- And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it — for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelled in Egypt — that they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spoke unto Rehoboam, saying, Your father made our yoke grievous, now therefore make the grievous service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put upon us lighter, and we will serve you. And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
- And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do you advise that I may answer this people? And they spoke unto him, saying, If you will be a servant unto this people this day, and will serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants for ever. But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him and who stood before him.
- And he said unto them, What counsel do you give that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which your father did put upon us lighter? And the young men that were grown up with him spoke unto him, saying, Thus shall you speak unto this people that spoke unto you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter unto us — thus shall you say unto them: My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins. And now whereas my father did burden you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke, my father has chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
- 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. And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him, and spoke 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. Wherefore, the king listened not unto the people, for the cause was from the Lord, that he might perform his saying which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
- So when all Israel saw that the king listened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion do we have in David? Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse; to your tents, O Israel! Now see to your own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
- But as for the children of Israel who dwelled in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute, and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore, king Rehoboam made speed to get himself up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
- And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had 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.
- And when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 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, Thus says the Lord: You 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 listened therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart according to the word of the Lord.
- Then Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim and dwelled therein, and went out from there and built Peni-el. And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David; if this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people return unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah — 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 your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
- And he made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi. 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. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart, and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel; and he offered upon the altar and burned incense.
- 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. And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name, and upon you shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon you, and men’s bones shall be burned upon you. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
- And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God who 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. 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. And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the face of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me again. And the man of God implored the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him again, and became as it was before. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward. And the man of God said unto the king, If you will give me half your house, I will not go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place; for so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way that you came. So he went another way and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el.
- Now there dwelled 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. And their father said unto them, What way did he go? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, who came from Judah. And he said unto his sons, Saddle for me the ass. So they saddled for him the ass and he rode thereon, and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak.
- And he said unto him, Are you the man of God that came from Judah? And he said, I am. Then he said unto him, Come home with me and eat bread. And he said, I may not return with you, nor go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place; for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there, nor return to go by the way that you came.
- He said unto him, I am a prophet also, even as you, and an angel spoke unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water, that I may prove him; and he lied not unto him. So he went back with him and did eat bread in his house and drank water.
- 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. And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus says the Lord: Forasmuch as you have disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, but came back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which the Lord did say to you, Eat no bread and drink no water, your carcass shall not come unto the sepulcher of your fathers.
- And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass — that is, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 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. 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 dwelled.
- 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 has delivered him unto the lion, which has torn him and slain him according to the word of the Lord which he spoke unto him. And he spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle for me the ass. And they saddled him.
- 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. 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. And he laid his carcass in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother.
- And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulcher wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 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.
- After this thing, Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.
- At that time, Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray you, and disguise yourself, that you be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and get to Shiloh. Behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who told me that I should be king over this people. And take with you ten loaves, and biscuits, and a jar of honey, and go to him; he shall tell you what shall become of the child.
- And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were set by reason of his age. And the Lord said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam comes to ask a thing of you for her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say unto her, for it shall be, when she comes in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.
- And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, you wife of Jeroboam. Why do you feign yourself to be another? For I am sent to you with heavy tidings. Go tell Jeroboam, Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Forasmuch as I exalted you from among the people, and made you prince over my people Israel, and rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you because he kept not my commandments, but you have not been as my servant David when he followed me with all his heart, only to do right in my eyes, but have done evil above all that were before you — for you have gone and made yourself other gods and molten images to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back — therefore behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisses against the wall, and him that is both bond and free in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam as a man takes away dung, until it is all gone. He that dies of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat, and he that dies in the field shall the fowls of the air eat; for the Lord has spoken it.
- Arise, therefore, go to your own house, and when your feet enter into the city, the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. Moreover, the Lord shall raise him up a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day — but what? Even now.
- For the Lord shall smite Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger. And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin and who made Israel to sin.
- And Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed, and came to Tirzah; and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died. And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.
- 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. And the days which Jeroboam reigned were twenty-two years; and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.
- And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. For they also built themselves high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill and under every green tree. And there were also sodomites in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.
- And it came to pass, 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 even took away all. And he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made, and king Rehoboam made in their stead brazen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard who kept the door of the king’s house. And it was so, when the king went into the house of the Lord, that the guard bore them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.
- 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. And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.
- Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam reigned over Judah. Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. 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 Lord commanded David his father.
- 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, because David did right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from all that he commanded him (to sin against the Lord), but repented of the evil all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite, wherein the Lord cursed him. 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. And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
- And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa reigned over Judah, and forty-one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. And Asa did right in the eyes of the Lord, as he commanded David his father. And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made, and it pleased the Lord. And also Maacah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove. And Asa destroyed her idol, and burned it by the brook Kidron. But the high places were not removed; nevertheless, Asa’s heart was perfect with the Lord all his days. And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which he himself had dedicated, into the house of the Lord: silver, and gold, and vessels.
- And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And king Asa sent them to Benhadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelled at Damascus, saying, There is a league between me and you, and between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent unto you a present of silver and gold; come and break your league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me. So Benhadad listened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-Bethmaacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
- And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building of Ramah and dwelled in Tirzah. Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah — none was exempted. And they took away the stones of Ramah and the timber thereof, with which Baasha had built, and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
- The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and 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? Nevertheless, in the time of his old age, he was diseased in his feet. And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, his father; and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead.
- And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and 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 made Israel to sin. And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him, and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon. Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead. And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him according unto the saying of the Lord which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite, because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned and which he made Israel sin by his provocation with which he 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 began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty-four years. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin by which he made Israel to sin.
- Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, Forasmuch as I exalted you out of the dust and made you prince over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins, behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. He that dies of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat, and he that dies of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat.
- Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his stead.
- And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, came the word of the Lord against Baasha, and against his house, even for 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 him.
- In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years. And his servant Zimri, captain 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 smote him, and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.
- And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha; he left him not one that pisses against a wall, neither of his kinsfolk nor of his friends. Thus did Zimri destroy all the house 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 sinned and by which they made Israel to sin in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities. 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 did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri has conspired and has also slain the king. Wherefore, all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp. And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah.
- And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire, and died for his sins which he sinned, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did to make Israel to sin. Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he wrought, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
- Then were the people of Israel 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 that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath, so Tibni died and Omri reigned.
- In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years; six years reigned he in Tirzah. And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill — Samaria. But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him; for he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities. Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.
- And in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove. And Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
- In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho; he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his first born, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
Chapter 3