1 Kings 14
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Disaster on the House of Jeroboam
14 At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became sick.(A) 2 Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go disguise yourself,(B) so they won’t know that you’re Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh.(C) Ahijah the prophet is there; it was he who told about me becoming king over this people.(D) 3 Take with you 10 loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey,(E) and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”
4 Jeroboam’s wife did that: she went to Shiloh and arrived at Ahijah’s house. Ahijah could not see; his gaze was fixed[a] due to his age.(F) 5 But the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming soon to ask you about her son, for he is sick. You are to say such and such to her. When she arrives, she will be disguised.”(G)
6 When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet entering the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you disguised?(H) I have bad news for you. 7 Go tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I raised you up from among the people, appointed you ruler over My people Israel, 8 tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you.(I) But you were not like My servant David, who kept My commands and followed Me with all of his heart, doing only what is right in My eyes. 9 You behaved more wickedly than all who were before you.(J) In order to provoke Me, you have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and cast images,(K) but you have flung Me behind your back.(L) 10 Because of all this, I am about to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam:
I will eliminate all of Jeroboam’s males,[b]
both slave and free,[c] in Israel;
I will sweep away the house of Jeroboam
as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone!(M)
11 Anyone who belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city,
the dogs will eat,
and anyone who dies in the field,
the birds of the sky will eat,(N)
for the Lord has said it!’
12 “As for you, get up and go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the boy will die.(O) 13 All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He alone out of Jeroboam’s house will be put in the family tomb, because out of the house of Jeroboam the Lord God of Israel found something good only in him.(P) 14 The Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel, who will eliminate the house of Jeroboam.(Q) This is the day, yes,[d] even today! 15 For the Lord will strike Israel and the people will shake as a reed shakes in water. He will uproot Israel from this good soil that He gave to their ancestors.(R) He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates(S) because they made their Asherah poles, provoking the Lord.(T) 16 He will give up Israel because of Jeroboam’s sins that he committed and caused Israel to commit.”(U)
17 Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left and went to Tirzah.(V) As she was crossing the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18 He was buried, and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through His servant Ahijah the prophet.(W)
19 As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, how he waged war(X) and how he reigned, note that they are written in the Historical Record of Israel’s Kings. 20 The length of Jeroboam’s reign was 22 years. He rested with his fathers, and his son Nadab became king in his place.(Y)
Judah’s King Rehoboam
21 Now Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, reigned in Judah.(Z) Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king; he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city where Yahweh had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name.(AA) Rehoboam’s mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.(AB)
22 Judah did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes.(AC) They provoked Him to jealous anger(AD) more than all that their ancestors had done with the sins they committed. 23 They also built for themselves high places,(AE) sacred pillars,(AF) and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree; 24 there were even male cult prostitutes in the land.(AG) They imitated all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.(AH)
25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt(AI) went to war against Jerusalem.(AJ) 26 He seized the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the treasuries of the royal palace. He took everything. He took all the gold shields that Solomon had made.(AK) 27 King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them into the care of the captains of the royal escorts[e](AL) who guarded the entrance to the king’s palace. 28 Whenever the king entered the Lord’s temple, the royal escorts would carry the shields, then they would take them back to the royal escorts’ armory.(AM)
29 The rest of the events of Rehoboam’s reign,(AN) along with all his accomplishments, are written about in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings. 30 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their reigns.(AO) 31 Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.(AP) His son Abijam[f](AQ) became king in his place.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 14:4 Lit see, for his eyes stood; 1Sm 4:15
- 1 Kings 14:10 Lit eliminate Jeroboam’s one who urinates against the wall
- 1 Kings 14:10 Hb obscure
- 1 Kings 14:14 Hb obscure
- 1 Kings 14:27 Lit the runners
- 1 Kings 14:31 = Abijah in 2Ch 13
1 Kings 14
King James Version
14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.
3 And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.
4 And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.
5 And the Lord said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.
6 And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.
7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,
8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes;
9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:
10 Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.
11 Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the Lord hath spoken it.
12 Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.
13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.
14 Moreover the Lord shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.
15 For the Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger.
16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.
17 And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;
18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.
19 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.
21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
22 And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.
23 For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
24 And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.
25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:
26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
27 And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's house.
28 And it was so, when the king went into the house of the Lord, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.
29 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 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.
1 Kings 14
New King James Version
Judgment on the House of Jeroboam
14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. 2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please arise, and disguise yourself, that they may not recognize you as the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Indeed, Ahijah the prophet is there, who told me that (A)I would be king over this people. 3 (B)Also take [a]with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him; he will tell you what will become of the child.” 4 And Jeroboam’s wife did so; she arose (C)and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were [b]glazed by reason of his age.
5 Now the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Here is the wife of Jeroboam, coming to ask you something about her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus you shall say to her; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend to be another woman.”
6 And so it was, when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another person? For I have been sent to you with bad news. 7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: (D)“Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, 8 and (E)tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as My servant David, (F)who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes; 9 but you have done more evil than all who were before you, (G)for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and (H)have cast Me behind your back— 10 therefore behold! (I)I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and (J)will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, (K)bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone. 11 The dogs shall eat (L)whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the Lord has spoken!” ’ 12 Arise therefore, go to your own house. (M)When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. 13 And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one of Jeroboam who shall [c]come to the grave, because in him (N)there is found something good toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.
14 (O)“Moreover the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam; [d]this is the day. What? Even now! 15 For the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water. He will (P)uproot Israel from this (Q)good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them (R)beyond [e]the River, (S)because they have made their [f]wooden images, provoking the Lord to anger. 16 And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, (T)who sinned and who made Israel sin.”
17 Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed, and came to (U)Tirzah. (V)When she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, (W)according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.
Death of Jeroboam
19 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he (X)made war and how he reigned, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 20 The period that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. So he rested with his fathers. Then (Y)Nadab his son reigned in his place.
Rehoboam Reigns in Judah(Z)
21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. (AA)Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king. He reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city (AB)which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. (AC)His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. 22 (AD)Now Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they (AE)provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For they also built for themselves (AF)high[g] places, (AG)sacred pillars, and (AH)wooden images on every high hill and (AI)under every green tree. 24 (AJ)And there were also [h]perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the (AK)abominations of the nations which the Lord had cast out before the children of (AL)Israel.
25 (AM)It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. 26 (AN)And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything. He also took away all the gold shields (AO)which Solomon had made. 27 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and [i]committed them to the hands of the captains of the [j]guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. 28 And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards carried them, then brought them back into the guardroom.
29 (AP)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 And there was (AQ)war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. 31 (AR)So Rehoboam [k]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. (AS)His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. Then (AT)Abijam[l] his son reigned in his place.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 14:3 Lit. in your hand
- 1 Kings 14:4 Lit. set
- 1 Kings 14:13 Be buried
- 1 Kings 14:14 Or this day and from now on
- 1 Kings 14:15 The Euphrates
- 1 Kings 14:15 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
- 1 Kings 14:23 Places for pagan worship
- 1 Kings 14:24 Heb. qadesh, one practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals
- 1 Kings 14:27 entrusted
- 1 Kings 14:27 Lit. runners
- 1 Kings 14:31 Died and joined his ancestors
- 1 Kings 14:31 Abijah, 2 Chr. 12:16ff
1 Kings 14
Easy-to-Read Version
Jeroboam’s Son Dies
14 At that time Jeroboam’s son Abijah became very sick. 2 Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go to Shiloh and see the prophet Ahijah. He is the one who said that I would become king of Israel. Dress yourself so that people will not know that you are my wife. 3 Give the prophet ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey. Then ask him what will happen to our son, and he will tell you.”
4 So the king’s wife did what he said. She went to the home of Ahijah the prophet in Shiloh. Ahijah was very old and had become blind. 5 But the Lord said to him, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son because he is sick. I will tell you what to say to her.”
When she came to Ahijah’s house, she pretended to be someone else. 6 But when Ahijah heard her coming to the door, he said, “Come in! I know who you are. You are Jeroboam’s wife. Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have some bad news for you. 7 Go back and tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jeroboam, I chose you from among all the Israelites. I made you the ruler of my people. 8 David’s family was ruling the kingdom of Israel, but I took the kingdom away from them and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David. He always obeyed my commands and followed me with his whole heart. He did only what I accepted. 9 But you have sinned worse than anyone who ruled before you. You stopped following me and made other gods for yourself. You made those statues to make me angry. 10 So Jeroboam, I will bring troubles to your family. I will kill all the men in your family. I will destroy your family completely, like fire burning up dung. 11 Anyone from your family who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs. And anyone from your family who dies in the fields will be eaten by birds. The Lord has spoken.’”
12 Then Ahijah said, “Now, go home. Your son will die as soon as you enter the city. 13 All Israel will cry for him. They will bury him, but he is the only one from Jeroboam’s family who will be buried. This is because he is the only one in Jeroboam’s family who pleased the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Soon, the Lord will put a new king over Israel who will destroy Jeroboam’s family. 15 Then the Lord will punish Israel. The Israelites will be so full of fear that they will shake like tall grass in the water. He will pull Israel up from this good land that he gave their ancestors. He will scatter them to the other side of the Euphrates River. The Lord will do this because the people made him angry when they built sacred poles.[a] 16 He will let the Israelites be defeated because Jeroboam sinned, and then he made the Israelites sin.”
17 Jeroboam’s wife went back to Tirzah. As soon as she stepped into the house, the boy died. 18 They buried him and all the people of Israel cried for him. This happened just as the Lord said it would through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.
19 The rest of what King Jeroboam did is written in the book, The History of the Kings of Israel. It includes the wars he fought and the way he ruled. 20 Jeroboam ruled as king for 22 years. Then he died and was buried with his ancestors.[b] His son Nadab became the new king after him.
Rehoboam, King of Judah
21 Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, was 41 years old when he became king of Judah. Rehoboam ruled 17 years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose for his own. He chose this city from all the other tribes of Israel. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah. She was an Ammonite.
22 The people of Judah did things that the Lord considered evil. They made him angry with all their sins—more than any of their ancestors had done. 23 They built high places, memorial stones, and sacred poles.[c] They built them on every high hill and under every green tree. 24 There were also men who served other gods by selling their bodies for sex.[d] So the people of Judah were worse than the people who had lived in the land before them. And the Lord took the land away from those people to give it to the Israelites.
25 In the fifth year that Rehoboam was king, King Shishak of Egypt came to attack Jerusalem. 26 He took the treasures from the Lord’s Temple and from the king’s palace. He even took the gold shields that David had taken from the officers of King Hadadezer of Aram and put on the walls of Jerusalem.[e] 27 King Rehoboam made more shields to put in their places, but they were made from bronze. He gave them to the guards on duty at the palace gates. 28 Every time the king went to the Lord’s Temple, the guards took out the shields and went with him. After they were finished, they put the shields back on the wall in the guardroom.
29 The rest of what King Rehoboam did is written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah. 30 Rehoboam and Jeroboam were always fighting against each other.
31 Rehoboam died[f] and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. (His mother was Naamah. She was an Ammonite.) Rehoboam’s son Abijah became the next king after him.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 14:15 sacred poles People used these things to worship false gods.
- 1 Kings 14:20 died … ancestors Literally, “slept with his ancestors.”
- 1 Kings 14:23 high places, memorial stones, and sacred poles People used these things to worship false gods.
- 1 Kings 14:24 men … for sex Sexual sins like this were a part of the way people worshiped the Canaanite gods.
- 1 Kings 14:26 He even took … Jerusalem This is from the ancient Greek version. The standard Hebrew text has “He even took the gold shields that Solomon had made.”
- 1 Kings 14:31 died Literally, “slept with his ancestors.”
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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