At the LORD's command a prophet from Judah went to Bethel and arrived there as Jeroboam stood at the altar to offer the sacrifice.

And the prophet went on to say, "This altar will fall apart, and the ashes on it will be scattered. Then you will know that the LORD has spoken through me."

The altar suddenly fell apart and the ashes spilled to the ground, as the prophet had predicted in the name of the LORD.

Then the king said to the prophet, "Come home with me and have something to eat. I will reward you for what you have done."

The LORD has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came."

At that time there was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons came and told him what the prophet from Judah had done in Bethel that day and what he had said to King Jeroboam.

and he told them to saddle his donkey for him. They did so, and he rode off

"Come home and have a meal with me," he said.

because the LORD has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came."

So the prophet from Judah went home with the old prophet and had a meal with him.

and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, "The LORD says that you disobeyed him and did not do what he commanded.

After they had finished eating, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet from Judah,

Some men passed by and saw the body on the road, with the lion standing near by. They went on into Bethel and reported what they had seen.

Then he said to his sons, "Saddle my donkey for me." They did so,

The old prophet picked up the body, put it on the donkey, and brought it back to Bethel to mourn over it and bury it.

After the burial the prophet said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in this grave and lay my body next to his.

King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways but continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built. He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one.

At that time King Jeroboam's son Abijah got sick.

Take him ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey. Ask him what is going to happen to our son, and he will tell you."

The LORD had told him that Jeroboam's wife was coming to ask him about her son, who was sick. And the LORD told Ahijah what to say. When Jeroboam's wife arrived, she pretended to be someone else.

Go and tell Jeroboam that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to him: 'I chose you from among the people and made you the ruler of my people Israel.

You have committed far greater sins than those who ruled before you. You have rejected me and have aroused my anger by making idols and metal images to worship.

Any members of your family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures. I, the LORD, have spoken.' "

All the people of Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He will be the only member of Jeroboam's family who will be properly buried, because he is the only one with whom the LORD, the God of Israel, is pleased.

The LORD will punish Israel, and she will shake like a reed shaking in a stream. He will uproot the people of Israel from this good land which he gave to their ancestors, and he will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they have aroused his anger by making idols of the goddess Asherah.

Jeroboam's wife went back to Tirzah. Just as she entered her home, the child died.

Everything else that King Jeroboam did, the wars he fought and how he ruled, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

Solomon's son Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen from all the territory of Israel as the place where he was to be worshiped. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah from Ammon.

They built places of worship for false gods and put up stone pillars and symbols of Asherah to worship on the hills and under shady trees.

In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem.

To replace them, King Rehoboam made bronze shields and entrusted them to the officers responsible for guarding the palace gates.

Everything else that King Rehoboam did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.

Rehoboam died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City and his son Abijah succeeded him as king.

As soon as Rehoboam had established his authority as king, he and all his people abandoned the Law of the LORD.

with an army of twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand cavalry, and more soldiers than could be counted, including Libyan, Sukkite, and Ethiopian troops.

Shemaiah the prophet went to King Rehoboam and the Judean leaders who had gathered in Jerusalem to escape Shishak. He said to them, "This is the LORD's message to you: 'You have abandoned me, so now I have abandoned you to Shishak.' "

When the LORD saw this, he spoke again to Shemaiah and said to him, "Because they admit their sin, I will not destroy them. But when Shishak attacks, they will barely survive. Jerusalem will not feel the full force of my anger,

King Shishak came to Jerusalem and took the treasures from the Temple and from the palace. He took everything, including the gold shields that King Solomon had made.

Every time the king went to the Temple, the guards carried the shields and then returned them to the guardroom.

Rehoboam ruled in Jerusalem and increased his power as king. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen from all the territory of Israel as the place where he was to be worshiped. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah, from the land of Ammon.

Rehoboam's acts from beginning to end and his family records are found in The History of Shemaiah the Prophet and The History of Iddo the Prophet.Rehoboam and Jeroboam were constantly at war with each other.

In conclusion, my friends, be joyful in your union with the Lord. I don't mind repeating what I have written before, and you will be safer if I do so.

It is we, not they, who have received the true circumcision, for we worship God by means of his Spirit and rejoice in our life in union with Christ Jesus. We do not put any trust in external ceremonies.

I was circumcised when I was a week old. I am an Israelite by birth, of the tribe of Benjamin, a pure-blooded Hebrew. As far as keeping the Jewish Law is concerned, I was a Pharisee,

But all those things that I might count as profit I now reckon as loss for Christ's sake.

and be completely united with him. I no longer have a righteousness of my own, the kind that is gained by obeying the Law. I now have the righteousness that is given through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and is based on faith.

in the hope that I myself will be raised from death to life.

Of course, my friends, I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead.

All of us who are spiritually mature should have this same attitude. But if some of you have a different attitude, God will make this clear to you.

Keep on imitating me, my friends. Pay attention to those who follow the right example that we have set for you.

They are going to end up in hell, because their god is their bodily desires. They are proud of what they should be ashamed of, and they think only of things that belong to this world.

He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them like his own glorious body, using that power by which he is able to bring all things under his rule.