1 Kings Chapter 14
Showing all 31 verses for 1 Kings Chapter 14.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. "
"At that time, Jeroboam's son Abijah became seriously ill."
Our most private, painful moments - a child's illness, a personal crisis - often reveal what we actually believe and where we actually turn for help, more honestly than our public actions do. I meet you in those raw moments, and I want you to bring your real fear to me directly rather than through disguise or pretence.
"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, which told me that I should be king over this people. "
"Jeroboam said to his wife, 'Please disguise yourself so no one recognises you as my wife, and go to Shiloh - Ahijah the prophet is there, the one who told me I would become king over this people.'"
You can't hide from me who you really are while still hoping for an honest answer - real guidance requires real honesty about your situation. I invite you to come to me openly, without pretence, especially in your most anxious moments; disguises only get in the way of the help you're actually looking for.
"And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child. "
"'Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him - he will tell you what will happen to the boy.'"
You can't stage-manage your way into the answer you want - genuine guidance meets you as you actually are, not as you've dressed yourself up to appear. I'd rather you come with empty hands and an honest heart than with careful props and a performance.
"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. "
"Jeroboam's wife did as she was told - she got up, went to Shiloh, and arrived at Ahijah's house. But Ahijah could not see; his eyes had grown dim with age."
Don't judge someone's insight or worth by their physical limitations - some of the clearest, most honest seeing comes from people whose outward circumstances might make you underestimate them. I see you fully, even in the places you think you've successfully hidden yourself.
"And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman. "
"The LORD told Ahijah, 'Jeroboam's wife is coming to ask you about her son, because he is sick. Say this and that to her - and when she arrives, she will be pretending to be someone else.'"
I already know the truth behind whatever you're presenting to the world, so there's no need to keep performing for my benefit. Come as you actually are - the version of you trying so hard to stay hidden is exactly the one I want to meet honestly.
"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. "
"When Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps coming through the door, he said, 'Come in, wife of Jeroboam - why are you pretending to be someone else? I've been sent to tell you hard news.'"
Real love doesn't play along with your disguises just to spare an awkward moment - it moves towards honesty, even when the truth is heavy, because that's what actually respects you. I'd rather tell you something hard plainly than let you keep pretending everything is fine.
"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, "
"'Go, tell Jeroboam: This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says - I lifted you up from among the ordinary people and made you ruler over my people Israel...'"
Whatever position, privilege, or opportunity you've been given is exactly that - a gift, not something you earned outright - and how you use it matters enormously. I ask you to hold your own advantages with humility and gratitude, remembering where they came from, rather than treating them as entitlements you're free to misuse.
"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; "
"'...and I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you - yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me wholeheartedly, doing only what was right in my eyes...'"
I don't compare you to others to shame you, but to show you what's possible - not flawless perfection, but a wholehearted, ongoing return to what's right even after you stumble. What matters most to me isn't a spotless record, it's the direction your heart keeps turning.
"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: "
"'...but you have done more evil than everyone who ruled before you - you have gone and made other gods for yourself, metal images, provoking me to anger, and you have thrown me behind your back.'"
There's a real difference between honestly wrestling with doubt or struggle, which I always welcome, and deliberately shoving truth aside because it's inconvenient to what you want. I ask you to notice which one you're actually doing, and to be honest with yourself about it rather than dressing up dismissal as doubt.
"Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone. "
"'So I am going to bring disaster on Jeroboam's family - I will cut off every male, whether slave or free, from Jeroboam's household, and sweep away the remnant of his family the way someone sweeps away dung, until it is completely gone.'"
I don't take pleasure in judgement, but I also don't pretend that persistent, deliberate wrongdoing carries no real weight - actions and their consequences are connected, even when it takes time to see it play out. I want you living with the awareness that how you treat what you've been given echoes forward, for better or worse, well beyond yourself.
"Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it. "
"'Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies out in the countryside will be eaten by birds - for the LORD has spoken it.'"
I won't pretend that serious, sustained wrongdoing carries no real cost, even though I offer real mercy to anyone who turns back honestly. This is hard material, and I don't ask you to explain it away - only to let it sharpen your own sense that how you lead and what you build for others truly matters.
"Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die. "
"'As for you, get up and go home - the moment your feet enter the city, the child will die.'"
Even delivering hard news, I choose clarity over vagueness, because uncertainty often causes more pain than a plain, honest answer. I want you to be someone who can deliver difficult truths to others with the same directness and care, rather than softening them into confusion that only prolongs someone's anguish.
"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. "
"'All Israel will mourn for him and bury him - he is the only one of Jeroboam's family who will be given a proper burial, because in him alone something good was found towards the LORD, the God of Israel, within Jeroboam's household.'"
You are never just a statistic within your family's story, your culture's failures, or your generation's mistakes - I see you, specifically, and any genuine good in you is noticed and honoured, even when everything around you is falling apart. Don't let the weight of a broken situation convince you that your own integrity within it doesn't matter; it matters enormously.
"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. "
"'Moreover, the LORD will raise up a king over Israel who will cut off Jeroboam's family line on that very day - and indeed, it is already happening even now.'"
Consequences don't wait for a convenient future moment to begin - the seeds of what's coming are often already growing, right now, out of choices already made. I ask you to take today's decisions seriously, not because I want to frighten you, but because today really is already shaping tomorrow.
"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. "
"'For the LORD will strike Israel down like a reed shaken in water; he will pull Israel up by the roots out of this good land he gave to their ancestors, and scatter them beyond the river, because they made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger.'"
When you build your security on things that aren't actually solid - approval, status, distractions that promise fulfilment but can't deliver it - you end up rootless too, shaken by whatever comes along. I want your life planted in something that actually holds steady, so that when pressure comes, you're not swept away by it.
"And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin. "
"'He will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam committed and caused Israel to commit.'"
The influence you have over others - as a parent, leader, friend, or public figure - carries real weight, because people copy what you normalise, not just what you say. I want you thinking not only about your own integrity, but about what you're making easy or acceptable for the people who watch and follow your example.
"And Jeroboam’s wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died; "
"Jeroboam's wife got up and left, and travelled to Tirzah. Just as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the child died."
When something painful happens exactly as warned, it's tempting to feel only despair - but I want you to also see it as confirmation that truth is real and reliable, which means the promises of restoration are equally real and reliable. Even hard fulfilment can become a foundation for trusting what comes next.
"And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet. "
"They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, just as the LORD had said through his servant Ahijah the prophet."
I keep every promise I make, the comforting ones as much as the hard ones - you can trust that when I say something good is coming, it's just as certain as any warning. Let that consistency be something you can actually lean your weight on, especially in grief.
"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. "
"The rest of what Jeroboam did - his wars and his reign - are recorded in the official chronicles of the kings of Israel."
What gets remembered about a life isn't usually the full record of activity, but the handful of choices that actually mattered morally - so it's worth asking yourself what you most want remembered about your own days, rather than just staying busy. I care far more about the substance of your choices than the sheer volume of what you accomplish.
"And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead. "
"Jeroboam reigned for twenty-two years, then died and was buried with his ancestors. His son Nadab became king after him."
Just because consequences don't strike immediately doesn't mean a choice was actually fine - some outcomes take time, playing out across years or even generations. I ask you not to measure whether something is right or wrong purely by how quickly you feel the effects.
"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 out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. "
"Meanwhile Rehoboam, Solomon's son, reigned in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to place his name. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonite woman."
The environment you create in your own home - the values you actually live out, not just what you say - becomes the water your children swim in, often more powerfully than any lecture. I ask you to think honestly about what you're passing down through daily example, not just intention.
"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. "
"Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to jealousy through their sins - worse than anything their ancestors had done."
Having the right structures, traditions, or institutions around you doesn't automatically make you faithful to what actually matters - integrity is a choice you make personally, again and again, not something inherited automatically by association. I care about what's genuinely happening in your heart and choices far more than which 'correct' institution you're technically part of.
"For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree. "
"They too built high places for themselves, sacred stone pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading green tree."
Just because something has become normal and widespread around you doesn't make it right - popularity and normalisation aren't the same as truth. I ask you to keep asking honest questions about your own habits and culture's defaults, rather than assuming that 'everyone does it' settles the matter.
"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. "
"There were also male shrine prostitutes in the land, and the people copied all the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out ahead of the Israelites."
I don't shy away from naming exploitation and corruption honestly, whatever form it takes - dignity, including sexual dignity, matters to me, and systems that commodify people are never something to shrug off as 'just how things are.' I ask you to have real compassion for anyone caught inside such systems while still being honest that the systems themselves cause genuine harm.
"And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: "
"In the fifth year of King Rehoboam's reign, Shishak king of Egypt marched up and attacked Jerusalem."
Outward success and impressive achievements can look completely stable right up until the moment they aren't - I want your security built on something deeper than wealth, reputation, or accumulated status, because none of those are as permanent as they feel. Build your life on what actually lasts, and you won't be as shaken when circumstances shift.
"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. "
"Shishak carried off the treasures of the LORD's Temple and the treasures of the royal palace - he took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made."
The things you display to signal your success or security are often the most fragile - I'd rather you invest in what can't be carried off by circumstance: character, love, integrity, genuine relationship with me. Don't mistake glittering symbols for real, lasting strength.
"And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king’s house. "
"King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them, and put them in the care of the officers of the guard who watched over the entrance to the royal palace."
Watch for the moment in your own life when you start substituting appearance for substance, just to keep up a show that used to be genuine - I'd rather you be honest about a real loss than dress up a diminished version of something as if nothing has changed. Authenticity, even when it's humbler, matters more to me than a polished performance.
"And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber. "
"Whenever the king went into the LORD's Temple, the guards would carry the bronze shields, then bring them back afterwards to the guardroom."
It's possible to keep going through familiar motions long after the real thing behind them has quietly disappeared - I want you checking in honestly with yourself about whether your habits and routines still carry genuine meaning, or whether you're just carrying an empty shield back and forth out of habit. Real substance matters more to me than maintained appearance.
"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? "
"The rest of what Rehoboam did, and everything he accomplished, are recorded in the official chronicles of the kings of Judah."
History, and I, remember the substance of how you lived far more than the sheer record of your activities - so it's worth regularly asking yourself what story your actual choices are quietly telling, underneath the busy record of what you did. Let that story be one of genuine integrity, not just accomplishment.
"And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. "
"There was ongoing war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout all their days."
Division you allow to harden - in families, communities, or even within yourself - has a way of settling in and becoming a permanent, exhausting state rather than a passing disagreement. I call you towards reconciliation and peace-making wherever you genuinely can, because ongoing conflict costs both sides far more than either usually admits.
"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. "
"Rehoboam died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonite woman. His son Abijam became king after him."
The patterns you inherit and the patterns you pass on are both worth taking seriously - you're not fully to blame for what shaped you, but you are responsible for what you do with it and what you hand forward. I invite you to be the generation that breaks an unhelpful cycle rather than simply continuing it out of habit.