Day 189 of 365

¹At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

²Jeroboam said to his wife, "Please get up and disguise yourself, that you won't be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Go to Shiloh. Behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who spoke concerning me that I should be king over this people.

³Take with you ten loaves, and cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the child."

⁴Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.

⁵The Lord said to Ahijah, "Behold, the wife of Jeroboam comes to inquire of you concerning her son; for he is sick. Thus and thus you shall tell her; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend to be another woman."

⁶It 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 pretend to be another? For I am sent to you with heavy news.

⁷Go, tell Jeroboam, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: "Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you prince over my people Israel,

⁸and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it you; and yet you have 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 my eyes,

⁹but have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made you other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back:

¹⁰therefore, behold, I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam everyone who urinates on a wall, he who is shut up and he who is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweeps away dung, until it is all gone.

¹¹He who dies of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and he who dies in the field shall the birds of the sky eat: for the Lord has spoken it."'

¹²Arise therefore, and go to your house. When your feet enter into the city, the child shall die.

¹³All 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, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.

¹⁴Moreover the Lord will raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam. This is day! What? Even now.

¹⁵For the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger.

¹⁶He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin."

¹⁷Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah. As she came to the threshold of the house, the child died.

¹⁸All Israel buried him, and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.

¹⁹The 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.

²⁰The days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

²¹Rehoboam 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 had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

²²Judah did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that their fathers had done.

²³For they also built them high places, and pillars, and Asherim, on every high hill, and under every green tree;

²⁴and there were also sodomites in the land: they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord drove out before the children of Israel.

²⁵It happened in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem;

²⁶and 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.

²⁷King Rehoboam made in their place shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.

²⁸It was so, that as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard bore them, and brought them back into the guard room.

²⁹Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

³⁰There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

³¹Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam his son reigned in his place.

¹Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat began Abijam to reign over Judah.

²He reigned three years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

³He 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.

⁴Nevertheless for David's sake, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem;

⁵because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

⁶Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.

⁷The rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

⁸Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his place.

⁹In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Asa to reign over Judah.

¹⁰He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

¹¹Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father.

¹²He put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

¹³Also Maacah his mother he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

¹⁴But the high places were not taken away: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with the Lord all his days.

¹⁵He brought into the house of the Lord the things that his father had dedicated, and the things that himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

¹⁶There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

¹⁷Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

¹⁸Then 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 Ben Hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived at Damascus, saying,

¹⁹"There is a treaty between me and you, between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me."

²⁰Ben Hadad listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel, and struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel Beth Maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.

²¹It happened, when Baasha heard of it, that he left off building Ramah, and lived in Tirzah.

²²Then king Asa made a proclamation to all Judah; none was exempted: and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and its timber, with which Baasha had built; and king Asa built therewith Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.

²³Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.

²⁴Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

²⁵Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah; and he reigned over Israel two years.

²⁶He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin.

²⁷Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha struck him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.

²⁸Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha killed him, and reigned in his place.

²⁹It happened that, as soon as he was king, he struck all the house of Jeroboam: he did not leave to Jeroboam any who breathed, until he had destroyed him; according to the saying of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite;

³⁰for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and with which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger.

³¹Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

³²There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

³³In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel in Tirzah for twenty-four years.

³⁴He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin.

¹The word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,

²"Because 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;

³behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house; and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

⁴The dogs will eat Baasha's descendants who die in the city; and he who dies of his in the field the birds of the sky will eat."

⁵Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

⁶Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his place.

⁷Moreover by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the Lord against Baasha, and against his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he struck him.

⁸In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah for two years.

⁹His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah:

¹⁰and Zimri went in and struck him, and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

¹¹It happened, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he struck all the house of Baasha: he did not leave him a single one who urinates on a wall, neither of his relatives, nor of his friends.

¹²Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,

¹³for all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned, and with which they made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities.

¹⁴Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

¹⁵In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.

¹⁶The people who were encamped heard say, Zimri has conspired, and has also struck the king: therefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp.

¹⁷Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah.

¹⁸It happened, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the castle of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died,

¹⁹for his sins which he sinned in doing that which was 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.

²⁰Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he committed, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

²¹Then 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.

²²But the people who followed Omri prevailed against the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned.

²³In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel for twelve years. He reigned six years in Tirzah.

²⁴He bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill, Samaria.

²⁵Omri did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and dealt wickedly above all who were before him.

²⁶For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sins with which he made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities.

²⁷Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he showed, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

²⁸So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son reigned in his place.

²⁹In 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.

³⁰Ahab the son of Omri did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.

³¹It happened, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.

³²He reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

³³Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did yet more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

³⁴In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho: he laid its foundation with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

¹I said, "I will watch my ways, so that I do not sin with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me."

²I was mute with silence. I held my peace, even from good. My sorrow was stirred.

³My heart was hot within me. While I meditated, the fire burned: I spoke with my tongue:

⁴"Lord, show me my end, what is the measure of my days. Let me know how frail I am.

⁵Behold, you have made my days handbreadths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath." Selah.

⁶"Surely every man walks like a shadow. Surely they busy themselves in vain. He heaps up, and doesn't know who shall gather.

⁷Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.

⁸Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the reproach of the foolish.

⁹I was mute. I did not open my mouth, because you did it.

¹⁰Remove your scourge away from me. I am overcome by the blow of your hand.

¹¹When you rebuke and correct man for iniquity, You consume his wealth like a moth. Surely every man is but a breath." Selah.

¹²"Hear my prayer, Lord, and give ear to my cry. Do not be silent at my tears. For I am a stranger with you, a foreigner, as all my fathers were.

¹³Oh spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go away, and exist no more."

¹My son, do not forget my teaching; but let your heart keep my commandments:

²for length of days, and years of life, and peace, will they add to you.

³Do not let kindness and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴So you will find favor, and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

⁶In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

⁸It will be health to your body, and nourishment to your bones.

⁹Honor the Lord with your substance, with the first fruits of all your increase:

¹⁰so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

¹¹My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, neither be weary of his reproof:

¹²for whom the Lord loves, he reproves; even as a father reproves the son in whom he delights.

¹³Happy is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gets understanding.

¹⁴For her good profit is better than getting silver, and her return is better than fine gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than rubies. None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her.

¹⁶Length of days is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁷Her ways are ways of pleasantness. All her paths are peace.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Happy is everyone who retains her.

¹⁹By wisdom the Lord founded the earth. By understanding, he established the heavens.

²⁰By his knowledge, the depths were broken up, and the skies drop down the dew.

²¹My son, let them not depart from your eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion:

²²so they will be life to your soul, and grace for your neck.

²³Then you shall walk in your way securely. Your foot won't stumble.

²⁴When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Yes, you will lie down, and your sleep will be sweet.

²⁵Do not be afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it comes:

²⁶for the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being taken.

²⁷Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.

²⁸Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again; tomorrow I will give it to you," when you have it by you.

²⁹Do not devise evil against your neighbor, seeing he dwells securely by you.

³⁰Do not strive with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm.

³¹Do not envy the man of violence. Choose none of his ways.

³²For the perverse is an abomination to the Lord, but his friendship is with the upright.

³³The Lord's curse is in the house of the wicked, but he blesses the habitation of the righteous.

³⁴Surely he is scornful to scoffers, but he gives grace to the humble.

³⁵The wise will inherit glory, but shame will be the promotion of fools.