1 Kings 14–15

Ahijah’s Prophecy Against Jeroboam

14At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, ²and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself, so you won’t be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah^u the prophet is there—the one who told me I would be king over this people. ³Take ten loaves of bread^v with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.” ⁴So Jeroboam’s wife did what he said and went to Ahijah’s house in Shiloh.

Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age. ⁵But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else.”

⁶So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense?^w I have been sent to you with bad news. ⁷Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:^x ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler^y over my people Israel. ⁸I tore^z 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^a in my eyes. ⁹You have done more evil^b than all who lived before you.^c You have made for yourself other gods, idols^d made of metal; you have aroused^e my anger and turned your back on me.^f

¹⁰“ ‘Because of this, I am going to bring disaster^g on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel—slave or free.^ah I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone.^{i 11}Dogs^j will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds^k 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. ¹³All 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.^l

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^m Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they arousedⁿ the Lord’s anger by making Asherah^o poles.^{c 16}And he will give Israel up because of the sins^p Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”

¹⁷Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left and went to Tirzah.^q As soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died. ¹⁸They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, as the Lord had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah.

¹⁹The other events of Jeroboam’s reign, his wars and how he ruled, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. ²⁰He reigned for twenty-two years and then rested with his ancestors. And Nadab his son succeeded him as king.

Rehoboam King of Judah

14:21,25–31pp—2Ch 12:9–16

²¹Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.^r

²²Judah^s did evil in the eyes of the Lord. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger^t more than those who were before them had done. ²³They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones^u and Asherah poles^v on every high hill and under every spreading tree.^{w 24}There were even male shrine prostitutes^x in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable^y practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

²⁵In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked^z Jerusalem. ²⁶He carried off the treasures of the temple^a of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields^b Solomon had made. ²⁷So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.^{c 28}Whenever the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.

²⁹As for the other events of Rehoboam’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ³⁰There was continual warfare^d between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ³¹And Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.^e And Abijah^d his son succeeded him as king.

Abijah King of Judah

15:1–2,6–8pp—2Ch 13:1–2,22–14:1

15In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah^a became king of Judah, ²and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakah^f daughter of Abishalom.^b

³He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted^g to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been. ⁴Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp^h in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. ⁵For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keepⁱ any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah^j the Hittite.

⁶There was war^k between Abijah^c and Jeroboam throughout Abijah’s lifetime. ⁷As for the other events of Abijah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ⁸And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Asa his son succeeded him as king.

Asa King of Judah

15:9–22pp—2Ch 14:2–3; 15:16–16:6 15:23–24pp—2Ch 16:11–17:1

⁹In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, ¹⁰and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maakah^l daughter of Abishalom.

¹¹Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David^m had done. ¹²He expelled the male shrine prostitutesⁿ from the land and got rid of all the idols^o his ancestors had made. ¹³He even deposed his grandmother Maakah^p from her position as queen mother,^q because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down^r and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁴Although he did not remove^s the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed^t to the Lord all his life. ¹⁵He brought into the temple of the Lord the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.^u

¹⁶There was war^v between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns. ¹⁷Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah^w to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.

¹⁸Asa then took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple^x and of his own palace. He entrusted it to his officials and sent^y them to Ben-Hadad^z son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. ¹⁹“Let there be a treaty^a between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”

²⁰Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. He conquered^b Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maakah and all Kinnereth in addition to Naphtali. ²¹When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah^c and withdrew to Tirzah.^{d 22}Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah—no one was exempt—and they carried away from Ramah^e the stones and timber Baasha had been using there. With them King Asa^f built up Geba^g in Benjamin, and also Mizpah.^h

²³As for all the other events of Asa’s reign, all his achievements, all he did and the cities he built, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? In his old age, however, his feet became diseased. ²⁴Then Asa rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of his father David. And Jehoshaphatⁱ his son succeeded him as king.

Nadab King of Israel

²⁵Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶He did evil^j in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of his father^k and committing the same sin his father had caused Israel to commit.

²⁷Baasha son of Ahijah from the tribe of Issachar plotted against him, and he struck him down^l at Gibbethon,^m a Philistine town, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging it. ²⁸Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah and succeeded him as king.

²⁹As soon as he began to reign, he killed Jeroboam’s whole family.ⁿ He did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breathed, but destroyed them all, according to the word of the Lord given through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. ³⁰This happened because of the sins^o Jeroboam had committed and had caused^p Israel to commit, and because he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel.

³¹As for the other events of Nadab’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals^q of the kings of Israel? ³²There was war^r between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns.

Baasha King of Israel

³³In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel in Tirzah,^s and he reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴He did evil^t in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.