The Holy Bible

[12:16] And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents.

[12:17] But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah.

[12:18] Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

[12:19] So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

[12:20] And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only.

[12:21] When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

[12:22] But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God:

[12:23] “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people,

[12:24] ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and went home again, according to the word of the Lord.

[12:25] Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel.

[12:26] And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David.

[12:27] If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

[12:28] So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

[12:29] And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

[12:30] Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.

[12:31] He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites.

[12:32] And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.

[12:33] He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to make offerings.

[13:1] And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings.

[13:2] And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’”

[13:3] And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’”

[13:4] And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself.

[13:5] The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

[13:6] And the king said to the man of God, “Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him and became as it was before.

[13:7] And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”

[13:8] And the man of God said to the king, “If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place,

[13:9] for so was it commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came.’”

[13:10] So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.

[13:11] Now an old prophet lived in Bethel. And his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told to their father the words that he had spoken to the king.

[13:12] And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone.

[13:13] And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he mounted it.

[13:14] And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.”

[13:15] Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”

[13:16] And he said, “I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place,

[13:17] for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.’”

[13:18] And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him.

[13:19] So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.

[13:20] And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back.

[13:21] And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the command that the Lord your God commanded you,

[13:22] but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’”

[13:23] And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.

[13:24] And as he went away a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body.

[13:25] And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.

[13:26] And when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word that the Lord spoke to him.”

[13:27] And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it.

[13:28] And he went and found his body thrown in the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or torn the donkey.

[13:29] And the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back to the city to mourn and to bury him.

[13:30] And he laid the body in his own grave. And they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!”

[13:31] And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.

[13:32] For the saying that he called out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass.”

[13:33] After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he ordained to be priests of the high places.

[13:34] And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.

[14:1] At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

[14:2] And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people.

[14:3] Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.”

[14:4] Jeroboam’s wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age.

[14:5] And the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.” When she came, she pretended to be another woman.

[14:6] But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you.

[14:7] Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel

[14:8] and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes,

[14:9] but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back,

[14:10] therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone.

[14:11] Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the Lord has spoken it.”’

[14:12] Arise therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die.

[14:13] 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 something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.

[14:14] Moreover, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth,

[14:15] the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger.

[14:16] And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.”

[14:17] Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah. And as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died.

[14:18] And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.

[14:19] Now 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.

[14:20] And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

[14:21] Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.

[14:22] And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done.

[14:23] For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree,

[14:24] and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

[14:25] In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem.

[14:26] 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 shields of gold that Solomon had made,

[14:27] and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house.

[14:28] And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.

[14:29] 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?

[14:30] And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

[14:31] And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Abijam his son reigned in his place.

[15:1] Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah.

[15:2] He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

[15:3] And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father.

[15:4] Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem,

[15:5] because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

[15:6] Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.

[15:7] The rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

[15:8] And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place.

[15:9] In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah,

[15:10] and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

[15:11] And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done.

[15:12] He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

[15:13] He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron.

[15:14] But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days.

[15:15] And he brought into the house of the Lord the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels.

[15:16] And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

[15:17] Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

[15:18] Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house and gave them into the hands of his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying,

[15:19] “Let there be a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.”

[15:20] And Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-Beth-Maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.

[15:21] And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and he lived in Tirzah.

[15:22] Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, none was exempt, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

[15:23] Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But in his old age he was diseased in his feet.

[15:24] And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

[15:25] Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.

[15:26] He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

[15:27] Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.

[15:28] So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his place.

[15:29] And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite.

[15:30] It was for the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and that he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.

[15:31] Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

[15:32] And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.