Psalm 50

A psalm of Asaph.

Abijah’s illness

14 At that time, Jeroboam’s son Abijah became sick. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please go with a disguise so no one will recognize you as Jeroboam’s wife. Go to Shiloh where the prophet Ahijah is. He told me I would be king of this people. ³ Take ten loaves of bread, cakes, and a bottle of honey with you. Go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.” ⁴ Jeroboam’s wife did precisely this. She left and went to Shiloh and came to Ahijah’s house. Now Ahijah had become blind in his old age.

⁵ The Lord said to Ahijah, “Look! Jeroboam’s wife has come seeking a word from you about her son. He is sick. Say this and that to her. When she comes, she will be disguised.”

⁶ When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet coming through the doorway, he said, “Come in, Jeroboam’s wife! Why have you disguised yourself? I have hard news for you. ⁷ Tell Jeroboam: This is what the Lord, Israel’s God, says: When I lifted you up from among the people, I appointed you as a leader over my people Israel. ⁸ I tore the kingdom from David’s house and gave it to you. But you haven’t been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart by doing only what is right in my eyes. ⁹ Instead, you have done more evil than any who were before you. You have made other gods and metal images to anger me. You have turned your back on me. ¹⁰ Therefore, I’m going to bring disaster on Jeroboam’s house! Because of Jeroboam, I will eliminate everyone who urinates on a wall, whether slave or free. Then I will set fire to the house of Jeroboam, as one burns dung until it is gone. ¹¹ Dogs will eat any of Jeroboam’s family who die in town. Birds will eat those who die in the field. The Lord has spoken!

¹² “As for you, get up and go back home. When your feet enter the town, the boy will die. ¹³ All Israel will mourn for him and will bury him. Out of the whole line of Jeroboam, he alone will have a tomb, because only in him did Israel’s God, the Lord, find something good. ¹⁴ For this reason the Lord will raise up a king over Israel who will eliminate the house of Jeroboam. This begins today. What’s that? Even now!^{[a] 15} The Lord will strike Israel so that it shakes like a reed in water. He will uproot Israel from this fertile land that he gave to their ancestors and their offspring, and he will scatter them across the Euphrates River, because they made the Lord angry by making their sacred poles.^{[b] 16} Because of the sins Jeroboam committed, and because he made Israel sin too, God will give Israel up.”

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam’s wife left and went to Tirzah. When she stepped across the threshold of the house, the boy died. ¹⁸ All Israel buried him and mourned him in agreement with the Lord’s word spoken through his servant the prophet Ahijah.

Thanksgiving

¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength because he considered me faithful. So he appointed me to ministry ¹³ even though I used to speak against him, attack his people, and I was proud. But I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and without faith. ¹⁴ Our Lord’s favor poured all over me along with the faithfulness and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ This saying is reliable and deserves full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I’m the biggest sinner of all. ¹⁶ But this is why I was shown mercy, so that Christ Jesus could show his endless patience to me first of all. So I’m an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷ Now to the king of the ages, to the immortal, invisible, and only God, may honor and glory be given to him forever and always! Amen.

Importance of faith and a good conscience

¹⁸ Timothy, my child, I’m giving you these instructions based on the prophecies that were once made about you. So if you follow them, you can wage a good war ¹⁹ because you have faith and a good conscience. Some people have ruined their faith because they refused to listen to their conscience, ²⁰ such as Hymenaeus and Alexander. I’ve handed them over to Satan so that they can be taught not to speak against God.