1 At that time Abiiah the sonne of Ieroboam fell sicke. 2 And Ieroboam saide vnto his wife, Vp, I pray thee, and disguise thy selfe, that they know not that thou art the wife of Ieroboam, and goe to Shiloh: for there is Ahiiah the Prophet, which tolde mee that I shoulde bee King ouer this people, 3 And take with thee tenne loaues and craknels, and a bottell of honie, and go to him: hee shall tell thee what shall become of the yong man. 4 And Ieroboams wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahiiah: but Ahiiah could not see, for his sight was decayed for his age. 5 Then the Lord saide vnto Ahiiah, Beholde, the wife of Ieroboam commeth to aske a thing of thee for her sonne, for he is sicke: thus and thus shalt thou say vnto her: for when shee commeth in, shee shall feine her selfe to be another. 6 Therefore when Ahiiah heard the sounde of her feete as shee came in at the doore, hee saide, Come in, thou wife of Ieroboam: why feinest thou thus thy selfe to bee an other? I am sent to thee with heauie tidings. 7 Goe, tel Ieroboam, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Forasmuch as I haue exalted thee from among the people, and haue made thee prince ouer my people Israel, 8 And haue rent the kingdome away from the house of Dauid, and haue giuen it thee, and thou hast not bene as my seruant Dauid, which kept my commandements, and followed mee with all his heart, and did onely that which was right in mine eyes, 9 But hast done euil aboue al that were before thee (for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to prouoke me, and hast cast me behinde thy backe) 10 Therefore beholde, I will bring euill vpon the house of Ieroboam, and will cut off from Ieroboam him that pisseth against the wall, aswell him that is shut vp, as him that is left in Israel, and will sweepe away the remnant of the house of Ieroboam, as a man sweepeth away doung, till it be all gone. 11 The dogges shall eate him of Ieroboams stocke that dyeth in the citie, and the foules of the aire shall eate him that dyeth in the fielde: for the Lord hath said it. 12 Vp therefore and get thee to thine house: for when thy feete enter into the citie, the childe shall die. 13 And al Israel shall mourne for him, and burie him: for he onely of Ieroboam shall come to the graue, because in him there is found some goodnes towarde the Lord God of Israel in the house of Ieroboam. 14 Moreouer, the Lord shall stirre him vp a King ouer Israel, which shall destroy the house of Ieroboam in that day: what? yea, euen nowe. 15 For the Lord shall smite Israel, as when a reede is shaken in the water, and hee shall weede Israel out of his good lad, which he gaue to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the Riuer, because they haue made them groues, prouoking the Lord to anger. 16 And he shall giue Israel vp, because of the sinnes of Ieroboam, who did sinne, and made Israel to sinne. 17 And Ieroboams wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah, and when shee came to the threshold of the house, the yong man dyed, 18 And they buried him, and all Israel lamented him; according to the word of the Lord, which hee spake by the hand of his seruant Ahiiah the Prophet. 19 And the rest of Ieroboams actes, how hee warred, and howe hee reigned, beholde, they are written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 20 And the dayes which Ieroboam reigned, were two and twentie yeere: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his sonne reigned in his steade. 21 Also Rehoboam the sonne of Salomon reigned in Iudah. Rehoboam was one and fourtie yere olde, when he began to reigne, and reigned seuenteene yere in Ierusalem, the citie which the Lord did chuse out of al the tribes of Israel, to put his Name there: and his mothers name was Naamah an Ammonite. 22 And Iudah wrought wickednesse in the sight of the Lord: and they prouoked him more with their sinnes, which they had committed, then all that which their fathers had done. 23 For they also made them hie places, and images, and groues on euery hie hill, and vnder euery greene tree. 24 There were also Sodomites in the lande, they did according to all the abominations of the nations, which the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 25 And in the fift yere of King Rehoboam, Shishak King of Egypt came vp against Ierusale, 26 And tooke the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the Kings house, and tooke away all: also he caried away all the shields of golde which Salomon had made. 27 And King Rehoboam made for them brasen shieldes, and committed them vnto ye hands of the chiefe of the garde, which wayted at the doore of the Kings house. 28 And when the King went into the house of the Lord, the garde bare them, and brought them againe into the gard chamber. 29 And the rest of the actes of Rehoboam, and all that hee did, are they not written in the booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah? 30 And there was warre betweene Rehoboam and Ieroboam continually. 31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the citie of Dauid: his mothers name was Naamah an Ammonite. And Abiiam his sonne reigned in his stead.
The Death of Jeroboam's Son
1 At that time King Jeroboam's son Abijah got sick. 2 Jeroboam said to his wife, “Disguise yourself so that no one will recognize you, and go to Shiloh, where the prophet Ahijah lives, the one who said I would be king of Israel. 3 Take him ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey. Ask him what is going to happen to our son, and he will tell you.”
4 So she went to Ahijah's home in Shiloh. Old age had made Ahijah blind. 5 The Lord had told him that Jeroboam's wife was coming to ask him about her son, who was sick. And the Lord told Ahijah what to say.
When Jeroboam's wife arrived, she pretended to be someone else. 6 But when Ahijah heard her coming in the door, he said, “Come in. I know you are Jeroboam's wife. Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have bad news for you. 7 Go and tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to him: ‘I chose you from among the people and made you the ruler of my people Israel. 8 I took the kingdom away from David's descendants and gave it to you. But you have not been like my servant David, who was completely loyal to me, obeyed my commands, and did only what I approve of. 9 You have committed far greater sins than those who ruled before you. You have rejected me and have aroused my anger by making idols and metal images to worship. 10 Because of this I will bring disaster on your dynasty and will kill all your male descendants, young and old alike. I will get rid of your family; they will be swept away like dung. 11 Any members of your family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”
12 And Ahijah went on to say to Jeroboam's wife, “Now go back home. As soon as you enter the town, your son will die. 13 All the people of Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He will be the only member of Jeroboam's family who will be properly buried, because he is the only one with whom the Lord, the God of Israel, is pleased. 14 The Lord is going to place a king over Israel who will put an end to Jeroboam's dynasty. 15 The Lord will punish Israel, and she will shake like a reed shaking in a stream. He will uproot the people of Israel from this good land which he gave to their ancestors, and he will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they have aroused his anger by making idols of the goddess Asherah. 16 The Lord will abandon Israel because Jeroboam sinned and led the people of Israel into sin.”
17 Jeroboam's wife went back to Tirzah. Just as she entered her home, the child died. 18 The people of Israel mourned for him and buried him, as the Lord had said through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.
The Death of Jeroboam
19 Everything else that King Jeroboam did, the wars he fought and how he ruled, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. 20 Jeroboam ruled as king for twenty-two years. He died and was buried, and his son Nadab succeeded him as king.
King Rehoboam of Judah
(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.15)
21 Solomon's son Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the territory of Israel as the place where he was to be worshiped. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah from Ammon.
22 The people of Judah sinned against the Lord and did more to arouse his anger against them than all their ancestors had done. 23 They built places of worship for false gods and put up stone pillars and symbols of Asherah to worship on the hills and under shady trees. 24 Worst of all, there were men and women who served as prostitutes at those pagan places of worship. The people of Judah practiced all the shameful things done by the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced into the country.
25 In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26 He took away all the treasures in the Temple and in the palace, including the gold shields Solomon had made. 27 To replace them, King Rehoboam made bronze shields and entrusted them to the officers responsible for guarding the palace gates. 28 Every time the king went to the Temple, the guards carried the shields and then returned them to the guardroom.
29 Everything else that King Rehoboam did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. 30 During all this time Rehoboam and Jeroboam were constantly at war with each other. 31 Rehoboam died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City and his son Abijah succeeded him as king.