1 At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, 2and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Now get up, disguise yourself so they will not recognize you as my wife, and go to Shiloh. For Ahijah the prophet is there; it was he who spoke about my kingship over this people. 3Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the boy.”

4 Jeroboam’s wife did as instructed; she arose and went to Shiloh and arrived at Ahijah’s house. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. 5But the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill. You are to say such and such to her, because when she arrives, she will be disguised.”

6 So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet entering the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you disguised? For I have been sent to you with bad news. 7Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over My people Israel. 8I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you. But you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and followed Me with all his heart, doing only what was right in My eyes.

9 You have done more evil than all who came before you. You have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me, and you have flung Me behind your back. 10Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam:

12 As for you, get up and go home. When your feet enter the city, the child will die. 13All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. For this is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will receive a proper burial, because only in him has the Lord, the God of Israel, found any good in the house of Jeroboam.

14 Moreover, the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam. This is the day — yes, even today! 15For the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the Lord to anger. 16So He will give Israel over on account of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”

17 Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and departed for Tirzah, and as soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word that the Lord had spoken through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

19 As for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he waged war and how he reigned, they are indeed written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

20 And the length of Jeroboam’s reign was twenty-two years, and he rested with his fathers, and his son Nadab reigned in his place.

21 Meanwhile, Rehoboam son of Solomon 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 from all the tribes of Israel in which to put His Name. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.

22 And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and by the sins they committed they provoked Him to jealous anger more than all their fathers had done. 23They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. 24There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

25 In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26He seized the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields that Solomon had made.

27 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. 28And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards would bear the shields, and later they would return them to the guardroom.

29 As for the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, along with all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

30 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their days. 31And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David; his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And his son Abijam reigned in his place.

1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam became king of Judah, 2and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.

3 And Abijam walked in all the sins that his father before him had committed, and his heart was not as fully devoted to the Lord his God as the heart of David his forefather had been. 4Nevertheless, for the sake of David, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and to make Jerusalem strong. 5For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not turned aside from anything the Lord commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

6 And there was war between the houses of Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of Abijam’s life.

7 As for the rest of the acts of Abijam, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

8 And Abijam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, and his son Asa reigned in his place.

9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Asa became king of Judah, 10and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.

11 And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done. 12He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. 13He also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

14 The high places were not removed, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted to the Lord all his days. 15And he brought into the house of the Lord the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.

16 Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their days. 17Baasha king of Israel went to war against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.

18 So Asa withdrew all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the royal palace. He entrusted it to his servants and sent them with this message to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus: 19“Let there be a treaty between me and you as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Now go and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”

20 And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and the whole land of Naphtali, including the region of Chinnereth.

21 When Baasha learned of this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah. 22Then King Asa summoned all the men of Judah, with no exceptions, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had used for building. And with these materials King Asa built up Geba of Benjamin, as well as Mizpah.

23 Now the rest of the acts of Asa, along with all his might, all his accomplishments, and the cities he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? In his old age, however, he became diseased in his feet.

24 And Asa rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.

1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was called the Italian Regiment. 2He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly. 3One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

4 Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked, “What is it, Lord?”

The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God. 5Now send men to Joppa to call for a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among his attendants. 8He explained what had happened and sent them to Joppa.

9 The next day at about the sixth hour, as the men were approaching the city on their journey, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.

11 He saw heaven open and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, as well as birds of the air. 13Then a voice said to him: “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”

14“No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

15 The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

16 This happened three times, and all at once the sheet was taken back up into heaven.

17 While Peter was puzzling over the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house and approached the gate. 18They called out to ask if Simon called Peter was staying there.

19 As Peter continued to reflect on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20So get up! Go downstairs and accompany them without hesitation, because I have sent them.”

21 So Peter went down to the men and said, “Here am I, the one you are looking for. Why have you come?”

22“Cornelius the centurion has sent us ,” they said. “He is a righteous and God-fearing man with a good reputation among the whole Jewish nation. A holy angel instructed him to request your presence in his home so he could hear a message from you.”

23 So Peter invited them in as his guests. And the next day he got ready and went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa.