet coming in the doorway, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why do you pretend to be another woman? For I am sent to you with a harsh message. ⁷ Go, say to Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “^(AI)Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel, ⁸ and ^(AJ)tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you—^(AK)yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, ^(AL)to do only that which was right in My sight; ⁹ you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and ^(AM)have gone and made for yourself other gods and ^(AN)molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have ^(AO)cast Me behind your back— ¹⁰ therefore behold, I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam, and ^(AP)will cut off from Jeroboam ^[u]every male person, ^(AQ)both bond and free in Israel, and I ^(AR)will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone. ^11 (AS)Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat; for the Lord has spoken it.”’ ¹² Now you, arise, go to your house. ^(AT)When your feet enter the city the child will die. ¹³ All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for ^[v]he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to the grave, because in him ^(AU)something good was found toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. ¹⁴ Moreover, ^(AV)the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam this day ^[w]and from now on.

¹⁵ “For the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and ^(AW)He will uproot Israel from ^(AX)this good land which He gave to their fathers, and ^(AY)will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, ^(AZ)because they have made their ^[x]Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. ¹⁶ He will give up Israel ^(BA)on account of the sins of Jeroboam, which he ^[y]committed and with which he made Israel to sin.”

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed and came to ^(BB)Tirzah. ^(BC)As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child died. ^18 (BD)All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, ^(BE)how he made war and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ²⁰ The time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years; and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam Misleads Judah

^21 (BF)Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, ^(BG)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 (BH)Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they ^(BI)provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with ^[z]the sins which they ^[aa]committed. ²³ For they also built for themselves ^(BJ)high places and sacred ^(BK)pillars and ^[ab](BL)Asherim on every high hill and ^(BM)beneath every luxuriant tree. ²⁴ There were also ^(BN)male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.

^25 (BO)Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak the 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, and ^(BP)he took everything, ^[ac](BQ)even taking all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. ²⁷ So King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and ^(BR)committed them to the ^[ad]care of the commanders of the ^[ae]guard who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. ²⁸ Then it happened as often as the king entered the house of the Lord, that the ^[af]guards would carry them and would bring them back into the ^[ag]guards’ room.

^29 (BS)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 (BT)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; and ^(BU)his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. And Abijam his son became king in his place.

Abijam Reigns over Judah

15 ^(BV)Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^[ah](BW)Maacah the daughter of ^[ai](BX)Abishalom. ³ He walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him; and ^(BY)his heart was not ^[aj]wholly devoted to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father David. ⁴ But for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a ^(BZ)lamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem; ^5 (CA)because David did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, ^(CB)except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. ^6 (CC)There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.

⁷ Now ^(CD)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? ^(CE)And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

Asa Succeeds Abijam

^8 (CF)And Abijam slept with his fathers and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place.

⁹ So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa began to reign as king of Judah. ¹⁰ He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem; and ^(CG)his mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ^11 (CH)Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father. ^12 (CI)He also put away the male cult prostitutes from the land and ^(CJ)removed all the idols which his fathers had made. ^13 [ak](CK)He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image ^[al]as an Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid image and ^(CL)burned it at the brook Kidron. ^14 (CM)But the high places were not taken away; nevertheless ^(CN)the heart of Asa was ^[am]wholly devoted to the Lord all his days. ^15 (CO)He brought into the house of the Lord the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver and gold and utensils.

^16 (CP)Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. ^17 (CQ)Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and ^[an](CR)fortified Ramah ^(CS)in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ Then ^(CT)Asa took all the silver and the gold which were left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And ^(CU)King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived in ^(CV)Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ “Let there be a ^(CW)treaty between ^[ao]you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you a present of silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” ²⁰ So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and ^[ap]conquered ^(CX)Ijon, ^(CY)Dan, ^(CZ)Abel-beth-maacah and all ^(DA)Chinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ When Baasha heard of it, ^(DB)he ceased ^[aq]fortifying Ramah and remained in ^(DC)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 built. And King Asa built with them ^(DD)Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa

^23 (DE)Now the rest of all the acts of Asa and all his might and all that he did and the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But in the time of 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 ^(DF)Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

Nadab, then Baasha, Rules over Israel

²⁵ Now ^(DG)Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and ^(DH)walked in the way of his father and ^(DI)in his sin which he made Israel sin. ²⁷ Then ^(DJ)Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at ^(DK)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while 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 It came about as soon as he was king, he struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam ^[ar]any persons alive, until he had destroyed them, ^(DL)according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ³⁰ and because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and ^(DM)which he made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.

^31 (DN)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?

War with Judah

^32 (DO)There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

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

First Missionary Journey

13 Now there were at ^(A)Antioch, in the ^(B)church that was there, ^(C)prophets and ^(D)teachers: ^(E)Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of ^(F)Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with ^(G)Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, ^(H)the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me ^(I)Barnabas and Saul for ^(J)the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then, when they had fasted and ^(K)prayed and ^(L)laid their hands on them, ^(M)they sent them away.

⁴ So, being ^(N)sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to ^(O)Cyprus. ⁵ When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in ^(P)the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had ^(Q)John as their helper. ⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a ^(R)magician, a Jewish ^(S)false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was with the ^(T)proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the ^(U)magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the ^(V)proconsul away from ^(W)the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who was also known as Paul, ^[a](X)filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, ¹⁰ and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you ^(Y)son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked ^(Z)the straight ways of the Lord? ¹¹ Now, behold, ^(AA)the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the ^(AB)proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at ^(AC)the teaching of the Lord.

¹³ Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from ^(AD)Paphos and came to ^(AE)Perga in ^(AF)Pamphylia; but ^(AG)John left them and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ But going on from Perga, they arrived at ^(AH)Pisidian ^(AI)Antioch, and on ^(AJ)the Sabbath day they went into ^(AK)the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ After ^(AL)the reading of the Law and ^(AM)the Prophets ^(AN)the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.” ¹⁶ Paul stood up, and ^(AO)motioning with his hand said,

“Men of Israel, and ^(AP)you who fear God, listen: ¹⁷ The God of this people Israel ^(AQ)chose our fathers and ^[b](AR)made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm ^(AS)He led them out from it. ¹⁸ For ^(AT)a period of about forty years ^(AU)He put up with them in the wilderness. ^19 (AV)When He had destroyed ^(AW)seven nations in the land of Canaan, He ^(AX)distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took ^(AY)about four hundred and fifty years. ²⁰ After these things He ^(AZ)gave them judges until ^(BA)Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then they ^(BB)asked for a king, and God gave them ^(BC)Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² After He had ^(BD)removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘^(BE)I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My ^[c]will.’ ^23 (BF)From the descendants of this man, ^(BG)according to promise, God has brought to Israel ^(BH)a Savior, Jesus, ²⁴ after ^(BI)John had proclaimed before ^[d]His coming a ^(BJ)baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And while John ^(BK)was completing his course, ^(BL)he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶ “Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of ^(BM)this salvation has been sent. ²⁷ For those who live in Jerusalem, and their ^(BN)rulers, ^(BO)recognizing neither Him nor the ^[e]utterances of ^(BP)the prophets which are ^(BQ)read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him. ²⁸ And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they ^(BR)asked Pilate that He be ^[f]executed. ²⁹ When they had ^(BS)carried out all that was written concerning Him, ^(BT)they took Him down from ^(BU)the ^[g]cross and ^(BV)laid Him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God ^(BW)raised Him from the dead; ³¹ and for many days ^(BX)He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now ^(BY)His witnesses to the people. ³² And we ^(BZ)preach to you the good news of ^(CA)the promise made to the fathers, ³³ that God has fulfilled this promise ^[h]to our children in that He ^(CB)raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘^(CC)You are My Son; today i have begotten You.’ ³⁴ As for the fact that He ^(CD)raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘^(CE)I will give you the holy and ^[i]sure blessings of David.’ ³⁵ Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘^(CF)You will not ^[j]allow Your ^[k]Holy One to ^[l]undergo decay.’ ³⁶ For ^(CG)David, after he had ^[m]served ^(CH)the purpose of God in his own generation, ^(CI)fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and ^[n]underwent decay; ³⁷ but He whom God ^(CJ)raised did not ^[o]undergo decay. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that ^(CK)through ^[p]Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and ^[q]through Him ^(CL)everyone who believes is ^[r]freed ^[s]from all things, from which you could not be ^[t]freed ^[u]through the Law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of ^(CM)in the Prophets may not come upon you:

⁴² As ^[w]Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these ^[x]things might be spoken to them the next ^(CO)Sabbath. ⁴³ Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the ^(CP)God-fearing ^[y](CQ)proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in ^(CR)the grace of God.

Paul Turns to the Gentiles

⁴⁴ The next ^(CS)Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of ^[z]the Lord. ⁴⁵ But when ^(CT)the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were ^[aa]blaspheming. ⁴⁶ Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you ^(CU)first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, ^(CV)we are turning to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so the Lord has commanded us,

⁴⁸ When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying ^(CY)the word of ^[ac]the Lord; and as many as ^(CZ)had been appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹ And ^(DA)the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. ⁵⁰ But ^(DB)the Jews incited the ^[ad](DC)devout women ^(DD)of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their ^[ae]district. ⁵¹ But ^(DE)they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to ^(DF)Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were continually ^(DG)filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.