1 Kings 14–15

Disaster on the House of Jeroboam

14At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became sick. ^l2Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go disguise yourself, ^mso they won’t know that you’re Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh. ⁿAhijah the prophet is there; it was he who told about me becoming king over this people. ^o3Take with you 10 loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, ^pand go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

⁴Jeroboam’s wife did that: she went to Shiloh and arrived at Ahijah’s house. Ahijah could not see; his gaze was fixed ^qdue to his age. ^r5But the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming soon to ask you about her son, for he is sick. You are to say such and such to her. When she arrives, she will be disguised.” ^s

⁶When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet entering the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you disguised? ^tI have bad news for you. ⁷Go tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I raised you up from among the people, appointed you ruler over My people Israel, ⁸tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you. ^uBut you were not like My servant David, who kept My commands and followed Me with all of his heart, doing only what is right in My eyes. ⁹You behaved more wickedly than all who were before you. ^vIn order to provoke Me, you have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and cast images, ^wbut you have flung Me behind your back. ^x10Because of all this, I am about to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam:

I will eliminate all of Jeroboam’s males, ^y

both slave and free, ^zin Israel;

I will sweep away the house of Jeroboam

as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone! ^a

¹¹Anyone who belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city,

the dogs will eat,

and anyone who dies in the field,

the birds of the sky will eat, ^b

for the Lord has said it!’

¹²“As for you, get up and go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the boy will die. ^c13All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He alone out of Jeroboam’s house will be put in the family tomb, because out of the house of Jeroboam the Lord God of Israel found something good only in him. ^d14The Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel, who will eliminate the house of Jeroboam. ^eThis is the day, yes, ^feven today! ¹⁵For the Lord will strike Israel and the people will shake as a reed shakes in water. He will uproot Israel from this good soil that He gave to their ancestors. ^gHe will scatter them beyond the Euphrates ^hbecause they made their Asherah poles, provoking the Lord. ⁱ¹⁶He will give up Israel because of Jeroboam’s sins that he committed and caused Israel to commit.” ^j

¹⁷Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left and went to Tirzah. ^kAs she was crossing the threshold of the house, the boy died. ¹⁸He was buried, and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through His servant Ahijah the prophet. ^l

¹⁹As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, how he waged war ^mand how he reigned, note that they are written in the Historical Record of Israel’s Kings. ²⁰The length of Jeroboam’s reign was 22 years. He rested with his fathers, and his son Nadab became king in his place. ⁿ

Judah’s King Rehoboam

²¹Now Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, reigned in Judah. ^oRehoboam was 41 years old when he became king; he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city where Yahweh had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name. ^pRehoboam’s mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. ^q

²²Judah did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes. ^rThey provoked Him to jealous anger ^smore than all that their ancestors had done with the sins they committed. ²³They also built for themselves high places, ^tsacred pillars, ^uand Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree; ²⁴there were even male cult prostitutes in the land. ^vThey imitated all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites. ^w

²⁵In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt ^xwent to war against Jerusalem. ^y26He seized the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the treasuries of the royal palace. He took everything. He took all the gold shields that Solomon had made. ^z27King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them into the care of the captains of the royal escorts ^abwho guarded the entrance to the king’s palace. ²⁸Whenever the king entered the Lord’s temple, the royal escorts would carry the shields, then they would take them back to the royal escorts’ armory. ^c

²⁹The rest of the events of Rehoboam’s reign, ^dalong with all his accomplishments, are written about in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings. ³⁰There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their reigns. ^e31Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. ^fHis son Abijam ^ghbecame king in his place.

Judah’s King Abijam

15In the eighteenth year of Israel’s King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah ²and reigned three years in Jerusalem. ⁱHis mother’s name was Maacah ^jdaughter ^kof Abishalom.

³Abijam walked in all the sins his father before him had committed, ^land he was not completely devoted to the Lord his God as his ancestor David had been. ^m4But because of David, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem. ⁿ⁵For David did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, and he did not turn aside from anything He had commanded him all the days of his life, ^oexcept in the matter of Uriah ^pthe Hittite.

⁶There had been war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of Rehoboam’s life. ^q7The rest of the events of Abijam’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings. ^rThere was also war between Abijam and Jeroboam. ^s8Abijam rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. ^tHis son Asa became king in his place. ^u

Judah’s King Asa

⁹In the twentieth year of Israel’s King Jeroboam, ^vAsa became king of Judah ¹⁰and reigned 41 years in Jerusalem. His grandmother’s ^wname was Maacah ^xdaughter ^yof Abishalom.

¹¹Asa did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, as his ancestor David had done. ^z12He banished the male cult prostitutes ^afrom the land and removed all of the idols that his fathers had made. ^b13He also ^cremoved his grandmother ^dMaacah from being queen mother because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. Asa chopped down her obscene image and burned it ^ein the Kidron Valley. ^f14The high places were not taken away; ^gbut Asa’s heart was completely devoted to the Lord his entire life. ^h15He brought his father’s consecrated gifts and his own consecrated gifts into the Lord’s temple: silver, gold, and utensils. ⁱ

¹⁶There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns. ^j17Israel’s King Baasha went to war against Judah. ^kHe built Ramah ^lin order to deny anyone access to Judah’s King Asa. ¹⁸So Asa withdrew all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple ^mand the treasuries of the royal palace and put it into the hands of his servants. Then King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad ⁿson of Tabrimmon son of Hezion king of Aram who lived in Damascus, ^osaying, ¹⁹“There is a treaty between me and you, between my father and your father. ^pLook, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Go and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel ^qso that he will withdraw from me.”

²⁰Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel. He attacked Ijon, ^rDan, ^sAbel-beth-maacah, ^tall Chinnereth, ^uand the whole land of Naphtali. ^v21When Baasha heard about it, he quit building Ramah and stayed in Tirzah. ^w22Then King Asa gave a command to everyone without exception in Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had built it with. Then King Asa built Geba ^xof Benjamin and Mizpah ^ywith them.

²³The rest of all the events of Asa’s reign, ^zalong with all his might, all his accomplishments, and the cities he built, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings. ^aBut in his old age he developed a disease in his feet. ^b24Then Asa rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his ancestor David. ^cHis son Jehoshaphat ^dbecame king in his place.

Israel’s King Nadab

²⁵Nadab son of Jeroboam ^ebecame king over Israel in the second year of Judah’s King Asa; he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶Nadab did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of his father and the sin he had caused Israel to commit. ^f

²⁷Then Baasha ^gson of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against Nadab, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon ^hof the Philistines while Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon. ²⁸In the third year of Judah’s King Asa, ⁱBaasha killed Nadab ^jand reigned in his place.

²⁹When Baasha became king, he struck down the entire house of Jeroboam. ^kHe did not leave Jeroboam any survivors but ^ldestroyed his family according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through His servant Ahijah the Shilonite. ^m30This was because Jeroboam had provoked ⁿthe Lord God of Israel by the sins he had committed and had caused Israel to commit. ^o

³¹The rest of the events of Nadab’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Israel’s Kings. ^p32There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns. ^q

Israel’s King Baasha

³³In the third year of Judah’s King Asa, Baasha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel and reigned in Tirzah ^r24 years. ³⁴He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of Jeroboam and the sin he had caused Israel to commit. ^s