The Divided Kingdom

And he saith to him, `I also am a prophet like thee, and a messenger spake unto me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Bring him back with thee unto thy house, and he doth eat bread and drink water;' --he hath lied to him.

And he turneth back with him, and eateth bread in his house, and drinketh water.

And it cometh to pass--they are sitting at the table--and a word of Jehovah is unto the prophet who brought him back,

and he calleth unto the man of God who came from Judah, saying, `Thus said Jehovah, Because that thou hast provoked the mouth of Jehovah, and hast not kept the command that Jehovah thy God charged thee,

and turnest back and dost eat bread and drink water in the place of which He said unto thee, Thou dost not eat bread nor drink water--thy carcase cometh not in unto the burying-place of thy fathers.'

And it cometh to pass, after his eating bread, and after his drinking, that he saddleth for him the ass, for the prophet whom he had brought back,

and he goeth, and a lion findeth him in the way, and putteth him to death, and his carcase is cast in the way, and the ass is standing near it, and the lion is standing near the carcase.

And lo, men are passing by, and see the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing near the carcase, and they come and speak of it in the city in which the old prophet is dwelling.

And the prophet who brought him back out of the way heareth and saith, `It is the man of God who provoked the mouth of Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth him to the lion, and it destroyeth him, and putteth him to death, according to the word of Jehovah that he spake to him.'

And he speaketh unto his sons saying, `Saddle for me the ass,' and they saddle it .

And he goeth and findeth his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion are standing near the carcase--the lion hath not eaten the carcase nor destroyed the ass.

And the prophet taketh up the carcase of the man of God, and placeth it on the ass, and bringeth it back, and the old prophet cometh in unto the city to mourn and to bury him,

and he placeth his carcase in his own grave, and they mourn for him, `Oh, my brother!'

And it cometh to pass, after his burying him, that he speaketh unto his sons, saying, `At my death--ye have buried me in the burying-place in which the man of God is buried; near his bones place my bones;

for the word certainly cometh to pass that he called by the word of Jehovah concerning the altar which is Beth-El, and concerning all the houses of the high places that are in cities of Samaria.'

After this thing Jeroboam hath not turned from his evil way, and turneth back, and maketh of the extremities of the people priests of high places; he who is desirous he consecrateth his hand, and he is of the priests of the high places.

And in this thing is the sin of the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the ground.

At that time was Abijah son of Jeroboam sick,

and Jeroboam saith to his wife, `Rise, I pray thee, and change thyself, and they know not that thou art wife of Jeroboam, and thou hast gone to Shiloh; lo, there is Ahijah the prophet; he spake unto me of being king over this people;

and thou hast taken in thy hand ten loaves, and crumbs, and a bottle of honey, and hast gone in unto him; he doth declare to thee what becometh of the youth.'

And the wife of Jeroboam doth so, and riseth, and goeth to Shiloh, and entereth the house of Ahijah, and Ahijah is not able to see, for his eyes have stood because of his age.

And Jehovah said unto Ahijah, `Lo, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to seek a word from thee concerning her son, for he is sick; thus and thus thou dost speak unto her, and it cometh to pass at her coming in, that she is making herself strange.'

And it cometh to pass, at Ahijah's hearing the sound of her feet as she came in to the opening, that he saith, `Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why is this--thou art making thyself strange? and I am sent unto thee with a sharp thing:

Go, say to Jeroboam, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Because that I have made thee high out of the midst of the people, and appoint thee leader over my people Israel,

and rend the kingdom from the house of David, and give it to thee, --and thou hast not been as My servant David who kept My commands, and who walked after Me with all his heart, to do only that which is right in Mine eyes,