¹⁹ But you have now rejected^(A) your God, who saves^(B) you out of all your disasters and calamities. And you have said, ‘No, appoint a king^(C) over us.’^(D) So now present^(E) yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.”

Hoshea Last King of Israel^(A)

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea^(B) son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. ² He did evil^(C) in the eyes of the Lord, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.

³ Shalmaneser^(D) king of Assyria came up to attack Hoshea, who had been Shalmaneser’s vassal and had paid him tribute.^{(E) 4} But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was a traitor, for he had sent envoys to So^[a] king of Egypt,^(F) and he no longer paid tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore Shalmaneser seized him and put him in prison.^(G)

⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:^(A) ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler^(B) over my people Israel. ⁸ I tore^(C) the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right^(D) in my eyes. ⁹ You have done more evil^(E) than all who lived before you.^(F) You have made for yourself other gods, idols^(G) made of metal; you have aroused^(H) my anger and turned your back on me.^(I)

¹⁰ “‘Because of this, I am going to bring disaster^(J) on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel—slave or free.^[a](K) I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone.^{(L) 11} Dogs^(M) will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds^(N) will feed on those who die in the country. The Lord has spoken!’

¹² “As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy will die. ¹³ All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the Lord, the God of Israel, has found anything good.^(O)

¹⁴ “The Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam. Even now this is beginning to happen.^{[b] 15} And the Lord will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot^(P) Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they aroused^(Q) the Lord’s anger by making Asherah^(R) poles.^{[c] 16} And he will give Israel up because of the sins^(S) Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”

²⁶ Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. ²⁷ If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem,^(A) they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”

²⁸ After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves.^(B) He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”^{(C) 29} One he set up in Bethel,^(D) and the other in Dan.^{(E) 30} And this thing became a sin;^(F) the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.^[a]

³¹ Jeroboam built shrines^(G) on high places and appointed priests^(H) from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. ³² He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth^(I) month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel,^(J) sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made.

¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord,^(A) to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah^(B) the Shilonite.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:

So the Israelites went home.^(E)

Saul Takes His Life^(A)

31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa.^{(B) 2} The Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons,^(C) and they killed his sons Jonathan,^(D) Abinadab and Malki-Shua.^{(E) 3} The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded^(F) him critically.

⁴ Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through,^(G) or these uncircumcised^(H) fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.”

But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵ When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. ⁶ So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died^(I) together that same day.

⁷ When the Israelites along the valley and those across the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them.