^19 (A)But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore ^(B)present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.”

Hoshea Reigns in Israel

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, ^(A)Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. ² And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. ^3 (B)Against him came up ^(C)Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. ⁴ But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison.

⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^(A)“Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel ⁸ and ^(B)tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been ^(C)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 ^(D)made for yourself other gods and ^(E)metal images, provoking me to anger, and ^(F)have cast me behind your back, ¹⁰ therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and ^(G)will cut off from Jeroboam every male, ^(H)both bond and free in Israel, and ^(I)will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. ^11 (J)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. ^(K)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 ^(L)there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. ^14 (M)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 ^(N)root up Israel out of ^(O)this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them ^(P)beyond the Euphrates,^[a] because they have made their ^(Q)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.”

²⁶ And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. ²⁷ If this people ^(A)go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” ²⁸ So the king took counsel and ^(B)made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. ^(C)Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” ²⁹ And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. ³⁰ Then ^(D)this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.^{[a] 31} He also made ^(E)temples on high places and ^(F)appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. ³² And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like ^(G)the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel ^(H)the priests of the high places that he had made.

¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for ^(A)it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which ^(B)the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The Kingdom Divided

¹⁶ And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. ^(C)To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents.

The Death of Saul

31 ^(A)Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain ^(B)on Mount Gilboa. ² And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down ^(C)Jonathan and ^(D)Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ^3 (E)The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. ^4 (F)Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these ^(G)uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, ^(H)for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword ^(I)and fell upon it. ⁵ And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. ⁶ Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together. ⁷ And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.