1 Kings 14:1-31 Jeroboam’s Wife Disguises Herself to Ask About Her Sick Son’s Health

 

Jeroboam’s Wife Disguises Herself to Ask About Her Sick Son’s Health

1 Kings 14:1-31                               1 Kings [in Smaller Chunks]

At that time, Abijah, [Jeroboam's] son, fell sick. Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise & disguise yourself, [so it’s] not known you [are Jeroboam’s] wife. [Go] to Shiloh [to] Ahijah, the prophet, who told me I [would] be king over this people.

Take with you 10 loaves [of bread, cakes] & a [jar] of honey to him. He shall tell you what shall become of the child. [Jeroboam’s] wife did so, but Ahijah couldn’t see, for his eyes were glazed [due] to his age.

The Lord said to Ahijah, [Jeroboam’s] wife comes to ask you [about] her sick son. You shall say [this] to her for when she comes, [for] she will [pretend] to be another woman.

When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came [to] the door, he said, Come in, [Jeroboam’s] wife. Why [do] you [pretend] to be another [person]? For I am sent to you with [bad news].

Go, tell Jeroboam, The Lord God of Israel says [this, Although] I [elevated] you from among the people & made you prince over my people, Israel & [tore] the kingdom away from the house of David & gave it to you.

[Still,] you haven’t been [like] My servant, David, who kept My commandments & followed Me with all his heart, to do what was right in My eyes. But [you have] done evil above all [who] were before you.

For you have gone & made you other gods [idols] & [molded] images [false gods,] to provoke Me to anger. You have [turned] your back on Me.

[Look,] I will therefore bring [disaster] upon the house of Jeroboam & [all its males]& [those] shut up & left in Israel & will take away the [rest] of the house of Jeroboam, [like] a man takes away [feces], [until] it’s all gone.

[Those] of Jeroboam [who] die in the city, the dogs shall eat. [Those who] die in the field, the [birds] of the air will eat, for the Lord has spoken it. Arise & go to your own house.

When your feet enter the city, the child shall die & all of Israel shall mourn for him & bury him. He [is] the only [one] of Jeroboam [who] shall come to the grave, because in [the child] there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel [from] the house of Jeroboam.

[Also,] the Lord shall raise up [for] Him a king over Israel, who cut off [Jeroboam’s] house [this] day, even now. For the Lord shall [strike] Israel, [like] a reed is shaken in the water & He shall [uproot] Israel out of good land, [that] [the Lord] gave to their [forefathers].

[He] shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, [to worship false gods] & [provoked] the Lord [God] to anger.

[The Lord God] shall give Israel up, because of [Jeroboam’s] sins, who [sinned] [by making the 2 gold calves, false gods, for the Israelites to worship & offer sacrifices to, instead of going to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the Lord God].

And [Jeroboam] made Israel sin [by worshiping these false god idols]. Jeroboam’s wife arose & [left]. When she came to Tirzah & [crossed] the [door’s] threshold, the child died.

They buried him & all Israel mourned for him, [like] the words of the Lord [God, had] spoken by His servant, Ahijah, the prophet. The rest of [Jeroboam’s actions] & how he warred & how he [ruled] are written in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Jeroboam [ruled] 22 years & he [died] & slept with his [forefathers]. Nadab, [Jeroboam’s] son, [ruled] in his [place]. Rehoboam, [Solomon’s] son, [ruled] in Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he began to [rule].

He [ruled] 17 years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord chose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah, and Ammonitess.

Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord & provoked Him to jealousy with their sins [of worshiping false gods] [that] they had committed [that were worse than] all their [forefathers] had done.

They also built [themselves] high places [to worship false gods] & images [false gods], groves & on every high hill & under every green tree [that were used to worship these false gods].

There were also sodomites in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations [that worshiped false gods;] which the Lord cast out before the children [people] of Israel.

It [happened] in the 5th year of King Rehoboam that Shishak, [Egypt’s] king, came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures [from] the [Lord’s] house & the treasures [from] the [King’s] house.

He even took away all the gold shields Solomon had made. [Instead] king Rehoboam made [brass] shields & [had them put] into the hands of the chief guard, [who] kept [the entrance] of the king’s house.

It [happened] when the king went into the [Lord’s] house, the guards [carried the shields] & brought them back into the [room of] the guards [afterwards]. Now, [aren’t] the rest of [Rehoboam’s actions] & all he did written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

There was war between Rehoboam [Solomon’s son] & Jeroboam [Nebat’s son] all their days. Rehoboam [died] & slept with his [forefathers]. He was buried with his [forefathers] in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. Abijam, his son, [ruled] in his [place].

1 Kings 13:1-34 A Man of God Is Sent to Prophesy to Jeroboam

 

A Man of God Is Sent to Prophesy to Jeroboam

1 Kings 13:1-34                               1 Kings [in Smaller Chunks]

By the word of the Lord, a man of God came out of Judah & [went] to Bethel. Jeroboam, [Nebat’s] son, stood by the altar to burn incense [to one of the gold calf false gods he made for the Israelites to worship instead of going to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord God].

[The man of God] cried [out] against the altar [of the false gods] [with] the word of the Lord & said, O altar, O altar, the Lord has said; Behold, a child shall be born to the house of David, [named] Josiah.

Upon you [altar], [Josiah] shall offer the priests of the high places [used to worship false gods,] [who] burn incense upon you [altar] & men’s bones shall be burnt upon you.

[The man of God] gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign [that] the Lord has spoken [about;] Behold, the altar shall be [broken] and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

It [happened,] when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, [who] had cried against the altar in Bethel, [Jeroboam] put [out] his hand from the altar, saying, [Grab] him.

And [Jeroboam’s] hand he had put out against [the man of God] [shriveled] up, so that [Jeroboam] couldn’t pull his hand in again. The altar also [split apart] & the ashes poured out, according to the [Lord’s] sign the man of God had [told Jeroboam].

King [Jeroboam] answered & said to the man of God, At the face of the Lord your God, I [request] you pray for me, [so] my hand may be restored again [for] me.

The man of God [begged] the Lord & the king’s hand was restored [to] him again & became as it was before. The king said to the man of God, Come home with me & refresh yourself & I will give you a reward.

The man of God said to the king, [Even] if you [were] to give me 1/2 [of your] house, I wouldn’t go in with you, neither will I eat bread or drink water in this place, [because I was told] by the word of the Lord, saying, Don’t eat bread, nor drink water, nor [return] the same way you came.

So, [the man of God] went another way & came to Bethel. Now, an old prophet [lived] in Bethel & his sons came & told him all [the things] the man of God had done that day in Bethel & the words he had spoken to the king.

Their father said to them, [Which] way [did he go]? His sons had seen the way the man of God, [who] came from Judah, went. [The old prophet told] his sons, Saddle me a [mule,] so they [did] & he rode [on it] & went after the man of God & found him sitting under an oak.

He [asked,] Are you the man of God [who] came from Judah. He said, I am. The [old prophet] said to him, Come home with me & eat bread. [The man of God] 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 I was told by the word of the Lord, You should eat no bread, nor drink water there, nor return the way you came. The [old prophet] said, I am a prophet [like] you are & an angel [spoke] to me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with you to your house, [so] he may eat bread & drink water.

But [the old prophet] lied to [the man of God]. So, the [man of God] went back with [the old prophet] & [ate & drank] water in his house. As they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet [who] brought him back.

He cried [out] to the man of God, saying, The Lord [said, Since] you disobeyed the [words] by the mouth of the Lord & haven’t kept His [command that] He commanded you, But you came back & [ate] bread & [drank] water in this place [when] the Lord [told you not to;]

Your carcass shall not come [into] the [tomb] of your [forefathers]. After he had eaten bread & drunk [water, the old prophet] saddled a [mule] for the prophet he had brought back.

When [the man of God] was gone, a lion met him by the [road] & slew him & his carcass was [thrown in the road] & [mule] & the [lion] stood by [it]. They came & told [about] it in the city where the old prophet lived.

When the prophet [who] brought him back, heard [of it,] he said, It is the man of God, who [disobeyed] the [Lord’s] word. Therefore, the Lord has delivered him to the lion, [that] has torn & killed him, according to the word the Lord had spoken to him.

He [said] to his sons, Saddle me the [mule] & [they did]. He went & found his carcass in the [road] & the [mule] & the lion standing by the carcass & the lion hadn’t eaten the carcass, nor [attacked] the [mule].

The prophet took the carcass of the man of God & laid it upon the [mule] & brought it back & the old prophet came to the city to mourn & to bury him. [The old prophet] laid the carcass [of the man of God] in his [own] grave & they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!

It [happened,] after they buried [the man of God,] that [the old prophet] spoke to his sons, saying, When I am dead, bury me in the [tomb where] we buried the man of God.

Lay my bones beside his bones: [Because of] the saying [that the man of God] cried by the word of the Lord against the altar of Bethel [Jeroboam built to worship false gods,] & against all the houses [to worship the false gods] [in] the high places in the cities of Samaria, shall surely [happen].

After this, Jeroboam didn’t return from his evil [ways,] but made the [lowliest] of people [false] priests of the high places [to worship the false gods]. This [was the] sin of the house of Jeroboam, [that led to his downfall] & [destruction from] the face of the earth.

1 Kings 12:1-33 The Israelites Ask Rehoboam to Make Their Work Lighter

 

The Israelites Ask Rehoboam to Make Their Work Lighter

1 Kings 12:1-33                               1 Kings [in Smaller Chunks]

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all [of] Israel [had gone] to make him king, [because Solomon, his father, died]. When Jeroboam, [Nebat’s] son was [still] in Egypt, he heard of it (for he had fled from the presence of king Solomon & [he lived] in Egypt.)

They sent for Jeroboam. Jeroboam & all the congregation of Israel came & spoke to [king] Rehoboam, [Solomon’s son] & said, Your father made a [heavy] yoke on us [& made us work too hard].

Therefore, now make the [heavy work] of your father lighter & we will serve you. [Rehoboam] said to them, [Go] away for 3 days & [return] to me, [so] the people [left].

King Rehoboam consulted with the old men who stood before his father, Solomon, while he was [still] alive & said, Advise me [about] how I should answer [these] people?

They [said] to him, If you will be a servant to [these] people & will serve & answer them with [kind] words this day, they will be your servants forever.

[Rehoboam] rejected the [advice] the old men had given him & consulted the young men [who had] grown up with him & stood before him. [Rehoboam said,] What [advice do you have for me] to answer [these] people [who asked] me, Make the yoke lighter [that] your father put on us?

The young men [who had] grown up with him [said,] You shall tell the people [who said] to you, Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter [for] us: You shall stay to them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s [waist].

[Since] my father [gave] you a heavy [workload,] I will add to your [work]. My father [corrected] you with whips, but I will [correct] you with scorpions. So, Jeroboam & all the people [returned] to [king] Rehoboam the 3rd day, [like] the king [requested].

The king answered the people [harshly & rejected] the old men’s [advice] they gave him. He [spoke] the [advice] of the young men to them, saying, My father made your [workload] heavy & I will add to your [work].

Also, my father [corrected] you with whips, but I will [correct] you with scorpions [scourges with points].

The king didn’t [listen] to the people, [since it] was from the Lord [God,] so He could [fulfill] what the Lord [had said] to Jeroboam, [Nebat’s] son, by Ahijah, the Shilonite [about making Jeroboam king over 10 portions of the land, since they worshiped false gods].

So, when all Israel saw [that] king [Rehoboam] didn’t [listen] to them, the people answered, What portion [do] we have in [David’s descendants]? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. [Return] to your tents, O Israel.

[Take care] of your own house, David. So, Israel departed to their tents. But Rehoboam [still ruled] over the children [people] of Israel [who lived] in the cities of Judah.

King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over [forced labor] & all Israel stoned him [to death]. Therefore, king Rehoboam [hurried] to get [into] his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. So, Israel has rebelled against the house of David to this day.

It [happened] when all [of] Israel heard Jeroboam, [Nebat’s] son, had [returned,] they called him to the congregation & made him king over all of Israel. There [were] none [who] followed the house of David [except] only the tribe of Judah.

When Rehoboam, [Solomon’s son] came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to [restore] the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying, Speak to Rehoboam, [Solomon’s] son, [Judah’s] king & to all the house of Judah & Benjamin & the [rest] of the people, saying, The Lord [says this,] You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren, the [people] of Israel.

Every man return to his house; [since] this is from Me [the Lord God]. They [listened] to the word of the Lord & [turned to leave] according to the word of the Lord. Then, Jeroboam, [Nebat’s son, rebuilt] Sheshem in Mount Ephraim & [lived there]. [Jeroboam] went out from there & built Penuel.

Jeroboam said in his heart, Now, the kingdom shall return to the house of David. If [these] people go to Jerusalem to sacrifice in the house of the Lord, then the [hearts] of [these] people will [return] again to Rehoboam, [Judah’s] king. They [will] kill me & go again to Rehoboam, [Solomon’s son].

[Therefore,] king [Jeroboam, Nebat’s son got advice] & made 2 gold calves [false gods] & said to them, It’s too much for you [to have] to go up to Jerusalem [to sacrifice]. [See, these are] your gods [idols], O Israel [that] brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

He [put] 1 [gold calf] [idol] in Bethel & put the other [idol] in Dan. This became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one [false god,] even to Dan. [Jeroboam] made a house [of worship for the false gods] in high places & made the [false] priests [of these idols] of [the lowliest of people who] weren’t [Levites].

Jeroboam ordained a feast in the 8th month, on the 15th day, of the month, like the feast that is in Judah & [Jeroboam] offered [sacrifices] on the altar. So, in Bethel, [Jeroboam] sacrificed to the [gold] calves [false gods] he had made.

He placed in Bethel the [false] priests of the high places [that Jeroboam] made [for the people to worship the false gods].

So, [Jeroboam] offered upon the altar [that] he made in Bethel, [on] the 15th day, of the 8th month, even in the month [that] he had [came up with] in his own [mind] & ordained a feast to the children [people] of Israel. [Jeroboam] offered upon the altar & burnt incense [to the false gods he made].

1 Kings 11:1-43 Solomon Is Led Astray From the Lord God

 

Solomon Is Led Astray From the Lord God

1 Kings 11:1-43                               1 Kings [in Smaller Chunks]

King Solomon loved many strange women, [in addition to his wife,] the daughter of Pharaoh & Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Zidonian & Hittite women of the nations [that worship false gods] that the Lord said to the children [people] of Israel, You shall not be [intimate with] them.

Neither shall they [be intimate with] you. For surely, they will turn away your heart after their [false] gods. Solomon [clung] to these [women] in love. [Solomon] had 700 wives & princesses & 300 [mistresses] & his wives [led Solomon’s heart astray] [after false gods].

His heart wasn’t [perfectly aligned] with the Lord his God, [like] David, his father’s heart was. For Solomon [followed] Ashtoreth, the [false] goddess of the Sidonians & after MiIcom, the abomination [& false god] of the Ammonites.

Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord & didn’t [fully follow] the Lord, [like] David, his father. Then, in the hill, [in front of] Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place [to worship the false god,] Chemosh, the abomination [& false god] of Moab.

[He did the same] for Molech, the abomination [& false god] of the [people] of Ammon. [Solomon] did [similarly] for all his [foreign] wives, [who] burnt incense & sacrificed to their [false] gods.

The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart [was led astray] from the Lord God of Israel, [who] had appeared to him twice & had [warned Solomon about] this, [so] he [wouldn’t] go after other gods [idols], but [Solomon] didn’t [keep to what] the Lord commanded.

[Therefore,] the Lord said to Solomon, [Since,] you [have] done [this] & you haven’t kept My covenant [contract] & My [rules that] I have commanded you, I will surely [tear] the kingdom from you & give it to your servant.

[For] your father, David’s sake, I won’t [do it during your life,] but I will [tear] it out of the hand of your son. [However,] I will not [tear] away all the kingdom, but will give 1 tribe to your son for David, My servant’s sake & for Jerusalem’s sake, which I have chosen.

The Lord stirred up an adversary [against] Solomon, Hadad, the Edomite. He was of the king’s [descendants] in Edom.

It [happened] when David was in Edom & Joab, the captain of the [army had] gone up to bury the [dead] after he had [killed] all the [men] in Edom, (for Joab had [remained] in Edom for 6 months, until all the males were cut off.)

Hadad & his father’s servants fled with him to Egypt, [when] Hadad was [still] a little child. They [came] out of Midian & [went] to Paran & took men from Paran & [went] to Egypt, to Pharaoh, [Egypt’s] king, [who] gave him a house, land & appointed [food for him].

Hadad found great  favor in [Pharaoh’s] sight. Pharaoh gave the sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, to [Hadad to marry]. The sister of Tahpenes bore [Hadad] his son, Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s [palace].

Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh. When Hadad heard [while] in Egypt, that David slept with his [forefathers] & Joab, the captain of the [army] was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me [leave, so] I may go to my own country.

Pharaoh [asked,] What have you lacked with me, [in] that you seek to go to your own country? [Hadad] answered, Nothing, [but] let me go [anyway]. The Lord [also] stirred up another adversary, Rezon, [Eliadah’s] son, [who] fled from his lord, Hadadezer, [Zobah’s] king.

[Rezon] gathered [a group] of men & became [their] captain, when David [struck down those] of Zobah. [Rezon & his group] went to Damascus & [lived there] & [ruled] in Damascus.

[Rezon] was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, [in addition to] the [trouble] Hadad [caused]. [Hadad hated] Israel & [ruled] over Syria. Jeroboam, [Nebat’s] son, [rebelled against the king].

[Hadad was] an Eprathite of Zereda, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow. This is the [reason Jeroboam rebelled] against the king. Solomon built a [terraced retaining wall] & repaired the [gaps in the city’s walls,] of David, his father.

Jeroboam was a mighty man of [bravery] & Solomon [saw] he was industrious & made him ruler [in charge] of the house of Joseph. It [happened] when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet, Ahijah, the Shilonite, found him in the [road clothed] with a new garment.

The 2 were alone in the field. Ahijah [grabbed] the new garment & [tore] it into 12 pieces. [Ahijah] said to Jeroboam, Take 10 pieces for [yourself, because] the Lord God of Israel [said, Look,] I will tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon & will give 10 tribes to you.

(But [Solomon] shall have 1 tribe for My servant, David’s sake, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:) Because they have [abandoned] Me & have worshiped Ashtoreth, the [false] goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh, the [false] god of the Moabites & Milcom, the [false] god of the [people] of Ammon.

They haven’t walked in [My] ways to do what is right in My eyes & to keep My [rules] & My judgments as David, his father.

[But] I won’t take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him a [ruler] all the days of his life, for David, My servant’s sake, [whom] I chose, because he kept My commandments & My [rules].

But I will take the kingdom out of [Solomon’s] son’s hand & will give 10 tribes to you. I will give [Solomon’s] son 1 tribe, [so] David, My servant, may have a light always before Me in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen [for] Me to put My name there.

I will take you & you shall be king over Israel & you shall [rule] according to all your [heart] desires. It shall [happen], if you will [listen] to all I command you & [you] walk in My ways & do what is right in My sight, to keep My [rules] & My commandments [like] David, My servant, did.

I will be with you & build you a [secure] house, [like] I built for David & [I] will give Israel to you. I will afflict David’s [descendants,] but not forever. Solomon had [thought] to kill Jeroboam & he fled to Egypt & was in Egypt until Solomon’s death.

Aren’t the rest of Solomon’s [actions] & all he did & his wisdom, written in the Book of Solomon? Solomon [ruled] in Jerusalem over all of Israel [for] 40 years. Solomon [died] & slept with his [forefathers] & was buried in the city of David, his father. Rehoboam, [Solomon’s] son [ruled] in his [place].