14At that time Abijah became sick. He was the son of Jeroboam. ²Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go. Put on some different clothes. Then no one will recognize you as my wife. Go to Shiloh. That’s where the prophet Ahijah is. He told me I would be king over the people of Israel. ³Take ten loaves of bread with you. Take some cakes and a jar of honey. Go to him. He’ll tell you what will happen to our son.”

⁴So Jeroboam’s wife did what he said. She went to Ahijah’s house in Shiloh.

Ahijah couldn’t see. He was blind because he was so old. ⁵But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming. Her son is sick. She’ll ask you about him. Give her the answer I give you. When she arrives, she’ll pretend to be someone else.”

⁶Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door. He said, “Come in. I know that you are Jeroboam’s wife. Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have some bad news for you.

⁷“Go. Tell Jeroboam that the Lord has a message for him. The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, ‘I chose you from among the people. I made you the leader of my people Israel. ⁸I tore the kingdom away from the royal house of David. I gave it to you. But you have not been like my servant David. He obeyed my commands. He followed me with all his heart. He did only what was right in my eyes. ⁹You have done more evil things than all those who lived before you. You have made other gods for yourself. You have made statues of gods out of metal. You have made me very angry. You have turned your back on me.

¹⁰“ ‘Because of that, I am going to bring horrible trouble on your royal house. I will cut off from you every male in Israel. It does not matter whether they are slaves or free. I will burn up your royal house, just as someone burns up trash. I will burn it until it is all gone. ¹¹Some of the people who belong to you will die in the city. Dogs will eat them up. Others will die in the country. The birds of the air will eat them. I have spoken!’

¹²“Now go back home. When you enter your city, your son will die. ¹³All of the people of Israel will sob over him. Then his body will be buried. He is the only one who belongs to Jeroboam who will be buried. That is because he is the only one in Jeroboam’s royal house in whom I have found anything good. I am the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹⁴“I will choose for myself a king over Israel. He will cut off the family of Jeroboam. This very day your son will die. Can that really be true? Yes. Even now, that is what I am telling you.

¹⁵“I will strike Israel down. Israel will be like tall grass swaying in the water. I will pull Israel up from this good land by the roots. I gave it to their people who lived long ago. I will scatter Israel to the east side of the Euphrates River. That is because they made me very angry. They made poles that were used to worship the goddess Asherah.

¹⁶“I will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed. He has also caused Israel to commit those same sins.”

¹⁷Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left. She went to the city of Tirzah. As soon as she stepped through the doorway of the house, her son died. ¹⁸His body was buried. All of the people of Israel sobbed over him. That’s what the Lord had said would happen. He had said it through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.

¹⁹The other events of Jeroboam’s rule are written down. His wars and how he ruled are written down. They are written in the official records of the kings of Israel. ²⁰Jeroboam ruled for 22 years. Then he joined the members of his family who had already died. Jeroboam’s son Nadab became the next king after him.

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