
The First Book of Kings

   

   {1:1} Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered
him with clothes, but he got no heat. {1:2} Therefore his servants said
to him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and
let her stand before the king, and cherish him; and let her lie in your
bosom, that my lord the king may keep warm. {1:3} So they sought for a
beautiful young lady throughout all the borders of Israel, and found
Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. {1:4} The young
lady was very beautiful; and she cherished the king, and ministered to
him; but the king didn't know her intimately. {1:5} Then Adonijah the
son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared
him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. {1:6} His
father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why have you done
so? and he was also a very goodly man; and he was born after Absalom.
{1:7} He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the
priest: and they following Adonijah helped him. {1:8} But Zadok the
priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and
Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not
with Adonijah. {1:9} Adonijah killed sheep and oxen and fatlings by the
stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel; and he called all his
brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's
servants: {1:10} but Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty
men, and Solomon his brother, he didn't call. {1:11} Then Nathan spoke
to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Haven't you heard that
Adonijah the son of Haggith reigns, and David our lord doesn't know it?
{1:12} Now therefore come, please let me give you counsel, that you may
save your own life, and the life of your son Solomon. {1:13} Go and get
you in to king David, and tell him, Didn't you, my lord, king, swear to
your handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me,
and he shall sit on my throne? why then does Adonijah reign? {1:14}
Behold, while you yet talk there with the king, I also will come in
after you, and confirm your words. {1:15} Bathsheba went in to the king
into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite
was ministering to the king. {1:16} Bathsheba bowed, and did obeisance
to the king. The king said, What would you? {1:17} She said to him, My
lord, you swore by Yahweh your God to your handmaid, [saying],
Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my
throne. {1:18} Now, behold, Adonijah reigns; and you, my lord the king,
don't know it: {1:19} and he has slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in
abundance, and has called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the
priest, and Joab the captain of the army; but he hasn't called Solomon
your servant. {1:20} You, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are
on you, that you should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my
lord the king after him. {1:21} Otherwise it will happen, when my lord
the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall
be counted offenders. {1:22} Behold, while she yet talked with the
king, Nathan the prophet came in. {1:23} They told the king, saying,
Behold, Nathan the prophet. When he was come in before the king, he
bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. {1:24}
Nathan said, My lord, king, have you said, Adonijah shall reign after
me, and he shall sit on my throne? {1:25} For he is gone down this day,
and has slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has called
all the king's sons, and the captains of the army, and Abiathar the
priest; and, behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and say,
[Long] live king Adonijah. {1:26} But he hasn't called me, even me your
servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and
your servant Solomon. {1:27} Is this thing done by my lord the king,
and you haven't shown to your servants who should sit on the throne of
my lord the king after him? {1:28} Then king David answered, Call to me
Bathsheba. She came into the king's presence, and stood before the
king. {1:29} The king swore, and said, As Yahweh lives, who has
redeemed my soul out of all adversity, {1:30} most assuredly as I swore
to you by Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon your son
shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place; most
assuredly so will I do this day. {1:31} Then Bathsheba bowed with her
face to the earth, and did obeisance to the king, and said, Let my lord
king David live forever. {1:32} King David said, Call to me Zadok the
priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. They
came before the king. {1:33} The king said to them, Take with you the
servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride on my own mule,
and bring him down to Gihon: {1:34} and let Zadok the priest and Nathan
the prophet anoint him there king over Israel; and blow you the
trumpet, and say, [Long] live king Solomon. {1:35} Then you shall come
up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne; for he shall be
king in my place; and I have appointed him to be prince over Israel and
over Judah. {1:36} Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and
said, Amen: Yahweh, the God of my lord the king, say so [too]. {1:37}
As Yahweh has been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon,
and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.
{1:38} So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son
of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down, and
caused Solomon to ride on king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon.
{1:39} Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the Tent, and
anointed Solomon. They blew the trumpet; and all the people said,
[Long] live king Solomon. {1:40} All the people came up after him, and
the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the
earth shook with the sound of them. {1:41} Adonijah and all the guests
who were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. When Joab
heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Why is this noise of the city
being in an uproar? {1:42} While he yet spoke, behold, Jonathan the son
of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said, Come in; for you are a
worthy man, and bring good news. {1:43} Jonathan answered Adonijah,
Most assuredly our lord king David has made Solomon king: {1:44} and
the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet,
and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the
Pelethites; and they have caused him to ride on the king's mule; {1:45}
and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in
Gihon; and they are come up from there rejoicing, so that the city rang
again. This is the noise that you have heard. {1:46} Also Solomon sits
on the throne of the kingdom. {1:47} Moreover the king's servants came
to bless our lord king David, saying, Your God make the name of Solomon
better than your name, and make his throne greater than your throne:
and the king bowed himself on the bed. {1:48} Also thus said the king,
Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who has given one to sit on my
throne this day, my eyes even seeing it. {1:49} All the guests of
Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way. {1:50}
Adonijah feared because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and caught
hold on the horns of the altar. {1:51} It was told Solomon, saying,
Behold, Adonijah fears king Solomon; for, behold, he has laid hold on
the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear to me first that
he will not kill his servant with the sword. {1:52} Solomon said, If he
shall show himself a worthy man, there shall not a hair of him fall to
the earth; but if wickedness be found in him, he shall die. {1:53} So
king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. He came
and did obeisance to king Solomon; and Solomon said to him, Go to your
house.

    {2:1} Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he
charged Solomon his son, saying, {2:2} I am going the way of all the
earth: be you strong therefore, and show yourself a man; {2:3} and keep
the charge of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his
statutes, [and] his commandments, and his ordinances, and his
testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moses,
that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn
yourself. {2:4} That Yahweh may establish his word which he spoke
concerning me, saying, If your children take heed to their way, to walk
before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there
shall not fail you (said he) a man on the throne of Israel. {2:5}
Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even
what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the
son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, and shed
the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his sash that
was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet. {2:6} Do
therefore according to your wisdom, and don't let his gray head go down
to Sheol in peace. {2:7} But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the
Gileadite, and let them be of those who eat at your table; for so they
came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother. {2:8} Behold, there
is with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, of Bahurim, who
cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim; but
he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Yahweh,
saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. {2:9} Now therefore
don't hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man; and you will know
what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down to
Sheol with blood. {2:10} David slept with his fathers, and was buried
in the city of David. {2:11} The days that David reigned over Israel
were forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty-three
years reigned he in Jerusalem. {2:12} Solomon sat on the throne of
David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly. {2:13} Then
Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon.
She said, Come you peaceably? He said, Peaceably. {2:14} He said
moreover, I have somewhat to tell you. She said, Say on. {2:15} He
said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their
faces on me, that I should reign: however the kingdom is turned about,
and is become my brother's; for it was his from Yahweh. {2:16} Now I
ask one petition of you; don't deny me. She said to him, Say on. {2:17}
He said, Please speak to Solomon the king (for he will not tell you
'no'), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife. {2:18} Bathsheba
said, Well; I will speak for you to the king. {2:19} Bathsheba
therefore went to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. The king
rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat down on his
throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king's mother; and she
sat on his right hand. {2:20} Then she said, I ask one small petition
of you; don't deny me. The king said to her, Ask on, my mother; for I
will not deny you. {2:21} She said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given
to Adonijah your brother as wife. {2:22} King Solomon answered his
mother, Why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him
the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; even for him, and for
Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah. {2:23} Then king
Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if
Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life. {2:24} Now
therefore as Yahweh lives, who has established me, and set me on the
throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised,
surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day. {2:25} King Solomon
sent by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell on him, so that he
died. {2:26} To Abiathar the priest said the king, Get you to Anathoth,
to your own fields; for you are worthy of death: but I will not at this
time put you to death, because you bear the ark of the Lord Yahweh
before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all in which
my father was afflicted. {2:27} So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from
being priest to Yahweh, that he might fulfill the word of Yahweh, which
he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. {2:28} The news came to
Joab; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he didn't turn after
Absalom. Joab fled to the Tent of Yahweh, and caught hold on the horns
of the altar. {2:29} It was told king Solomon, Joab is fled to the Tent
of Yahweh, and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall on him. {2:30} Benaiah came to
the Tent of Yahweh, and said to him, Thus says the king, Come forth. He
said, No; but I will die here. Benaiah brought the king word again,
saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. {2:31} The king said
to him, Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may
take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my
father's house. {2:32} Yahweh will return his blood on his own head,
because he fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and
killed them with the sword, and my father David didn't know it, [to
wit], Abner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa
the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah. {2:33} So shall their
blood return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed forever:
but to David, and to his seed, and to his house, and to his throne,
shall there be peace for ever from Yahweh. {2:34} Then Benaiah the son
of Jehoiada went up, and fell on him, and killed him; and he was buried
in his own house in the wilderness. {2:35} The king put Benaiah the son
of Jehoiada in his room over the army; and Zadok the priest did the
king put in the room of Abiathar. {2:36} The king sent and called for
Shimei, and said to him, Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell
there, and don't go forth from there any where. {2:37} For on the day
you go out, and pass over the brook Kidron, know you for certain that
you shall surely die: your blood shall be on your own head. {2:38}
Shimei said to the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king has
said, so will your servant do. Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.
{2:39} It happened at the end of three years, that two of the servants
of Shimei ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. They told
Shimei, saying, Behold, your servants are in Gath. {2:40} Shimei arose,
and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his
servants; and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath. {2:41}
It was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and
was come again. {2:42} The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to
him, Didn't I adjure you by Yahweh, and protest to you, saying, Know
for certain, that on the day you go out, and walk abroad any where, you
shall surely die? and you said to me, The saying that I have heard is
good. {2:43} Why then have you not kept the oath of Yahweh, and the
commandment that I have charged you with? {2:44} The king said moreover
to Shimei, You know all the wickedness which your heart is privy to,
that you did to David my father: therefore Yahweh shall return your
wickedness on your own head. {2:45} But king Solomon shall be blessed,
and the throne of David shall be established before Yahweh forever.
{2:46} So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went
out, and fell on him, so that he died. The kingdom was established in
the hand of Solomon.

    {3:1} Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took
Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he
had made an end of building his own house, and the house of Yahweh, and
the wall of Jerusalem round about. {3:2} Only the people sacrificed in
the high places, because there was no house built for the name of
Yahweh until those days. {3:3} Solomon loved Yahweh, walking in the
statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in
the high places. {3:4} The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for
that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon
offer on that altar. {3:5} In Gibeon Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a
dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give you. {3:6} Solomon
said, You have shown to your servant David my father great loving
kindness, according as he walked before you in truth, and in
righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you; and you have kept
for him this great loving kindness, that you have given him a son to
sit on his throne, as it is this day. {3:7} Now, Yahweh my God, you
have made your servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a
little child; I don't know how to go out or come in. {3:8} Your servant
is in the midst of your people which you have chosen, a great people,
that can't be numbered nor counted for multitude. {3:9} Give your
servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I
may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this your
great people? {3:10} The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had
asked this thing. {3:11} God said to him, Because you have asked this
thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, neither have asked
riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have
asked for yourself understanding to discern justice; {3:12} behold, I
have done according to your word: behold, I have given you a wise and
an understanding heart; so that there has been none like you before
you, neither after you shall any arise like you. {3:13} I have also
given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that
there shall not be any among the kings like you, all your days. {3:14}
If you will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments,
as your father David did walk, then I will lengthen your days. {3:15}
Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream: and he came to Jerusalem,
and stood before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and offered up
burnt offerings, and offered peace-offerings, and made a feast to all
his servants. {3:16} Then there came two women who were prostitutes, to
the king, and stood before him. {3:17} The one woman said, Oh, my lord,
I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child
with her in the house. {3:18} It happened the third day after I was
delivered, that this woman was delivered also; and we were together;
there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
{3:19} This woman's child died in the night, because she lay on it.
{3:20} She arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while
your handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child
in my bosom. {3:21} When I rose in the morning to give my child suck,
behold, it was dead; but when I had looked at it in the morning,
behold, it was not my son, whom I bore. {3:22} The other woman said,
No; but the living is my son, and the dead is your son. This said, No;
but the dead is your son, and the living is my son. Thus they spoke
before the king. {3:23} Then said the king, The one says, This is my
son who lives, and your son is the dead: and the other says, No; but
your son is the dead, and my son is the living. {3:24} The king said,
Get me a sword. They brought a sword before the king. {3:25} The king
said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and
half to the other. {3:26} Then spoke the woman whose the living child
was to the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, Oh,
my lord, give her the living child, and in no way kill it. But the
other said, It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it. {3:27} Then
the king answered, Give her the living child, and in no way kill it:
she is the mother of it. {3:28} All Israel heard of the judgment which
the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the
wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.

    {4:1} King Solomon was king over all Israel. {4:2} These were the
princes whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest; {4:3}
Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son
of Ahilud, the recorder; {4:4} and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over
the army; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; {4:5} and Azariah the
son of Nathan was over the officers; and Zabud the son of Nathan was
chief minister, [and] the king's friend; {4:6} and Ahishar was over the
household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to
forced labor. {4:7} Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who
provided food for the king and his household: each man had to make
provision for a month in the year. {4:8} These are their names: Ben
Hur, in the hill-country of Ephraim; {4:9} Ben Deker, in Makaz, and in
Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan; {4:10} Ben Hesed, in
Arubboth (to him [pertained] Socoh, and all the land of Hepher); {4:11}
Ben Abinadab, in all the height of Dor (he had Taphath the daughter of
Solomon as wife); {4:12} Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and
Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel,
from Beth-shean to Abel Meholah, as far as beyond Jokmeam; {4:13} Ben
Geber, in Ramoth-gilead (to him [pertained] the towns of Jair the son
of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; [even] to him [pertained] the region
of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and brazen
bars); {4:14} Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; {4:15} Ahimaaz, in
Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife);
{4:16} Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; {4:17}
Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; {4:18} Shimei the son of
Ela, in Benjamin; {4:19} Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead,
the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and
[he was] the only officer who was in the land. {4:20} Judah and Israel
were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and
drinking and making merry. {4:21} Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms
from the River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of
Egypt: they brought tribute, and served Solomon all the days of his
life. {4:22} Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of
fine flour, and sixty measures of meal, {4:23} ten fat oxen, and twenty
oxen out of the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides harts, and
gazelles, and roebucks, and fattened fowl. {4:24} For he had dominion
over all [the region] on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to
Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River: and he had peace on
all sides round about him. {4:25} Judah and Israel lived safely, every
man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba,
all the days of Solomon. {4:26} Solomon had forty thousand stalls of
horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. {4:27} Those
officers provided food for king Solomon, and for all who came to king
Solomon's table, every man in his month; they let nothing be lacking.
{4:28} Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds brought
they to the place where [the officers] were, every man according to his
charge. {4:29} God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding
much, and very great understanding, even as the sand that is on the
sea-shore. {4:30} Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the
children of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt. {4:31} For he was
wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and
Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations round
about. {4:32} He spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were one
thousand five. {4:33} He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in
Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also
of animals, and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fish. {4:34}
There came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings
of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

    {5:1} Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon; for he had
heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for
Hiram was ever a lover of David. {5:2} Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,
{5:3} You know how that David my father could not build a house for the
name of Yahweh his God for the wars which were about him on every side,
until Yahweh put them under the soles of his feet. {5:4} But now Yahweh
my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary, nor
evil occurrence. {5:5} Behold, I purpose to build a house for the name
of Yahweh my God, as Yahweh spoke to David my father, saying, Your son,
whom I will set on your throne in your room, he shall build the house
for my name. {5:6} Now therefore command you that they cut me cedar
trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with your servants; and
I will give you hire for your servants according to all that you shall
say: for you know that there is not among us any who knows how to cut
timber like the Sidonians. {5:7} It happened, when Hiram heard the
words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be Yahweh
this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.
{5:8} Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard [the message] which
you have sent to me: I will do all your desire concerning timber of
cedar, and concerning timber of fir. {5:9} My servants shall bring them
down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by
sea to the place that you shall appoint me, and will cause them to be
broken up there, and you shall receive them; and you shall accomplish
my desire, in giving food for my household. {5:10} So Hiram gave
Solomon timber of cedar and timber of fir according to all his desire.
{5:11} Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to
his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to
Hiram year by year. {5:12} Yahweh gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised
him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a
league together. {5:13} King Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel;
and the levy was thirty thousand men. {5:14} He sent them to Lebanon,
ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Lebanon, and two
months at home; and Adoniram was over the men subject to forced labor.
{5:15} Solomon had seventy thousand who bore burdens, and eighty
thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains; {5:16} besides
Solomon's chief officers who were over the work, three thousand and
three hundred, who bore rule over the people who labored in the work.
{5:17} The king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly
stones, to lay the foundation of the house with worked stone. {5:18}
Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites did fashion
them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.

    {6:1} It happened in the four hundred and eightieth year after the
children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth
year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the
second month, that he began to build the house of Yahweh. {6:2} The
house which king Solomon built for Yahweh, the length of it was sixty
cubits, and the breadth of it twenty [cubits], and the height of it
thirty cubits. {6:3} The porch before the temple of the house, twenty
cubits was the length of it, according to the breadth of the house;
[and] ten cubits was the breadth of it before the house. {6:4} For the
house he made windows of fixed lattice-work. {6:5} Against the wall of
the house he built stories round about, against the walls of the house
round about, both of the temple and of the oracle; and he made
side-chambers round about. {6:6} The nethermost story was five cubits
broad, and the middle was six cubits broad, and the third was seven
cubits broad; for on the outside he made offsets [in the wall] of the
house round about, that [the beams] should not have hold in the walls
of the house. {6:7} The house, when it was in building, was built of
stone made ready at the quarry; and there was neither hammer nor axe
nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
{6:8} The door for the middle side-chambers was in the right side of
the house: and they went up by winding stairs into the middle [story],
and out of the middle into the third. {6:9} So he built the house, and
finished it; and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.
{6:10} He built the stories against all the house, each five cubits
high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar. {6:11} The
word of Yahweh came to Solomon, saying, {6:12} Concerning this house
which you are building, if you will walk in my statutes, and execute my
ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I
establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. {6:13}
I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my
people Israel. {6:14} So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
{6:15} He built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar:
from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered
them on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house
with boards of fir. {6:16} He built twenty cubits on the hinder part of
the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the walls [of the
ceiling]: he built [them] for it within, for an oracle, even for the
most holy place. {6:17} The house, that is, the temple before [the
oracle], was forty cubits [long]. {6:18} There was cedar on the house
within, carved with buds and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no
stone seen. {6:19} He prepared an oracle in the midst of the house
within, to set there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. {6:20} Within
the oracle was [a space of] twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits
in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height of it; and he overlaid it
with pure gold: and he covered the altar with cedar. {6:21} So Solomon
overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he drew chains of gold
across before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. {6:22} The
whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished:
also the whole altar that belonged to the oracle he overlaid with gold.
{6:23} In the oracle he made two cherubim of olive-wood, each ten
cubits high. {6:24} Five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and
five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of
the one wing to the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. {6:25}
The other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure
and one form. {6:26} The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and
so was it of the other cherub. {6:27} He set the cherubim within the
inner house; and the wings of the cherubim were stretched forth, so
that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the
other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one
another in the midst of the house. {6:28} He overlaid the cherubim with
gold. {6:29} He carved all the walls of the house round about with
carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, inside and
outside. {6:30} The floor of the house he overlaid with gold, inside
and outside. {6:31} For the entrance of the oracle he made doors of
olive-wood: the lintel [and] door-posts were a fifth part [of the
wall]. {6:32} So [he made] two doors of olive-wood; and he carved on
them carvings of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid
them with gold; and he spread the gold on the cherubim, and on the palm
trees. {6:33} So also made he for the entrance of the temple door-posts
of olive-wood, out of a fourth part [of the wall]; {6:34} and two doors
of fir-wood: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two
leaves of the other door were folding. {6:35} He carved [thereon]
cherubim and palm trees and open flowers; and he overlaid them with
gold fitted on the engraved work. {6:36} He built the inner court with
three courses of hewn stone, and a course of cedar beams. {6:37} In the
fourth year was the foundation of the house of Yahweh laid, in the
month Ziv. {6:38} In the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the
eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts of it,
and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in
building it.

    {7:1} Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he
finished all his house. {7:2} For he built the house of the forest of
Lebanon; the length of it was one hundred cubits, and the breadth of it
fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar
pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. {7:3} It was covered with
cedar above over the forty-five beams, that were on the pillars;
fifteen in a row. {7:4} There were beams in three rows, and window was
over against window in three ranks. {7:5} All the doors and posts were
made square with beams: and window was over against window in three
ranks. {7:6} He made the porch of pillars; the length of it was fifty
cubits, and the breadth of it thirty cubits; and a porch before them;
and pillars and a threshold before them. {7:7} He made the porch of the
throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was
covered with cedar from floor to floor. {7:8} His house where he was to
dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the like work. He made
also a house for Pharaoh's daughter (whom Solomon had taken as wife),
like this porch. {7:9} All these were of costly stones, even of hewn
stone, according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside, even
from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great
court. {7:10} The foundation was of costly stones, even great stones,
stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits. {7:11} Above were
costly stones, even hewn stone, according to measure, and cedar-wood.
{7:12} The great court round about had three courses of hewn stone, and
a course of cedar beams; like as the inner court of the house of
Yahweh, and the porch of the house. {7:13} King Solomon sent and
fetched Hiram out of Tyre. {7:14} He was the son of a widow of the
tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass;
and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill, to work all
works in brass. He came to king Solomon, and performed all his work.
{7:15} For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high
apiece: and a line of twelve cubits compassed either of them about.
{7:16} He made two capitals of molten brass, to set on the tops of the
pillars: the height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height
of the other capital was five cubits. {7:17} There were nets of
checker-work, and wreaths of chain-work, for the capitals which were on
the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the
other capital. {7:18} So he made the pillars; and there were two rows
round about on the one network, to cover the capitals that were on the
top of the pillars: and so did he for the other capital. {7:19} The
capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of
lily-work, four cubits. {7:20} There were capitals above also on the
two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network: and the
pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about on the other
capital. {7:21} He set up the pillars at the porch of the temple: and
he set up the right pillar, and called the name of it Jachin; and he
set up the left pillar, and called the name of it Boaz. {7:22} On the
top of the pillars was lily-work: so was the work of the pillars
finished. {7:23} He made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to
brim, round in compass, and the height of it was five cubits; and a
line of thirty cubits compassed it round about. {7:24} Under the brim
of it round about there were buds which did compass it, for ten cubits,
compassing the sea round about: the buds were in two rows, cast when it
was cast. {7:25} It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the
north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the
south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was set on them
above, and all their hinder parts were inward. {7:26} It was a
handbreadth thick: and the brim of it was worked like the brim of a
cup, like the flower of a lily: it held two thousand baths. {7:27} He
made the ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base,
and four cubits the breadth of it, and three cubits the height of it.
{7:28} The work of the bases was on this manner: they had panels; and
there were panels between the ledges; {7:29} and on the panels that
were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the
ledges there was a pedestal above; and beneath the lions and oxen were
wreaths of hanging work. {7:30} Every base had four brazen wheels, and
axles of brass; and the four feet of it had supports: beneath the basin
were the supports molten, with wreaths at the side of each. {7:31} The
mouth of it within the capital and above was a cubit: and the mouth of
it was round after the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also
on the mouth of it were engravings, and their panels were foursquare,
not round. {7:32} The four wheels were underneath the panels; and the
axles of the wheels were in the base: and the height of a wheel was a
cubit and half a cubit. {7:33} The work of the wheels was like the work
of a chariot wheel: their axles, and their rims, and their spokes, and
their naves, were all molten. {7:34} There were four supports at the
four corners of each base: the supports of it were of the base itself.
{7:35} In the top of the base was there a round compass half a cubit
high; and on the top of the base the stays of it and the panels of it
were of the same. {7:36} On the plates of the stays of it, and on the
panels of it, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to
the space of each, with wreaths round about. {7:37} After this manner
he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and
one form. {7:38} He made ten basins of brass: one basin contained forty
baths; and every basin was four cubits; and on very one of the ten
bases one basin. {7:39} He set the bases, five on the right side of the
house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on
the right side of the house eastward, toward the south. {7:40} Hiram
made the basins, and the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram made an end
of doing all the work that he worked for king Solomon in the house of
Yahweh: {7:41} the two pillars, and the two bowls of the capitals that
were on the top of the pillars; and the two networks to cover the two
bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; {7:42} and
the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of
pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals
that were on the pillars; {7:43} and the ten bases, and the ten basins
on the bases; {7:44} and the one sea, and the twelve oxen under the
sea; {7:45} and the pots, and the shovels, and the basins: even all
these vessels, which Hiram made for king Solomon, in the house of
Yahweh, were of burnished brass. {7:46} In the plain of the Jordan did
the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
{7:47} Solomon left all the vessels [unweighed], because they were
exceeding many: the weight of the brass could not be found out. {7:48}
Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of Yahweh: the
golden altar, and the table whereupon the show bread was, of gold;
{7:49} and the lampstands, five on the right side, and five on the
left, before the oracle, of pure gold; and the flowers, and the lamps,
and the tongs, of gold; {7:50} and the cups, and the snuffers, and the
basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold; and the
hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and
for the doors of the house, [to wit], of the temple, of gold. {7:51}
Thus all the work that king Solomon worked in the house of Yahweh was
finished. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had
dedicated, [even] the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, and put
them in the treasuries of the house of Yahweh.

    {8:1} Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the
heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers' [houses] of the
children of Israel, to king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark
of the covenant of Yahweh out of the city of David, which is Zion.
{8:2} All the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the
feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. {8:3} All the
elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. {8:4} They
brought up the ark of Yahweh, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy
vessels that were in the Tent; even these did the priests and the
Levites bring up. {8:5} King Solomon and all the congregation of
Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark,
sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be counted nor numbered for
multitude. {8:6} The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of
Yahweh to its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy
place, even under the wings of the cherubim. {8:7} For the cherubim
spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim
covered the ark and the poles of it above. {8:8} The poles were so long
that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the
oracle; but they were not seen outside: and there they are to this day.
{8:9} There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which
Moses put there at Horeb, when Yahweh made a covenant with the children
of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. {8:10} It came to
pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud
filled the house of Yahweh, {8:11} so that the priests could not stand
to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of Yahweh filled the
house of Yahweh. {8:12} Then spoke Solomon, Yahweh has said that he
would dwell in the thick darkness. {8:13} I have surely built you a
house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever. {8:14} The
king turned his face about, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: and
all the assembly of Israel stood. {8:15} He said, Blessed be Yahweh,
the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David your father, and
has with his hand fulfilled it, saying, {8:16} Since the day that I
brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all
the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but
I chose David to be over my people Israel. {8:17} Now it was in the
heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the
God of Israel. {8:18} But Yahweh said to David my father, Whereas it
was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it
was in your heart: {8:19} nevertheless you shall not build the house;
but your son who shall come forth out of your loins, he shall build the
house for my name. {8:20} Yahweh has established his word that he
spoke; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the
throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for the
name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. {8:21} There have I set a place for
the ark, in which is the covenant of Yahweh, which he made with our
fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. {8:22} Solomon
stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all the assembly of
Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; {8:23} and he said,
Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above,
or on earth beneath; who keep covenant and loving kindness with your
servants, who walk before you with all their heart; {8:24} who have
kept with your servant David my father that which you did promise him:
yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand,
as it is this day. {8:25} Now therefore, Yahweh, the God of Israel,
keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised
him, saying, There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the
throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk
before me as you have walked before me. {8:26} Now therefore, God of
Israel, Please let your word be verified, which you spoke to your
servant David my father. {8:27} But will God in very deed dwell on the
earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can't contain you; how
much less this house that I have built! {8:28} Yet have respect for the
prayer of your servant, and for his supplication, Yahweh my God, to
listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you
this day; {8:29} that your eyes may be open toward this house night and
day, even toward the place of which you have said, My name shall be
there; to listen to the prayer which your servant shall pray toward
this place. {8:30} Listen you to the supplication of your servant, and
of your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yes,
hear in heaven, your dwelling-place; and when you hear, forgive. {8:31}
If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath be laid on him to cause
him to swear, and he come [and] swear before your altar in this house;
{8:32} then hear you in heaven, and do, and judge your servants,
condemning the wicked, to bring his way on his own head, and justifying
the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. {8:33} When
your people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have
sinned against you; if they turn again to you, and confess your name,
and pray and make supplication to you in this house: {8:34} then hear
you in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring
them again to the land which you gave to their fathers. {8:35} When the
sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against
you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn
from their sin, when you do afflict them: {8:36} then hear in heaven,
and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when
you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on
your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.
{8:37} If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there
be blasting [or] mildew, locust [or] caterpillar; if their enemy
besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague, whatever
sickness there be; {8:38} whatever prayer and supplication be made by
any man, [or] by all your people Israel, who shall know every man the
plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:
{8:39} then hear in heaven, your dwelling-place, and forgive, and do,
and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you
know; (for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of
men;) {8:40} that they may fear you all the days that they live in the
land which you gave to our fathers. {8:41} Moreover concerning the
foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he shall come out of
a far country for your name's sake {8:42} (for they shall hear of your
great name, and of your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm);
when he shall come and pray toward this house; {8:43} hear in heaven,
your dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls
to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to
fear you, as does your people Israel, and that they may know that this
house which I have built is called by my name. {8:44} If your people go
out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them,
and they pray to Yahweh toward the city which you have chosen, and
toward the house which I have built for your name; {8:45} then hear in
heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
{8:46} If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn't sin),
and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that
they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near;
{8:47} yet if they shall repent themselves in the land where they are
carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the
land of those who carried them captive, saying, We have sinned, and
have done perversely, we have dealt wickedly; {8:48} if they return to
you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their
enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land,
which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and
the house which I have built for your name: {8:49} then hear you their
prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling-place, and
maintain their cause; {8:50} and forgive your people who have sinned
against you, and all their transgressions in which they have
transgressed against you; and give them compassion before those who
carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them {8:51} (for
they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought forth out
of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron); {8:52} that your eyes
may be open to the supplication of your servant, and to the
supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry
to you. {8:53} For you did separate them from among all the peoples of
the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant,
when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord Yahweh. {8:54} It was
so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and
supplication to Yahweh, he arose from before the altar of Yahweh, from
kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven. {8:55}
He stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice,
saying, {8:56} Blessed be Yahweh, who has given rest to his people
Israel, according to all that he promised: there has not failed one
word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant.
{8:57} Yahweh our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him
not leave us, nor forsake us; {8:58} that he may incline our hearts to
him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his
statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers. {8:59}
Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before Yahweh,
be near to Yahweh our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of
his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall
require; {8:60} that all the peoples of the earth may know that Yahweh,
he is God; there is none else. {8:61} Let your heart therefore be
perfect with Yahweh our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his
commandments, as at this day. {8:62} The king, and all Israel with him,
offered sacrifice before Yahweh. {8:63} Solomon offered for the
sacrifice of peace-offerings, which he offered to Yahweh, two and
twenty thousand oxen, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the
king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of Yahweh.
{8:64} The same day did the king make the middle of the court holy that
was before the house of Yahweh; for there he offered the burnt
offering, and the meal-offering, and the fat of the peace-offerings,
because the brazen altar that was before Yahweh was too little to
receive the burnt offering, and the meal-offering, and the fat of the
peace-offerings. {8:65} So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all
Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the
brook of Egypt, before Yahweh our God, seven days and seven days, even
fourteen days. {8:66} On the eighth day he sent the people away; and
they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart
for all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant, and to
Israel his people.

    {9:1} It happened, when Solomon had finished the building of the
house of Yahweh, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which
he was pleased to do, {9:2} that Yahweh appeared to Solomon the second
time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. {9:3} Yahweh said to him, I
have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before
me: I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name
there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.
{9:4} As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father
walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to
all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my
ordinances; {9:5} then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over
Israel forever, according as I promised to David your father, saying,
There shall not fail you a man on the throne of Israel. {9:6} But if
you shall turn away from following me, you or your children, and not
keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but
shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; {9:7} then will I cut
off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house,
which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and
Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. {9:8} Though
this house is so high, yet shall everyone who passes by it be
astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why has Yahweh done
thus to this land, and to this house? {9:9} and they shall answer,
Because they forsook Yahweh their God, who brought forth their fathers
out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped
them, and served them: therefore has Yahweh brought all this evil on
them. {9:10} It happened at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon
had built the two houses, the house of Yahweh and the king's house
{9:11} (now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar
trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire), that
then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
{9:12} Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had
given him; and they didn't please him. {9:13} He said, What cities are
these which you have given me, my brother? He called them the land of
Cabul to this day. {9:14} Hiram sent to the king one hundred twenty
talents of gold. {9:15} This is the reason of the levy which king
Solomon raised, to build the house of Yahweh, and his own house, and
Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.
{9:16} Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it
with fire, and slain the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it
for a portion to his daughter, Solomon's wife. {9:17} Solomon built
Gezer, and Beth Horon the lower, {9:18} and Baalath, and Tamar in the
wilderness, in the land, {9:19} and all the store-cities that Solomon
had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen,
and that which Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem,
and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. {9:20} As for all
the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites,
the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel;
{9:21} their children who were left after them in the land, whom the
children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, of them did
Solomon raise a levy of bondservants to this day. {9:22} But of the
children of Israel did Solomon make no bondservants; but they were the
men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and
rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen. {9:23} These were the chief
officers who were over Solomon's work, five hundred fifty, who bore
rule over the people who labored in the work. {9:24} But Pharaoh's
daughter came up out of the city of David to her house which [Solomon]
had built for her: then did he build Millo. {9:25} Three times a year
did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace-offerings on the altar
which he built to Yahweh, burning incense therewith, [on the altar]
that was before Yahweh. So he finished the house. {9:26} King Solomon
made a navy of ships in Ezion Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the
shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. {9:27} Hiram sent in the
navy his servants, sailors who had knowledge of the sea, with the
servants of Solomon. {9:28} They came to Ophir, and fetched from there
gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.

    {10:1} When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon
concerning the name of Yahweh, she came to prove him with hard
questions. {10:2} She came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with
camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones; and
when she was come to Solomon, she talked with him of all that was in
her heart. {10:3} Solomon told her all her questions: there was not
anything hidden from the king which he didn't tell her. {10:4} When the
queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that
he had built, {10:5} and the food of his table, and the sitting of his
servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, and
his cup bearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of
Yahweh; there was no more spirit in her. {10:6} She said to the king,
It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of
your wisdom. {10:7} However I didn't believe the words, until I came,
and my eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me; your
wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard. {10:8} Happy are
your men, happy are these your servants, who stand continually before
you, [and] who hear your wisdom. {10:9} Blessed be Yahweh your God, who
delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel: because Yahweh
loved Israel forever, therefore made he you king, to do justice and
righteousness. {10:10} She gave the king one hundred twenty talents of
gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came
no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave
to king Solomon. {10:11} The navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from
Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees and precious
stones. {10:12} The king made of the almug trees pillars for the house
of Yahweh, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for the
singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen, to this day.
{10:13} King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire,
whatever she asked, besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal
bounty. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.
{10:14} Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six
hundred sixty-six talents of gold, {10:15} besides [that which] the
traders [brought], and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the
kings of the mixed people, and of the governors of the country. {10:16}
King Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred
[shekels] of gold went to one buckler. {10:17} [he made] three hundred
shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went to one shield: and the
king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. {10:18} Moreover
the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest
gold. {10:19} There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the
throne was round behind; and there were stays on either side by the
place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the stays. {10:20}
Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six
steps: there was nothing like it made in any kingdom. {10:21} All king
Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the
house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver;
it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. {10:22} For the
king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram: once every
three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver,
ivory, and apes, and peacocks. {10:23} So king Solomon exceeded all the
kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. {10:24} All the earth
sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put
in his heart. {10:25} They brought every man his tribute, vessels of
silver, and vessels of gold, and clothing, and armor, and spices,
horses, and mules, a rate year by year. {10:26} Solomon gathered
together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred
chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he bestowed in the chariot
cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. {10:27} The king made silver to
be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore
trees that are in the lowland, for abundance. {10:28} The horses which
Solomon had were brought out of Egypt; and the king's merchants
received them in droves, each drove at a price. {10:29} A chariot came
up and went out of Egypt for six hundred [shekels] of silver, and a
horse for one hundred fifty; and so for all the kings of the Hittites,
and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.

   {11:1} Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the
daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites,
Sidonians, and Hittites; {11:2} of the nations concerning which Yahweh
said to the children of Israel, You shall not go among them, neither
shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart
after their gods: Solomon joined to these in love. {11:3} He had seven
hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives
turned away his heart. {11:4} For it happened, when Solomon was old,
that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart
was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as was the heart of David his
father. {11:5} For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the
Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. {11:6}
Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and didn't go
fully after Yahweh, as did David his father. {11:7} Then did Solomon
build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the mountain
that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the
children of Ammon. {11:8} So did he for all his foreign wives, who
burnt incense and sacrificed to their gods. {11:9} Yahweh was angry
with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of
Israel, who had appeared to him twice, {11:10} and had commanded him
concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he
didn't keep that which Yahweh commanded. {11:11} Therefore Yahweh said
to Solomon, Because this is done of you, and you have not kept my
covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely
tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. {11:12}
Notwithstanding in your days I will not do it, for David your father's
sake: but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. {11:13} However I
will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your
son, for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have
chosen. {11:14} Yahweh raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the
Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom. {11:15} For it happened,
when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the army was gone up to
bury the slain, and had struck every male in Edom {11:16} (for Joab and
all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male
in Edom); {11:17} that Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his
father's servants with him, to go into Egypt, Hadad being yet a little
child. {11:18} They arose out of Midian, and came to Paran; and they
took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, to Pharaoh
king of Egypt, who gave him a house, and appointed him food, and gave
him land. {11:19} Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so
that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of
Tahpenes the queen. {11:20} The sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath
his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house; and Genubath was in
Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh. {11:21} When Hadad heard in
Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of
the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go
to my own country. {11:22} Then Pharaoh said to him, But what have you
lacked with me, that behold, you seek to go to your own country? He
answered, Nothing: however only let me depart. {11:23} God raised up
[another] adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from
his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah. {11:24} He gathered men to him, and
became captain over a troop, when David killed them [of Zobah]: and
they went to Damascus, and lived therein, and reigned in Damascus.
{11:25} He was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, besides
the mischief that Hadad [did]: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over
Syria. {11:26} Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a
servant of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, he also
lifted up his hand against the king. {11:27} This was the reason why he
lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired
the breach of the city of David his father. {11:28} The man Jeroboam
was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon saw the young man that he was
industrious, and he gave him charge over all the labor of the house of
Joseph. {11:29} It happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of
Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way;
now [Ahijah] had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were
alone in the field. {11:30} Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that
was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces. {11:31} He said to Jeroboam,
Take ten pieces; for thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Behold, I
will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten
tribes to you {11:32} (but he shall have one tribe, for my servant
David's sake and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out
of all the tribes of Israel); {11:33} because that they have forsaken
me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh
the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon; and they
have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and
[to keep] my statutes and my ordinances, as did David his father.
{11:34} However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but
I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant's
sake whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes; {11:35}
but I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it to
you, even ten tribes. {11:36} To his son will I give one tribe, that
David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem, the
city which I have chosen me to put my name there. {11:37} I will take
you, and you shall reign according to all that your soul desires, and
shall be king over Israel. {11:38} It shall be, if you will listen to
all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do that which is
right in my eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my
servant did; that I will be with you, and will build you a sure house,
as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. {11:39} I will for
this afflict the seed of David, but not forever. {11:40} Solomon sought
therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, to
Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
{11:41} Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and
his wisdom, aren't they written in the book of the acts of Solomon?
{11:42} The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was
forty years. {11:43} Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in
the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

   {12:1} Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem
to make him king. {12:2} It happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat
heard of it (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the
presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam lived in Egypt, {12:3} and they
sent and called him), that Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel
came, and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, {12:4} Your father made our yoke
grievous: now therefore make you the grievous service of your father,
and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you.
{12:5} He said to them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to
me. The people departed. {12:6} King Rehoboam took counsel with the old
men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived,
saying, What counsel give you me to return answer to this people?
{12:7} They spoke to him, saying, If you will be a servant to this
people this day, and will serve them, and answer them, and speak good
words to them, then they will be your servants forever. {12:8} But he
forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took
counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before
him. {12:9} He said to them, What counsel do you give, that we may
return answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the
yoke that your father did put on us lighter? {12:10} The young men who
had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, Thus shall you tell this
people who spoke to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, but
make you it lighter to us; thus shall you speak to them, My little
finger is thicker than my father's loins. {12:11} Now whereas my father
did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father
chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
{12:12} So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day,
as the king bade, saying, Come to me again the third day. {12:13} The
king answered the people roughly, and forsook the counsel of the old
men which they had given him, {12:14} and spoke to them after the
counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I
will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will
chastise you with scorpions. {12:15} So the king didn't listen to the
people; for it was a thing brought about of Yahweh, that he might
establish his word, which Yahweh spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to
Jeroboam the son of Nebat. {12:16} When all Israel saw that the king
didn't listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, What
portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of
Jesse: to your tents, Israel: now see to your own house, David. So
Israel departed to their tents. {12:17} But as for the children of
Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
{12:18} Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the men subject to
forced labor; and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. King
Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
{12:19} So Israel rebelled against the house of David to this day.
{12:20} It happened, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was returned,
that they sent and called him to the congregation, and made him king
over all Israel: there was none who followed the house of David, but
the tribe of Judah only. {12:21} When Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem,
he assembled all the house of Judah, and the tribe of Benjamin, a
hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight
against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the
son of Solomon. {12:22} But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of
God, saying, {12:23} Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of
Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of
the people, saying, {12:24} Thus says Yahweh, You shall not go up, nor
fight against your brothers the children of Israel: return every man to
his house; for this thing is of me. So they listened to the word of
Yahweh, and returned and went their way, according to the word of
Yahweh. {12:25} Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill-country of
Ephraim, and lived therein; and he went out from there, and built
Penuel. {12:26} Jeroboam said in his heart, Now will the kingdom return
to the house of David: {12:27} if this people go up to offer sacrifices
in the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people
turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will
kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah. {12:28} Whereupon the
king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to them, It
is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: see your gods, Israel, which
brought you up out of the land of Egypt. {12:29} He set the one in
Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. {12:30} This thing became a sin;
for the people went [to worship] before the one, even to Dan. {12:31}
He made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the
people, who were not of the sons of Levi. {12:32} Jeroboam ordained a
feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the
feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; so did he in
Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made: and he placed in
Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. {12:33} He went
up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the
eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart:
and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up to the
altar, to burn incense.

   {13:1} Behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of
Yahweh to Beth El: and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn
incense. {13:2} He cried against the altar by the word of Yahweh, and
said, altar, altar, thus says Yahweh: Behold, a son shall be born to
the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you shall he sacrifice the
priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones
shall they burn on you. {13:3} He gave a sign the same day, saying,
This is the sign which Yahweh has spoken: Behold, the altar shall be
torn, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out. {13:4} It
happened, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he
cried against the altar in Bethel, that Jeroboam put forth his hand
from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. His hand, which he put forth
against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to him.
{13:5} The altar also was torn, and the ashes poured out from the
altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word
of Yahweh. {13:6} The king answered the man of God, Entreat now the
favor of Yahweh your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored
me again. The man of God entreated Yahweh, and the king's hand was
restored him again, and became as it was before. {13:7} The king said
to the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will
give you a reward. {13:8} The man of God said to the king, If you will
give me half your house, I will not go in with you, neither will I eat
bread nor drink water in this place; {13:9} for so was it charged me by
the word of Yahweh, saying, You shall eat no bread, nor drink water,
neither return by the way that you came. {13:10} So he went another
way, and didn't return by the way that he came to Bethel. {13:11} Now
there lived an old prophet in Bethel; and one of his sons came and told
him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the
words which he had spoken to the king, them also they told to their
father. {13:12} Their father said to them, Which way did he go? Now his
sons had seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah.
{13:13} He said to his sons, Saddle me the donkey. So they saddled him
the donkey; and he rode thereon. {13:14} He went after the man of God,
and found him sitting under an oak; and he said to him, Are you the man
of God who came from Judah? He said, I am. {13:15} Then he said to him,
Come home with me, and eat bread. {13:16} He said, I may not return
with you, nor go in with you; neither will I eat bread nor drink water
with you in this place: {13:17} for it was said to me by the word of
Yahweh, You shall eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to
go by the way that you came. {13:18} He said to him, I also am a
prophet as you are; and an angel spoke to me by the word of Yahweh,
saying, Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread
and drink water. [But] he lied to him. {13:19} So he went back with
him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water. {13:20} It happened,
as they sat at the table, that the word of Yahweh came to the prophet
who brought him back; {13:21} and he cried to the man of God who came
from Judah, saying, Thus says Yahweh, Because you have been disobedient
to the mouth of Yahweh, and have not kept the commandment which Yahweh
your God commanded you, {13:22} but came back, and have eaten bread and
drunk water in the place of which he said to you, Eat no bread, and
drink no water; your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.
{13:23} It happened, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk,
that he saddled for him the donkey, [to wit], for the prophet whom he
had brought back. {13:24} When he was gone, a lion met him by the way,
and killed him: and his body was cast in the way, and the donkey stood
by it; the lion also stood by the body. {13:25} Behold, men passed by,
and saw the body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body;
and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.
{13:26} When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard of it,
he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient to the mouth of
Yahweh: therefore Yahweh has delivered him to the lion, which has torn
him, and slain him, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke to
him. {13:27} He spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle me the donkey. They
saddled it. {13:28} He went and found his body cast in the way, and the
donkey and the lion standing by the body: the lion had not eaten the
body, nor torn the donkey. {13:29} The prophet took up the body of the
man of God, and laid it on the donkey, and brought it back; and he came
to the city of the old prophet, to mourn, and to bury him. {13:30} He
laid his body in his own grave; and they mourned over him, [saying],
Alas, my brother! {13:31} It happened, after he had buried him, that he
spoke to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb in
which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. {13:32}
For the saying which he cried by the word of Yahweh against the altar
in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in
the cities of Samaria, shall surely happen. {13:33} After this thing
Jeroboam didn't return from his evil way, but made again from among all
the people priests of the high places: whoever would, he consecrated
him, that there might be priests of the high places. {13:34} This thing
became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy
it from off the surface of the earth.

   {14:1} At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. {14:2}
Jeroboam said to his wife, Please get up and disguise yourself, that
you not be known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get you to Shiloh:
behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who spoke concerning me that I
should be king over this people. {14:3} Take with you ten loaves, and
cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him: he will tell you what shall
become of the child. {14:4} Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went
to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see;
for his eyes were set by reason of his age. {14:5} Yahweh said to
Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam comes to inquire of you concerning
her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shall you tell her; for it will
be, when she comes in, that she will feign herself to be another woman.
{14:6} It was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came
in at the door, that he said, Come in, you wife of Jeroboam; why feign
you yourself to be another? for I am sent to you with heavy news.
{14:7} Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: Because
I exalted you from among the people, and made you prince over my people
Israel, {14:8} and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and
gave it you; and yet you have not been as my servant David, who kept my
commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only
which was right in my eyes, {14:9} but have done evil above all who
were before you, and have gone and made you other gods, and molten
images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back:
{14:10} therefore, behold, I will bring evil on the house of Jeroboam,
and will cut off from Jeroboam every man-child, him who is shut up and
him who is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the
house of Jeroboam, as a man sweeps away dung, until it be all gone.
{14:11} Him who dies of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and
him who dies in the field shall the birds of the sky eat: for Yahweh
has spoken it. {14:12} Arise you therefore, get you to your house:
[and] when your feet enter into the city, the child shall die. {14:13}
All Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam
shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing
toward Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. {14:14}
Moreover Yahweh will raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off
the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now. {14:15} For Yahweh
will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he will root
up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and
will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their
Asherim, provoking Yahweh to anger. {14:16} He will give Israel up
because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he
has made Israel to sin. {14:17} Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed,
and came to Tirzah: [and] as she came to the threshold of the house,
the child died. {14:18} All Israel buried him, and mourned for him,
according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah
the prophet. {14:19} The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred,
and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Israel. {14:20} The days which Jeroboam
reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and
Nadab his son reigned in his place. {14:21} Rehoboam the son of Solomon
reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which
Yahweh had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name
there: and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess. {14:22} Judah
did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and they provoked him
to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that their
fathers had done. {14:23} For they also built them high places, and
pillars, and Asherim, on every high hill, and under every green tree;
{14:24} and there were also sodomites in the land: they did according
to all the abominations of the nations which Yahweh drove out before
the children of Israel. {14:25} It happened in the fifth year of king
Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; {14:26}
and he took away the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the
treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away
all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. {14:27} King Rehoboam
made in their place shields of brass, and committed them to the hands
of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.
{14:28} It was so, that as often as the king went into the house of
Yahweh, the guard bore them, and brought them back into the
guard-chamber. {14:29} Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all
that he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah? {14:30} There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam
continually. {14:31} Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried
with his fathers in the city of David: and his mother's name was Naamah
the Ammonitess. Abijam his son reigned in his place.

   {15:1} Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat
began Abijam to reign over Judah. {15:2} Three years reigned he in
Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
{15:3} He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done
before him; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as the
heart of David his father. {15:4} Nevertheless for David's sake did
Yahweh his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after
him, and to establish Jerusalem; {15:5} because David did that which
was right in the eyes of Yahweh, and didn't turn aside from anything
that he commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the
matter of Uriah the Hittite. {15:6} Now there was war between Rehoboam
and Jeroboam all the days of his life. {15:7} The rest of the acts of
Abijam, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and
Jeroboam. {15:8} Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in
the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his place. {15:9} In the
twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Asa to reign over
Judah. {15:10} Forty-one years reigned he in Jerusalem: and his
mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. {15:11} Asa did
that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, as did David his father.
{15:12} He put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the
idols that his fathers had made. {15:13} Also Maacah his mother he
removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for
an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and burnt it at the brook
Kidron. {15:14} But the high places were not taken away: nevertheless
the heart of Asa was perfect with Yahweh all his days. {15:15} He
brought into the house of Yahweh the things that his father had
dedicated, and the things that himself had dedicated, silver, and gold,
and vessels. {15:16} There was war between Asa and Baasha king of
Israel all their days. {15:17} Baasha king of Israel went up against
Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or
come in to Asa king of Judah. {15:18} Then Asa took all the silver and
the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and
the treasures of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of
his servants; and king Asa sent them to Ben Hadad, the son of
Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived at Damascus,
saying, {15:19} [There is] a league between me and you, between my
father and your father: behold, I have sent to you a present of silver
and gold; go, break your league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may
depart from me. {15:20} Ben Hadad listened to king Asa, and sent the
captains of his armies against the cities of Israel, and struck Ijon,
and Dan, and Abel Beth Maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of
Naphtali. {15:21} It happened, when Baasha heard of it, that he left
off building Ramah, and lived in Tirzah. {15:22} Then king Asa made a
proclamation to all Judah; none was exempted: and they carried away the
stones of Ramah, and the timber of it, with which Baasha had built; and
king Asa built therewith Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah. {15:23} Now the
rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did,
and the cities which he built, aren't they written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was
diseased in his feet. {15:24} Asa slept with his fathers, and was
buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and
Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place. {15:25} Nadab the son of
Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of
Judah; and he reigned over Israel two years. {15:26} He did that which
was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and walked in the way of his father,
and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin. {15:27} Baasha the son
of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha
struck him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab
and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. {15:28} Even in the
third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha kill him, and reigned in his
place. {15:29} It happened that, as soon as he was king, he struck all
the house of Jeroboam: he didn't leave to Jeroboam any who breathed,
until he had destroyed him; according to the saying of Yahweh, which he
spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite; {15:30} for the sins of
Jeroboam which he sinned, and with which he made Israel to sin, because
of his provocation with which he provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to
anger. {15:31} Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did,
aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Israel? {15:32} There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all
their days. {15:33} In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha
the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, [and reigned]
twenty-four years. {15:34} He did that which was evil in the sight of
Yahweh, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin with which he
made Israel to sin.

   {16:1} The word of Yahweh came to Jehu the son of Hanani against
Baasha, saying, {16:2} Because I exalted you out of the dust, and made
you prince over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of
Jeroboam, and have made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger
with their sins; {16:3} behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and
his house; and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the
son of Nebat. {16:4} Him who dies of Baasha in the city shall the dogs
eat; and him who dies of his in the field shall the birds of the sky
eat. {16:5} Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and
his might, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Israel? {16:6} Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried
in Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his place. {16:7} Moreover by
the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of Yahweh against
Baasha, and against his house, both because of all the evil that he did
in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger with the work of his
hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he struck him.
{16:8} In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son
of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, [and reigned] two years.
{16:9} His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired
against him. Now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house
of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah: {16:10} and Zimri went
in and struck him, and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa
king of Judah, and reigned in his place. {16:11} It happened, when he
began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he struck all the
house of Baasha: he didn't leave him a single man-child, neither of his
relatives, nor of his friends. {16:12} Thus did Zimri destroy all the
house of Baasha, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke
against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, {16:13} for all the sins of Baasha,
and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned, and with which they
made Israel to sin, to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger with
their vanities. {16:14} Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that
he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
of Israel? {16:15} In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah did
Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against
Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. {16:16} The people who
were encamped heard say, Zimri has conspired, and has also struck the
king: therefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the army, king
over Israel that day in the camp. {16:17} Omri went up from Gibbethon,
and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. {16:18} It happened,
when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the castle of
the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and
died, {16:19} for his sins which he sinned in doing that which was evil
in the sight of Yahweh, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his
sin which he did, to make Israel to sin. {16:20} Now the rest of the
acts of Zimri, and his treason that he did, aren't they written in the
book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? {16:21} Then were the
people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed
Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omri.
{16:22} But the people who followed Omri prevailed against the people
who followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned.
{16:23} In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to
reign over Israel, [and reigned] twelve years: six years reigned he in
Tirzah. {16:24} He bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of
silver; and he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which
he built, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill, Samaria.
{16:25} Omri did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and dealt
wickedly above all who were before him. {16:26} For he walked in all
the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sins with which he
made Israel to sin, to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger with
their vanities. {16:27} Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did,
and his might that he shown, aren't they written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Israel? {16:28} So Omri slept with his
fathers, and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son reigned in his
place. {16:29} In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah began
Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri
reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. {16:30} Ahab the son
of Omri did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh above all that
were before him. {16:31} It happened, as if it had been a light thing
for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took
as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went
and served Baal, and worshiped him. {16:32} He reared up an altar for
Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. {16:33} Ahab
made the Asherah; and Ahab did yet more to provoke Yahweh, the God of
Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
{16:34} In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the
foundation of it with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up the
gates of it with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the
word of Yahweh, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

   {17:1} Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the foreigners of Gilead,
said to Ahab, As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand,
there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
{17:2} The word of Yahweh came to him, saying, {17:3} Get you hence,
and turn you eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is
before the Jordan. {17:4} It shall be, that you shall drink of the
brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. {17:5} So he
went and did according to the word of Yahweh; for he went and lived by
the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan. {17:6} The ravens brought
him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening;
and he drank of the brook. {17:7} It happened after a while, that the
brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. {17:8} The word
of Yahweh came to him, saying, {17:9} Arise, get you to Zarephath,
which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a
widow there to sustain you. {17:10} So he arose and went to Zarephath;
and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there
gathering sticks: and he called to her, and said, Please get me a
little water in a vessel, that I may drink. {17:11} As she was going to
get it, he called to her, and said, Please bring me a morsel of bread
in your hand. {17:12} She said, As Yahweh your God lives, I don't have
a cake, but a handful of meal in the jar, and a little oil in the jar:
and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and bake it
for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. {17:13} Elijah said to
her, Don't be afraid; go and do as you have said; but make me of it a
little cake first, and bring it forth to me, and afterward make for you
and for your son. {17:14} For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, The
jar of meal shall not empty, neither shall the jar of oil fail, until
the day that Yahweh sends rain on the earth. {17:15} She went and did
according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, ate
[many] days. {17:16} The jar of meal didn't empty, neither did the jar
of oil fail, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke by Elijah.
{17:17} It happened after these things, that the son of the woman, the
mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that
there was no breath left in him. {17:18} She said to Elijah, What have
I to do with you, you man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin
to memory, and to kill my son! {17:19} He said to her, Give me your
son. He took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the chamber,
where he abode, and laid him on his own bed. {17:20} He cried to
Yahweh, and said, Yahweh my God, have you also brought evil on the
widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son? {17:21} He stretched
himself on the child three times, and cried to Yahweh, and said, Yahweh
my God, please let this child's soul come into him again. {17:22}
Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came
into him again, and he revived. {17:23} Elijah took the child, and
brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him
to his mother; and Elijah said, Behold, your son lives. {17:24} The
woman said to Elijah, Now I know that you are a man of God, and that
the word of Yahweh in your mouth is truth.

   {18:1} It happened after many days, that the word of Yahweh came to
Elijah, in the third year, saying, Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I
will send rain on the earth. {18:2} Elijah went to show himself to
Ahab. The famine was sore in Samaria. {18:3} Ahab called Obadiah, who
was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared Yahweh greatly: {18:4} for
it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Yahweh, that Obadiah
took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed
them with bread and water.) {18:5} Ahab said to Obadiah, Go through the
land, to all the springs of water, and to all the brooks: peradventure
we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, that we not lose
all the animals. {18:6} So they divided the land between them to pass
throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another
way by himself. {18:7} As Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met
him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it you, my
lord Elijah? {18:8} He answered him, It is I: go, tell your lord,
Behold, Elijah [is here]. {18:9} He said, Wherein have I sinned, that
you would deliver your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me?
{18:10} As Yahweh your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom, where
my lord has not sent to seek you: and when they said, He is not here,
he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they didn't find you.
{18:11} Now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah [is here].
{18:12} It will happen, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit
of Yahweh will carry you I don't know where; and so when I come and
tell Ahab, and he can't find you, he will kill me: but I your servant
fear Yahweh from my youth. {18:13} Wasn't it told my lord what I did
when Jezebel killed the prophets of Yahweh, how I hid one hundred men
of Yahweh's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and
water? {18:14} Now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah [is
here]; and he will kill me. {18:15} Elijah said, As Yahweh of Armies
lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.
{18:16} So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to
meet Elijah. {18:17} It happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said
to him, Is it you, you troubler of Israel? {18:18} He answered, I have
not troubled Israel; but you, and your father's house, in that you have
forsaken the commandments of Yahweh, and you have followed the Baals.
{18:19} Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to Mount
Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred fifty, and the prophets
of the Asherah four hundred, who eat at Jezebel's table. {18:20} So
Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets
together to Mount Carmel. {18:21} Elijah came near to all the people,
and said, "How long will you waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is
God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." The people answered him
not a word. {18:22} Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am
left a prophet of Yahweh; but Baal's prophets are four hundred fifty
men. {18:23} Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them choose
one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood,
and put no fire under; and I will dress the other bull, and lay it on
the wood, and put no fire under. {18:24} You call on the name of your
god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh; and the God who answers by
fire, let him be God."

   All the people answered, "It is well said." {18:25} Elijah said to
the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves, and dress it
first; for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no
fire under it."

   {18:26} They took the bull which was given them, and they dressed
it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon,
saying, Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any who answered.
They leaped about the altar which was made. {18:27} It happened at
noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god:
either he is musing, or he is gone aside, or he is on a journey, or
peradventure he sleeps and must be awakened. {18:28} They cried aloud,
and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances, until the
blood gushed out on them. {18:29} It was so, when midday was past, that
they prophesied until the time of the offering of the [evening]
offering; but there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any who
regarded. {18:30} Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me; and
all the people came near to him. He repaired the altar of Yahweh that
was thrown down. {18:31} Elijah took twelve stones, according to the
number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Yahweh
came, saying, Israel shall be your name. {18:32} With the stones he
built an altar in the name of Yahweh; and he made a trench about the
altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. {18:33} He put
the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood.
He said, Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering,
and on the wood. {18:34} He said, Do it the second time; and they did
it the second time. He said, Do it the third time; and they did it the
third time. {18:35} The water ran round about the altar; and he filled
the trench also with water. {18:36} It happened at the time of the
offering of the [evening] offering, that Elijah the prophet came near,
and said, Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it
be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your
servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. {18:37}
Hear me, Yahweh, hear me, that this people may know that you, Yahweh,
are God, and [that] you have turned their heart back again. {18:38}
Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the
wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in
the trench. {18:39} When all the people saw it, they fell on their
faces: and they said, Yahweh, he is God; Yahweh, he is God. {18:40} and
Elijah said to them, Take the prophets of Baal; don't let one of them
escape. They took them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook
Kishon, and killed them there. {18:41} Elijah said to Ahab, Get you up,
eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain. {18:42} So
Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel;
and he bowed himself down on the earth, and put his face between his
knees. {18:43} He said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea.
He went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. He said, Go again
seven times. {18:44} It happened at the seventh time, that he said,
"Behold, a small cloud, like a man's hand, is rising out of the sea."
He said, Go up, tell Ahab, Make ready [your chariot], and get you down,
that the rain not stop you. {18:45} It happened in a little while, that
the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.
Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel: {18:46} and the hand of Yahweh was on
Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance
of Jezreel.

   {19:1} Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he
had slain all the prophets with the sword. {19:2} Then Jezebel send a
messenger to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also,
if I don't make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about
this time. {19:3} When he saw that, he arose, and went for his life,
and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant
there. {19:4} But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness,
and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for
himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O Yahweh, take
away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. {19:5} He lay down
and slept under a juniper tree; and, behold, an angel touched him, and
said to him, Arise and eat. {19:6} He looked, and, behold, there was at
his head a cake baked on the coals, and a jar of water. He ate and
drink, and laid him down again. {19:7} The angel of Yahweh came again
the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat, because the
journey is too great for you. {19:8} He arose, and ate and drink, and
went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb
the Mount of God. {19:9} He came there to a cave, and lodged there;
and, behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, and he said to him, What
are you doing here, Elijah? {19:10} He said, I have been very jealous
for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken
your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with
the sword: and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take
it away. {19:11} He said, Go forth, and stand on the mountain before
Yahweh. Behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the
mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was
not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but Yahweh was not
in the earthquake: {19:12} and after the earthquake a fire; but Yahweh
was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. {19:13} It
was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle,
and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, there came
a voice to him, and said, What are you doing here, Elijah? {19:14} He
said, I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the
children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your
altars, and slain your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am
left; and they seek my life, to take it away. {19:15} Yahweh said to
him, Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when you
come, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria; {19:16} and Jehu
the son of Nimshi shall you anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha
the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah shall you anoint to be prophet in
your room. {19:17} It shall happen, that he who escapes from the sword
of Hazael shall Jehu kill; and he who escapes from the sword of Jehu
shall Elisha kill. {19:18} Yet will I leave [me] seven thousand in
Israel, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth
which has not kissed him. {19:19} So he departed there, and found
Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke [of oxen]
before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed over to him, and
cast his mantle on him. {19:20} He left the oxen, and ran after Elijah,
and said, Let me, I pray you, kiss my father and my mother, and then I
will follow you. He said to him, Go back again; for what have I done to
you? {19:21} He returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen,
and killed them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the
oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate. Then he arose, and went
after Elijah, and ministered to him.

   {20:1} Ben Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army together;
and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and
he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it. {20:2} He sent
messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said to him, Thus
says Ben Hadad, {20:3} Your silver and your gold is mine; your wives
also and your children, even the best, are mine. {20:4} The king of
Israel answered, It is according to your saying, my lord, O king; I am
yours, and all that I have. {20:5} The messengers came again, and said,
Thus speaks Ben Hadad, saying, I sent indeed to you, saying, You shall
deliver me your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your
children; {20:6} but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this
time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your
servants; and it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they
shall put it in their hand, and take it away. {20:7} Then the king of
Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Please notice how
this man seeks mischief: for he sent to me for my wives, and for my
children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I didn't deny him.
{20:8} All the elders and all the people said to him, Don't you listen,
neither consent. {20:9} Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben
Hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you did send for to your servant
at the first I will do; but this thing I may not do. The messengers
departed, and brought him word again. {20:10} Ben Hadad sent to him,
and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria
shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me. {20:11}
The king of Israel answered, Tell him, Don't let him who girds on [his
armor] boast himself as he who puts it off. {20:12} It happened, when
[Ben Hadad] heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings,
in the pavilions, that he said to his servants, Set [yourselves in
array]. They set [themselves in array] against the city. {20:13}
Behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus says
Yahweh, Have you seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver
it into your hand this day; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
{20:14} Ahab said, By whom? He said, Thus says Yahweh, By the young men
of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the
battle? He answered, You. {20:15} Then he mustered the young men of the
princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two: and
after them he mustered all the people, even all the children of Israel,
being seven thousand. {20:16} They went out at noon. But Ben Hadad was
drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the
thirty-two kings who helped him. {20:17} The young men of the princes
of the provinces went out first; and Ben Hadad sent out, and they told
him, saying, There are men come out from Samaria. {20:18} He said,
Whether they are come out for peace, take them alive, or whether they
are come out for war, taken them alive. {20:19} So these went out of
the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army
which followed them. {20:20} They killed everyone his man; and the
Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and Ben Hadad the king of Syria
escaped on a horse with horsemen. {20:21} The king of Israel went out,
and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great
slaughter. {20:22} The prophet came near to the king of Israel, and
said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do;
for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against
you. {20:23} The servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their god
is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we: but let us
fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than
they. {20:24} Do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his
place, and put captains in their room; {20:25} and number you an army,
like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for
chariot; and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we
shall be stronger than they. He listened to their voice, and did so.
{20:26} It happened at the return of the year, that Ben Hadad mustered
the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. {20:27} The
children of Israel were mustered, and were provisioned, and went
against them: and the children of Israel encamped before them like two
little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country. {20:28} A
man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, Thus
says Yahweh, Because the Syrians have said, Yahweh is a god of the
hills, but he is not a god of the valleys; therefore will I deliver all
this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am
Yahweh. {20:29} They encamped one over against the other seven days. So
it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children
of Israel killed of the Syrians one hundred thousand footmen in one
day. {20:30} But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall
fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled, and
came into the city, into an inner chamber. {20:31} His servants said to
him, See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are
merciful kings: let us, we pray you, put sackcloth on our loins, and
ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he
will save your life. {20:32} So they girded sackcloth on their loins,
and [put] ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and
said, Your servant Ben Hadad says, please let me live. He said, Is he
yet alive? he is my brother. {20:33} Now the men observed diligently,
and hurried to catch whether it were his mind; and they said, Your
brother Ben Hadad. Then he said, Go you, bring him. Then Ben Hadad came
forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. {20:34}
[Ben Hadad] said to him, The cities which my father took from your
father I will restore; and you shall make streets for you in Damascus,
as my father made in Samaria. I, [said Ahab], will let you go with this
covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and let him go. {20:35} A
certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by the word
of Yahweh, Please strike me. The man refused to strike him. {20:36}
Then said he to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh,
behold, as soon as you are departed from me, a lion shall kill you. As
soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and killed him.
{20:37} Then he found another man, and said, Please strike me. The man
struck him, smiting and wounding him. {20:38} So the prophet departed,
and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his
headband over his eyes. {20:39} As the king passed by, he cried to the
king; and he said, Your servant went out into the midst of the battle;
and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man to me, and said,
Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall your life be
for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver. {20:40} As your
servant was busy here and there, he was gone. The king of Israel said
to him, So shall your judgment be; yourself have decided it. {20:41} He
hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of
Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. {20:42} He said to
him, Thus says Yahweh, Because you have let go out of your hand the man
whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his
life, and your people for his people. {20:43} The king of Israel went
to his house sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.

   {21:1} It happened after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite
had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king
of Samaria. {21:2} Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, Give me your vineyard,
that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near to my
house; and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it: or, if it
seem good to you, I will give you the worth of it in money. {21:3}
Naboth said to Ahab, Yahweh forbid it me, that I should give the
inheritance of my fathers to you. {21:4} Ahab came into his house
sullen and angry because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had
spoken to him; for he had said, I will not give you the inheritance of
my fathers. He laid him down on his bed, and turned away his face, and
would eat no bread. {21:5} But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said
to him, Why is your spirit so sad, that you eat no bread? {21:6} He
said to her, Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him,
Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it please you, I will give
you [another] vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give you my
vineyard. {21:7} Jezebel his wife said to him, Do you now govern the
kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be merry: I
will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. {21:8} So she
wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent
the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, [and]
who lived with Naboth. {21:9} She wrote in the letters, saying,
Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: {21:10} and
set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them testify against
him, saying, You did curse God and the king. Then carry him out, and
stone him to death. {21:11} The men of his city, even the elders and
the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them,
according as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them.
{21:12} They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the
people. {21:13} The two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before
him: and the base fellows bore witness against him, even against
Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did curse God and
the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him
to death with stones. {21:14} Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth
is stoned, and is dead. {21:15} It happened, when Jezebel heard that
Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take
possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused
to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead. {21:16} It
happened, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go
down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of
it. {21:17} The word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
{21:18} Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who dwells in
Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he is gone down
to take possession of it. {21:19} You shall speak to him, saying, Thus
says Yahweh, Have you killed and also taken possession? You shall speak
to him, saying, Thus says Yahweh, In the place where dogs licked the
blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your blood, even yours. {21:20} Ahab
said to Elijah, Have you found me, my enemy? He answered, I have found
you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in the
sight of Yahweh. {21:21} Behold, I will bring evil on you, and will
utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and
him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel: {21:22} and
I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and
like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah for the provocation with
which you have provoked me to anger, and have made Israel to sin.
{21:23} Of Jezebel also spoke Yahweh, saying, The dogs shall eat
Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel. {21:24} Him who dies of Ahab in the
city the dogs shall eat; and him who dies in the field shall the birds
of the sky eat. {21:25} (But there was none like Ahab, who did sell
himself to do that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, whom Jezebel
his wife stirred up. {21:26} He did very abominably in following idols,
according to all that the Amorites did, whom Yahweh cast out before the
children of Israel.) {21:27} It happened, when Ahab heard those words,
that he tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted,
and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. {21:28} The word of Yahweh came
to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, {21:29} See you how Ahab humbles
himself before me? because he humbles himself before me, I will not
bring the evil in his days; but in his son's days will I bring the evil
on his house.

   {22:1} They continued three years without war between Syria and
Israel. {22:2} It happened in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king
of Judah came down to the king of Israel. {22:3} The king of Israel
said to his servants, "You know that Ramoth-gilead is ours, and we are
still, and don't take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?" {22:4}
He said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to battle to Ramoth-gilead?
Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my people as
your people, my horses as your horses. {22:5} Jehoshaphat said to the
king of Israel, Please inquire first for the word of Yahweh. {22:6}
Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four
hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to
battle, or shall I forbear? They said, Go up; for the Lord will deliver
it into the hand of the king. {22:7} But Jehoshaphat said, Isn't there
here a prophet of Yahweh besides, that we may inquire of him? {22:8}
The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, there is yet one man by whom we
may inquire of Yahweh, Micaiah the son of Imlah: but I hate him; for he
does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. Jehoshaphat said,
"Don't let the king say so." {22:9} Then the king of Israel called an
officer, and said, Get quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah. {22:10} Now
the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each
on his throne, arrayed in their robes, in an open place at the entrance
of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before
them. {22:11} Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and
said, Thus says Yahweh, With these shall you push the Syrians, until
they be consumed. {22:12} All the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up
to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper; for Yahweh will deliver it into the hand
of the king. {22:13} The messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to
him, saying, See now, the words of the prophets [declare] good to the
king with one mouth: please let your word be like the word of one of
them, and speak you good. {22:14} Micaiah said, As Yahweh lives, what
Yahweh says to me, that will I speak. {22:15} When he was come to the
king, the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to
battle, or shall we forbear? He answered him, Go up and prosper; and
Yahweh will deliver it into the hand of the king. {22:16} The king said
to him, How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me nothing
but the truth in the name of Yahweh? {22:17} He said, I saw all Israel
scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and Yahweh
said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in
peace. {22:18} The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Didn't I tell
you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? {22:19}
[Micaiah] said, Therefore hear you the word of Yahweh: I saw Yahweh
sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on
his right hand and on his left. {22:20} Yahweh said, Who shall entice
Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? One said on this
manner; and another said on that manner. {22:21} There came forth a
spirit, and stood before Yahweh, and said, I will entice him. {22:22}
Yahweh said to him, 'How?' He said, 'I will go forth, and will be a
lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' He said, 'You shall
entice him, and shall prevail also: go forth, and do so.' {22:23} Now
therefore, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all
these your prophets; and Yahweh has spoken evil concerning you. {22:24}
Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and struck Micaiah on the
cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of Yahweh from me to speak
to you? {22:25} Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see on that day, when
you shall go into an inner chamber to hide yourself. {22:26} The king
of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor
of the city, and to Joash the king's son; {22:27} and say, Thus says
the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of
affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace. {22:28}
Micaiah said, If you return at all in peace, Yahweh has not spoken by
me. He said, Hear, you peoples, all of you. {22:29} So the king of
Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.
{22:30} The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself,
and go into the battle; but put you on your robes. The king of Israel
disguised himself, and went into the battle. {22:31} Now the king of
Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying,
Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.
{22:32} It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat,
that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel; and they turned aside
to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out. {22:33} It happened,
when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of
Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. {22:34} A certain man
drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the
joints of the armor: therefore he said to the driver of his chariot,
Turn your hand, and carry me out of the army; for I am severely
wounded. {22:35} The battle increased that day: and the king was stayed
up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even; and the blood
ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. {22:36} There went
a cry throughout the army about the going down of the sun, saying,
Every man to his city, and every man to his country. {22:37} So the
king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in
Samaria. {22:38} They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; and
the dogs licked up his blood (now the prostitutes washed themselves
[there]); according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke. {22:39} Now
the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house
which he built, and all the cities that he built, aren't they written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? {22:40} So Ahab
slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.
{22:41} Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the
fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. {22:42} Jehoshaphat was thirty-five
years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-five years in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. {22:43}
He walked in all the way of Asa his father; He didn't turn aside from
it, doing that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh: however the high
places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt
incense in the high places. {22:44} Jehoshaphat made peace with the
king of Israel. {22:45} Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and
his might that he shown, and how he warred, aren't they written in the
book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? {22:46} The remnant of
the sodomites, that remained in the days of his father Asa, he put away
out of the land. {22:47} There was no king in Edom: a deputy was king.
{22:48} Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold: but
they didn't go; for the ships were broken at Ezion Geber. {22:49} Then
said Ahaziah the son of Ahab to Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with
your servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not. {22:50}
Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in
the city of David his father; Jehoram his son reigned in his place.
{22:51} Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria
in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned
two years over Israel. {22:52} He did that which was evil in the sight
of Yahweh, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his
mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, in which he made
Israel to sin. {22:53} He served Baal, and worshiped him, and provoked
to anger Yahweh, the God of Israel, according to all that his father
had done.

   

   

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