One Year Bible.

Jeroboam’s Hand Withers

¹Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD. ²And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David, and upon you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and human bones will be burned upon you.’”

³That day the man of God gave a sign, saying, “The LORD has spoken this sign: ‘Surely the altar will be split apart, and the ashes upon it will be poured out.’”

⁴Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back. ⁵And the altar was split apart, and the ashes poured out, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.

⁶Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.”

So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him as it was before.

⁷Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”

⁸But the man of God replied, “If you were to give me half your possessions, I still would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. ⁹For this is what I was commanded by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’”

¹⁰So the man of God went another way and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.

The Old Prophet and the Man of God

¹¹Now a certain old prophet was living in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words that the man had spoken to the king.

¹²“Which way did he go?” their father asked.

And his sons showed him the way taken by the man of God, who had come from Judah. ¹³So the prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.”

Then they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it ¹⁴and went after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

“I am,” he replied.

¹⁵So the prophet said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some bread.”

¹⁶But the man replied, “I cannot go home with you, and I will not eat bread or drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷For I have been told by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’”

¹⁸Then the prophet replied, “I too am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.’”

The old prophet was lying to him, ¹⁹but the man of God went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water.

²⁰While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back, ²¹and the prophet cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the commandment that the LORD your God gave you, ²²but you went back and ate bread and drank water in the place where He told you not to do so, your body shall never reach the tomb of your fathers.’”

²³And after the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old prophet who had brought him back saddled the donkey for him. ²⁴As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it.

²⁵And there were men passing by who saw the body lying in the road with the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported this in the city where the old prophet lived.

²⁶When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard this, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the command of the LORD. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, and it has mauled him and killed him, according to the word that the LORD had spoken to him.”

²⁷Then the old prophet instructed his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it, ²⁸and he went and found the body lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had not eaten the body or mauled the donkey. ²⁹So the old prophet lifted up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. ³⁰Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they lamented over him, “Oh, my brother!”

³¹After he had buried him, the prophet said to his sons, “When I die, you must bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones, ³²for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.”

³³Even after these events, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways, but again he appointed priests for the high places from every class of people. He ordained anyone who desired to be a priest of the high places. ³⁴And this was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its extermination and destruction from the face of the earth.

Ahijah’s Prophecy against Jeroboam

¹At 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.”

⁴Jeroboam’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.”

⁶So 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.

⁹You 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:

I will cut off from Jeroboam every male,

both slave and free,

in Israel;

I will burn up the house of Jeroboam

as one burns up dung until it is gone!

¹¹Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city

will be eaten by dogs,

and anyone who dies in the field

will be eaten by the birds of the air.’

For the LORD has spoken.

¹²As 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.

¹⁴Moreover , 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.”

¹⁷Then 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.

Nadab Succeeds Jeroboam

¹⁹As 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.

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

Rehoboam Reigns in Judah

²¹Meanwhile, 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.

²²And 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.

Shishak Raids Jerusalem

²⁵In 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.

²⁷Then 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.

²⁹As 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?

³⁰There 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.

Jesus Heals the Man Born Blind

¹Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth, ²and His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him. ⁴While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes. ⁷Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.

⁸At this, his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging began to ask, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”

⁹Some claimed that he was, but others said, “No, he just looks like him.”

But the man kept saying, “I am the one.”

¹⁰“How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

¹¹He answered, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and anointed my eyes, and He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight.”

¹²“Where is He?” they asked.

“I do not know,” he answered.

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. ¹⁴Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath. ¹⁵So the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight.

The man answered, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”

¹⁶Because of this, some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.”

But others said, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?”

And there was division among them. ¹⁷So once again they asked the man who had been blind, “What do you say about Him, since it was your eyes He opened?”

“He is a prophet,” the man replied.

¹⁸The Jews still did not believe that the man had been blind and had received his sight until they summoned his parents ¹⁹and asked, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? So how is it that he can now see?”

²⁰His parents answered, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. ²¹But how he can now see or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.”

²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. ²³That was why his parents said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”

²⁴So a second time they called for the man who had been blind and said, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”

²⁵He answered, “Whether He is a sinner I do not know. There is one thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see!”

²⁶“What did He do to you?” they asked. “How did He open your eyes?”

²⁷He replied, “I already told you, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

²⁸Then they heaped insults on him and said, “You are His disciple; we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.”

³⁰“That is remarkable indeed!” the man said. “You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will. ³²Never before has anyone heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, He could do no such thing.”

³⁴They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.

Spiritual Blindness

³⁵When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, He found the man and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶“Who is He, Sir?” he replied. “Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”

³⁷“You have already seen Him,” Jesus answered. “He is the One speaking with you.”

³⁸“Lord, I believe,” he said. And he worshiped Jesus.

³⁹Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”

⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard this, and they asked Him, “Are we blind too?”

⁴¹“If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

Jesus the Good Shepherd

¹“Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. ²But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.”

⁶Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them. ⁷So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.

¹¹I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. ¹²The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock. ¹³The man runs away because he is a hired servant and is unconcerned for the sheep.

¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.

¹⁷The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”

¹⁹Again there was division among the Jews because of Jesus’ message. ²⁰Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and insane. Why would you listen to Him?”

²¹But others replied, “These are not the words of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Jesus at the Feast of Dedication

²²At that time the Feast of Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple courts in Solomon’s Colonnade. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around Him and demanded, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

²⁵“I already told you,” Jesus replied, “but you did not believe. The works I do in My Father’s name testify on My behalf. ²⁶But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe. ²⁷My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. ³⁰I and the Father are one.”

³¹At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him. ³²But Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?”

³³“We are not stoning You for any good work,” said the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, make Yourself out to be God.”

³⁴Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law: ‘I have said you are gods’? ³⁵If he called them gods to whom the word of God came — and the Scripture cannot be broken — ³⁶then what about the One whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world? How then can you accuse Me of blasphemy for stating that I am the Son of God?

³⁷If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me. ³⁸But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.”

³⁹At this, they tried again to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp.

John’s Testimony Confirmed

⁴⁰Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had first been baptizing, and He stayed there. ⁴¹Many came to Him and said, “Although John never performed a sign, everything he said about this man was true.” ⁴²And many in that place believed in Jesus.