Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve you.

And he said unto them, What counsel give you that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which your father did put upon us lighter?

And the young men that were grown up with him spoke unto him, saying, Thus shall you speak unto this people that spoke unto you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter unto us; thus shall you say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.

But as for the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned back according to the word of the LORD.

Therefore the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places whom he had made.

And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD has spoken; Behold, the altar shall be torn, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the face of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

He said unto him, I am a prophet also as you are; and an angel spoke unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.

And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:

And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD has delivered him unto the lion, which has torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke unto him.

And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulcher in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:

And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray you, and disguise yourself, that you be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get you to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who told me that I should be king over this people.

And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam comes to ask a thing of you for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shall you say unto her: for it shall be, when she comes in, that she shall pretend to be another woman.

And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, you wife of Jeroboam; why pretend yourself to be another? for I am sent to you with heavy tidings.

And tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it you: and yet you have not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in my eyes;

Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man takes away refuse, till it is all gone.

And 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 some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their idol poles, provoking the LORD to anger.

And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.

And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his place.

And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.

And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.

And also Maachah his grandmother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image on an idol pole; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.

But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.

And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants: and king Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,

There is a treaty between me and you, and between my father and your father: behold, I have sent unto you a present of silver and gold; come and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

So Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies whom he had against the cities of Israel, and struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maacah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.

Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted: and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, with which Baasha had built; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.

The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.

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

And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.

Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his place.

And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.

In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years.

And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah.

And Zimri went in and struck him down, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not one single male, neither of his relatives, nor of his friends.

In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.

In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years he reigned in Tirzah.

And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.

And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

Get you from here, and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is east of the Jordan.

So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is east of the Jordan.

And as she was going to bring it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray you, a morsel of bread in your hand.

And she said, As the LORD your God lives, I have not bread, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a jar: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as you have said: but make me from it a little loaf first, and bring it unto me, and after that make some for you and for your son.

And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.

And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Are you my lord Elijah?

And he answered him, I am: go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom, where my lord has not sent to seek you: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found you not.

And now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the spirit of the LORD shall carry you I know not where; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he shall slay me: but I your servant fear the LORD from my youth.

And now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.

And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him today.

And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long do you halt between two opinions? if the LORD is God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under it: and I will prepare the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under it:

And call you on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answers by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

And they took the bullock which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.

And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he sleeps, and must be awaked.

And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench around the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get you up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for you.

Your silver and your gold is mine; your wives also and your children, even the fairest, are mine.

Yet I will send my servants unto you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in your eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.

And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girds on his armor boast himself as he that puts it off.

And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.

And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

And there came a man of God, and spoke unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus says the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray you, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save your life.

So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Your servant Ben-hadad says, I pray you, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.

And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from your father, I will restore; and you shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send you away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.

Then said he unto him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as you are departed from me, a lion shall slay you. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.

And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall your life be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.

And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall your judgment be; you have decided it.

And Ahab spoke unto Naboth, saying, Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you the worth of it in money.

But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is your spirit so sad, that you eat no bread?

And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.

Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.

Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to possess it.

Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male, and he that is shut up and left in Israel,

And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know you that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we are still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?

And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to battle to Ramoth-gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.

And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might inquire of him?

And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

And the messenger that had gone to call Micaiah spoke unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let your word, I pray you, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.

And Micaiah said, As the LORD lives, what the LORD says unto me, that will I speak.