The revolt of ten tribes. Idolatry is established. 19 So 'Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. I. KINGS, XII. yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter? 10 And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. 11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 12¶ So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day. 13 And the king answered the poople 'roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him; 14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 15 Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 16 ¶ So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, "What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. 17 But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 20 And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel : there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah " only. m 21 ¶ And when "Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23 Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, 24 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD. 25¶Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 8 27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. 28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: "behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Jeroboam's hand withereth. I. KINGS, XIII. 29 And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in 3 Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. 31 And he made a house of high places, band made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. 32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, 'sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made. 4 A prophet crieth against the altar at Beth-el. 4 Jeroboam's hand withereth; but is restored at the prayer of the prophet; 7 who refuseth the king's entertainment, and departeth. 11 An old prophet deceiveth him, and bringeth him back. 20 He is reproved of God, 24 slain by a lion, 26 and buried by the old prophet. 33 Jeroboam's obstinacy. [B. c. 975.] AND, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the 'altar to burn incense. b The disobedient prophet. 4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. 5 The altar also was rent, 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. e 6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before. 7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and 'I will give thee a reward. 8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: h 9 For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. 10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el. 3 11 ¶ Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. 12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah. 13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon, 14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said CHAP. XIII.-a 2 Kings 23. 17. e 2 Kings 23. 15, 16. • Or, & 9. 28. & 10. 17. 8 Or, went up f ch. 13. 1. of the LORD. h 1 Cor. 5. 11. d Is. 7. 14. John 2. 18. 1 Cor. 1. 22. Num. 21. 7. Acts 8. 24. James 5. 16. f1 Sam. 9. 7. 2 Kings 5. 15. g So Num. 22. 18. & 24. 1. lieb. son. 圈 unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. 15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: 17 For 'it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. 18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. 19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. 20 ¶ And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back; 21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the 'place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread and drink no water; thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. 23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 And when he was gone, "a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcass. 25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcass cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcass: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. Jeroboam's obstinacy. 26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him. 27 And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. 28 And he went and found his carcass cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten the carcass, nor torn the ass. 29 And the prophet took up the carcass of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him. 30 And he laid his carcass in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother! 31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones: 32 P For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass. r 33 After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. 8 34 And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from the face of the earth. Judgments upon Jeroboam. I. KINGS, XIV. Abijah dieth, and is lurid. AT that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam the wall, 'and him that is shut up and left fell sick. 6 And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings. 5 7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel, 8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes; 9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back: k 10 Therefore, behold, 'I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone. LORD to anger. 8 of the sins of Jeroboam, "who did sin, and 16 And he shall give Israel up because who made Israel to sin. 17 ¶ And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died; mourned for him, according to the word of 18 And they buried him; and all Israel the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet. 19 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel. 20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept 32. 36. 2 Kings 14. 26. m ch. 16. 4. & 21. 24. n ver. 17. 4 Heb. stood for his d See 2 Sam. 12. 7, 8. ch. 16. 2. e ch. 11. 31. 12. & 19. 3. 23. 15, 16. 30. & 13. 34. y ver. 12. f ch. 11, 33, 38. & 15. 5. g ch. 12. 28. 2 Chr. 11. 15. h Neh. 9. 26. Ps. 50. 17. Ez. 23. 35. i ch. 15. 29. k ch. 21. 21. 2 Kings. 9. 8. 1 Deut. & 15. 30, 34. & 16. 2. Z ver. 13. a 2 Chr. 13. 2, &c. o 2 Chr. 12. r Josh. u ch. 12. Cant. 64 b thers, and was buried with his fathers in 21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose Abijam's wicked reign. 8 Asu succeedeth him. 9 Asa's good reign. 16 His war with Baasha causeth him to make a league with Ben-hadad. 23 Jehoshaphat succeedeth Asa. 25 Nadab's wicked reign. 27 Baasha conspiring against him executeth Ahijah's prophecy. 31 Nadab's acts and death. 33 Baasha's wicked reign. [B. c. 958.] NOW OW in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah. 2 Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. bAnd his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. 3 And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father. 4 Nevertheless for David's sake did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem : 5 Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, "save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 6 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. k 7 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. 1 8 And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. 9 And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah. 10 And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was 2 31 And Rehoboam slept with his fa- Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. 32. 21. Ps. 78. 58. 1 Cor. 10. 22. standing images, or, statues. h 2 Kings 17. 9, 10. 23. 17. eh. 15. 12. & 22, 46, 2 Kings 23. 7. m 2 Chr. 12. 9, 10, 11. n ch. 10. 17. p ch. 12. 24. & 15. 6. 2 Chr. 12. 15. 1 ch. 11. 40. 2 Chr. 12. 2. Heb. runners. s 2 Chr. 12. 16, Abijah. Matt. 1. 7, Abia. o 2 Chr. 12. 15. g ch. 14. 8. q 2 Chr. 12. 16. r ver. 21. 2, 3, 22. |