Judgment on The House of Jeroboam

¹ At that time Jeroboam’s son Abijah became sick. ² Jeroboam told his wife, “Disguise yourself so that people cannot recognize you are Jeroboam’s wife. Then go to Shiloh; Ahijah the prophet, who told me I would rule over this nation, lives there. ³ Take ten loaves of bread, some small cakes, and a container of honey and visit him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

⁴ Jeroboam’s wife did as she was told. She went to Shiloh and visited Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see; he had lost his eyesight in his old age. ⁵ But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Look, Jeroboam’s wife is coming to find out from you what will happen to her son, for he is sick. Tell her such and such. When she comes, she will be in a disguise.” ⁶ When Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, “Come on in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have been commissioned to give you bad news. ⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: “I raised you up from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel. ⁸ I tore the kingdom away from the Davidic dynasty and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me wholeheartedly by doing only what I approve. ⁹ You have sinned more than all who came before you. You went and angered me by making other gods, formed out of metal; you have completely disregarded me. ¹⁰ So I am ready to bring disaster on the dynasty of Jeroboam. I will cut off every last male belonging to Jeroboam in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. I will burn up the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one burns manure until it is completely consumed. ¹¹ Dogs will eat the members of your family who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”’ Indeed, the Lord has announced it!

¹² “As for you, get up and go home. When you set foot in the city, the boy will die. ¹³ All Israel will mourn him and bury him. He is the only one in Jeroboam’s family who will receive a decent burial, for he is the only one in whom the Lord God of Israel found anything good. ¹⁴ The Lord will raise up a king over Israel who will cut off Jeroboam’s dynasty. It is ready to happen! ¹⁵ The Lord will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water. He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles. ¹⁶ He will hand Israel over to their enemies because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he made Israel commit.”

¹⁷ So Jeroboam’s wife got up and went back to Tirzah. As she crossed the threshold of the house, the boy died. ¹⁸ All Israel buried him and mourned for him, in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.

¹⁹ The rest of the events of Jeroboam’s reign, including the details of his battles and rule, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. ²⁰ Jeroboam ruled for twenty-two years; then he passed away. His son Nadab replaced him as king.