9. But you have done more evil things than anyone who ruled before you. You have quit following me. You have made other gods and idols of metal. This has made me very angry.
10. So I will bring disaster to the family of Jeroboam. I will kill all of the men in your family, both slaves and free men. I will destroy your family as completely as fire burns up manure.
11. Anyone from your family who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs. And anyone from your family who dies in the fields will be eaten by the birds. The Lord has spoken!’”
12. Then Ahijah said to Jeroboam’s wife, “Now go home. When you enter your city gate, your son will die.
13. All Israel will be sad for him and bury him. He will be the only one of Jeroboam’s family who will be buried. This is because he is the only one in Jeroboam’s family who pleased the Lord, the God of Israel.
14. “The Lord will put a new king over Israel. That king will destroy Jeroboam’s family. This will happen soon.
15. Then the Lord will punish Israel. The people of Israel will be like grass moving in the water. The Lord will pull up Israel from this good land. This is the land he gave their ancestors. But he will scatter Israel beyond the Euphrates River. This will happen because the Lord is angry with the people. They made him angry when they made idols to worship Asherah.
16. Jeroboam sinned, and then he made the people of Israel sin. So the Lord will let the people of Israel be defeated.”
17. Then Jeroboam’s wife traveled back to Tirzah. When she entered her home, the boy died.
18. They buried him. And all Israel had a time of sadness for him. This happened as the Lord said it would. The Lord had said these things through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.
19. Everything else Jeroboam did is written down. He fought wars and continued to rule the people. It is all written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.