nkjv 1Kings:9-16 SEEK
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*
And it came to pass ,
when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the king '
s house ,
and all Solomon '
s desire which he wanted to do ,
*
that the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time ,
as He had appeared to him at Gibeon .
*
And the LORD said to him : "
I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me ;
I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever ,
and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually .
*
Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked ,
in integrity of heart and in uprightness ,
to do according to all that I have commanded you ,
and if you keep My statutes and My judgments ,
*
then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever ,
as I promised David your father ,
saying , "
You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel .'
*
But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me ,
and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you ,
but go and serve other gods and worship them ,
*
then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them ;
and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight .
Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples .
*
And as for this house ,
which is exalted ,
everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss ,
and say , "
Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house ?'
*
Then they will answer , "
Because they forsook the LORD their God ,
who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt ,
and have embraced other gods ,
and worshiped them and served them ;
therefore the LORD has brought all this calamity on them ."'
*
Now it happened at the end of twenty years ,
when Solomon had built the two houses ,
the house of the LORD and the king '
s house
* (
Hiram the king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress and gold ,
as much as he desired ),
that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee .
*
Then Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him ,
but they did not please him .
*
So he said , "
What kind of cities are these which you have given me ,
my brother ?"
And he called them the land of Cabul ,
as they are to this day .
*
Then Hiram sent the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold .
*
And this is the reason for the labor force which King Solomon raised :
to build the house of the LORD ,
his own house ,
the Millo ,
the wall of Jerusalem ,
Hazor ,
Megiddo ,
and Gezer .
* (
Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer and burned it with fire ,
had killed the Canaanites who dwelt in the city ,
and had given it as a dowry to his daughter ,
Solomon '
s wife .)
*
And Solomon built Gezer ,
Lower Beth Horon ,
*
Baalath ,
and Tadmor in the wilderness ,
in the land of Judah ,
*
all the storage cities that Solomon had ,
cities for his chariots and cities for his cavalry ,
and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem ,
in Lebanon ,
and in all the land of his dominion .
*
All the people who were left of the Amorites ,
Hittites ,
Perizzites ,
Hivites ,
and Jebusites ,
who were not of the children of Israel --
*
that is ,
their descendants who were left in the land after them ,
whom the children of Israel had not been able to destroy completely--from these Solomon raised forced labor ,
as it is to this day .
*
But of the children of Israel Solomon made no forced laborers ,
because they were men of war and his servants :
his officers ,
his captains ,
commanders of his chariots ,
and his cavalry .
*
Others were chiefs of the officials who were over Solomon '
s work :
five hundred and fifty ,
who ruled over the people who did the work .
*
But Pharaoh '
s daughter came up from the City of David to her house which Solomon had built for her .
Then he built the Millo .
*
Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for the LORD ,
and he burned incense with them on the altar that was before the LORD .
So he finished the temple .
*
King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion Geber ,
which is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea ,
in the land of Edom .
*
Then Hiram sent his servants with the fleet ,
seamen who knew the sea ,
to work with the servants of Solomon .
*
And they went to Ophir ,
and acquired four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there ,
and brought it to King Solomon .
*
Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD ,
she came to test him with hard questions .
*
She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue ,
with camels that bore spices ,
very much gold ,
and precious stones ;
and when she came to Solomon ,
she spoke with him about all that was in her heart .
*
So Solomon answered all her questions ;
there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her .
*
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon ,
the house that he had built ,
*
the food on his table ,
the seating of his servants ,
the service of his waiters and their apparel ,
his cupbearers ,
and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the LORD ,
there was no more spirit in her .
*
Then she said to the king : "
It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom .
*
However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes ;
and indeed the half was not told me .
Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard .
*
Happy are your men and happy are these your servants ,
who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom !
*
Blessed be the LORD your God ,
who delighted in you ,
setting you on the throne of Israel !
Because the LORD has loved Israel forever ,
therefore He made you king ,
to do justice and righteousness ."
*
Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold ,
spices in great quantity ,
and precious stones .
There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon .
*
Also ,
the ships of Hiram ,
which brought gold from Ophir ,
brought great quantities of almug wood and precious stones from Ophir .
*
And the king made steps of the almug wood for the house of the LORD and for the king '
s house ,
also harps and stringed instruments for singers .
There never again came such almug wood ,
nor has the like been seen to this day .
*
Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired ,
whatever she asked ,
besides what Solomon had given her according to the royal generosity .
So she turned and went to her own country ,
she and her servants .
*
The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold ,
*
besides that from the traveling merchants ,
from the income of traders ,
from all the kings of Arabia ,
and from the governors of the country .
*
And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold ;
six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield .
*
He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold ;
three minas of gold went into each shield .
The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon .
*
Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory ,
and overlaid it with pure gold .
*
The throne had six steps ,
and the top of the throne was round at the back ;
there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat ,
and two lions stood beside the armrests .
*
Twelve lions stood there ,
one on each side of the six steps ;
nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom .
*
All King Solomon '
s drinking vessels were gold ,
and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold .
Not one was silver ,
for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon .
*
For the king had merchant ships at sea with the fleet of Hiram .
Once every three years the merchant ships came bringing gold ,
silver ,
ivory ,
apes ,
and monkeys .
*
So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom .
*
Now all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom ,
which God had put in his heart .
*
Each man brought his present :
articles of silver and gold ,
garments ,
armor ,
spices ,
horses ,
and mules ,
at a set rate year by year .
*
And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen ;
he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen ,
whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem .
*
The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones ,
and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland .
*
Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh ;
the king '
s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price .
*
Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver ,
and a horse one hundred and fifty ;
and thus ,
through their agents ,
they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria .
*
But King Solomon loved many foreign women ,
as well as the daughter of Pharaoh :
women of the Moabites ,
Ammonites ,
Edomites ,
Sidonians ,
and Hittites --
*
from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel , "
You shall not intermarry with them ,
nor they with you .
Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods ."
Solomon clung to these in love .
*
And he had seven hundred wives ,
princesses ,
and three hundred concubines ;
and his wives turned away his heart .
*
For it was so ,
when Solomon was old ,
that his wives turned his heart after other gods ;
and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God ,
as was the heart of his father David .
*
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians ,
and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites .
*
Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD ,
and did not fully follow the LORD ,
as did his father David .
*
Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab ,
on the hill that is east of Jerusalem ,
and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon .
*
And he did likewise for all his foreign wives ,
who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods .
*
So the LORD became angry with Solomon ,
because his heart had turned from the LORD God of Israel ,
who had appeared to him twice ,
*
and had commanded him concerning this thing ,
that he should not go after other gods ;
but he did not keep what the LORD had commanded .
*
Therefore the LORD said to Solomon , "
Because you have done this ,
and have not kept My covenant and My statutes ,
which I have commanded you ,
I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant .
*
Nevertheless I will not do it in your days ,
for the sake of your father David ;
I will tear it out of the hand of your son .
*
However I will not tear away the whole kingdom ;
I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David ,
and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen ."
*
Now the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon ,
Hadad the Edomite ;
he was a descendant of the king in Edom .
*
For it happened ,
when David was in Edom ,
and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain ,
after he had killed every male in Edom
* (
because for six months Joab remained there with all Israel ,
until he had cut down every male in Edom ),
*
that Hadad fled to go to Egypt ,
he and certain Edomites of his father '
s servants with him .
Hadad was still a little child .
*
Then they arose from Midian and came to Paran ;
and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt ,
to Pharaoh king of Egypt ,
who gave him a house ,
apportioned food for him ,
and gave him land .
*
And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh ,
so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife ,
that is ,
the sister of Queen Tahpenes .
*
Then the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son ,
whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh '
s house .
And Genubath was in Pharaoh '
s household among the sons of Pharaoh .
*
So when Hadad heard in Egypt that David rested with his fathers ,
and that Joab the commander of the army was dead ,
Hadad said to Pharaoh , "
Let me depart ,
that I may go to my own country ."
*
Then Pharaoh said to him , "
But what have you lacked with me ,
that suddenly you seek to go to your own country ?"
So he answered , "
Nothing ,
but do let me go anyway ."
*
And God raised up another adversary against him ,
Rezon the son of Eliadah ,
who had fled from his lord ,
Hadadezer king of Zobah .
*
So he gathered men to him and became captain over a band of raiders ,
when David killed those of Zobah .
And they went to Damascus and dwelt there ,
and reigned in Damascus .
*
He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon (
besides the trouble that Hadad caused );
and he abhorred Israel ,
and reigned over Syria .
*
Then Solomon '
s servant ,
Jeroboam the son of Nebat ,
an Ephraimite from Zereda ,
whose mother '
s name was Zeruah ,
a widow ,
also rebelled against the king .
*
And this is what caused him to rebel against the king :
Solomon had built the Millo and repaired the damages to the City of David his father .
*
The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor ;
and Solomon ,
seeing that the young man was industrious ,
made him the officer over all the labor force of the house of Joseph .
*
Now it happened at that time ,
when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem ,
that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the way ;
and he had clothed himself with a new garment ,
and the two were alone in the field .
*
Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him ,
and tore it into twelve pieces .
*
And he said to Jeroboam , "
Take for yourself ten pieces ,
for thus says the LORD ,
the God of Israel : "
Behold ,
I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you
* (
but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David ,
and for the sake of Jerusalem ,
the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel ),
*
because they have forsaken Me ,
and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians ,
Chemosh the god of the Moabites ,
and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon ,
and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments ,
as did his father David .
*
However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand ,
because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David ,
whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes .
*
But I will take the kingdom out of his son '
s hand and give it to you--ten tribes .
*
And to his son I will give one tribe ,
that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem ,
the city which I have chosen for Myself ,
to put My name there .
*
So I will take you ,
and you shall reign over all your heart desires ,
and you shall be king over Israel .
*
Then it shall be ,
if you heed all that I command you ,
walk in My ways ,
and do what is right in My sight ,
to keep My statutes and My commandments ,
as My servant David did ,
then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house ,
as I built for David ,
and will give Israel to you .
*
And I will afflict the descendants of David because of this ,
but not forever ."'
*
Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam .
But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt ,
to Shishak king of Egypt ,
and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon .
*
Now the rest of the acts of Solomon ,
all that he did ,
and his wisdom ,
are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon ?
*
And the period that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years .
*
Then Solomon rested with his fathers ,
and was buried in the City of David his father .
And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place .
*
And Rehoboam went to Shechem ,
for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king .
*
So it happened ,
when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (
he was still in Egypt ,
for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt ),
*
that they sent and called him .
Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam ,
saying ,
* "
Your father made our yoke heavy ;
now therefore ,
lighten the burdensome service of your father ,
and his heavy yoke which he put on us ,
and we will serve you ."
*
So he said to them , "
Depart for three days ,
then come back to me ."
And the people departed .
*
Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived ,
and he said , "
How do you advise me to answer these people ?"
*
And they spoke to him ,
saying , "
If you will be a servant to these people today ,
and serve them ,
and answer them ,
and speak good words to them ,
then they will be your servants forever ."
*
But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him ,
and consulted the young men who had grown up with him ,
who stood before him .
*
And he said to them , "
What advice do you give ?
How should we answer this people who have spoken to me ,
saying , "
Lighten the yoke which your father put on us '?"
*
Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him ,
saying , "
Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you ,
saying , "
Your father made our yoke heavy ,
but you make it lighter on us '--
thus you shall say to them : "
My little finger shall be thicker than my father '
s waist !
*
And now ,
whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you ,
I will add to your yoke ;
my father chastised you with whips ,
but I will chastise you with scourges !"'
*
So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day ,
as the king had directed ,
saying , "
Come back to me the third day ."
*
Then the king answered the people roughly ,
and rejected the advice which the elders had given him ;
*
and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men ,
saying , "
My father made your yoke heavy ,
but I will add to your yoke ;
my father chastised you with whips ,
but I will chastise you with scourges !"
*
So the king did not listen to the people ;
for the turn of events was from the LORD ,
that He might fulfill His word ,
which the LORD had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat .
*
Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them ,
the people answered the king ,
saying : "
What share have we in David ?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse .
To your tents ,
O Israel !
Now ,
see to your own house ,
O David !"
So Israel departed to their tents .
*
But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah .
*
Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram ,
who was in charge of the revenue ;
but all Israel stoned him with stones ,
and he died .
Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem .
*
So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day .
*
Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back ,
they sent for him and called him to the congregation ,
and made him king over all Israel .
There was none who followed the house of David ,
but the tribe of Judah only .
*
And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem ,
he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin ,
one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors ,
to fight against the house of Israel ,
that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon .
*
But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God ,
saying ,
* "
Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon ,
king of Judah ,
to all the house of Judah and Benjamin ,
and to the rest of the people ,
saying ,
* "
Thus says the LORD : "
You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel .
Let every man return to his house ,
for this thing is from Me .""'
Therefore they obeyed the word of the LORD ,
and turned back ,
according to the word of the LORD .
*
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim ,
and dwelt there .
Also he went out from there and built Penuel .
*
And Jeroboam said in his heart , "
Now the kingdom may return to the house of David :
*
If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem ,
then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord ,
Rehoboam king of Judah ,
and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah ."
*
Therefore the king asked advice ,
made two calves of gold ,
and said to the people , "
It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem .
Here are your gods ,
O Israel ,
which brought you up from the land of Egypt !"
*
And he set up one in Bethel ,
and the other he put in Dan .
*
Now this thing became a sin ,
for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan .
*
He made shrines on the high places ,
and made priests from every class of people ,
who were not of the sons of Levi .
*
Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month ,
like the feast that was in Judah ,
and offered sacrifices on the altar .
So he did at Bethel ,
sacrificing to the calves that he had made .
And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made .
*
So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month ,
in the month which he had devised in his own heart .
And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel ,
and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense .
*
And behold ,
a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD ,
and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense .
*
Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD ,
and said , "
O altar ,
altar !
Thus says the LORD : "
Behold ,
a child ,
Josiah by name ,
shall be born to the house of David ;
and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you ,
and men '
s bones shall be burned on you ."'
*
And he gave a sign the same day ,
saying , "
This is the sign which the LORD has spoken :
Surely the altar shall split apart ,
and the ashes on it shall be poured out ."
*
So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God ,
who cried out against the altar in Bethel ,
that he stretched out his hand from the altar ,
saying , "
Arrest him !"
Then his hand ,
which he stretched out toward him ,
withered ,
so that he could not pull it back to himself .
*
The altar also was split apart ,
and the ashes poured out from the altar ,
according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD .
*
Then the king answered and said to the man of God , "
Please entreat the favor of the LORD your God ,
and pray for me ,
that my hand may be restored to me ."
So the man of God entreated the LORD ,
and the king '
s hand was restored to him ,
and became as before .
*
Then the king said to the man of God , "
Come home with me and refresh yourself ,
and I will give you a reward ."
*
But the man of God said to the king , "
If you were to give me half your house ,
I would not go in with you ;
nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place .
*
For so it was commanded me by the word of the LORD ,
saying , "
You shall not eat bread ,
nor drink water ,
nor return by the same way you came ."'
*
So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel .
*
Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel ,
and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel ;
they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king .
*
And their father said to them , "
Which way did he go ?"
For his sons had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah .
*
Then he said to his sons , "
Saddle the donkey for me ."
So they saddled the donkey for him ;
and he rode on it ,
*
and went after the man of God ,
and found him sitting under an oak .
Then he said to him , "
Are you the man of God who came from Judah ?"
And he said , "
I am ."
*
Then he said to him , "
Come home with me and eat bread ."
*
And he said , "
I cannot return with you nor go in with you ;
neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place .
*
For I have been told by the word of the LORD , "
You shall not eat bread nor drink water there ,
nor return by going the way you came ."'
*
He said to him , "
I too am a prophet as you are ,
and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD ,
saying , "
Bring him back with you to your house ,
that he may eat bread and drink water ."' (
He was lying to him .)
*
So he went back with him ,
and ate bread in his house ,
and drank water .
*
Now it happened ,
as they sat at the table ,
that the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back ;
*
and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah ,
saying , "
Thus says the LORD : "
Because you have disobeyed the word of the LORD ,
and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you ,
*
but you came back ,
ate bread ,
and drank water in the place of which the LORD said to you , "
Eat no bread and drink no water ,"
your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers ."'
*
So it was ,
after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk ,
that he saddled the donkey for him ,
the prophet whom he had brought back .
*
When he was gone ,
a lion met him on the road and killed him .
And his corpse was thrown on the road ,
and the donkey stood by it .
The lion also stood by the corpse .
*
And there ,
men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road ,
and the lion standing by the corpse .
Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt .
*
Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it ,
he said , "
It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the LORD .
Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion ,
which has torn him and killed him ,
according to the word of the LORD which He spoke to him ."
*
And he spoke to his sons ,
saying , "
Saddle the donkey for me ."
So they saddled it .
*
Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road ,
and the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse .
The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey .
*
And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God ,
laid it on the donkey ,
and brought it back .
So the old prophet came to the city to mourn ,
and to bury him .
*
Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb ;
and they mourned over him ,
saying , "
Alas ,
my brother !"
*
So it was ,
after he had buried him ,
that he spoke to his sons ,
saying , "
When I am dead ,
then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried ;
lay my bones beside his bones .
*
For the saying which he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel ,
and against all the shrines on the high places which are in the cities of Samaria ,
will surely come to pass ."
*
After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way ,
but again he made priests from every class of people for the high places ;
whoever wished ,
he consecrated him ,
and he became one of the priests of the high places .
*
And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam ,
so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth .
*
At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick .
*
And Jeroboam said to his wife , "
Please arise ,
and disguise yourself ,
that they may not recognize you as the wife of Jeroboam ,
and go to Shiloh .
Indeed ,
Ahijah the prophet is there ,
who told me that I would be king over this people .
*
Also take with you ten loaves ,
some cakes ,
and a jar of honey ,
and go to him ;
he will tell you what will become of the child ."
*
And Jeroboam '
s wife did so ;
she arose and went to Shiloh ,
and came to the house of Ahijah .
But Ahijah could not see ,
for his eyes were glazed by reason of his age .
*
Now the LORD had said to Ahijah , "
Here is the wife of Jeroboam ,
coming to ask you something about her son ,
for he is sick .
Thus and thus you shall say to her ;
for it will be ,
when she comes in ,
that she will pretend to be another woman ."
*
And so it was ,
when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door ,
he said , "
Come in ,
wife of Jeroboam .
Why do you pretend to be another person ?
For I have been sent to you with bad news .
*
Go ,
tell Jeroboam , "
Thus says the LORD God of Israel : "
Because I exalted you from among the people ,
and made you ruler over My people Israel ,
*
and tore the kingdom away from the house of David ,
and gave it to you ;
and yet you have not been as My servant David ,
who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart ,
to do only what was right in My eyes ;
*
but you have done more evil than all who were before you ,
for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger ,
and have cast Me behind your back --
*
therefore behold !
I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam ,
and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel ,
bond and free ;
I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam ,
as one takes away refuse until it is all gone .
*
The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city ,
and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field ;
for the LORD has spoken !"'
*
Arise therefore ,
go to your own house .
When your feet enter the city ,
the child shall die .
*
And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him ,
for he is the only one of Jeroboam who shall come to the grave ,
because in him there is found something good toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam .
* "
Moreover the LORD will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam ;
this is the day .
What ?
Even now !
*
For the LORD will strike Israel ,
as a reed is shaken in the water .
He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers ,
and will scatter them beyond the River ,
because they have made their wooden images ,
provoking the LORD to anger .
*
And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam ,
who sinned and who made Israel sin ."
*
Then Jeroboam '
s wife arose and departed ,
and came to Tirzah .
When she came to the threshold of the house ,
the child died .
*
And they buried him ;
and all Israel mourned for him ,
according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet .
*
Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam ,
how he made war and how he reigned ,
indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel .
*
The period that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years .
So he rested with his fathers .
Then Nadab his son reigned in his place .
*
And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah .
Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king .
He reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem ,
the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel ,
to put His name there .
His mother '
s name was Naamah ,
an Ammonitess .
*
Now Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD ,
and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed ,
more than all that their fathers had done .
*
For they also built for themselves high places ,
sacred pillars ,
and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree .
*
And there were also perverted persons in the land .
They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel .
*
It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem .
*
And 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 gold shields which Solomon had made .
*
Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place ,
and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard ,
who guarded the doorway of the king '
s house .
*
And whenever the king entered the house of the LORD ,
the guards carried them ,
then brought them back into the guardroom .
*
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 ?
*
And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days .
*
So Rehoboam rested with his fathers ,
and was buried with his fathers in the City of David .
His mother '
s name was Naamah ,
an Ammonitess .
Then Abijam his son reigned in his place .
*
In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat ,
Abijam became king over Judah .
*
He reigned three years in Jerusalem .
His mother '
s name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom .
*
And he walked in all the sins of his father ,
which he had done before him ;
his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God ,
as was the heart of his father David .
*
Nevertheless for David '
s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem ,
by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem ;
*
because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD ,
and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life ,
except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite .
*
And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life .
*
Now 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 .
*
So Abijam rested with his fathers ,
and they buried him in the City of David .
Then Asa his son reigned in his place .
*
In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel ,
Asa became king over Judah .
*
And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem .
His grandmother '
s name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom .
*
Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD ,
as did his father David .
*
And he banished the perverted persons from the land ,
and removed all the idols that his fathers had made .
*
Also he removed Maachah his grandmother from being queen mother ,
because she had made an obscene image of Asherah .
And Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it by the Brook Kidron .
*
But the high places were not removed .
Nevertheless Asa '
s heart was loyal to the LORD all his days .
*
He also brought into the house of the LORD the things which his father had dedicated ,
and the things which he himself had dedicated :
silver and gold and utensils .
*
Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days .
*
And Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah ,
and built Ramah ,
that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah .
*
Then Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the treasuries of the king '
s house ,
and delivered them into the hand of his servants .
And King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon ,
the son of Hezion ,
king of Syria ,
who dwelt in Damascus ,
saying ,
* "
Let there be a treaty between you and me ,
as there was between my father and your father .
See ,
I have sent you a present of silver and gold .
Come and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel ,
so that he will withdraw from me ."
*
So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa ,
and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel .
He attacked Ijon ,
Dan ,
Abel Beth Maachah ,
and all Chinneroth ,
with all the land of Naphtali .
*
Now it happened ,
when Baasha heard it ,
that he stopped building Ramah ,
and remained in Tirzah .
*
Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah ;
none was exempted .
And they took away the stones and timber of Ramah ,
which Baasha had used for building ;
and with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin ,
and Mizpah .
*
The rest of all the acts of Asa ,
all his might ,
all that he did ,
and the cities which he built ,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah ?
But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet .
*
So Asa rested with his fathers ,
and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father .
Then Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place .
*
Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah ,
and he reigned over Israel two years .
*
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD ,
and walked in the way of his father ,
and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin .
*
Then Baasha the son of Ahijah ,
of the house of Issachar ,
conspired against him .
And Baasha killed him at Gibbethon ,
which belonged to the Philistines ,
while Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon .
*
Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah ,
and reigned in his place .
*
And it was so ,
when he became king ,
that he killed all the house of Jeroboam .
He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone that breathed ,
until he had destroyed him ,
according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite ,
*
because of the sins of Jeroboam ,
which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin ,
because of his provocation with which he had provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger .
*
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 ?
*
And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days .
*
In the third year of Asa king of Judah ,
Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah ,
and reigned twenty-four years .
*
He did evil in the sight of the LORD ,
and walked in the way of Jeroboam ,
and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin .
*
Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani ,
against Baasha ,
saying :
* "
Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel ,
and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam ,
and have made My people Israel sin ,
to provoke Me to anger with their sins ,
*
surely I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house ,
and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat .
*
The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the city ,
and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the fields ."
*
Now the rest of the acts of Baasha ,
what he did ,
and his might ,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ?
*
So Baasha rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah .
Then Elah his son reigned in his place .
*
And also the word of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house ,
because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands ,
in being like the house of Jeroboam ,
and because he killed them .
*
In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah ,
Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel ,
and reigned two years in Tirzah .
*
Now his servant Zimri ,
commander of half his chariots ,
conspired against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza ,
steward of his house in Tirzah .
*
And Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah ,
and reigned in his place .
*
Then it came to pass ,
when he began to reign ,
as soon as he was seated on his throne ,
that he killed all the household of Baasha ;
he did not leave him one male ,
neither of his relatives nor of his friends .
*
Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha ,
according to the word of the LORD ,
which He spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet ,
*
for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son ,
by which they had sinned and by which they had made Israel sin ,
in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols .
*
Now the rest of the acts of Elah ,
and all that he did ,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ?
*
In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah ,
Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven days .
And the people were encamped against Gibbethon ,
which belonged to the Philistines .
*
Now the people who were encamped heard it said , "
Zimri has conspired and also has killed the king ."
So all Israel made Omri ,
the commander of the army ,
king over Israel that day in the camp .
*
Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon ,
and they besieged Tirzah .
*
And it happened ,
when Zimri saw that the city was taken ,
that he went into the citadel of the king '
s house and burned the king '
s house down upon himself with fire ,
and died ,
*
because of the sins which he had committed in doing evil in the sight of the LORD ,
in walking in the way of Jeroboam ,
and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin .
*
Now the rest of the acts of Zimri ,
and the treason he committed ,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ?
*
Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts :
half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath ,
to make him king ,
and half followed Omri .
*
But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath .
So Tibni died and Omri reigned .
*
In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah ,
Omri became king over Israel ,
and reigned twelve years .
Six years he reigned in Tirzah .
*
And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver ;
then he built on the hill ,
and called the name of the city which he built ,
Samaria ,
after the name of Shemer ,
owner of the hill .
*
Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD ,
and did worse than all who were before him .
*
For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat ,
and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin ,
provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols .
*
Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did ,
and the might that he showed ,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel ?
*
So Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria .
Then Ahab his son reigned in his place .
*
In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah ,
Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel ;
and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years .
*
Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD ,
more than all who were before him .
*
And it came to pass ,
as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat ,
that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal ,
king of the Sidonians ;
and he went and served Baal and worshiped him .
*
Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal ,
which he had built in Samaria .
*
And Ahab made a wooden image .
Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him .
*
In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho .
He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn ,
and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates ,
according to the word of the LORD ,
which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun .
*
And Elijah the Tishbite ,
of the inhabitants of Gilead ,
said to Ahab , "
As the LORD God of Israel lives ,
before whom I stand ,
there shall not be dew nor rain these years ,
except at my word ."