World English Bible · The divided kingdom
1 Kings 13
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Behold, a came out of Judah by word to ; and was standing by the to . He cried against the by word, and said, "! ! says: 'Behold, a son will be born to house, by name. On you he will the priests of the who on you, and they will burn men's bones on you.'" He gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign which has spoken: Behold, the will be split apart, and the that are on it will be poured out." When the king heard the saying of the , which he cried against the in , put out his hand from the , saying, "Seize him!" His hand, which he put out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to himself. The was also split apart, and the poured out from the , according to the sign which the had given by word. The king answered the , "Now intercede for the of your , and for me, that my hand may be restored me again." The interceded with , and the king's hand was restored to him again, and became as it was before. The king said to the , "Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward." The said to the king, "Even if you gave me half of your house, I would not go in with you, neither would I eat bread nor drink water in this place; for so was it commanded me by word, saying, 'You shall eat , drink no water, and don't return by that you came.'" 10So he went another way, and didn't return by that he came to . Now an old lived in , and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the had done that day in . They also told their the words which he had spoken to the king. 12Their said to them, "Which way did he go?" Now his sons had seen which way the went, who came from Judah. He said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it. He went after the , and found him sitting under an oak. He said to him, "Are you the who came from Judah?" He said, "I am." 15Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat bread." He said, "I may not return with you, nor go in with you. I will not eat bread or drink water with you in this place. For it was said to me by word, 'You shall eat or drink water there, and don't turn again to go by that you came.'" He said to him, "I also am a as you are; and spoke to me by word, saying, 'Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.'" He lied to him. So he went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water. As they sat , word came to the who brought him back; and he cried out to the who came from Judah, saying, " says, 'Because you have been to word, and have not kept the which your commanded you, but came back, and have eaten bread and drank water in the place of which he said to you, "Eat , and drink no water," your body will not come to the of your fathers.'" 23After he had eaten bread and after he drank, he saddled the donkey for the whom he had brought back. When he had gone, a lion met him by and killed him. His body was thrown on , and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the body. Behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on , and the lion standing by the body; and they came and told it in the city where the old lived. When the who brought him back from heard of it, he said, "It is the who was to word. Therefore has him to the lion, which has mauled him and slain him, according to word which he spoke to him." 27He said to his sons, saying, "Saddle the donkey for me," and they saddled it. He went and found his body thrown on , and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. 29The took up the body of the , and laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. He came to the city of the old to mourn, and to bury him. He laid his body in his own ; and they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!" After he had , he spoke to his sons, saying, "When I am , bury me in the in which the is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones. For the saying which he cried by word against the in , and against all the houses of the which are in the cities of , will surely happen." After this thing, didn't turn from his evil way, but again made priests of the from among all the people. Whoever wanted to, he him, that there might be priests of the . This thing became to the house of , even to cut it off and to destroy it from off the surface of the earth.
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The world at this moment · The divided kingdom, 931 BC to 745 BC ›
Israel in the north and Judah in the south, often at odds, with Aram of Damascus as the immediate threat and Assyria growing in the distance.
- Aram of Damascus
- The immediate enemy for most of two centuries, close enough to raid every campaigning season and strong enough to take territory. Most of the wars in Kings that read like national emergencies are border wars with Damascus.
- Assyria
- Growing steadily in the distance. Shalmaneser III fights a coalition at Qarqar in 853 BC and his own inscription lists King Ahab of Israel among his opponents with two thousand chariots, the earliest Assyrian mention of an Israelite king. A later monument shows Jehu bowing and paying tribute. Assyria is not yet the destroyer, but it is already taking notes.
- Egypt
- Divided and unreliable, capable of the occasional raid, such as Shishak stripping the temple in Rehoboam's fifth year, but no longer an empire that governs the Levant.
- Further afield
- The Greeks adopt the alphabet, hold the first Olympiad by tradition in 776 BC, and begin to compose the Homeric poems. Rome is founded by tradition in 753 BC, a village of huts at this point. This is the century in which the classical world begins.