CHAPTER 14
and Jeroboam
said
to his wife,
“Please
arise,
disguise yourself
so they will not
recognize
you
as my wife,
and go
to Shiloh.
For
Ahijah
the prophet
is there;
it was he
who spoke
about my
kingship
over
this
people.
Take
with you
ten
loaves of bread,
some cakes,
and a jar
of honey,
and go
to him.
He
will tell
you
what
will become
of the boy.”
Jeroboam’s
wife
did
as instructed;
she arose
and went
to Shiloh
and arrived
at Ahijah’s
house.
Now Ahijah
could
not
see,
for
his eyes
were dim
because of his age.
But the LORD
had said
to
Ahijah,
“Behold,
the wife
of Jeroboam
is coming
to ask
you
about
her son,
for
he
is ill.
You are to say
such
and such
to her,
because
when she arrives,
she
will be disguised."
So
when Ahijah
heard
the sound
of her feet
entering
the door,
he said,
“Come in,
wife
of Jeroboam!
Why
are you
disguised?
For I
have been sent
to you
with bad news.
Go,
tell
Jeroboam
that this is what
the LORD,
the God
of Israel,
says:
‘I raised you up
from among
the people
and appointed you
ruler
over
My people
Israel.
I tore the kingdom
away
from the house
of David
and gave it
to you.
But you were
not
like My servant
David,
who
kept
My commandments
and
followed
Me with all
his heart,
doing
only
what was right
in My eyes.
You have done
more evil
than all
who
came
before you.
You have proceeded
to make
for yourself
other
gods
and cast images
to provoke
Me,
and you have flung Me
behind
your back.
Because of all this,
behold,
I am bringing
disaster
on
the house
of Jeroboam:
I will cut off
from Jeroboam
every male,
both slave
and free
in Israel;
I will sweep away
the house
of Jeroboam
as
one sweeps away
dung
until
it is gone!
Anyone belonging to Jeroboam
who dies
in the city
will be eaten
by dogs,
and anyone who dies
in the field
will be eaten
by the birds
of the air.
For
the LORD
has spoken.’
All
Israel
will mourn
for him
and bury
him,
for
this is
the only one
belonging to Jeroboam
who shall come
to
the grave,
because
only in him
has the LORD,
the God
of Israel,
found
any
good
in the house
of Jeroboam.
Moreover, the LORD
will raise up
for Himself
a king
over
Israel
who
will cut off
the house
of Jeroboam.
This
is the day—
yes, even
today!
For the LORD
will strike
Israel
as
a reed
is shaken
in the water.
He will uproot
Israel
from
this
good
land
that
He gave
their fathers
and scatter them
beyond
the Euphrates,
because
they have made
their Asherah poles,
provoking
the LORD to anger.
And He will give
Israel over
on account
of the sins
Jeroboam
has committed
and has caused Israel
to commit.”
Then Jeroboam’s
wife
got up
and departed
for
Tirzah,
and as soon as she
stepped over
the threshold
of the house,
the boy
died.
And they buried
him,
and all
Israel
mourned
for him,
according to the word
the LORD
had spoken
through
His servant
Ahijah
the prophet.
As for the rest
of the acts
of Jeroboam,
how
he waged war
and how
he reigned,
they are indeed
written
in
the Book
of the Chronicles
of the Kings
of Israel.
And the length
of Jeroboam’s
reign
was twenty-two
years,
and he rested
with
his fathers,
and his son
Nadab
reigned
in his place.
Meanwhile, Rehoboam
son
of Solomon
reigned
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
from all
the tribes
of Israel
in which
to put
His Name.
His mother's
name
was Naamah
the Ammonite.
And Judah
did
evil
in the sight
of the LORD,
and by the sins
they committed
they provoked Him to jealous anger
more than all
their fathers
had done.
They
also
built
for themselves
high places,
sacred pillars,
and Asherah poles
on
every
high
hill
and under
every
green
tree.
There were
even
male cult prostitutes
in the land.
They imitated
all
the abominations
of the nations
the LORD
had driven out
before
the Israelites.
He seized
the treasuries
of the house
of the LORD
and
of the royal
palace.
He took
everything,
including
all
the gold
shields
that
Solomon
had made.
So King
Rehoboam
made
bronze
shields
in their place
and committed them
to
the care
of the captains
of the guard
on duty
at the entrance
to the royal
palace.
And
whenever
the king
entered
the house
of the LORD,
the royal escorts
bore the shields
and then took them back
to
the guardroom.
As for the rest
of the acts
of Rehoboam,
along with all
that
he did,
are they
not
written
in
the Book
of the Chronicles
of the Kings
of Judah?
And Rehoboam
rested
with
his fathers
and was buried
with
his fathers
in the City
of David;
his mother’s
name
was Naamah
the Ammonite.
And his son
Abijam
became king
in his place.