American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
The memory of the righteous is blessed;But the name of the wicked shall rot.
And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, he also lifted up his hand against the king.
And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and {Hebrew: closed up.}repaired the breach of the city of David his father.
And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon saw the young man that he was industrious, and he gave him charge over all the {Hebrew: burden.}labor of the house of Joseph.
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.
And it came to pass at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; now Ahijah had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field.
And Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces.
And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces; for thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee
(but he shall have one tribe, for my servant David's sake and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel);
because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon; and they have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and mine ordinances, as did David his father.
Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant's sake whom I chose, {Or, because he kept}who kept my commandments and my statutes;
but I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes.
And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a lamp alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.
And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign {Or, over all}according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that which is right in mine eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and will build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.
And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.
And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign {Or, over all}according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant's sake whom I chose, {Or, because he kept}who kept my commandments and my statutes;
And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.
And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was yet in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt,
and they sent and called him), that Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,
A soft answer turneth away wrath;But a grievous word stirreth up anger.
So the king hearkened not unto the people; for it was a thing brought about of Jehovah, that he might establish his word, which Jehovah spake by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now will the kingdom return to the house of David:
if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.
For {Or, as one that reckoneth}as he thinketh within himself, so is he:Eat and drink, saith he to thee;But his heart is not with thee.
And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and {Another reading is, Ephrain.}Ephron with the towns thereof.
And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, that were not of the sons of Levi.
And Jehovah said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy fathers' house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
And thy brethren also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou near with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall be before the tent of the testimony.
And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tent: only they shall not come nigh unto the vessels of the sanctuary and unto the altar, that they die not, neither they, nor ye.
And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the Tent: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.
And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar; that there be wrath no more upon the children of Israel.
And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are a gift, given unto Jehovah, to do the service of the tent of meeting.
And thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil; and ye shall serve: I give you the priesthood as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest's office unto Jehovah;
and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the he-goats, and for the calves which he had made.
Have ye not driven out the priests of Jehovah, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made you priests after the manner of the peoples of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.
ye also, as living stones, are built up a {Or, a spiritual house for a holy priesthood}spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
And no man taketh the honor unto himself, but when he is called of God, even as was Aaron.
So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years; for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.
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 {Or, offered upon}went up unto the altar; so did he in Beth-el, {Or, to sacrifice}sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places that he had made.
And he {Or, offered upon}went up unto the altar which he had made in Beth-el on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised {Another reading is, apart.}of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and {Or, offered upon}went up unto the altar, to burn incense.
and he said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his eyes, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am Jehovah that healeth thee.
Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes;
And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded not, neither came it into my {Hebrew: heart.}mind.
And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of Jehovah unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.
Saying, Touch not mine anointed ones,And do my prophets no harm.
Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el; and {Hebrew: his son.}one of 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 also they told unto their father.
And their father said unto them, What way went he? Now his sons had {Or, as otherwise read, showed him.}seen what way the man of God went, that came from Judah.
And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass; and he rode thereon.
And he went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an {Or, terebinth}oak; and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest 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 thee, nor go in with thee; neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:
for it was said to me by the word of Jehovah, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
And he said unto him, I also am a prophet as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied 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 Jehovah came unto the prophet that brought him back;
and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Forasmuch as thou hast {Or, rebelled against the word}been disobedient unto the mouth of Jehovah, and hast not kept the commandment which Jehovah thy God commanded thee,
but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy body shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
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.
And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his body was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it; the lion also stood by the body.
And, behold, men passed by, and saw the body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who {Or, rebelled against the word}was disobedient unto the mouth of Jehovah: therefore Jehovah hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spake unto him.
And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled it.
And he went and found his body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the body: the lion had not eaten the body, nor torn the ass.
And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back; and he came to the city of the old prophet, to mourn, and to bury him.
And he laid his body 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 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.
For the saying which he cried by the word of Jehovah 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.
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through {Or, stedfastness}patience and through comfort of the scriptures we might have hope.
Now these things happened unto them {Greek: by way of figure.}by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.
After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places: {Or, whomsoever he would}whosoever would, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places.
And {Or, by this thing he became}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 thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who spake concerning me that I should be king over this people.
And take with thee ten loaves, and cakes, and a {Or, bottle}cruse of honey, and go to him: he will tell thee what shall become of the child.
And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and {Another reading is, Ephrain.}Ephron with the towns thereof.
He entereth into peace; they rest in their beds, each one that walketh {Or, straight before him}in his uprightness.
In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah.
Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and Jehovah smote him, and he died.
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.
For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam {According to another reading, drew Israel away.}drove Israel from following Jehovah, and made them sin a great sin.