1Så skete det, at Jeroboams søn Abija blev alvorligt syg.2Jeroboam sagde derfor til sin kone: „Forklæd dig godt, så ingen kan se, at du er min kone, og gå hen til profeten Ahija i Shilo—ham, som forudsagde, at jeg ville blive konge.3Tag en gave med til ham—ti brød, nogle figenkager og en krukke honning—så han kan fortælle dig, hvad der vil ske med drengen.”4Så forklædte hun sig og tog af sted til Ahijas hus i Shilo. Profeten var meget gammel, og han havde mistet synet på grund af alderdom.5Men Herren sagde til ham: „Jeroboams kone kommer for at søge råd om sin søn, der er syg. Hun er forklædt.” Og Herren gav ham besked om, hvad han skulle sige til hende, når hun kom.6Så da Ahija hørte fodtrin uden for døren, råbte han: „Kom ind, Jeroboams kone! Hvorfor har du forklædt dig?” Så tilføjede han: „Jeg har dårligt nyt til dig.7Herren, Israels Gud, siger til din mand: ‚Jeg gjorde dig til konge over Nordriget, selv om du ikke var af kongeslægt.8Jeg tog herredømmet ud af hænderne på Davids slægt og gav det til dig. Men du har ikke adlydt mig, sådan som min tjener David gjorde, for han adlød mig af hele sit hjerte og ønskede at gøre min vilje.9Du, derimod, har gjort mere ondt end dine forgængere! Du har lavet afguder og støbt guldkalve! Du har krænket og forkastet mig.10Derfor vil jeg straffe dig. Hver eneste mand og dreng i din slægt vil jeg udrydde. Ja, jeg vil snart udrydde din slægt, som man brænder affald og intet bliver tilbage.11Dem fra din slægt, der bliver dræbt i byen, skal hundene æde, og dem, som bliver dræbt på landet, skal fuglene æde.’12Gå du nu hjem, Jeroboams kone! Så snart du kommer tilbage til byen, vil din søn dø,13og hele Nordriget vil sørge over ham. Men den søn bliver den eneste i din familie, som får en ordentlig begravelse, for han er den eneste af jer, som Herren, Israels Gud, ser noget godt i.14Efter Jeroboams død vil Herren lade en anden mand komme til magten i Nordriget, som vil udrydde resten af Jeroboams slægt.15Siden hen vil Herren straffe hele Nordriget. Som et siv, der rykkes op og rives med af en kraftig vandstrøm, sådan vil Israels folk blive rykket op fra det frugtbare land, deres forfædre fik i eje, og de vil ende ovre på den anden side af Eufratfloden, for de har vakt Herrens vrede ved at dyrke afguder og opstille Asherapæle.16Ja, han vil lade Israel sejle sin egen sø, fordi Jeroboam syndede og fik hele folket til at følge sit dårlige eksempel.”17Efter at have fået dette budskab vendte Jeroboams kone tilbage til Tirtza, som var Nordrigets hovedstad, og i samme øjeblik hun trådte over dørtærsklen, døde drengen.18Der blev straks udråbt landesorg, sådan som Herren havde forudsagt gennem profeten Ahija.19Hvad Jeroboam ellers foretog sig—hans krigsbedrifter og øvrige politiske virke—er nedskrevet i Israels kongers krønikebog.[1]20Han regerede i 22 år, og da han døde, overtog hans søn Nadab tronen.
Judas folk begynder også at dyrke afguder
21I mellemtiden regerede Rehabeam, Salomons søn, i Juda. Han var 41 år gammel, da han overtog tronen, og han regerede i Jerusalem, Herrens udvalgte by, i 17 år. Hans mor hed Na’ama og var ammonit.22Men under kong Rehabeam opførte Judas folk sig ikke bedre end Nordrigets folk under Jeroboam. De var tilsvarende ulydige imod Herren og provokerede ham med deres synd—ja, de syndede endnu værre end deres forfædre.23De byggede afgudsaltre, rejste frugtbarhedssymboler og Asherapæle på alle høje bakker og under de store, skyggefulde træer.24Den religiøse prostitution blomstrede på disse afgudshøje, og både mænd og kvinder var prostituerede. Judæerne blev efterhånden lige så perverse, som de folkeslag, Herren i sin tid havde jaget ud af landet for at skaffe plads til sit folk.
Egypterkongen plyndrer templets og paladsets guldskatte
25I Rehabeams femte regeringsår angreb kong Shishak af Egypten Jerusalem og erobrede byen.26Egypterkongen plyndrede både Herrens hus og kongens palads og ribbede byen for kostbarheder, blandt andet de guldskjolde, som Salomon havde ladet fremstille.27Bagefter fik Rehabeam lavet nogle efterligninger i bronze, som paladsgarden så brugte,28hver gang de eskorterede kongen til templet. Derefter blev de hængt tilbage i depotet, hvor de blev opbevaret.
Rehabeam dør og efterfølges på tronen af sin søn
29Hvad der ellers skete under kong Rehabeams regeringstid er nedskrevet i Judas kongers krønikebog.30Der var til stadighed fjendtligheder mellem Rehabeam og Jeroboam.31Da Rehabeam døde, blev han begravet i familiegravstedet i Davidsbyen. Hans mor var fra Ammon og hed Na’ama, og hans søn Abija blev konge efter ham.
1At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.2And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. (Josva 18,1; 1.Kong 11,29)3Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.” (1.Sam 9,7)4Jeroboam’s wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. (1.Kong 11,29; 1.Kong 14,2)5And the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.” When she came, she pretended to be another woman. (1.Kong 14,4)6But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you. (1.Kong 14,4)7Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel (2.Sam 12,7; 1.Kong 16,2)8and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes, (1.Kong 9,4; 1.Kong 11,31; 1.Kong 11,33; 1.Kong 11,38; 1.Kong 15,5)9but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back, (2.Mos 34,17; 1.Kong 12,28; 2.Krøn 11,15; Neh 9,26; Salm 50,17; Ez 23,35)10therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. (5.Mos 32,36; 1.Kong 16,3; 1.Kong 21,21; 2.Kong 9,8; 2.Kong 14,26)11Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the Lord has spoken it.”’ (1.Kong 16,4; 1.Kong 21,24)12Arise therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. (1.Kong 14,17)13And 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 something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. (2.Krøn 12,12; 2.Krøn 19,3)14Moreover, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth, (1.Kong 15,27)15the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the Euphrates,[1] because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. (2.Mos 34,13; 5.Mos 12,3; 5.Mos 29,28; Josva 23,15; 2.Kong 15,29; Salm 52,5; Ord 2,22)16And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.”17Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah. And as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. (1.Kong 14,12; 1.Kong 15,21; 1.Kong 15,33; 1.Kong 16,6; 1.Kong 16,8; 1.Kong 16,15; 1.Kong 16,23)18And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet. (1.Kong 14,13)
The Death of Jeroboam
19Now 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. (2.Krøn 13,2)20And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.
Rehoboam Reigns in Judah
21Now 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 that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. (1.Kong 11,32; 1.Kong 11,36; 2.Krøn 12,13)22And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. (4.Mos 25,11; 2.Krøn 12,1; 2.Krøn 12,14)23For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, (2.Mos 23,24; 5.Mos 12,2; 1.Kong 14,15; 2.Kong 16,4; Es 57,5; Jer 2,20)24and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. (5.Mos 23,17)25In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. (2.Krøn 12,2; 2.Krøn 12,9)26He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made, (1.Kong 10,17; 1.Kong 15,18)27and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house.28And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.29Now 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? (2.Krøn 12,15)30And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. (1.Kong 12,21; 1.Kong 15,6)31And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Abijam his son reigned in his place. (2.Krøn 12,13; Matt 1,7)