1 Kings 14

1 At that time, Jeroboam’s son Abijah became very sick.

At that time Abia the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

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.

And Jeroboam said to his wife: Arise, and change thy dress, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Silo, where Ahias the prophet is, who told me, that I should reign 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 also with thee ten leaves, and cracknels, and a pot of honey, and go to him: for he will tell thee what shall become of this child.

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 he told her: and rising up went to Silo, and came to the house of Ahias: but he could not see, for his eyes were dim by reason 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.

And the Lord said to Ahias: Behold the wife of Jeroboam cometh in, to consult thee concerning her son that is sick: thus and thus shalt thou speak to her. So when she was coming in, and made as if she were another woman,

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.

Ahias heard the sound of her feet coming in at the door, and said: Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam: why dost thou feign thyself to be another? But I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.

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: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince 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.

And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to thee, and thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and followed me with all his heart, doing that which was well pleasing 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.

But hast done evil above all that were before thee, and hast made thee strange gods and molten gods, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:

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].

Therefore behold I will bring evils upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut of from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the last in Israel: and I will sweep away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as dung is swept away till all be clean.

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].’

Them that shall die of Jeroboam in the city, the dogs shall eat: and them that shall die in the field, the birds of the air shall devour: for the Lord hath spoken it.

12 So go back home. And as soon as you enter the city, your son will die.

Arise thou therefore, and go to thy house: and when thy feet shall be entering into the city, the child shall 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.

And all Israel shall mourn for him, and shall bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall be laid in a sepulchre, because in his regard there is found a good word from the Lord the God of Israel, in the house 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!

And the Lord hath appointed himself a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam in this day, and in this time:

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.

And the Lord God shall strike 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 to themselves groves, to provoke the Lord.

16 Yahweh will abandon the Israeli people because of the sins that Jeroboam committed, sins which led the Israeli people to commit them.”

And the Lord shall give up Israel for the sins of Jeroboam, who hath sinned, and made Israel to sin.

17 Jeroboam’s wife returned home to Tirzah [city, the new capital of Israel]. And just as she entered her house, her son died.

And the wife of Jeroboam arose, and departed, and came to Thersa: and when she was coming in to the threshold of the house, the child 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.

And they buried him. And all Israel mourned for him according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Ahias 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’.

And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he reigned, behold they are written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel.

20 Jeroboam ruled for 22 years; then he died [EUP] and his son Nadab became king.

And the days that Jeroboam reigned, were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers: and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

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.

And Roboam the son of Solomon reigned in Juda: Roboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem the city, which the Lord chose out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. And his mother’s name wee Naama an Ammonitess.

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.

And Juda did evil in the sight of the Lord, and provoked him above all that their fathers had done, in their sins which they committed.

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.

For they also built them altars, and statues, and groves upon 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 also the effeminate in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the people whom the Lord had destroyed before the face of the children of Israel.

25 When Rehoboam had been ruling for almost five years, King Shishak of Egypt came [with his army] to attack Jerusalem.

And in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Sesac king of Egypt came up against 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.

And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the king’s treasures, and carried all off: as also the shields of gold which 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.

And Roboam made shields of brass instead of them, and delivered them into the. hand of the captains of the shieldbearers, and of them that kept watch before the gate of the king’s house.

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.

And when the king went into the house of the Lord, they whose office it was to go before him, carried them: and afterwards they brought them back to the armoury of the shieldbearers.

29 Everything else that Rehoboam did is written [RHQ] in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.

Now the rest of the sets of Roboam, and all that he did, behold they are written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda.

30 There were wars continually between [the armies of] Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

And there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam always.

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.

And Roboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David: and his mother’s name was Naama an Ammonitess: and Abiam his son reigned in his stead.