1Kings


1:1   When King David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep
warm even when they put covers over him. 
1:2  So his servants said to him, "Let us look for a young virgin to attend
the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the
king may keep warm." 
1:3   Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl and found
Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 
1:4  The girl was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on
him, but the king had no intimate relations with her. 
1:5   Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said,
"I will be king." So he got chariots and horses {[5] Or <charioteers>}
ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. 
1:6  (His father had never interfered with him by asking, "Why do you behave
as you do?" He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.) 
1:7   Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the
priest, and they gave him their support. 
1:8  But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet,
Shimei and Rei {[8] Or <and his friends>} and David's special guard did not
join Adonijah. 
1:9   Adonijah then sacrificed sheep, cattle and fattened calves at the
Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king's
sons, and all the men of Judah who were royal officials, 
1:10  but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the special
guard or his brother Solomon. 
1:11   Then Nathan asked Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, "Have you not heard
that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king without our lord David's
knowing it? 
1:12  Now then, let me advise you how you can save your own life and the
life of your son Solomon. 
1:13  Go in to King David and say to him, `My lord the king, did you not
swear to me your servant: "Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me,
and he will sit on my throne"? Why then has Adonijah become king?' 
1:14  While you are still there talking to the king, I will come in and
confirm what you have said." 
1:15   So Bathsheba went to see the aged king in his room, where Abishag the
Shunammite was attending him. 
1:16  Bathsheba bowed low and knelt before the king.  "What is it you want?"
the king asked. 
1:17   She said to him, "My lord, you yourself swore to me your servant by
the LORD your God: `Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit
on my throne.' 
1:18  But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, do not
know about it. 
1:19  He has sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep,
and has invited all the king's sons, Abiathar the priest and Joab the
commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant. 
1:20  My lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to learn from you
who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 
1:21  Otherwise, as soon as my lord the king is laid to rest with his
fathers, I and my son Solomon will be treated as criminals." 
1:22   While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet
arrived. 
1:23  And they told the king, "Nathan the prophet is here." So he went
before the king and bowed with his face to the ground. 
1:24   Nathan said, "Have you, my lord the king, declared that Adonijah
shall be king after you, and that he will sit on your throne? 
1:25  Today he has gone down and sacrificed great numbers of cattle,
fattened calves, and sheep. He has invited all the king's sons, the
commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest. Right now they are eating
and drinking with him and saying, `Long live King Adonijah!' 
1:26  But me your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah son of
Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he did not invite. 
1:27  Is this something my lord the king has done without letting his
servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?" 
1:28   Then King David said, "Call in Bathsheba." So she came into the
king's presence and stood before him. 
1:29   The king then took an oath: "As surely as the LORD lives, who has
delivered me out of every trouble, 
1:30  I will surely carry out today what I swore to you by the LORD, the God
of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my
throne in my place." 
1:31   Then Bathsheba bowed low with her face to the ground and, kneeling
before the king, said, "May my lord King David live forever!" 
1:32   King David said, "Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and
Benaiah son of Jehoiada." When they came before the king, 
1:33  he said to them: "Take your lord's servants with you and set Solomon
my son on my own mule and take him down to Gihon. 
1:34  There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king
over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, `Long live King Solomon!' 
1:35  Then you are to go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne
and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah." 
1:36   Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, "Amen! May the LORD, the
God of my lord the king, so declare it. 
1:37  As the LORD was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon to
make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!" 
1:38   So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the
Kerethites and the Pelethites went down and put Solomon on King David's mule
and escorted him to Gihon. 
1:39  Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and
anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted,
"Long live King Solomon!" 
1:40  And all the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing
greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound. 
1:41   Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they were
finishing their feast. On hearing the sound of the trumpet, Joab asked,
"What's the meaning of all the noise in the city?" 
1:42   Even as he was speaking, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest arrived.
Adonijah said, "Come in. A worthy man like you must be bringing good news." 
1:43   "Not at all!" Jonathan answered. "Our lord King David has made
Solomon king. 
1:44  The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet,
Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and they have
put him on the king's mule, 
1:45  and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at
Gihon. From there they have gone up cheering, and the city resounds with it.
That's the noise you hear. 
1:46  Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne. 
1:47  Also, the royal officials have come to congratulate our lord King
David, saying, `May your God make Solomon's name more famous than yours and
his throne greater than yours!' And the king bowed in worship on his bed 
1:48  and said, `Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has allowed
my eyes to see a successor on my throne today.'" 
1:49   At this, all Adonijah's guests rose in alarm and dispersed. 
1:50  But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, went and took hold of the horns of
the altar. 
1:51  Then Solomon was told, "Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon and is
clinging to the horns of the altar. He says, `Let King Solomon swear to me
today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.'" 
1:52   Solomon replied, "If he shows himself to be a worthy man, not a hair
of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will
die." 
1:53  Then King Solomon sent men, and they brought him down from the altar.
And Adonijah came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said, "Go to
your home." 

2:1   When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon
his son. 
2:2   "I am about to go the way of all the earth," he said. "So be strong,
show yourself a man, 
2:3  and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep
his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law
of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go, 
2:4  and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: `If your descendants
watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their
heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.' 
2:5   "Now you yourself know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me--what he did
to the two commanders of Israel's armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of
Jether. He killed them, shedding their blood in peacetime as if in battle,
and with that blood stained the belt around his waist and the sandals on his
feet. 
2:6  Deal with him according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go
down to the grave {[6] Hebrew <Sheol>; also in verse 9} in peace. 
2:7   "But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and let them be
among those who eat at your table. They stood by me when I fled from your
brother Absalom. 
2:8   "And remember, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite
from Bahurim, who called down bitter curses on me the day I went to
Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the
LORD: `I will not put you to death by the sword.' 
2:9  But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you
will know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in
blood." 
2:10   Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of
David. 
2:11  He had reigned forty years over Israel--seven years in Hebron and
thirty-three in Jerusalem. 
2:12  So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was
firmly established. 
2:13   Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon's
mother. Bathsheba asked him, "Do you come peacefully?"  He answered, "Yes,
peacefully." 
2:14  Then he added, "I have something to say to you."  "You may say it,"
she replied. 
2:15   "As you know," he said, "the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to
me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my
brother; for it has come to him from the LORD. 
2:16  Now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me."  "You may
make it," she said. 
2:17   So he continued, "Please ask King Solomon--he will not refuse you--to
give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife." 
2:18   "Very well," Bathsheba replied, "I will speak to the king for you." 
2:19   When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the
king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He
had a throne brought for the king's mother, and she sat down at his right
hand. 
2:20   "I have one small request to make of you," she said. "Do not refuse
me."  The king replied, "Make it, my mother; I will not refuse you." 
2:21   So she said, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given in marriage to your
brother Adonijah." 
2:22   King Solomon answered his mother, "Why do you request Abishag the
Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for
him--after all, he is my older brother--yes, for him and for Abiathar the
priest and Joab son of Zeruiah!" 
2:23   Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: "May God deal with me, be it
ever so severely, if Adonijah does not pay with his life for this request! 
2:24  And now, as surely as the LORD lives--he who has established me
securely on the throne of my father David and has founded a dynasty for me
as he promised--Adonijah shall be put to death today!" 
2:25  So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck
down Adonijah and he died. 
2:26   To Abiathar the priest the king said, "Go back to your fields in
Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not put you to death now, because
you carried the ark of the Sovereign LORD before my father David and shared
all my father's hardships." 
2:27  So Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD,
fulfilling the word the LORD had spoken at Shiloh about the house of Eli. 
2:28   When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah though
not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns
of the altar. 
2:29  King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the LORD and
was beside the altar. Then Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, "Go,
strike him down!" 
2:30   So Benaiah entered the tent of the LORD and said to Joab, "The king
says, `Come out!'"  But he answered, "No, I will die here."  Benaiah
reported to the king, "This is how Joab answered me." 
2:31   Then the king commanded Benaiah, "Do as he says. Strike him down and
bury him, and so clear me and my father's house of the guilt of the innocent
blood that Joab shed. 
2:32  The LORD will repay him for the blood he shed, because without the
knowledge of my father David he attacked two men and killed them with the
sword. Both of them--Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa
son of Jether, commander of Judah's army--were better men and more upright
than he. 
2:33  May the guilt of their blood rest on the head of Joab and his
descendants forever. But on David and his descendants, his house and his
throne, may there be the LORD's peace forever." 
2:34   So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and struck down Joab and killed
him, and he was buried on his own land {[34] Or <buried in his tomb>} in the
desert. 
2:35  The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab's position
and replaced Abiathar with Zadok the priest. 
2:36   Then the king sent for Shimei and said to him, "Build yourself a
house in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. 
2:37  The day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley, you can be sure you
will die; your blood will be on your own head." 
2:38   Shimei answered the king, "What you say is good. Your servant will do
as my lord the king has said." And Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long
time. 
2:39   But three years later, two of Shimei's slaves ran off to Achish son
of Maacah, king of Gath, and Shimei was told, "Your slaves are in Gath." 
2:40  At this, he saddled his donkey and went to Achish at Gath in search of
his slaves. So Shimei went away and brought the slaves back from Gath. 
2:41   When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and
had returned, 
2:42  the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "Did I not make you swear by
the LORD and warn you, `On the day you leave to go anywhere else, you can be
sure you will die'? At that time you said to me, `What you say is good. I
will obey.' 
2:43  Why then did you not keep your oath to the LORD and obey the command I
gave you?" 
2:44   The king also said to Shimei, "You know in your heart all the wrong
you did to my father David. Now the LORD will repay you for your wrongdoing.

2:45  But King Solomon will be blessed, and David's throne will remain
secure before the LORD forever." 
2:46   Then the king gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went
out and struck Shimei down and killed him.  The kingdom was now firmly
established in Solomon's hands. 

3:1   Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his
daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his
palace and the temple of the LORD, and the wall around Jerusalem. 
3:2  The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because
a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the LORD. 
3:3  Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the
statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned
incense on the high places. 
3:4   The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most
important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that
altar. 
3:5  At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and
God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." 
3:6   Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my
father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in
heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a
son to sit on his throne this very day. 
3:7   "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my
father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out
my duties. 
3:8  Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people,
too numerous to count or number. 
3:9  So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to
distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great
people of yours?" 
3:10   The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 
3:11  So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long
life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies
but for discernment in administering justice, 
3:12  I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning
heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there
ever be. 
3:13  Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for--both riches and
honor--so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 
3:14  And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David
your father did, I will give you a long life." 
3:15  Then Solomon awoke--and he realized it had been a dream.  He returned
to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord's covenant and sacrificed
burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. {[15] Traditionally <peace
offerings>} Then he gave a feast for all his court. 
3:16   Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 
3:17  One of them said, "My lord, this woman and I live in the same house. I
had a baby while she was there with me. 
3:18  The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We
were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us. 
3:19   "During the night this woman's son died because she lay on him. 
3:20  So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side
while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead
son by my breast. 
3:21  The next morning, I got up to nurse my son--and he was dead! But when
I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn't the son I
had borne." 
3:22   The other woman said, "No! The living one is my son; the dead one is
yours."  But the first one insisted, "No! The dead one is yours; the living
one is mine." And so they argued before the king. 
3:23   The king said, "This one says, `My son is alive and your son is
dead,' while that one says, `No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.'" 
3:24   Then the king said, "Bring me a sword." So they brought a sword for
the king. 
3:25  He then gave an order: "Cut the living child in two and give half to
one and half to the other." 
3:26   The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son
and said to the king, "Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don't kill
him!"  But the other said, "Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in
two!" 
3:27   Then the king gave his ruling: "Give the living baby to the first
woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother." 
3:28   When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the
king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer
justice. 

4:1   So King Solomon ruled over all Israel. 
4:2  And these were his chief officials:  Azariah son of Zadok--the priest; 
4:3  Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha--secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of
Ahilud--recorder; 
4:4  Benaiah son of Jehoiada--commander in chief; Zadok and
Abiathar--priests; 
4:5  Azariah son of Nathan--in charge of the district officers; Zabud son of
Nathan--a priest and personal adviser to the king; 
4:6  Ahishar--in charge of the palace; Adoniram son of Abda--in charge of
forced labor.  
4:7   Solomon also had twelve district governors over all Israel, who
supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Each one had to
provide supplies for one month in the year. 
4:8  These are their names:  Ben-Hur--in the hill country of Ephraim; 
4:9  Ben-Deker--in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh and Elon Bethhanan; 
4:10  Ben-Hesed--in Arubboth (Socoh and all the land of Hepher were his); 
4:11  Ben-Abinadab--in Naphoth Dor {[11] Or <in the heights of Dor>} (he was
married to Taphath daughter of Solomon); 
4:12  Baana son of Ahilud--in Taanach and Megiddo, and in all of Beth Shan
next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah across to
Jokmeam; 
4:13  Ben-Geber--in Ramoth Gilead (the settlements of Jair son of Manasseh
in Gilead were his, as well as the district of Argob in Bashan and its sixty
large walled cities with bronze gate bars); 
4:14  Ahinadab son of Iddo--in Mahanaim; 
4:15  Ahimaaz--in Naphtali (he had married Basemath daughter of Solomon); 
4:16  Baana son of Hushai--in Asher and in Aloth; 
4:17  Jehoshaphat son of Paruah--in Issachar; 
4:18  Shimei son of Ela--in Benjamin; 
4:19  Geber son of Uri--in Gilead (the country of Sihon king of the Amorites
and the country of Og king of Bashan). He was the only governor over the
district. 
4:20   The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the
seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy. 
4:21  And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River {[21] That is,
the Euphrates; also in verse 24} to the land of the Philistines, as far as
the border of Egypt. These countries brought tribute and were Solomon's
subjects all his life. 
4:22   Solomon's daily provisions were thirty cors {[22] That is, probably
about 185 bushels (about 6.6 kiloliters)} of fine flour and sixty cors {[22]
That is, probably about 375 bushels (about 13.2 kiloliters)} of meal, 
4:23  ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture-fed cattle and a
hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice
fowl. 
4:24  For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the River, from Tiphsah to
Gaza, and had peace on all sides. 
4:25  During Solomon's lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba,
lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree. 
4:26   Solomon had four {[26] Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Chron.
9:25); Hebrew <forty>} thousand stalls for chariot horses, and twelve
thousand horses. {[26] Or <charioteers>} 
4:27   The district officers, each in his month, supplied provisions for
King Solomon and all who came to the king's table. They saw to it that
nothing was lacking. 
4:28  They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw
for the chariot horses and the other horses. 
4:29   God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of
understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. 
4:30  Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the
East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. 
4:31  He was wiser than any other man, including Ethan the Ezrahite--wiser
than Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all
the surrounding nations. 
4:32  He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and
five. 
4:33  He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that
grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and
fish. 
4:34  Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the
kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom. 

5:1   When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to
succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had
always been on friendly terms with David. 
5:2  Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:  
5:3   "You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from
all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God
until the LORD put his enemies under his feet. 
5:4  But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is
no adversary or disaster. 
5:5  I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God,
as the LORD told my father David, when he said, `Your son whom I will put on
the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.' 
5:6   "So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work
with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know
that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians."  
5:7   When Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was greatly pleased and said,
"Praise be to the LORD today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over
this great nation." 
5:8   So Hiram sent word to Solomon:   "I have received the message you sent
me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and pine logs. 
5:9  My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will float
them in rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them
and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food
for my royal household."  
5:10   In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and pine
logs he wanted, 
5:11  and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors {[11] That is, probably
about 125,000 bushels (about 4,400 kiloliters)} of wheat as food for his
household, in addition to twenty thousand baths {[11] Septuagint (see also 2
Chron. 2:10); Hebrew <twenty cors>} {[11] That is, about 115,000 gallons
(about 440 kiloliters)} of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this
for Hiram year after year. 
5:12  The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were
peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a
treaty. 
5:13   King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel--thirty thousand
men. 
5:14  He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that
they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in
charge of the forced labor. 
5:15  Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters
in the hills, 
5:16  as well as thirty-three hundred {[16] Hebrew; some Septuagint
manuscripts (see also 2 Chron. 2:2, 18) <thirty-six hundred>} foremen who
supervised the project and directed the workmen. 
5:17  At the king's command they removed from the quarry large blocks of
quality stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. 
5:18  The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and the men of Gebal {[18] That is,
Byblos} cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the
temple. 

6:1   In the four hundred and eightieth {[1] Hebrew; Septuagint <four
hundred and fortieth>} year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in
the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the
second month, he began to build the temple of the LORD. 
6:2   The temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long,
twenty wide and thirty high. {[2] That is, about 90 feet (about 27 meters)
long and 30 feet (about 9 meters) wide and 45 feet (about 13.5 meters) high}

6:3  The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the
width of the temple, that is twenty cubits, {[3] That is, about 30 feet
(about 9 meters)} and projected ten cubits {[3] That is, about 15 feet
(about 4.5 meters)} from the front of the temple. 
6:4  He made narrow clerestory windows in the temple. 
6:5  Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a
structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. 
6:6  The lowest floor was five cubits {[6] That is, about 7 1/2 feet (about
2.3 meters); also in verses 10 and 24} wide, the middle floor six cubits
{[6] That is, about 9 feet (about 2.7 meters)} and the third floor seven.
{[6] That is, about 10 1/2 feet (about 3.1 meters)} He made offset ledges
around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the
temple walls. 
6:7   In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used,
and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site
while it was being built. 
6:8   The entrance to the lowest {[8] Septuagint; Hebrew <middle>} floor was
on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and
from there to the third. 
6:9  So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and
cedar planks. 
6:10  And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each
was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar. 
6:11   The word of the LORD came to Solomon: 
6:12  "As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, carry
out my regulations and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill
through you the promise I gave to David your father. 
6:13  And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people
Israel." 
6:14   So Solomon built the temple and completed it. 
6:15  He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the
floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with
planks of pine. 
6:16  He partitioned off twenty cubits {[16] That is, about 30 feet (about 9
meters)} at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling
to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 
6:17  The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits {[17] That is,
about 60 feet (about 18 meters)} long. 
6:18  The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open
flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen. 
6:19   He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of
the covenant of the LORD there. 
6:20  The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty
high. {[20] That is, about 30 feet (about 9 meters) long, wide and high} He
overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.

6:21  Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he
extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was
overlaid with gold. 
6:22  So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with
gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary. 
6:23   In the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim of olive wood, each
ten cubits {[23] That is, about 15 feet (about 4.5 meters)} high. 
6:24  One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing
five cubits--ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. 
6:25  The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were
identical in size and shape. 
6:26  The height of each cherub was ten cubits. 
6:27  He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with
their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the
wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other
in the middle of the room. 
6:28  He overlaid the cherubim with gold. 
6:29   On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer
rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. 
6:30  He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the
temple with gold. 
6:31   For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood
with five-sided jambs. 
6:32  And on the two olive wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and
open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with beaten gold. 
6:33  In the same way he made four-sided jambs of olive wood for the
entrance to the main hall. 
6:34  He also made two pine doors, each having two leaves that turned in
sockets. 
6:35  He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid
them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings. 
6:36   And he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone
and one course of trimmed cedar beams. 
6:37   The foundation of the temple of the LORD was laid in the fourth year,
in the month of Ziv. 
6:38  In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple
was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had
spent seven years building it. 

7:1   It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction
of his palace. 
7:2  He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long,
fifty wide and thirty high, {[2] That is, about 150 feet (about 46 meters)
long, 75 feet (about 23 meters) wide and 45 feet (about 13.5 meters) high}
with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. 
7:3  It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the
columns--forty-five beams, fifteen to a row. 
7:4  Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other. 
7:5  All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in
sets of three, facing each other. {[5] The meaning of the Hebrew for this
verse is uncertain.} 
7:6   He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide. {[6] That is,
about 75 feet (about 23 meters) long and 45 feet (about 13.5 meters) wide}
In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an
overhanging roof. 
7:7   He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge,
and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling. {[7] Vulgate and Syriac;
Hebrew <floor>} 
7:8  And the palace in which he was to live, set farther back, was similar
in design. Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter,
whom he had married. 
7:9   All these structures, from the outside to the great courtyard and from
foundation to eaves, were made of blocks of high-grade stone cut to size and
trimmed with a saw on their inner and outer faces. 
7:10  The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some
measuring ten cubits {[10] That is, about 15 feet (about 4.5 meters)} and
some eight. {[10] That is, about 12 feet (about 3.6 meters)} 
7:11  Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams. 
7:12  The great courtyard was surrounded by a wall of three courses of
dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams, as was the inner
courtyard of the temple of the LORD with its portico. 
7:13   King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, {[13] Hebrew <Hiram,> a
variant of <Huram>; also in verses 40 and 45} 
7:14  whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father
was a man of Tyre and a craftsman in bronze. Huram was highly skilled and
experienced in all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all
the work assigned to him. 
7:15   He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits high and twelve
cubits around, {[15] That is, about 27 feet (about 8.1 meters) high and 18
feet (about 5.4 meters) around} by line. 
7:16  He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the
pillars; each capital was five cubits {[16] That is, about 7 1/2 feet (about
2.3 meters); also in verse 23} high. 
7:17  A network of interwoven chains festooned the capitals on top of the
pillars, seven for each capital. 
7:18  He made pomegranates in two rows {[18] Two Hebrew manuscripts and
Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts <made the pillars, and there were two
rows>} encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the
pillars. {[18] Many Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts
<pomegranates>} He did the same for each capital. 
7:19  The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of
lilies, four cubits {[19] That is, about 6 feet (about 1.8 meters); also in
verse 38} high. 
7:20  On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to
the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows all around. 
7:21  He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the
south he named Jakin {[21] <Jakin> probably means <he establishes.>} and the
one to the north Boaz. {[21] <Boaz> probably means <in him is strength.>} 
7:22  The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on
the pillars was completed. 
7:23   He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten
cubits {[23] That is, about 15 feet (about 4.5 meters)} from rim to rim and
five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits {[23] That is, about 45
feet (about 13.5 meters)} to measure around it. 
7:24  Below the rim, gourds encircled it--ten to a cubit. The gourds were
cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea. 
7:25   The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west,
three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and
their hindquarters were toward the center. 
7:26  It was a handbreadth {[26] That is, about 3 inches (about 8
centimeters)} in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a
lily blossom. It held two thousand baths. {[26] That is, probably about
11,500 gallons (about 44 kiloliters); the Septuagint does not have this
sentence.} 
7:27   He also made ten movable stands of bronze; each was four cubits long,
four wide and three high. {[27] That is, about 6 feet (about 1.8 meters)
long and wide and about 4 1/2 feet (about 1.3 meters) high} 
7:28  This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to
uprights. 
7:29  On the panels between the uprights were lions, bulls and cherubim--and
on the uprights as well. Above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths of
hammered work. 
7:30  Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a
basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side. 
7:31  On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular
frame one cubit {[31] That is, about 1 1/2 feet (about 0.5 meter)} deep.
This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a
half. {[31] That is, about 2 1/4 feet (about 0.7 meter); also in verse 32}
Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were
square, not round. 
7:32  The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels
were attached to the stand. The diameter of each wheel was a cubit and a
half. 
7:33  The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and
hubs were all of cast metal. 
7:34   Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the
stand. 
7:35  At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit {[35]
That is, about 3/4 foot (about 0.2 meter)} deep. The supports and panels
were attached to the top of the stand. 
7:36  He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the
supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all
around. 
7:37  This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same
molds and were identical in size and shape. 
7:38   He then made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths {[38] That
is, about 230 gallons (about 880 liters)} and measuring four cubits across,
one basin to go on each of the ten stands. 
7:39  He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five
on the north. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner
of the temple. 
7:40  He also made the basins and shovels and sprinkling bowls.  So Huram
finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of
the LORD:  
7:41  the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;
the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of
the pillars; 
7:42  the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of
pomegranates for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of
the pillars); 
7:43  the ten stands with their ten basins; 
7:44  the Sea and the twelve bulls under it; 
7:45  the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls.  All these objects that Huram
made for King Solomon for the temple of the LORD were of burnished bronze. 
7:46  The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan
between Succoth and Zarethan. 
7:47  Solomon left all these things unweighed, because there were so many;
the weight of the bronze was not determined. 
7:48   Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in the LORD's temple: 
the golden altar; the golden table on which was the bread of the Presence; 
7:49  the lampstands of pure gold (five on the right and five on the left,
in front of the inner sanctuary); the gold floral work and lamps and tongs; 
7:50  the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and
censers; and the gold sockets for the doors of the innermost room, the Most
Holy Place, and also for the doors of the main hall of the temple.  
7:51   When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD
was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated--the
silver and gold and the furnishings--and he placed them in the treasuries of
the LORD's temple. 

8:1   Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders
of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite
families, to bring up the ark of the LORD's covenant from Zion, the City of
David. 
8:2  All the men of Israel came together to King Solomon at the time of the
festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. 
8:3   When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the
ark, 
8:4  and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the Tent of Meeting and all
the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, 
8:5  and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered
about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that
they could not be recorded or counted. 
8:6   The priests then brought the ark of the LORD's covenant to its place
in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it
beneath the wings of the cherubim. 
8:7  The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and
overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. 
8:8  These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy
Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place;
and they are still there today. 
8:9  There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses
had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the
Israelites after they came out of Egypt. 
8:10   When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the
temple of the LORD. 
8:11  And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud,
for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. 
8:12   Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark
cloud; 
8:13  I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to
dwell forever." 
8:14   While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king
turned around and blessed them. 
8:15  Then he said:   "Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who with
his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father
David. For he said, 
8:16  `Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not
chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built for my Name to
be there, but I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.' 
8:17   "My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name
of the LORD, the God of Israel. 
8:18  But the LORD said to my father David, `Because it was in your heart to
build a temple for my Name, you did well to have this in your heart. 
8:19  Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son,
who is your own flesh and blood--he is the one who will build the temple for
my Name.' 
8:20   "The LORD has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded David my
father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised, and
I have built the temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 
8:21  I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of
the LORD that he made with our fathers when he brought them out of Egypt."  
8:22   Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole
assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 
8:23  and said:   "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven
above or on earth below--you who keep your covenant of love with your
servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 
8:24  You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your
mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it--as it is
today. 
8:25   "Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the
promises you made to him when you said, `You shall never fail to have a man
to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in
all they do to walk before me as you have done.' 
8:26  And now, O God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant
David my father come true. 
8:27   "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest
heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 
8:28  Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, O
LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in
your presence this day. 
8:29  May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of
which you said, `My Name shall be there,' so that you will hear the prayer
your servant prays toward this place. 
8:30  Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when
they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when
you hear, forgive. 
8:31   "When a man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath and
he comes and swears the oath before your altar in this temple, 
8:32  then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning
the guilty and bringing down on his own head what he has done. Declare the
innocent not guilty, and so establish his innocence. 
8:33   "When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they
have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and confess your
name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, 
8:34  then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and
bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers. 
8:35   "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your
people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and
confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 
8:36  then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your
people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land
you gave your people for an inheritance. 
8:37   "When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew,
locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their
cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 
8:38  and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel--each
one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands
toward this temple-- 
8:39  then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with
each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone
know the hearts of all men), 
8:40  so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave
our fathers. 
8:41   "As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but
has come from a distant land because of your name-- 
8:42  for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your
outstretched arm--when he comes and prays toward this temple, 
8:43  then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the
foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your
name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this
house I have built bears your Name. 
8:44   "When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send
them, and when they pray to the LORD toward the city you have chosen and the
temple I have built for your Name, 
8:45  then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their
cause. 
8:46   "When they sin against you--for there is no one who does not sin--and
you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them
captive to his own land, far away or near; 
8:47  and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held
captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their conquerors and
say, `We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly'; 
8:48  and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land
of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you
gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have
built for your Name; 
8:49  then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their
plea, and uphold their cause. 
8:50  And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the
offenses they have committed against you, and cause their conquerors to show
them mercy; 
8:51  for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of
Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace. 
8:52   "May your eyes be open to your servant's plea and to the plea of your
people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you. 
8:53  For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your
own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, O
Sovereign LORD, brought our fathers out of Egypt."  
8:54   When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the
LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling
with his hands spread out toward heaven. 
8:55  He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice,
saying:  
8:56   "Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just
as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave
through his servant Moses. 
8:57  May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he
never leave us nor forsake us. 
8:58  May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the
commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. 
8:59  And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be
near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his
servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day's need, 
8:60  so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and
that there is no other. 
8:61  But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live
by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time."  
8:62   Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the
LORD. 
8:63  Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings {[63]
Traditionally <peace offerings>; also in verse 64} to the LORD: twenty-two
thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the
king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the LORD. 
8:64   On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the
courtyard in front of the temple of the LORD, and there he offered burnt
offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because
the bronze altar before the LORD was too small to hold the burnt offerings,
the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings. 
8:65   So Solomon observed the festival at that time, and all Israel with
him--a vast assembly, people from Lebo {[65] Or <from the entrance to>}
Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. They celebrated it before the LORD our God for
seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. 
8:66  On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king
and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the
LORD had done for his servant David and his people Israel. 

9:1   When Solomon had finished building the temple of the LORD and the
royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, 
9:2  the LORD appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at
Gibeon. 
9:3  The LORD said to him:   "I have heard the prayer and plea you have made
before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting
my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 
9:4   "As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and
uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my
decrees and laws, 
9:5  I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised
David your father when I said, `You shall never fail to have a man on the
throne of Israel.' 
9:6   "But if you {[6] The Hebrew is plural.} or your sons turn away from me
and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you {[6] The Hebrew
is plural.} and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 
9:7  then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will
reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a
byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 
9:8  And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be
appalled and will scoff and say, `Why has the LORD done such a thing to this
land and to this temple?' 
9:9  People will answer, `Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who
brought their fathers out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping
and serving them--that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.'" 

9:10   At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two
buildings--the temple of the LORD and the royal palace-- 
9:11  King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre,
because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and pine and gold he
wanted. 
9:12  But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given
him, he was not pleased with them. 
9:13  "What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?" he
asked. And he called them the Land of Cabul, {[13] <Cabul> sounds like the
Hebrew for <good-for-nothing.>} a name they have to this day. 
9:14  Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents {[14] That is, about 4 1/2
tons (about 4 metric tons)} of gold. 
9:15   Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to
build the LORD's temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces, {[15] Or
<the Millo>; also in verse 24} the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo and
Gezer. 
9:16  (Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it
on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding
gift to his daughter, Solomon's wife. 
9:17  And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon, 
9:18  Baalath, and Tadmor {[18] The Hebrew may also be read <Tamar.>} in the
desert, within his land, 
9:19  as well as all his store cities and the towns for his chariots and for
his horses {[19] Or <charioteers>}--whatever he desired to build in
Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled. 
9:20   All the people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites
and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites), 
9:21  that is, their descendants remaining in the land, whom the Israelites
could not exterminate {[21] The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving
over of things or persons to the LORD, often by totally destroying
them.}--these Solomon conscripted for his slave labor force, as it is to
this day. 
9:22  But Solomon did not make slaves of any of the Israelites; they were
his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and
the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 
9:23  They were also the chief officials in charge of Solomon's
projects--550 officials supervising the men who did the work. 
9:24   After Pharaoh's daughter had come up from the City of David to the
palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the supporting terraces. 
9:25   Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship
offerings {[25] Traditionally <peace offerings>} on the altar he had built
for the LORD, burning incense before the LORD along with them, and so
fulfilled the temple obligations. 
9:26   King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in
Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea. {[26] Hebrew <Yam Suph>; that is, Sea of
Reeds} 
9:27  And Hiram sent his men--sailors who knew the sea--to serve in the
fleet with Solomon's men. 
9:28  They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents {[28] That is, about
16 tons (about 14.5 metric tons)} of gold, which they delivered to King
Solomon. 

10:1   When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his
relation to the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions. 
10:2  Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan--with camels carrying
spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones--she came to Solomon
and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. 
10:3  Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king
to explain to her. 
10:4  When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace
he had built, 
10:5  the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending
servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at
{[5] Or <the ascent by which he went up to>} the temple of the LORD, she was
overwhelmed. 
10:6   She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about
your achievements and your wisdom is true. 
10:7  But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own
eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far
exceeded the report I heard. 
10:8  How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually
stand before you and hear your wisdom! 
10:9  Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed
you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD's eternal love for Israel,
he has made you king, to maintain justice and righteousness." 
10:10   And she gave the king 120 talents {[10] That is, about 4 1/2 tons
(about 4 metric tons)} of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious
stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of
Sheba gave to King Solomon. 
10:11   (Hiram's ships brought gold from Ophir; and from there they brought
great cargoes of almugwood {[11] Probably a variant of <algumwood>; also in
verse 12} and precious stones. 
10:12  The king used the almugwood to make supports for the temple of the
LORD and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the
musicians. So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that
day.) 
10:13   King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for,
besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and
returned with her retinue to her own country. 
10:14   The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,
{[14] That is, about 25 tons (about 23 metric tons)} 
10:15  not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all
the Arabian kings and the governors of the land. 
10:16   King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six
hundred bekas {[16] That is, about 7 1/2 pounds (about 3.5 kilograms)} of
gold went into each shield. 
10:17  He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three
minas {[17] That is, about 3 3/4 pounds (about 1.7 kilograms)} of gold in
each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. 
10:18   Then the king made a great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid
with fine gold. 
10:19  The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both
sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 
10:20  Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step.
Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 
10:21  All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles
in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of
silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's days. 
10:22  The king had a fleet of trading ships {[22] Hebrew <of ships of
Tarshish>} at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it
returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons. 
10:23   King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other
kings of the earth. 
10:24  The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God
had put in his heart. 
10:25  Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift--articles of silver
and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules. 
10:26   Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred
chariots and twelve thousand horses, {[26] Or <charioteers>} which he kept
in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 
10:27  The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as
plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 
10:28  Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt {[28] Or possibly <Muzur>,
a region in Cilicia; also in verse 29} and from Kue {[28] Probably
<Cilicia>}--the royal merchants purchased them from Kue. 
10:29  They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels {[29] That
is, about 15 pounds (about 7 kilograms)} of silver, and a horse for a
hundred and fifty. {[29] That is, about 3 3/4 pounds (about 1.7 kilograms)}
They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the
Arameans. 

11:1   King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's
daughter--Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 
11:2  They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites,
"You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your
hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 
11:3  He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred
concubines, and his wives led him astray. 
11:4  As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and
his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David
his father had been. 
11:5  He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech {[5]
Hebrew <Milcom>; also in verse 33} the detestable god of the Ammonites. 
11:6  So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the
LORD completely, as David his father had done. 
11:7   On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh
the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the
Ammonites. 
11:8  He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and
offered sacrifices to their gods. 
11:9   The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away
from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 
11:10  Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did
not keep the LORD's command. 
11:11  So the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you
have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most
certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your
subordinates. 
11:12  Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it
during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 
11:13  Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one
tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which
I have chosen." 
11:14   Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the
Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. 
11:15  Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the
army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom.

11:16  Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they
had destroyed all the men in Edom. 
11:17  But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite
officials who had served his father. 
11:18  They set out from Midian and went to Paran. Then taking men from
Paran with them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave
Hadad a house and land and provided him with food. 
11:19   Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his
own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage. 
11:20  The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpenes
brought up in the royal palace. There Genubath lived with Pharaoh's own
children. 
11:21   While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David rested with his
fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was also dead. Then Hadad
said to Pharaoh, "Let me go, that I may return to my own country." 
11:22   "What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own
country?" Pharaoh asked.  "Nothing," Hadad replied, "but do let me go!" 
11:23   And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of
Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 
11:24  He gathered men around him and became the leader of a band of rebels
when David destroyed the forces {[24] Hebrew <destroyed them>} [of Zobah];
the rebels went to Damascus, where they settled and took control. 
11:25  Rezon was Israel's adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the
trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled in Aram and was hostile toward
Israel. 
11:26   Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of
Solomon's officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow
named Zeruah. 
11:27   Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had
built the supporting terraces {[27] Or <the Millo>} and had filled in the
gap in the wall of the city of David his father. 
11:28  Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the
young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the
house of Joseph. 
11:29   About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the
prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them
were alone out in the country, 
11:30  and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into
twelve pieces. 
11:31  Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is
what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `See, I am going to tear the kingdom
out of Solomon's hand and give you ten tribes. 
11:32  But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which
I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. 
11:33  I will do this because they have {[33] Hebrew; Septuagint, Vulgate
and Syriac <because he has>} forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess
of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molech the god of the
Ammonites, and have not walked in my ways, nor done what is right in my
eyes, nor kept my statutes and laws as David, Solomon's father, did. 
11:34   " `But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon's hand; I
have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my
servant, whom I chose and who observed my commands and statutes. 
11:35  I will take the kingdom from his son's hands and give you ten tribes.

11:36  I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always
have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. 
11:37  However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that
your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. 
11:38  If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is
right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands, as David my servant
did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I
built for David and will give Israel to you. 
11:39  I will humble David's descendants because of this, but not forever.'"

11:40   Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to
Shishak the king, and stayed there until Solomon's death. 
11:41   As for the other events of Solomon's reign--all he did and the
wisdom he displayed--are they not written in the book of the annals of
Solomon? 
11:42  Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 
11:43  Then he rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David
his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king. 

12:1   Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to
make him king. 
12:2  When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he
had fled from King Solomon), he returned from {[2] Or <he remained in>}
Egypt. 
12:3  So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel
went to Rehoboam and said to him: 
12:4  "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor
and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you." 
12:5   Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then come back to me."
So the people went away. 
12:6   Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father
Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these
people?" he asked. 
12:7   They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and
serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your
servants." 
12:8   But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted
the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 
12:9  He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people
who say to me, `Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?" 
12:10   The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people
who have said to you, `Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke
lighter'--tell them, `My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. 
12:11  My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My
father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.'" 
12:12   Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam,
as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days." 
12:13  The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him
by the elders, 
12:14  he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made
your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with
whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." 
12:15  So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was
from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of
Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. 
12:16   When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they
answered the king: 
          "What share do we have in David, 
          what part in Jesse's son? 
          To your tents, O Israel! 
          Look after your own house, O David!" So the Israelites went home. 
12:17  But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah,
Rehoboam still ruled over them. 
12:18   King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, {[18] Some Septuagint manuscripts
and Syriac (see also 1 Kings 4:6 and 5:14); Hebrew <Adoram>} who was in
charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam,
however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 
12:19  So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this
day. 
12:20   When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent
and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the
tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David. 
12:21   When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered the whole house of
Judah and the tribe of Benjamin--a hundred and eighty thousand fighting
men--to make war against the house of Israel and to regain the kingdom for
Rehoboam son of Solomon. 
12:22   But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: 
12:23  "Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of
Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 
12:24  `This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your
brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.'"
So they obeyed the word of the LORD and went home again, as the LORD had
ordered. 
12:25   Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and
lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel. {[25] Hebrew
<Penuel,> a variant of <Peniel>} 
12:26   Jeroboam thought to himself, "The kingdom will now likely revert to
the house of David. 
12:27  If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD
in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam
king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam." 
12:28   After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to
the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your
gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." 
12:29  One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 
12:30  And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to
worship the one there. 
12:31   Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all
sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. 
12:32  He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month,
like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This
he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he
also installed priests at the high places he had made. 
12:33  On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own
choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he
instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make
offerings. 

13:1   By the word of the LORD a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as
Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. 
13:2  He cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD: "O altar,
altar! This is what the LORD says: `A son named Josiah will be born to the
house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who
now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.'" 
13:3  That same day the man of God gave a sign: "This is the sign the LORD
has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be
poured out." 
13:4   When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the
altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, "Seize
him!" But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he
could not pull it back. 
13:5  Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to
the sign given by the man of God by the word of the LORD. 
13:6   Then the king said 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 and became as it
was before. 
13:7   The king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and have
something to eat, and I will give you a gift." 
13:8   But the man of God answered the king, "Even if you were to give me
half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or
drink water here. 
13:9  For I was commanded by the word of the LORD: `You must not eat bread
or drink water or return by the way you came.'" 
13:10  So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to
Bethel. 
13:11   Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons
came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also
told their father what he had said to the king. 
13:12  Their father asked them, "Which way did he go?" And his sons showed
him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 
13:13  So he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." And when they had
saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 
13:14  and rode 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. 
13:15   So the prophet said to him, "Come home with me and eat." 
13:16   The man of God said, "I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I
eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 
13:17  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.'" 
13:18   The old prophet answered, "I too am a prophet, as you are. And an
angel said to me by the word of the LORD: `Bring him back with you to your
house so that he may eat bread and drink water.'" (But he was lying to him.)

13:19  So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house. 
13:20   While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to
the old prophet who had brought him back. 
13:21  He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, "This is what
the LORD says: `You have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the
command the LORD your God gave you. 
13:22  You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he
told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the
tomb of your fathers.'" 
13:23   When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet
who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 
13:24  As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and
his body was thrown down on the road, with both the donkey and the lion
standing beside it. 
13:25  Some people who passed by saw the body thrown down there, with the
lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city
where the old prophet lived. 
13:26   When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of
it, he said, "It is the man of God who defied the word of the LORD. The LORD
has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the
word of the LORD had warned him." 
13:27   The prophet said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me," and they
did so. 
13:28  Then he went out and found the body thrown down on the road, with the
donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body
nor mauled the donkey. 
13:29  So the prophet picked 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. 
13:30  Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and
said, "Oh, my brother!" 
13:31   After burying him, he said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the
grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 
13:32  For the message he declared by the word of the LORD against the altar
in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of
Samaria will certainly come true." 
13:33   Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once
more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone
who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. 
13:34  This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall
and to its destruction from the face of the earth. 

14:1   At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, 
14:2  and Jeroboam said to his wife, "Go, disguise yourself, so you won't be
recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is
there--the one who told me I would be king over this people. 
14:3  Take ten loaves of bread with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and
go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy." 
14:4  So Jeroboam's wife did what he said and went to Ahijah's house in
Shiloh.  Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age. 
14:5  But the LORD had told Ahijah, "Jeroboam's wife is coming to ask you
about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an
answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else." 
14:6   So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said,
"Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense? I have been sent to you with
bad news. 
14:7  Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
`I raised you up from among the people and made you a leader over my people
Israel. 
14:8  I 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 commands and
followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. 
14:9  You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made
for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have provoked me to anger
and thrust me behind your back. 
14:10   " `Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of
Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel--slave or
free. I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is
all gone. 
14:11  Dogs will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and
the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country. The LORD has
spoken!' 
14:12   "As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy
will die. 
14:13  All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one
belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the
house of Jeroboam in whom the LORD, the God of Israel, has found anything
good. 
14:14   "The LORD will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut
off the family of Jeroboam. This is the day! What? Yes, even now. {[14] The
meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.} 
14:15  And the LORD will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed
swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave
to their forefathers and scatter them beyond the River, {[15] That is, the
Euphrates} because they provoked the LORD to anger by making Asherah poles.
{[15] That is, symbols of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in 1
Kings} 
14:16  And he will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed
and has caused Israel to commit." 
14:17   Then Jeroboam's wife got up and left and went to Tirzah. As soon as
she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died. 
14:18  They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, as the LORD had said
through his servant the prophet Ahijah. 
14:19   The other events of Jeroboam's reign, his wars and how he ruled, are
written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. 
14:20  He reigned for twenty-two years and then rested with his fathers. And
Nadab his son succeeded him as king. 
14:21   Rehoboam son of Solomon was king 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 out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his
Name. His mother's name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. 
14:22   Judah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. By the sins they committed
they stirred up his jealous anger more than their fathers had done. 
14:23  They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and
Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. 
14:24  There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people
engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven
out before the Israelites. 
14:25   In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked
Jerusalem. 
14:26  He carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the
treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold
shields Solomon had made. 
14:27  So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned
these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal
palace. 
14:28  Whenever the king went to the LORD's temple, the guards bore the
shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom. 
14:29   As for the other events of Rehoboam's reign, and all he did, are
they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 
14:30  There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 
14:31  And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the
City of David. His mother's name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. And Abijah
{[31] Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (see also 2 Chron. 12:16); most
Hebrew manuscripts <Abijam>} his son succeeded him as king. 

15:1   In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah
{[1] Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (see also 2 Chron. 12:16); most
Hebrew manuscripts <Abijam>; also in verses 7 and 8} became king of Judah, 
15:2  and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother's name was Maacah
daughter of Abishalom. {[2] A variant of <Absalom>; also in verse 10} 
15:3   He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart
was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his
forefather had been. 
15:4  Nevertheless, for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in
Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong.

15:5  For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not
failed to keep any of the LORD's commands all the days of his life--except
in the case of Uriah the Hittite. 
15:6   There was war between Rehoboam {[6] Most Hebrew manuscripts; some
Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac <Abijam> (that is, Abijah)} and Jeroboam
throughout [Abijah's] lifetime. 
15:7  As for the other events of Abijah's reign, and all he did, are they
not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? There was war
between Abijah and Jeroboam. 
15:8  And Abijah rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of
David. And Asa his son succeeded him as king. 
15:9   In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of
Judah, 
15:10  and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother's name
was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. 
15:11   Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David
had done. 
15:12  He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of
all the idols his fathers had made. 
15:13  He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen
mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down
and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 
15:14  Although he did not remove the high places, Asa's heart was fully
committed to the LORD all his life. 
15:15  He brought into the temple of the LORD the silver and gold and the
articles that he and his father had dedicated. 
15:16   There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their
reigns. 
15:17  Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to
prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah. 
15:18   Asa then took all the silver and gold that was left in the
treasuries of the LORD's temple and of his own palace. He entrusted it to
his officials and sent them to Ben-Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of
Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. 
15:19  "Let there be a treaty between me and you," he said, "as there was
between my father and your father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver
and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will
withdraw from me." 
15:20   Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces
against the towns of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah and
all Kinnereth in addition to Naphtali. 
15:21  When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and withdrew to
Tirzah. 
15:22  Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah--no one was exempt--and
they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using
there. With them King Asa built up Geba in Benjamin, and also Mizpah. 
15:23   As for all the other events of Asa's reign, all his achievements,
all he did and the cities he built, are they not written in the book of the
annals of the kings of Judah? In his old age, however, his feet became
diseased. 
15:24  Then Asa rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city
of his father David. And Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king. 
15:25   Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of
Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. 
15:26  He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, walking in the ways of his
father and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit. 
15:27   Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar plotted against him,
and he struck him down at Gibbethon, a Philistine town, while Nadab and all
Israel were besieging it. 
15:28  Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah and
succeeded him as king. 
15:29   As soon as he began to reign, he killed Jeroboam's whole family. He
did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breathed, but destroyed them all,
according to the word of the LORD given through his servant Ahijah the
Shilonite-- 
15:30  because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to
commit, and because he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger. 
15:31   As for the other events of Nadab's reign, and all he did, are they
not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 
15:32  There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their
reigns. 
15:33   In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became
king of all Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. 
15:34  He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, walking in the ways of Jeroboam
and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit. 

16:1   Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha: 
16:2  "I lifted you up from the dust and made you leader of my people
Israel, but you walked in the ways of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel
to sin and to provoke me to anger by their sins. 
16:3  So I am about to consume Baasha and his house, and I will make your
house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 
16:4  Dogs will eat those belonging to Baasha who die in the city, and the
birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country." 
16:5   As for the other events of Baasha's reign, what he did and his
achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of
Israel? 
16:6  Baasha rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah. And Elah his
son succeeded him as king. 
16:7   Moreover, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Jehu son of
Hanani to Baasha and his house, because of all the evil he had done in the
eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger by the things he did, and becoming
like the house of Jeroboam--and also because he destroyed it. 
16:8   In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha
became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah two years. 
16:9   Zimri, one of his officials, who had command of half his chariots,
plotted against him. Elah was in Tirzah at the time, getting drunk in the
home of Arza, the man in charge of the palace at Tirzah. 
16:10  Zimri came in, struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh
year of Asa king of Judah. Then he succeeded him as king. 
16:11   As soon as he began to reign and was seated on the throne, he killed
off Baasha's whole family. He did not spare a single male, whether relative
or friend. 
16:12  So Zimri destroyed the whole family of Baasha, in accordance with the
word of the LORD spoken against Baasha through the prophet Jehu-- 
16:13  because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed and had
caused Israel to commit, so that they provoked the LORD, the God of Israel,
to anger by their worthless idols. 
16:14   As for the other events of Elah's reign, and all he did, are they
not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 
16:15   In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned in
Tirzah seven days. The army was encamped near Gibbethon, a Philistine town. 
16:16  When the Israelites in the camp heard that Zimri had plotted against
the king and murdered him, they proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army,
king over Israel that very day there in the camp. 
16:17  Then Omri and all the Israelites with him withdrew from Gibbethon and
laid siege to Tirzah. 
16:18  When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of
the royal palace and set the palace on fire around him. So he died, 
16:19  because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the eyes of the
LORD and walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in the sin he had committed and
had caused Israel to commit. 
16:20   As for the other events of Zimri's reign, and the rebellion he
carried out, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of
Israel? 
16:21   Then the people of Israel were split into two factions; half
supported Tibni son of Ginath for king, and the other half supported Omri. 
16:22  But Omri's followers proved stronger than those of Tibni son of
Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri became king. 
16:23   In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king of
Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. 
16:24  He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents {[24] That
is, about 150 pounds (about 70 kilograms)} of silver and built a city on the
hill, calling it Samaria, after Shemer, the name of the former owner of the
hill. 
16:25   But Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD and sinned more than all
those before him. 
16:26  He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sin,
which he had caused Israel to commit, so that they provoked the LORD, the
God of Israel, to anger by their worthless idols. 
16:27   As for the other events of Omri's reign, what he did and the things
he achieved, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of
Israel? 
16:28  Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And Ahab his
son succeeded him as king. 
16:29   In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri
became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two
years. 
16:30  Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of
those before him. 
16:31  He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son
of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the
Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 
16:32  He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in
Samaria. 
16:33  Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the
God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him. 
16:34   In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its
foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates
at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the
LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun. 

17:1   Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe {[1] Or <Tishbite, of the
settlers>} in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives,
whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years
except at my word." 
17:2   Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: 
17:3  "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the
Jordan. 
17:4  You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed
you there." 
17:5   So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine,
east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 
17:6  The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and
meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 
17:7   Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in
the land. 
17:8  Then the word of the LORD came to him: 
17:9  "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a
widow in that place to supply you with food." 
17:10  So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was
there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a
little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" 
17:11  As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece
of bread." 
17:12   "As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have
any bread--only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am
gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son,
that we may eat it--and die." 
17:13   Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have
said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and
bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 
17:14  For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `The jar of flour
will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the
LORD gives rain on the land.'" 
17:15   She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food
every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 
17:16  For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run
dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah. 
17:17   Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill.
He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 
17:18  She said to Elijah, "What do you have against me, man of God? Did you
come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" 
17:19   "Give me your son," Elijah replied. He took him from her arms,
carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed.

17:20  Then he cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought
tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?" 
17:21  Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the
LORD, "O LORD my God, let this boy's life return to him!" 
17:22   The LORD heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and
he lived. 
17:23  Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into
the house. He gave him to his mother and said, "Look, your son is alive!" 
17:24   Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God
and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth." 

18:1   After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to
Elijah: "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land."

18:2  So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.  Now the famine was severe
in Samaria, 
18:3  and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace.
(Obadiah was a devout believer in the LORD. 
18:4  While Jezebel was killing off the LORD's prophets, Obadiah had taken a
hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had
supplied them with food and water.) 
18:5  Ahab had said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the springs and
valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so
we will not have to kill any of our animals." 
18:6  So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one
direction and Obadiah in another. 
18:7   As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him,
bowed down to the ground, and said, "Is it really you, my lord Elijah?" 
18:8   "Yes," he replied. "Go tell your master, `Elijah is here.'" 
18:9   "What have I done wrong," asked Obadiah, "that you are handing your
servant over to Ahab to be put to death? 
18:10  As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is not a nation or
kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a
nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could
not find you. 
18:11  But now you tell me to go to my master and say, `Elijah is here.' 
18:12  I don't know where the Spirit of the LORD may carry you when I leave
you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn't find you, he will kill me. Yet I
your servant have worshiped the LORD since my youth. 
18:13  Haven't you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the
prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred of the LORD's prophets in two caves,
fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. 
18:14  And now you tell me to go to my master and say, `Elijah is here.' He
will kill me!" 
18:15   Elijah said, "As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will
surely present myself to Ahab today." 
18:16   So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet
Elijah. 
18:17  When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of
Israel?" 
18:18   "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and
your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have
followed the Baals. 
18:19  Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount
Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four
hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table." 
18:20   So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets
on Mount Carmel. 
18:21  Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver
between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God,
follow him."  But the people said nothing. 
18:22   Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets
left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 
18:23  Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let
them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I
will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 
18:24  Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of
the LORD. The god who answers by fire--he is God."  Then all the people
said, "What you say is good." 
18:25   Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and
prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your
god, but do not light the fire." 
18:26  So they took the bull given them and prepared it.  Then they called
on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they
shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around
the altar they had made. 
18:27   At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely
he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he
is sleeping and must be awakened." 
18:28  So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears,
as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 
18:29  Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the
time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered,
no one paid attention. 
18:30   Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to
him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 
18:31  Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from
Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be
Israel." 
18:32  With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug
a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs {[32] That is, probably
about 13 quarts (about 15 liters)} of seed. 
18:33  He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the
wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on
the offering and on the wood." 
18:34   "Do it again," he said, and they did it again.  "Do it a third
time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. 
18:35  The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. 
18:36   At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and
prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today
that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all
these things at your command. 
18:37  Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O
LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." 
18:38   Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the
wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 
18:39   When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The
LORD--he is God! The LORD--he is God!" 
18:40   Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let
anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the
Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. 
18:41   And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound
of a heavy rain." 
18:42  So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of
Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. 
18:43   "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up
and looked.  "There is nothing there," he said.  Seven times Elijah said,
"Go back." 
18:44   The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's
hand is rising from the sea."  So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, `Hitch up
your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'" 
18:45   Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy
rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 
18:46  The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into
his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel. 

19:1   Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had
killed all the prophets with the sword. 
19:2  So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with
me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life
like that of one of them." 
19:3   Elijah was afraid {[3] Or <Elijah saw>} and ran for his life. When he
came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 
19:4  while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a
broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had
enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." 
19:5  Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.  All at once an angel
touched him and said, "Get up and eat." 
19:6  He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over
hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. 
19:7   The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and
said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." 
19:8  So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled
forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 
19:9  There he went into a cave and spent the night.  And the word of the
LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 
19:10   He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The
Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put
your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they
are trying to kill me too." 
19:11   The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of
the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."  Then a great and powerful wind
tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the
LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the
LORD was not in the earthquake. 
19:12  After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire.
And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 
19:13  When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out
and stood at the mouth of the cave.  Then a voice said to him, "What are you
doing here, Elijah?" 
19:14   He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The
Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put
your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they
are trying to kill me too." 
19:15   The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the
Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 
19:16  Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha
son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 
19:17  Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha
will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 
19:18  Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not
bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him." 
19:19   So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was
plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth
pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. 
19:20  Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. "Let me kiss my
father and mother good-by," he said, "and then I will come with you."  "Go
back," Elijah replied. "What have I done to you?" 
19:21   So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and
slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave
it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became
his attendant. 

20:1   Now Ben-Hadad king of Aram mustered his entire army. Accompanied by
thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, he went up and besieged
Samaria and attacked it. 
20:2  He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, saying, "This
is what Ben-Hadad says: 
20:3  `Your silver and gold are mine, and the best of your wives and
children are mine.'" 
20:4   The king of Israel answered, "Just as you say, my lord the king. I
and all I have are yours." 
20:5   The messengers came again and said, "This is what Ben-Hadad says: `I
sent to demand your silver and gold, your wives and your children. 
20:6  But about this time tomorrow I am going to send my officials to search
your palace and the houses of your officials. They will seize everything you
value and carry it away.'" 
20:7   The king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said to
them, "See how this man is looking for trouble! When he sent for my wives
and my children, my silver and my gold, I did not refuse him." 
20:8   The elders and the people all answered, "Don't listen to him or agree
to his demands." 
20:9   So he replied to Ben-Hadad's messengers, "Tell my lord the king,
`Your servant will do all you demanded the first time, but this demand I
cannot meet.'" They left and took the answer back to Ben-Hadad. 
20:10   Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab: "May the gods deal with
me, be it ever so severely, if enough dust remains in Samaria to give each
of my men a handful." 
20:11   The king of Israel answered, "Tell him: `One who puts on his armor
should not boast like one who takes it off.'" 
20:12   Ben-Hadad heard this message while he and the kings were drinking in
their tents, {[12] Or <in Succoth>; also in verse 16} and he ordered his
men: "Prepare to attack." So they prepared to attack the city. 
20:13   Meanwhile a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel and announced, "This
is what the LORD says: `Do you see this vast army? I will give it into your
hand today, and then you will know that I am the LORD.'" 
20:14   "But who will do this?" asked Ahab.  The prophet replied, "This is
what the LORD says: `The young officers of the provincial commanders will do
it.'"  "And who will start the battle?" he asked.  The prophet answered,
"You will." 
20:15   So Ahab summoned the young officers of the provincial commanders,
232 men. Then he assembled the rest of the Israelites, 7,000 in all. 
20:16  They set out at noon while Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings allied with him
were in their tents getting drunk. 
20:17  The young officers of the provincial commanders went out first.  Now
Ben-Hadad had dispatched scouts, who reported, "Men are advancing from
Samaria." 
20:18   He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they
have come out for war, take them alive." 
20:19   The young officers of the provincial commanders marched out of the
city with the army behind them 
20:20  and each one struck down his opponent. At that, the Arameans fled,
with the Israelites in pursuit. But Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on
horseback with some of his horsemen. 
20:21  The king of Israel advanced and overpowered the horses and chariots
and inflicted heavy losses on the Arameans. 
20:22   Afterward, the prophet came to the king of Israel and said,
"Strengthen your position and see what must be done, because next spring the
king of Aram will attack you again." 
20:23   Meanwhile, the officials of the king of Aram advised him, "Their
gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if
we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they. 
20:24  Do this: Remove all the kings from their commands and replace them
with other officers. 
20:25  You must also raise an army like the one you lost--horse for horse
and chariot for chariot--so we can fight Israel on the plains. Then surely
we will be stronger than they." He agreed with them and acted accordingly. 
20:26   The next spring Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek
to fight against Israel. 
20:27  When the Israelites were also mustered and given provisions, they
marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped opposite them like two small
flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside. 
20:28   The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, "This is what
the LORD says: `Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills
and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands,
and you will know that I am the LORD.'" 
20:29   For seven days they camped opposite each other, and on the seventh
day the battle was joined. The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand
casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day. 
20:30  The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek, where the wall
collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them. And Ben-Hadad fled to the city
and hid in an inner room. 
20:31   His officials said to him, "Look, we have heard that the kings of
the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go to the king of Israel with
sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will
spare your life." 
20:32   Wearing sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads,
they went to the king of Israel and said, "Your servant Ben-Hadad says:
`Please let me live.'"  The king answered, "Is he still alive? He is my
brother." 
20:33   The men took this as a good sign and were quick to pick up his word.
"Yes, your brother Ben-Hadad!" they said.  "Go and get him," the king said.
When Ben-Hadad came out, Ahab had him come up into his chariot. 
20:34   "I will return the cities my father took from your father,"
Ben-Hadad offered. "You may set up your own market areas in Damascus, as my
father did in Samaria."  [Ahab said,] "On the basis of a treaty I will set
you free." So he made a treaty with him, and let him go. 
20:35   By the word of the LORD one of the sons of the prophets said to his
companion, "Strike me with your weapon," but the man refused. 
20:36   So the prophet said, "Because you have not obeyed the LORD, as soon
as you leave me a lion will kill you." And after the man went away, a lion
found him and killed him. 
20:37   The prophet found another man and said, "Strike me, please." So the
man struck him and wounded him. 
20:38  Then the prophet went and stood by the road waiting for the king. He
disguised himself with his headband down over his eyes. 
20:39  As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, "Your servant
went into the thick of the battle, and someone came to me with a captive and
said, `Guard this man. If he is missing, it will be your life for his life,
or you must pay a talent {[39] That is, about 75 pounds (about 34
kilograms)} of silver.' 
20:40  While your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared." 
"That is your sentence," the king of Israel said. "You have pronounced it
yourself." 
20:41   Then the prophet quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the
king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 
20:42  He said to the king, "This is what the LORD says: `You have set free
a man I had determined should die. {[42] The Hebrew term refers to the
irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the LORD, often by totally
destroying them.} Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for
his people.'" 
20:43  Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went to his palace in Samaria. 

21:1   Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging
to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace
of Ahab king of Samaria. 
21:2  Ahab said to Naboth, "Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable
garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better
vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth." 
21:3   But Naboth replied, "The LORD forbid that I should give you the
inheritance of my fathers." 
21:4   So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had
said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." He lay on his bed
sulking and refused to eat. 
21:5   His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, "Why are you so sullen? Why
won't you eat?" 
21:6   He answered her, "Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, `Sell me
your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its
place.' But he said, `I will not give you my vineyard.'" 
21:7   Jezebel his wife said, "Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get
up and eat! Cheer up. I'll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." 
21:8   So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, placed his seal on them, and
sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth's city with him. 
21:9  In those letters she wrote:   "Proclaim a day of fasting and seat
Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 
21:10  But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify that he
has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death." 

21:11   So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth's city did as Jezebel
directed in the letters she had written to them. 
21:12  They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among
the people. 
21:13  Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges
against Naboth before the people, saying, "Naboth has cursed both God and
the king." So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. 
21:14  Then they sent word to Jezebel: "Naboth has been stoned and is dead."

21:15   As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she
said to Ahab, "Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the
Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead." 
21:16  When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take
possession of Naboth's vineyard. 
21:17   Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite: 
21:18  "Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now
in Naboth's vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. 
21:19  Say to him, `This is what the LORD says: Have you not murdered a man
and seized his property?' Then say to him, `This is what the LORD says: In
the place where dogs licked up Naboth's blood, dogs will lick up your
blood--yes, yours!'" 
21:20   Ahab said to Elijah, "So you have found me, my enemy!"  "I have
found you," he answered, "because you have sold yourself to do evil in the
eyes of the LORD. 
21:21  `I am going to bring disaster on you. I will consume your descendants
and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel--slave or free. 
21:22  I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of
Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused
Israel to sin.' 
21:23   "And also concerning Jezebel the LORD says: `Dogs will devour
Jezebel by the wall of {[23] Most Hebrew manuscripts; a few Hebrew
manuscripts, Vulgate and Syriac (see also 2 Kings 9:26) <the plot of ground
at>} Jezreel.' 
21:24   "Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the
birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country." 
21:25   (There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the
eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife. 
21:26  He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the
Amorites the LORD drove out before Israel.) 
21:27   When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth
and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. 
21:28   Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite: 
21:29  "Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he
has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will
bring it on his house in the days of his son." 

22:1   For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. 
22:2  But in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the
king of Israel. 
22:3  The king of Israel had said to his officials, "Don't you know that
Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from
the king of Aram?" 
22:4   So he asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth
Gilead?"  Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my
people as your people, my horses as your horses." 
22:5  But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, "First seek the
counsel of the LORD." 
22:6   So the king of Israel brought together the prophets--about four
hundred men--and asked them, "Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or
shall I refrain?"  "Go," they answered, "for the Lord will give it into the
king's hand." 
22:7   But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom
we can inquire of?" 
22:8   The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man
through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never
prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of
Imlah."  "The king should not say that," Jehoshaphat replied. 
22:9   So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, "Bring
Micaiah son of Imlah at once." 
22:10   Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat
king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the
entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before
them. 
22:11  Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared,
"This is what the LORD says: `With these you will gore the Arameans until
they are destroyed.'" 
22:12   All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. "Attack
Ramoth Gilead and be victorious," they said, "for the LORD will give it into
the king's hand." 
22:13   The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Look, as
one man the other prophets are predicting success for the king. Let your
word agree with theirs, and speak favorably." 
22:14   But Micaiah said, "As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only
what the LORD tells me." 
22:15   When he arrived, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to war
against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?"  "Attack and be victorious," he
answered, "for the LORD will give it into the king's hand." 
22:16   The king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear to tell
me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?" 
22:17   Then Micaiah answered, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like
sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, `These people have no master.
Let each one go home in peace.'" 
22:18   The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he
never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?" 
22:19   Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the
LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him
on his right and on his left. 
22:20  And the LORD said, `Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead
and going to his death there?'  "One suggested this, and another that. 
22:21  Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, `I
will entice him.' 
22:22   " `By what means?' the LORD asked.  " `I will go out and be a lying
spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said.  " `You will succeed in
enticing him,' said the LORD. `Go and do it.' 
22:23   "So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these
prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you." 
22:24   Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the
face. "Which way did the spirit from {[24] Or <Spirit of>} the LORD go when
he went from me to speak to you?" he asked. 
22:25   Micaiah replied, "You will find out on the day you go to hide in an
inner room." 
22:26   The king of Israel then ordered, "Take Micaiah and send him back to
Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king's son 
22:27  and say, `This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and
give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.'" 
22:28   Micaiah declared, "If you ever return safely, the LORD has not
spoken through me." Then he added, "Mark my words, all you people!" 
22:29   So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to
Ramoth Gilead. 
22:30  The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will enter the battle in
disguise, but you wear your royal robes." So the king of Israel disguised
himself and went into battle. 
22:31   Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders,
"Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel." 
22:32  When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, "Surely
this is the king of Israel." So they turned to attack him, but when
Jehoshaphat cried out, 
22:33  the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel and
stopped pursuing him. 
22:34   But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel
between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, "Wheel
around and get me out of the fighting. I've been wounded." 
22:35  All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his
chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of
the chariot, and that evening he died. 
22:36  As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: "Every man to
his town; everyone to his land!" 
22:37   So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him
there. 
22:38  They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria (where the prostitutes
bathed), {[38] Or <Samaria and cleaned the weapons>} and the dogs licked up
his blood, as the word of the LORD had declared. 
22:39   As for the other events of Ahab's reign, including all he did, the
palace he built and inlaid with ivory, and the cities he fortified, are they
not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 
22:40  Ahab rested with his fathers. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as
king. 
22:41   Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of
Ahab king of Israel. 
22:42  Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he
reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah
daughter of Shilhi. 
22:43  In everything he walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not
stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high
places, however, were not removed, and the people continued to offer
sacrifices and burn incense there. 
22:44  Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel. 
22:45   As for the other events of Jehoshaphat's reign, the things he
achieved and his military exploits, are they not written in the book of the
annals of the kings of Judah? 
22:46  He rid the land of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes who
remained there even after the reign of his father Asa. 
22:47  There was then no king in Edom; a deputy ruled. 
22:48   Now Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships {[48] Hebrew <of
ships of Tarshish>} to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail--they
were wrecked at Ezion Geber. 
22:49  At that time Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my men
sail with your men," but Jehoshaphat refused. 
22:50   Then Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with them in
the city of David his father. And Jehoram his son succeeded him. 
22:51   Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the
seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel
two years. 
22:52  He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, because he walked in the ways of
his father and mother and in the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused
Israel to sin. 
22:53  He served and worshiped Baal and provoked the LORD, the God of
Israel, to anger, just as his father had done. 
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