1 ARST At that time, Jeroboam’ s son Abijah became very sick. BSB BSB: At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill,
2 ARST Jeroboam said to his wife,“Disguise yourself in order that no one will recognize that you are my wife. Then go to the city of Shiloh, where the prophet Ahijah lives. He is the one who predicted that I would become the king of Israel. BSB BSB: and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Now get up, disguise yourself so they will not recognize you as my wife, and go to Shiloh. For Ahijah the prophet is there; it was he who spoke about my kingship over this people.
3 ARST 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.” BSB BSB: Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the boy.”
4 ARST So his wife went to Shiloh, to Ahijah’ s house. Ahijah was unable to see, because he was very old and had become blind. BSB BSB: Jeroboam’s wife did as instructed; she arose and went to Shiloh and arrived at Ahijah’s house. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age.
5 ARST 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. BSB BSB: But the LORD had said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill. You are to say such and such to her, because when she arrives, she will be disguised.”
6 ARST 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? Yahweh has given me bad news to tell you. BSB BSB: So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet entering the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you disguised? For I have been sent to you with bad news.
7 ARST Go and tell Jeroboam that this is what Yahweh, the God whom we Israelites worship, says to you:‘I chose you from among the common people and enabled you to become the king of my Israelite people. BSB BSB: Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over My people Israel.
8 ARST 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. BSB BSB: I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you. But you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and followed Me with all his heart, doing only what was right in My eyes.
9 ARST But you have done more evil things 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. BSB BSB: You have done more evil than all who came before you. You have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me, and you have flung Me behind your back.
10 ARST 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 just like a man completely burns dung to cook his food. BSB BSB: Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns up dung until it is gone!
11 ARST 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 out in the open fields will be eaten by vultures. This will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said that it will happen.’ BSB BSB: Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.’ For the LORD has spoken.
12 ARST So go back home. And as soon as you enter the city, your son will die. BSB BSB: As for you, get up and go home. When your feet enter the city, the child will die.
13 ARST All the Israelite 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 at all pleased. BSB BSB: All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. For this is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will receive a proper burial, because only in him has the LORD, the God of Israel, found any good in the house of Jeroboam.
14 ARST 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! BSB BSB: Moreover, the LORD will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam. This is the day—yes, even today!
15 ARST 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 Israelite 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. BSB BSB: For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger.
16 ARST Yahweh will abandon the Israelite people because of the sins that Jeroboam committed, sins which induced the Israelite people to commit them.” BSB BSB: So He will give Israel over on account of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”
17 ARST Jeroboam’ s wife returned home to the city of Tirzah, the new capital of Israel. And just as she entered her house, her son died. BSB BSB: Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and departed for Tirzah, and as soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died.
18 ARST All the Israelite people mourned for him and buried him, which is what Yahweh had told his servant, the prophet Ahijah, would happen. BSB BSB: And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servant Ahijah the prophet.
19 ARST Everything else that Jeroboam did, and the record of wars that his army fought, and how he ruled, is written in the book of the events of the Kings of Israel. BSB BSB: As for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he waged war and how he reigned, they are indeed written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
20 ARST Jeroboam ruled for twenty- two years. Then he died, and his son Nadab became king. BSB BSB: And the length of Jeroboam’s reign was twenty-two years, and he rested with his fathers, and his son Nadab reigned in his place.
21 ARST Solomon’ s son Rehoboam ruled Judah. He was forty- one years old when he started to rule, and he ruled for seventeen 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. Rehoboam’ s mother’ s name was Naamah. She was from the Ammon people group. BSB BSB: Meanwhile, 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 the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to put His Name. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.
22 ARST The people of Judah did many things that Yahweh said were 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. BSB BSB: And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and by the sins they committed they provoked Him to jealous anger more than all their fathers had done.
23 ARST They built places to worship those gods. On high hills and under big trees they set up pillars and poles for worshiping Asherah. BSB BSB: They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
24 ARST Also, there were male prostitutes at these places of worship. The Israelite people did the same disgraceful things that had been done by the people whom Yahweh had expelled while the Israelites were advancing through the land. BSB BSB: There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
26 ARST 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. BSB BSB: He seized the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields that Solomon had made.
27 ARST King Rehoboam’ s workers made bronze shields to replace them and put them into the hands of officers who guarded the entrance to the king’ s palace. BSB BSB: Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.
28 ARST 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. BSB BSB: And whenever the king entered the house of the LORD, the guards would bear the shields, and later they would return them to the guardroom.
29 ARST Everything else that Rehoboam did is written in the book of the events of the Kings of Judah. BSB BSB: As for the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, along with all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
30 ARST There were wars continually between the armies of Rehoboam and Jeroboam. BSB BSB: There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their days.
31 ARST Then Rehoboam died, and he was buried in the part of Jerusalem called the city of David, where his ancestors were buried. His mother’ s name was Naamah the Ammonite woman. Then his son Abijah became the king. BSB BSB: And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David; his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And his son Abijam reigned in his place.
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