1 Kings 14
1 At that time, Jeroboam’s son Abijah became very sick.
It was at that time that Abijah, Jeroboam's son, fell ill.
2 Jeroboam said to his wife, “Disguise yourself, in order that no one will recognize that you are my wife. Then go to Shiloh [city], where the prophet Ahijah [lives]. He is the one who predicted/prophesied that I would become the king of Israel.
So Jeroboam told his wife, “Please go and disguise yourself so nobody will know you're Jeroboam's wife. Then go to Shiloh and look for Ahijah the prophet. He was the one who told me I would become king over this people.
3 Take with you ten [loaves of] bread and some small flat cakes, and a jar of honey, [and give them] to him. [Tell him about] our son, [and] he will tell you what will happen to him.”
Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey for him. He will explain to you what will happen to the boy.”
4 So his wife went to Shiloh, to Ahijah’s house. Ahijah was unable to see, because he was very old and had become blind.
Jeroboam's wife did as she was told. She got up and went to Ahijah's house in Shiloh. Ahijah could not see—he had become blind because of his age.
5 But [before she got there, ] Yahweh told Ahijah that Jeroboam’s wife was coming to inquire about their son, who was very sick. And Yahweh told Ahijah what he should tell her. When she came to him, she pretended to be another woman.
But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Look, Jeroboam's wife is coming to ask you about her son, because he's ill. This is what you are to tell her, because she'll come in disguise.”
6 But when Ahijah heard her footsteps as she entered the doorway, he said to her, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam! (Why do you pretend that you are someone else?/It will not help you to pretend that you are someone else.) [RHQ] [Yahweh] has given me bad news to tell you.
So as soon as Ahijah heard her footsteps at the door, he called out, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why do you bother coming in disguise? I have been given some bad news for you.
7 Go and tell Jeroboam that this is what Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], says to you: ‘I chose you from among the common people and enabled you to become the king of my Israeli people.
Go and tell Jeroboam this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I picked you from the masses and I made you ruler over my people Israel.
8 I took [most of] the kingdom of Israel away from David’s descendants and gave it to you. But you have not been like David, who served me [very well]. He obeyed all my commandments very sincerely, doing only things that I considered to be right.
I took the kingdom from the house of David and gave it to you. But you were not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and was totally committed to following me, only doing what was right in my sight.
9 But you have done more evil things/deeds than all those [who ruled] before you. You have rejected me, and you have caused me to become very angry by making metal images of other gods so that you [and others] could worship them.
You have done more evil than all those who lived before you. You have gone and made other gods for yourself, idols made of molten metal that made me angry. You have tossed me aside.
10 ‘So, I am going to cause terrible things to happen to your family. I will cause all your male descendants to die, young ones and old ones. I will completely get rid of your family [MTY]. I will get rid of your family [MTY] just like a man completely burns dung [to cook his food].
Now pay attention, because as a result of this I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will totally exterminate every one of your descendants in Israel, whether slave or free. I will burn the house of Jeroboam like a man burning refuse until it's all gone.
11 [The corpses of] any members of your family who die in cities will be eaten by dogs. And [the corpses of] any members of your family who die in the open fields will be eaten by vultures. [This will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said [that it will happen].’
Those of Jeroboam's family who die in the town will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the countryside will be eaten by birds. For the Lord has spoken.
12 So go back home. And as soon as you enter the city, your son will die.
As for you, get up and go home. As soon as you arrive in the city, the child will die.
13 All the Israeli people will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one of Jeroboam’s family who will be buried [properly], because he is the only one of Jeroboam’s family with whom Yahweh is pleased.
All of Israel will mourn for him, and they will bury him. He alone of Jeroboam's family will be buried in a tomb because only in him has the Lord, the God of Israel found anything good—of the whole family of Jeroboam.
14 Furthermore, Yahweh will appoint for himself a king to rule over Israel who will get rid of Jeroboam’s descendants. And that [will start to happen] today!
The Lord will choose for himself a king to rule over Israel who will destroy the house of Jeroboam. This is starting to happen even now!
15 Yahweh will punish the people of Israel; he will shake them like [the wind] shakes the reeds [that grow in] a stream. He will expel the Israeli people from this good land that he gave to our ancestors. He will scatter them into countries east of [the Euphrates] River, because they have caused him to become very angry by [worshiping statues of] the goddess Asherah.
The Lord will strike Israel like a reed jerked to and fro by the water. He will pull up Israel by the roots from this good land that he gave their forefathers and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their pagan Asherah poles, making the Lord angry.
16 Yahweh will abandon the Israeli people because of the sins that Jeroboam committed, sins which led the Israeli people to commit them.”
He will abandon Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam, those that he committed himself, and those he made Israel commit.”
17 Jeroboam’s wife returned home to Tirzah [city, the new capital of Israel]. And just as she entered her house, her son died.
Jeroboam's wife got up and left for Tirzah. As soon as she stepped through the doorway of her home, the boy died.
18 All the Israeli people mourned for him and buried him, which is what Yahweh had told his servant, the prophet Ahijah, would happen.
All of Israel buried him and mourned for him, just as the Lord had said through his servant Ahijah the prophet.
19 Everything else that Jeroboam did, and the record of wars that his [army] fought, and how he ruled, is written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Israel’.
The rest of what Jeroboam did, how he engaged in warfare and how he reigned, they are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
20 Jeroboam ruled for 22 years; then he died [EUP] and his son Nadab became king.
Jeroboam reigned for twenty-two years, and then he died. His son Nadab succeeded him as king.
21 Solomon’s son Rehoboam ruled Judah. He was 41 years old when he started to rule, and he ruled for 17 years. He ruled in Jerusalem, which is the city that Yahweh chose out of all the tribes of Israel to be the place where he should be worshiped [MTY]. Rehoboam’s mother’s name was Naamah; she was from the Ammon people-group.
Rehoboam, son of Solomon, reigned in Judah. He was forty-one when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel where he would be honored. The name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonite.
22 The people of Judah did things that Yahweh considered to be evil. They caused him to become angry because they committed more sins than their ancestors had committed: They worshiped many other gods instead of worshiping only Yahweh.
Judah did what was evil in the Lord's sight, and because of the sins they committed they made his jealous anger even greater than all their fathers had done.
23 They built places to worship those gods; on high hills, and under big trees they set up [stone] pillars to worship the goddess Asherah.
They also set up for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
24 Also, there were male prostitutes at these places of worship. The Israeli people did the same disgraceful things that had been done by the people whom Yahweh had expelled while the Israelis were advancing through the land.
There were even cult prostitutes in the land. They followed all the disgusting practices of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.
25 When Rehoboam had been ruling for almost five years, King Shishak of Egypt came [with his army] to attack Jerusalem.
In the fifth year of King Rehoboam's reign, Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem.
26 They took away all the valuable things in the temple and in the king’s palace, including the gold shields that Solomon’s [workers] had made.
He took the treasures of the Lord's Temple and the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made.
27 King Rehoboam’s [workers] made bronze shields to replace them and entrusted them to officers who guarded the entrance to the king’s palace.
So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and handed them over to the captains of the guard to look after. They stood on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.
28 Every time that the king went into the temple, those guards carried those shields; and [when he left the temple] they returned the shields to the storeroom.
Whenever the king went to the Lord's Temple, the guards would carry the shields. Afterwards they returned them to the guardroom.
29 Everything else that Rehoboam did is written [RHQ] in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.
The rest of what happened in Rehoboam's reign and everything that he did are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.
30 There were wars continually between [the armies of] Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
Rehoboam and Jeroboam were always at war with each other.
31 Then Rehoboam died [EUP], and he was buried in [the part of Jerusalem called] ‘The City of David’, where his ancestors were buried. Then his son Abijah became the king.
Rehoboam died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. The name of his mother was Naamah the Ammonite. His son Abijam succeeded him as king.
