Ahijah Prophesies against the King

14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. ² And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Now arise and ^(A)disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to ^(B)Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who ^(C)said regarding me that I would be king over this people. ^3 (D)Take ten loaves with you, some pastries, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

⁴ And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and set out and went to ^(E)Shiloh, and came to the house of ^(F)Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see ^(G)because his eyes were ^[a]glossy from his old age. ⁵ Now the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to ^[b]inquire of you about her son, because he is sick. You shall say such and such to her, for it will be when she arrives, that ^(H)she is going to make herself unrecognizable.”

⁶ So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet coming in the doorway, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam; why do you make yourself unrecognizable? Nevertheless, I am sent to you with a harsh message. ⁷ Go, say to Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: “^(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—^(K)yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and followed Me with all his heart, ^(L)to do only that which was right in My sight; ⁹ you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and ^(M)you have gone and made for yourself other gods and ^(N)cast metal images to provoke Me to anger, and have ^(O)thrown Me behind your back— ¹⁰ therefore behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and ^(P)I will eliminate from Jeroboam ^[c]every male person, ^(Q)both ^[d]bond and free in Israel, and I ^(R)will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, just as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone. ^11 (S)Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city, the dogs will eat. And anyone who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat; for the Lord has spoken it.”’ ¹² Now you, arise, go to your house. ^(T)When your feet enter the city the child will die. ¹³ Then all Israel will mourn for him and bury him, for ^[e]he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to the grave, because in him ^(U)something good was found toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. ¹⁴ Moreover, ^(V)the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will eliminate the house of Jeroboam this day ^[f]and from now on.

¹⁵ “For the Lord will strike Israel, just as a reed sways in the water; and ^(W)He will uproot Israel from ^(X)this good land which He gave to their fathers, and ^(Y)will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, ^(Z)because they have made their ^[g]Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. ¹⁶ He will give up Israel ^(AA)because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he ^[h]committed and with which he misled Israel into sin.”

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed, and came to ^(AB)Tirzah. ^(AC)As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child died. ^18 (AD)Then all Israel buried him and mourned for him, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servant Ahijah the prophet.