14
Jeroboam’s Son Dies
1 At that time Abijah, son of Jeroboam, got sick. 2 Jeroboam told his wife, “Go to Shiloh, but disguise yourself so that people will not recognize you as my wife. The prophet Ahijah, who told me I would be king of these people, is there. 3 Take ten loaves of bread, some raisins,* and a jar of honey with you, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.” 4 Jeroboam’s wife did this. She left, went to Shiloh, and came to the home of Ahijah.
Ahijah couldn’t see. His eyesight had failed because he was old. 5 However, the Lord had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son who is sick. When she comes, she will pretend to be someone else.” He also told Ahijah what to say to her.
6 Ahijah heard her footsteps when she came into the room. He said, “Come in. You’re Jeroboam’s wife. Why are you pretending to be someone else? I’ve been told to give you some terrible news. 7 Tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I picked you out of the people and made you a leader over my people Israel. 8 I tore the kingdom away from David’s heirs and gave it to you. But you have not been like my servant David. He obeyed my commands and faithfully followed me by doing only what I considered right. 9 You have done more evil things than everyone before you. You made other gods, metal idols, for yourself. You made me furious and turned your back to me.
10 “ ‘That is why I will bring disaster on Jeroboam’s house. I will destroy every male† in his house, whether slave or freeman in Israel. I will burn down Jeroboam’s house. It will burn like manure until it is gone. 11 If anyone from Jeroboam’s house dies in the city, dogs will eat him. If anyone dies in the country, birds will eat him.’ The Lord has said this!
12 “Get up, and go home. The moment you set foot in the city the child will die. 13 All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one of Jeroboam’s family who will be ⌞properly⌟ buried. He was the only one in Jeroboam’s house in whom the Lord God of Israel found anything good. 14 The Lord will appoint a king over Israel. That king will destroy Jeroboam’s house. This will happen today. It will happen right now.
15 “The Lord will strike Israel like cattails which shake in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land which he gave their ancestors. He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River because they dedicated poles to the goddess Asherah and made the Lord furious. 16 So the Lord will desert Israel because of Jeroboam’s sins, the sins which he led Israel to commit.”
17 Jeroboam’s wife got up, left, and went to Tirzah. When she walked across the threshold of her home, the boy died. 18 All Israel buried him and mourned for him as the Lord had said through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.
19 Everything else concerning Jeroboam, his wars, and his reign is written in the official records of the kings of Israel. 20 Jeroboam ruled for 22 years. Then he lay down in death with his ancestors. His son Nadab succeeded him as king.
King Rehoboam of Judah
(2 Chronicles 12:13–14)
21 Rehoboam, son of Solomon, ruled Judah. He was 41 years old when he began to rule. He ruled for 17 years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel, the city where the Lord put his name. Rehoboam’s mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah.
22 The people of Judah did what the Lord considered evil. Their sins made him more angry than anything their ancestors had done. 23 They built worship sites for themselves and ⌞put up⌟ large stones and Asherah poles to worship on every high hill and under every large tree. 24 There were even male prostitutes in the temples of idols throughout the land. The people of Judah did all the disgusting practices done by the nations that the Lord had forced out of the Israelites’ way.
King Shishak Takes the Temple Treasures
(2 Chronicles 12:2, 9–11, 15–16)
25 In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26 He took the treasures from the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He took them all. He took all the gold shields Solomon had made. 27 So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and put them by the entrance to the royal palace, where the captains of the guards were stationed. 28 Whenever the king went into the Lord’s temple, guards carried the shields and then returned them to the guardroom.
29 Isn’t everything else concerning Rehoboam—everything he did—written in the official records of the kings of Judah? 30 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam as long as they lived. 31 Rehoboam lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. (His mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah.) His son Abijam succeeded him as king.
* 14:3 Or “cakes.” † 14:10 Hebrew uses a coarse term for “male” here.