1 Kings 14

14 ¹ At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam fell sick. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, "Get up now and disguise yourself, so no one will know you are Jeroboam's wife, and go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there, the one who told me I would be king over this people. ³ Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy."

⁴ Jeroboam's wife did so. She set out for Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could no longer see, for his eyes had grown dim with age.

⁵ But our Father had said to Ahijah, "Jeroboam's wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is sick. Say such and such to her; when she arrives, she will be pretending to be another woman."

⁶ So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet at the door, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be someone else? I have been sent to you with heavy news.

⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, 'This is what our Father, the God of Israel, says: I raised you up from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel. ⁸ I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you. Yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. ⁹ You have done more evil than all who came before you. You have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and you have thrust me behind your back. ¹⁰ Therefore I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, slave and free alike, and I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns away dung until it is gone. ¹¹ Those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city the dogs will eat, and those who die in the open country the birds of the sky will eat. For our Father has spoken.'

¹² As for you, get up and go home. When your feet enter the city, the child will die. ¹³ All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He alone of Jeroboam's house will come to the grave, because in him our Father, the God of Israel, found something good in the house of Jeroboam. ¹⁴ Moreover, our Father will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam this very day—even now. ¹⁵ Our Father will strike Israel until it sways like a reed in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they made their Asherah poles, provoking him to anger. ¹⁶ He will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam committed and made Israel commit.

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam's wife got up and left and went to Tirzah. As she crossed the threshold of the house, the boy died. ¹⁸ All Israel buried him and mourned for him, just as our Father had said through his servant Ahijah the prophet.

Jeroboam's Reign Comes to an End

¹⁹ The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he waged war and how he reigned, are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ²⁰ Jeroboam reigned twenty-two years, and then he rested with his ancestors, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam Reigns in Judah

²¹ Now 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 our Father had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonite. ²² Judah did what was evil in the sight of our Father, and by the sins they committed they stirred him to jealousy more than all their ancestors had done. ²³ They too built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. ²⁴ There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. The people followed all the detestable practices of the nations our Father had driven out before the Israelites.

Shishak Strips the Temple

²⁵ In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt marched up against Jerusalem. ²⁶ He carried off the treasures of the house of our Father and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. ²⁷ So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and entrusted them to the commanders of the guard who watched the entrance to the royal palace. ²⁸ Whenever the king went to the house of our Father, the guards would carry the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.

²⁹ The rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ³⁰ There was continual war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ³¹ Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonite. And Abijam his son reigned in his place.