Prophecy Against Jeroboam

1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. 2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to ^gShiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, ^hwho said of me that I should be king over this people. 3 ⁱTake 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.”

4 Jeroboam’s wife did so. She arose and went to ^gShiloh and came to the house of ^jAhijah. Now ^jAhijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. 5 And the Lord said to ^jAhijah, “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. 6 But when ^jAhijah 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. 7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^k“Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel 8 and ^ltore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been ^mlike my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes, 9 but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and ⁿmade for yourself other gods and ^ometal images, provoking me to anger, and ^phave cast me behind your back, 10 therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and ^qwill cut off from Jeroboam every male, ^rboth bond and free in Israel, and ^swill burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. 11 ^tAnyone 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.”’ 12 Arise therefore, go to your house. ^uWhen your feet enter the city, the child shall die. 13 And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him ^vthere is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. 14 ^wMoreover, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth, 15 the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and ^xroot up Israel out of ^ythis good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them ^zbeyond the Euphrates,¹ because they have made their ^aAsherim, provoking the Lord to anger. 16 And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.”

17 Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed and came to ^bTirzah. And ^cas she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, ^daccording to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.

The Death of Jeroboam

19 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, ^ehow he warred and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 20 And 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

21 ^fNow 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, ^gthe city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. ^hHis mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. 22 ⁱAnd Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they ^jprovoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. 23 For they also built for themselves ^khigh places ^land pillars and ^mAsherim on every high hill and ⁿunder every green tree, 24 and there were also ^omale 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.

25 ^pIn the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. 26 He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house. ^qHe took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold ^rthat Solomon had made, 27 and 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. 28 And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.

29 ^sNow 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? 30 ^tAnd there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. ^uHis mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And ^vAbijam his son reigned in his place.

Greeting

1 Paul, ^aan apostle of Christ Jesus ^bby the will of God, and Timothy ^cour brother,

2 To the ^dsaints and faithful brothers¹ in Christ at Colossae:

^eGrace to you and peace from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3 ^fWe always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of ^gyour faith in Christ Jesus and of ^gthe love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of ^hthe hope ⁱlaid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in ^jthe word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed ^kin the whole world it is ^lbearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you ^mheard it and understood ⁿthe grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from ^oEpaphras our beloved ^pfellow servant.² He is ^pa faithful minister of Christ on your³ behalf 8 and has made known to us your ^qlove in the Spirit.

9 And so, ^rfrom the day we heard, ^swe have not ceased to pray for you, asking that ^tyou may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all ^uspiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as ^vto walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^wfully pleasing to him: ^xbearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 ^ybeing strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for ^zall endurance and patience ^awith joy; 12 ^bgiving thanks⁴ to the Father, who has qualified you⁵ to share in ^cthe inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He ^dhas delivered us from ^ethe domain of darkness and transferred us to ^fthe kingdom of ^ghis beloved Son, 14 ^hin whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Preeminence of Christ

15 ⁱHe is the image of ^jthe invisible God, ^kthe firstborn of all creation. 16 For by⁶ him all things were created, ^lin heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^mthrones or ⁿdominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created ^othrough him and for him. 17 And ^phe is before all things, and in him all things ^qhold together. 18 And ^rhe is the head of the body, the church. He is ^sthe beginning, ^tthe firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For ^uin him all the ^vfullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and ^wthrough him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, ^xmaking peace ^yby the blood of his cross.

21 ^zAnd you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, ^adoing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled ^bin his body of flesh by his death, ^cin order to present you holy and blameless and ^dabove reproach before him, 23 ^eif indeed you continue in the faith, ^fstable and steadfast, not shifting from ^gthe hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed ^hin all creation⁷ under heaven, ⁱand of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Paul’s Ministry to the Church

24 Now ^jI rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^kI am filling up ^lwhat is lacking in Christ’s afflictions ^mfor the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 ⁿof which I became a minister according to ^othe stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 ^pthe mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 ^qTo them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are ^rthe riches of the glory of ^pthis mystery, which is Christ in you, ^sthe hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that ^twe may present everyone ^umature in Christ. 29 For this ^vI toil, ^wstruggling ^xwith all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

The Gate for the Prince

1 Then he brought me ^wback to the outer gate of the sanctuary, ^xwhich faces east. And it was shut. 2 And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for ^ythe Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. 3 Only ^zthe prince may sit in it ^ato eat bread before the Lord. He ^bshall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”

4 Then he brought me by way of ^cthe north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, ^dthe glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. And ^eI fell on my face. 5 And the Lord said to me, ^f“Son of man, mark well, ^gsee with your eyes, ^gand hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning ^hall the statutes of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well ^hthe entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. 6 And say to ⁱthe rebellious house,¹ to the ^jhouse of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, ^kenough of all your abominations, 7 in ^ladmitting foreigners, ^muncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, ⁿprofaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You² have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. 8 And ^oyou have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.

9 “Thus says the Lord God: ^pNo foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. 10 But ^qthe Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols ^rwhen Israel went astray, ^sshall bear their punishment.³ 11 They shall be ^tministers in my sanctuary, having oversight ^uat the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and ^vthey shall stand before the people, to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and became ^wa stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have ^xsworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. 13 They ^yshall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but ^zthey shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep ^acharge of the temple, ^bto do all its service and all that is to be done in it.

Rules for Levitical Priests

15 “But ^cthe Levitical priests, ^cthe sons of Zadok, who kept ^athe charge of my sanctuary ^rwhen the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me ^dto minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me ^ethe fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. 16 They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach ^fmy table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. 17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear ^glinen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. 18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19 And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering ^hand lay them in the holy chambers. And ⁱthey shall put on other garments, ^jlest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20 ^kThey shall not shave their heads or ^llet their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. 21 ^mNo priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22 ⁿThey shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 ^oThey shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and ^oshow them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24 ^pIn a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and ^qthey shall keep my Sabbaths holy. 25 ^rThey shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. 26 ^sAfter he⁴ has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. 27 And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, ^tinto the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, ^uhe shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

28 ^v“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ^wyou shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. 29 ^xThey shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and ^yevery devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 ^zAnd the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. ^aYou shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, ^bthat a blessing may rest on your house. 31 ^cThe priests shall not eat of ^danything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

The Lord Reigns

Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord

A Psalm.