Old/New Testament
Jeroboam’s Son Dies
14 At that time Jeroboam’s son Abijah became very sick. 2 Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go to Shiloh and see the prophet Ahijah. He is the one who said that I would become king of Israel. Dress yourself so that people will not know that you are my wife. 3 Give the prophet ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey. Then ask him what will happen to our son, and he will tell you.”
4 So the king’s wife did what he said. She went to the home of Ahijah the prophet in Shiloh. Ahijah was very old and had become blind. 5 But the Lord said to him, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son because he is sick. I will tell you what to say to her.”
When she came to Ahijah’s house, she pretended to be someone else. 6 But when Ahijah heard her coming to the door, he said, “Come in! I know who you are. You are Jeroboam’s wife. Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have some bad news for you. 7 Go back and tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jeroboam, I chose you from among all the Israelites. I made you the ruler of my people. 8 David’s family was ruling the kingdom of Israel, but I took the kingdom away from them and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David. He always obeyed my commands and followed me with his whole heart. He did only what I accepted. 9 But you have sinned worse than anyone who ruled before you. You stopped following me and made other gods for yourself. You made those statues to make me angry. 10 So Jeroboam, I will bring troubles to your family. I will kill all the men in your family. I will destroy your family completely, like fire burning up dung. 11 Anyone from your family who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs. And anyone from your family who dies in the fields will be eaten by birds. The Lord has spoken.’”
12 Then Ahijah said, “Now, go home. Your son will die as soon as you enter the city. 13 All Israel will cry for him. They will bury him, but he is the only one from Jeroboam’s family who will be buried. This is because he is the only one in Jeroboam’s family who pleased the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Soon, the Lord will put a new king over Israel who will destroy Jeroboam’s family. 15 Then the Lord will punish Israel. The Israelites will be so full of fear that they will shake like tall grass in the water. He will pull Israel up from this good land that he gave their ancestors. He will scatter them to the other side of the Euphrates River. The Lord will do this because the people made him angry when they built sacred poles.[a] 16 He will let the Israelites be defeated because Jeroboam sinned, and then he made the Israelites sin.”
17 Jeroboam’s wife went back to Tirzah. As soon as she stepped into the house, the boy died. 18 They buried him and all the people of Israel cried for him. This happened just as the Lord said it would through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.
19 The rest of what King Jeroboam did is written in the book, The History of the Kings of Israel. It includes the wars he fought and the way he ruled. 20 Jeroboam ruled as king for 22 years. Then he died and was buried with his ancestors.[b] His son Nadab became the new king after him.
Rehoboam, King of Judah
21 Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, was 41 years old when he became king of Judah. Rehoboam ruled 17 years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose for his own. He chose this city from all the other tribes of Israel. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah. She was an Ammonite.
22 The people of Judah did things that the Lord considered evil. They made him angry with all their sins—more than any of their ancestors had done. 23 They built high places, memorial stones, and sacred poles.[c] They built them on every high hill and under every green tree. 24 There were also men who served other gods by selling their bodies for sex.[d] So the people of Judah were worse than the people who had lived in the land before them. And the Lord took the land away from those people to give it to the Israelites.
25 In the fifth year that Rehoboam was king, King Shishak of Egypt came to attack Jerusalem. 26 He took the treasures from the Lord’s Temple and from the king’s palace. He even took the gold shields that David had taken from the officers of King Hadadezer of Aram and put on the walls of Jerusalem.[e] 27 King Rehoboam made more shields to put in their places, but they were made from bronze. He gave them to the guards on duty at the palace gates. 28 Every time the king went to the Lord’s Temple, the guards took out the shields and went with him. After they were finished, they put the shields back on the wall in the guardroom.
29 The rest of what King Rehoboam did is written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah. 30 Rehoboam and Jeroboam were always fighting against each other.
31 Rehoboam died[f] and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. (His mother was Naamah. She was an Ammonite.) Rehoboam’s son Abijah became the next king after him.
Abijah, King of Judah
15 Abijah became the new king of Judah during the 18th year that Jeroboam son of Nebat ruled Israel. 2 Abijah ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother’s name was Maacah. She was Absalom’s daughter.
3 He did all the same sins that his father before him had done. Abijah was not faithful to the Lord his God. In this way he was not like his grandfather, David. 4 But for David’s sake, the Lord gave Abijah a kingdom in Jerusalem and allowed him to have a son. He also kept Jerusalem safe. 5 David had always done what the Lord said was right. He had always obeyed his commands. The only time David did not obey the Lord was when he sinned against Uriah the Hittite.
6 Rehoboam and Jeroboam were always fighting against each other.[g] 7 The rest of what Abijah did is written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah.
There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam during the whole time that Abijah was king. 8 When Abijah died, he was buried in the City of David. Abijah’s son Asa became the new king after him.
Asa, King of Judah
9 During Jeroboam’s 20th year as king over Israel, Asa became king of Judah. 10 He ruled in Jerusalem for 41 years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah, and she was the daughter of Absalom.
11 Asa did what the Lord said is right, as his ancestor David did. 12 During Asa’s time there were men who served other gods by selling their bodies for sex. Asa forced them to leave the country. He took away the idols that his ancestors had made. 13 King Asa also took away the right of his mother Maacah to be queen mother. He did this because she had set up one of those awful Asherah poles. Asa cut down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 Asa did not destroy the high places, even though he was faithful to the Lord all his life. 15 Asa and his father had given some special gifts to God. Asa put these gifts of gold, silver, and other things in the Lord’s Temple.
16 The whole time that King Asa was king of Judah, he fought a war against King Baasha of Israel. 17 Once Baasha attacked Judah and then built up the city of Ramah to keep Asa from leaving Judah on any kind of military campaign. 18 So Asa took gold and silver from the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and the king’s palace. He gave it to his officials and sent them to King Ben-Hadad of Aram. Ben-Hadad was the son of Tabrimmon. Tabrimmon was the son of Hezion. Damascus was Ben-Hadad’s capital city. 19 Asa sent this message: “My father and your father had a peace agreement. Now I want to make a peace agreement with you. I am sending you this gift of gold and silver. Please break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel and make him leave us alone.”
20 King Ben-Hadad made the agreement with King Asa and sent his army to fight against the Israelite towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, the towns near Lake Galilee, and the area of Naphtali. 21 When Baasha heard about these attacks, he stopped building up Ramah and went back to Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa gave an order to all the men in Judah. Everyone had to help. They had to go to Ramah and carry out all the stone and wood that Baasha was using to build up the city. They carried the material to Geba in Benjamin and to Mizpah and used it to strengthen those two cities.
23 All the other things about Asa—the great things he did and the cities he built—are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah. When Asa became old, his feet became infected. 24 He died and was buried in the City of David, his ancestor. Then Asa’s son Jehoshaphat became the new king after him.
Nadab, King of Israel
25 During Asa’s second year as king of Judah, Jeroboam’s son Nadab became king of Israel. Nadab ruled over Israel for two years. 26 He did what the Lord said was wrong. He sinned just as his father Jeroboam did when he caused the Israelites to sin.
27 Baasha was the son of Ahijah. They were from the tribe of Issachar. Baasha made a plan to kill King Nadab. Nadab and all Israel were fighting against the Philistine town of Gibbethon. And that is where Baasha killed Nadab. 28 This happened during Asa’s third year as king of Judah. So Baasha became the next king of Israel.
Baasha, King of Israel
29 When Baasha became the new king, he killed everyone in Jeroboam’s family. He left no one in Jeroboam’s family alive. This happened just as the Lord said it would when he spoke through his servant Ahijah at Shiloh. 30 This happened because King Jeroboam had committed many sins and had caused the Israelites to sin. This made the Lord, the God of Israel, very angry.
31 The other things that Nadab did are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Israel. 32 All during the time that Baasha ruled over Israel, he was fighting wars against King Asa of Judah.
33 Ahijah’s son Baasha became king of Israel during the third year that Asa ruled over Judah. Baasha ruled in Tirzah for 24 years, 34 but he did what the Lord said was wrong. He did the same sins that Jeroboam had done that caused the Israelites to sin.
Peter Will Be Tested and Fail(A)
31 “Satan has asked to test you men like a farmer tests his wheat. O Simon, Simon,[a] 32 I have prayed that you will not lose your faith! Help your brothers be stronger when you come back to me.”
33 But Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, I am ready to go to jail with you. I will even die with you!”
34 But Jesus said, “Peter, before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will say you don’t know me. You will say this three times.”
Be Ready for Trouble
35 Then Jesus said to the apostles, “Remember when I sent you out without money, a bag, or sandals? Did you need anything?”
The apostles said, “No.”
36 Jesus said to them, “But now if you have money or a bag, carry that with you. If you don’t have a sword, sell your coat and buy one. 37 The Scriptures say,
‘He was considered a criminal.’ (B)
This Scripture must happen. It was written about me, and it is happening now.”
38 The followers said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.”
Jesus said to them, “That’s enough.”[b]
Jesus Prays Alone(C)
39-40 Jesus left the city and went to the Mount of Olives. His followers went with him. (He went there often.) He said to his followers, “Pray for strength against temptation.”
41 Then Jesus went about 50 steps away from them. He knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please don’t make me drink from this cup.[c] But do what you want, not what I want.” 43 Then an angel from heaven came to help him. 44 Jesus was full of pain; he struggled hard in prayer. Sweat dripped from his face like drops of blood falling to the ground.[d] 45 When he finished praying, he went to his followers. He found them asleep, worn out from their grieving. 46 Jesus said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray for strength against temptation.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International