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Ahijah Prophesies against the King

¹ At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick.² Jeroboam said to his wife, "Arise now, and ^(C1)disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to ^(C2)Shiloh; behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who ^(C3)spoke concerning me that I would be king over this people.³ "^(C1)Take ten loaves with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy."

⁴ Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose and went to ^(C1)Shiloh, and came to the house of ^(C2)Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, ^(C3)for his eyes were ^(F1)dim because of his age.⁵ Now the LORD had said to Ahijah, "Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to ^(F1)inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. You shall say thus and thus to her, for it will be when she arrives that ^(C1)she will pretend to be another woman."

⁶ When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet coming in the doorway, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why do you pretend to be another woman? For I am sent to you with a harsh message.⁷ "Go, say to Jeroboam, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel, "^(C1)Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel,⁸ and ^(C1)tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you--^(C2)yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, ^(C3)to do only that which was right in My sight;⁹ you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and ^(C1)have gone and made for yourself other gods and ^(C2)molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have ^(C3)cast Me behind your back--¹⁰ therefore behold, I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam, and ^(C1)will cut off from Jeroboam ^(F1)every male person, ^(C2)both bond and free in Israel, and I ^(C3)will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone.¹¹ "^(C1)Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat; for the LORD has spoken it."'¹² "Now you, arise, go to your house. ^(C1)When your feet enter the city the child will die.¹³ "All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for ^(F1)he alone of Jeroboam's family will come to the grave, because in him ^(C1)something good was found toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.¹⁴ "Moreover, ^(C1)the LORD will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam this day ^(F1)and from now on.

¹⁵ "For the LORD will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and ^(C1)He will uproot Israel from ^(C2)this good land which He gave to their fathers, and ^(C3)will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, ^(C4)because they have made their ^(F1)Asherim, provoking the LORD to anger.¹⁶ "He will give up Israel ^(C1)on account of the sins of Jeroboam, which he ^(F1)committed and with which he made Israel to sin."

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed and came to ^(C1)Tirzah. ^(C2)As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child died.^18 (C1)All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, ^(C1)how he made war and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.²⁰ The time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years; and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam Misleads Judah

^21 (C1)Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, ^(C2)the city which the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. And his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.^22 (C1)Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they ^(C2)provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with ^(F1)the sins which they ^(F2)committed.²³ For they also built for themselves ^(C1)high places and sacred ^(C2)pillars and ^(F1)(C3)Asherim on every high hill and ^(C4)beneath every luxuriant tree.²⁴ There were also ^(C1)male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel.

^25 (C1)Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem.²⁶ He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house, and ^(C1)he took everything, ^(F1)(C2)even taking all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.²⁷ So King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and ^(C1)committed them to the ^(F1)care of the commanders of the ^(F2)guard who guarded the doorway of the king's house.²⁸ Then it happened as often as the king entered the house of the LORD, that the ^(F1)guards would carry them and would bring them back into the ^(F1)guards' room.

^29 (C1)Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?^30 (C1)There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.³¹ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and ^(C1)his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. And Abijam his son became king in his place.