Keep the charge of the Lord your God, [that is, fulfill your obligation to] walk in His ways, keep His statutes, His commandments, His precepts, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may succeed in everything that you do and wherever you turn,

There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb (Sinai), where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.

Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets [of Baal] with the sword.

The girl was very beautiful; and she became the king’s nurse and served him, but the king was not intimate with her.

So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.

The king went to Gibeon [near Jerusalem, where the tabernacle and the bronze altar stood] to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

Now king Solomon [defiantly] loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,

Now it happened that when the priests had come out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Lord’s house,

Now then, send word and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of [the goddess] Asherah, who eat at [Queen] Jezebel’s table.”

Azariah the son of Nathan was in charge of the deputies; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and was the king’s friend [and trusted advisor];

So she said to Elijah, “What [problem] is there between you and me, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to mind and to put my son to death?”

However, I will not do it in your lifetime, for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son (Rehoboam).

Now at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the temple of the Lord and the palace of the king

While it was being built, the house was built of stone prepared and finished (precut) at the quarry, and no hammer, axe, or iron tool of any kind was heard in the house while it was under construction.

He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother [goodbye], then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go on back; for what have I done to [stop] you?”

Then Adonijah the son of [David’s wife] Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I [the eldest living son] will be king.” So [following Absalom’s example] he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

His father [David] had never rebuked him at any time by asking, “Why have you done this?” Adonijah was also a very handsome man, and he was born after Absalom.

So now, command that they cut cedar trees from Lebanon for me, and my servants will join your servants, and I will give you whatever wages you set for your servants. For you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the men of Sidon.”

He had conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister] and with Abiathar the priest; and they followed Adonijah and helped him.

Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know about it?

Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened steers by the Stone of Zoheleth, which is beside [the well] En-rogel; and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants [to this feast].

But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the most formidable warriors, or his brother Solomon.

Also the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a great quantity of almug wood (sandalwood) and precious stones.

The king answered the people harshly and ignored the advice which the elders had given him,

So Elisha left him and went back. Then he took a pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their meat with the implements of the oxen [as fuel], and gave the meat to the people, and they ate. Then he stood and followed Elijah, and served him.

Come now, please let me advise you and save your life and the life of your son Solomon.

Go at once to King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, “Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’

But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s most formidable warriors did not side with Adonijah [in his desire to become king].

“The Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the [Euphrates] River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger.

Ahishar was in charge of the household (palace); and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.

Now then, behold, the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these prophets; and the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you.”

Behold, while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”

His house where he was to live, the other courtyard behind the hall, was of similar workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her arms and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed.

However, I will not tear away all the kingdom; I will give one tribe (Judah) to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

But now, behold, Adonijah is [acting as] king; and now [as things stand], my lord the king, you do not know it.

So Bathsheba bowed down and paid respect to the king. And the king said, “What do you wish?”

and I will make your house (descendants) like that of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for provoking Me to anger and making Israel sin.

When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given David a wise son [to be king] over this great people.”

and spoke to them in accordance with the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but as for me, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”

Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

She said to him, “My lord, you swore by the Lord your God to your maidservant, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me and he shall sit on my throne.’

(Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with as much cedar and cypress timber [from Lebanon] and gold as he desired), at that time King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee (northern Israel).

The entrance to the lowest side chamber was on the right [or south] side of the house; and they would go up winding stairs to the middle [level], and from the middle to the third.

So Bathsheba went to the king in his bedroom. Now the king was very old and weak, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending the king.

and he went after the man of God. And he found him sitting under an oak (terebinth) tree, and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.”

From the almug wood (sandalwood) the king made pillars for the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and also lyres and harps for the singers. Such almug wood did not come in [to Israel] again, nor has it been seen to this day.

The king of Israel went out and struck [the riders of] the horses and chariots, and killed the Arameans in a great slaughter.

so the priests could not stand [in their positions] to minister because of the cloud, for the glory and brilliance of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house (temple).

Then Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah.

Now as for you, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you [waiting for you] to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

He has sacrificed oxen and fattened steers and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons and Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army [to a feast], but he did not invite your servant Solomon.

Otherwise it will come about when my lord the king lies down [in death] with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered political enemies.”

Then Solomon said,“The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick darkness [of the cloud].

The king was told, “Here is Nathan the prophet.” And when he came before the king, he bowed before the king with his face to the ground.

Because he has gone down today [to En-Rogel] and has sacrificed oxen and fattened steers and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest [to this feast]; and [right now] they are eating and drinking in his presence; and they say, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’

Then Nathan said, “My lord the king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne’?

Now King David was old, advanced in years; they covered him with clothes, but he could not get warm.

While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in.

Then the Lord stirred up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of royal descent in Edom.

(for Joab and all [the army of] Israel stayed there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom),

The Lord also spoke in regard to Jezebel, saying, ‘The dogs will eat [the body of] Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.’

King David answered, “Call Bathsheba to me.” And she came into the king’s presence and stood before him.

So Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him.

So Solomon built the house (temple) and finished it, and roofed the house with beams and boards of cedar.

He will give up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam which he has committed, and with which he has made Israel sin [by leading them into idolatry].”

Now the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one [particular] year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,

So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you sent to me; I will do everything you wish concerning the cedar and cypress timber.

He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You brought further tragedy to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?”

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

“I have certainly built You a lofty house,
A place for You to dwell in forever.”

that Hadad escaped to Egypt, he and some Edomites from his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was [still] a little boy.

Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah [north of Jerusalem], in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.

These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of [the tribe of] Ephraim;

If this thing has been done by my lord the king, why have you not shown your servants who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

Then the king swore an oath and said, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul from all distress,

So Israel (the ten northern tribes) has rebelled against the house (royal line) of David to this day (the date of this writing).

So when all [the ten northern tribes of] Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people replied to the king, saying,“What portion do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;
To your tents, O Israel!
Look now after your own house, David!” Then Israel went back to their tents.

Then Solomon said, “You have shown Your servant David my father great lovingkindness, because he walked before You in faithfulness and righteousness and with uprightness of heart toward You; and You have kept for him this great lovingkindness, in that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today.

But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah approached and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “How did the Spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you?”

so that the Lord may fulfill His promise concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful regarding their way [of life], to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and mind and with all their soul, you shall not fail to have a man (descendant) on the throne of Israel.’

Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who secured provisions for the king and his household; each man had to provide for a month in the year.

For it came about, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury those killed [in battle] and had struck down every male in Edom

Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, since there are many of you; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”

Bathsheba bowed down with her face to the ground, and laid herself face down before the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I did not choose a [particular] city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name (Presence) would be in it, but I chose David to be over My people Israel.’

When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the fortress of the king’s palace; and while inside, he set fire to the king’s palace and died,

Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying,

All these were of expensive stones, of stone cut according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside; even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great courtyard.

Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the Millo (fortification), the wall of Jerusalem, [and the fortress cities of] Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.

even as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall certainly be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place’; I will indeed do so this very day.”

Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”

He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hand, saying,

But he has not invited me, your servant, nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon.

My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the [Mediterranean] sea, and I will have them made into rafts to go by sea to the place (port) that you direct me; then I will have them broken up there, and you shall carry them away. Then you shall return the favor by providing food for my household.”

But as for the sons (descendants) of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah [including Benjamin], Rehoboam reigned over them.

So the king did not listen to the people; for the situation was from the Lord, so that He might fulfill His word which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

So now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of David my father; and as for me, I am but a little boy [in wisdom and experience]; I do not know how to go out or come in [that is, how to conduct business as a king].

Then the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself and observe and see what you have to do; for at the first of next year the king of Aram (Syria) will come up against you.”

King Solomon [in turn] gave to the queen of Sheba everything that she wanted, whatever she asked, besides what he gave to her from his royal bounty. So she returned to her own country, she and her servants.

King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten (hammered) gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield.

Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart [with which] to judge Your people, so that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge and rule this great people of Yours?”

He said, “What are these cities [good for] which you have given me, my brother?” So they have been called the land of Cabul (like nothing, unproductive) to this day.

He said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place.

As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the sons (descendants) of Israel,

Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor [to represent him], and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to escape to Jerusalem.

They set out from Midian [south of Edom] and came to Paran, and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave [young] Hadad a house and ordered food and provisions for him and gave him land.

But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well, in that it was in your heart.

For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, burned it with fire and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and he had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.

Hadad found great favor with Pharaoh, so that he gave Hadad in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.

So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and cypress timber he desired,

So the king took counsel [and followed bad advice] and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “It is too much for you to go [all the way] up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

He made three hundred smaller shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon [the king’s armory].

Then Solomon awoke, and he realized that it was a dream. He came [back] to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and he prepared a feast for all his servants.

Now you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah [my sister] did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and to Amasa the son of Jether, [both of] whom he murdered; avenging the blood of war in [a time of] peace. And he put the [innocent] blood of war [of Abner and Amasa] on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals on his feet.

But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

So Solomon rebuilt [and fortified] Gezer and Lower Beth-horon,

The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived.

But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David had died and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me leave, so that I may go to my own country.”

I will dwell among the sons (descendants) of Israel, and will not abandon My people Israel.”

Then Jeroboam built Shechem [as his royal city] in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. He went out from there and rebuilt Penuel [as a stronghold].

The foundation was of expensive stones, large stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits.

Jeroboam, Solomon’s servant, the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zeredah whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king.

Now when Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he assembled all the [fighting men from the] house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel to bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

The sister of Tahpenes gave birth to Genubath, Hadad’s son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.

Then he built the extensions [of rooms] against the entire house, each [story] five cubits high; and they were attached to the house with timbers of cedar.

Your servant is among Your people whom You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.

And Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.

Jeroboam [doubted God’s promise to him and] said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.

Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.”

Twelve lions stood there, one on either end of each of the six steps; there was nothing like it made for any other kingdom.

It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent word and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah [including Benjamin].

Rezon gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, after David killed those in Zobah. They went to Damascus and stayed there and they reigned in Damascus.

and Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 kors of wheat as food for his household, and 20 kors of pure [olive] oil. Solomon gave all these to Hiram each year.

Also the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the finest gold.

Ben-deker in Makaz and Shaalbim and Beth-shemesh and Elon-beth-hanan;

Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me that now you ask to go to your own country?” He replied, “Nothing; nevertheless you must let me go.”

Now let them give us two oxen, and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it.

God said to him, “Because you have asked this and have not asked for yourself a long life nor for wealth, nor for the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to recognize justice,

and all the storage cities [for surplus provisions] which Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen, and whatever it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.

And above [the foundation] were expensive stones, stones cut according to measure, and cedar.

Now it was [determined] in the heart of my father David to build a house (temple) for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

And the one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.

Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone remain a prophet of the Lord, while Baal’s prophets are 450 men.

For I was told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor shall you return by going the way that you came.’”

besides the taxes from the traders and from the wares of the merchants, and [the tribute money] from all the kings of the Arabs (Bedouins) and the governors of the country.

The man Jeroboam was a brave warrior and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he put him in charge of all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.

All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; it was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon.

All the people went up after him, and they were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth shook and seemed to burst open with their [joyful] sound.

Ben-abinadab, in all the hills of Dor (Taphath, Solomon’s daughter, was his wife);

their children who were left after them in the land, whom the Israelites were unable to completely destroy, from them Solomon levied (conscripted) forced laborers, even to this day (the date of this writing).

And on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were [alone] together; no one else was with us in the house, just we two.

And Jeroboam also made houses on high places, and he made priests from all people who were not of the sons (descendants) of Levi.

Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to put His Name (Presence). His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

Then the king said, “This woman says, ‘This is my son, the one who is alive, and your son is the dead one’; and the other woman says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the one who is alive.’”

The king told them, “Take the servants of your lord with you and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to [the spring at] Gihon [in the Kidron Valley].

Now this is the reason why he rebelled against the king: Solomon built the Millo (fortification) and he repaired and closed the breach of the city of his father David.

Then Solomon stood [in the courtyard] before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

Then about sundown a resounding cry passed throughout the army, saying, “Every man to his city and every man to his own country!”

Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.

He built the walls of the interior of the house [that is, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies] with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house to the rafters of the ceiling. He overlaid the interior with wood, and he overlaid the floor of the house with boards of cypress.

All the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his mind.

So Jeroboam’s wife arose and left and came to Tirzah [the king’s residence]. As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child [Abijah] died.

Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher);

Then he prepared the Holy of Holies within the house in order to put the ark of the covenant of the Lord there.

Then King David said, “Call Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada to me.” And they came before the king.

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion.

“Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My precepts and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word (promises) with you which I made to David your father.

Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel. Then blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’

behold, I have done as you asked. I have given you a wise and discerning heart (mind), so that no one before you was your equal, nor shall anyone equal to you arise after you.

Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead belonged to him, also the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);

Three times a year [during the major annual festivals] Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built to the Lord, and he burned incense with them before the Lord. So he finished the house [of the Lord].

And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not go up and fight against your brothers, the sons of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing has come about from Me.”’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and returned to go home, in accordance with the word of the Lord.

For the king had at sea the [large cargo] ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.

Now King Solomon sent word and brought Hiram [a skilled craftsman] from Tyre.

King Solomon levied forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers numbered 30,000 men.

Then the people of Israel were divided in half. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and the other half followed Omri.

Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a friend of David.

So act in accordance with your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in peace.

Then you shall come up [to Jerusalem] after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne and he shall reign as king in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”

Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah as far as beyond Jokmeam;

The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as He promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

King Solomon built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds), in the land of Edom.

Benaiah [the overseer of the king’s bodyguards], the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, “Amen! (So be it!) May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so too.

At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied, or he is out [at the moment], or he is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened!”

So the great courtyard all around had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams like the inner courtyard of the house of the Lord, and the porch of the house.

Solomon had 70,000 burden bearers (transporters) and 80,000 stonemasons in the hill country [of Judah],

The dogs will eat anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city, and the birds of the air will eat anyone who dies in the field.”

Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son,

He answered him, “I too am a prophet, as you are; and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him.

If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and My commandments, as your father David did, then I will lengthen your days.”

He cast the two pillars of bronze; the one pillar was eighteen cubits high, and a [measuring] line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of both.

So David lay down with his fathers [in death] and was buried in the City of David.

He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Hiram was filled with wisdom, understanding, and skill for doing any [kind of] work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and did all his [bronze] work.

Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son, who shall be born to you, it is he who shall build it for My Name [and My Presence].’

So they cried out with a loud voice [to get Baal’s attention] and cut themselves with swords and lances in accordance with their custom, until the blood flowed out on them.

In his days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord, which He spoke through Joshua the son of Nun.

There I have made a place [in the Holy of Holies] for the ark, in which is the covenant (solemn agreement) of the Lord, which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

The cedar on the house within had wood carvings in the shape of gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was visible.

He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, who keeps the covenant and shows lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart;

So Solomon built the house (temple) and finished it.

Then Asa took all the silver and gold left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the palace of the king and handed them over to his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram (Syria), who lived in Damascus, saying,

And [the people of] Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord. They provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with their sins which they had committed.

because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, by walking in the way of Jeroboam, and because of his sin he caused Israel to sin.

Now when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard about it, he was living in Egypt (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon).

Now God gave Solomon [exceptional] wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand of the seashore.

For they also built for themselves high places [to worship idols] and sacred pillars and Asherim [for the goddess Asherah]. These were on every high hill and under every luxuriant tree.

Now Solomon built his own house (palace) in thirteen years, and he finished all of his house [in that time].

All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim (September-October), that is, the seventh month.

But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri became king.

King Solomon was king over all [the people of] Israel.

He sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts; one month they were in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced laborers.

Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,

There certainly was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife incited him.

Within the Holy of Holies he made two cherubim (sculptured figures) of olive wood, each ten cubits high.

[The people of] Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is in abundance by the sea; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.

So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites [the king’s bodyguards] went down [from Jerusalem] and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and brought him to [the spring at] Gihon.

Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; I have risen in the place of my father David and have taken my seat on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and have built the house (temple) for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

When David’s time to die approached, he gave instructions to Solomon his son, saying,

In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel and reigned for twelve years. He reigned six years at Tirzah.

Zadok the priest took a horn of [olive] oil from the [sacred] tent and anointed Solomon. They blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”

Now Solomon was told, “Behold, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, and behold, he has grasped the horns of the altar [seeking God’s protection], saying, ‘King Solomon must swear to me today that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’”

Besides, Solomon has taken his seat on the throne of the kingdom.

It came about, as if it had been a trivial thing for Ahab to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him.

Now as for the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, everything that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But during the time of his old age he had a foot disease.

For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not completely devoted to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.

I have also given you what you have not asked, both wealth and honor, so that there will not be anyone equal to you among the kings, for all your days.

Now the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,

Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;

Yet graciously consider the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the [loud] cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today;

Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the god who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”

When Baasha heard about it, he stopped fortifying Ramah and stayed in Tirzah.

Now it happened when Solomon had finished building the house (temple) of the Lord and the king’s house (palace), and all else which he was pleased to do,

While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest arrived. And Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a valiant and trustworthy man and you bring good news.”

At the first of the year [in spring], Ben-hadad assembled and counted the Arameans (Syrians) and went up to Aphek [east of the Sea of Galilee] to fight against Israel.

Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day [of the king’s defeat] when you enter an inner room [looking for a place] to hide yourself.”

There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They committed all the repulsive acts of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the Israelites.

Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. When Joab heard the trumpet sound, he said, “Why is the city in such an uproar?”

For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the [fertility] goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the horror (detestable idol) of the Ammonites.

Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking [at first] in the statutes of David his father, except [for the fact that] he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places [ignoring the law that required all sacrifices to be offered at the tabernacle].

Ahimaaz, in [the tribe of] Naphtali (he also married Basemath, Solomon’s daughter);

The throne had six steps, and a round top was attached to the throne from the back. On either side of the seat were armrests, and two lions stood beside the armrests.

The king gave orders, and they quarried great stones, valuable stones, to lay the foundation of the house (temple) with cut stones.

But be gracious and kind to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who [have the honor to] eat at your table; for they met me [with kindness] when I fled from your brother Absalom.

Then Solomon built a high place for [worshiping] Chemosh the horror (detestable idol) of Moab, on the hill which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the horror (detestable idol) of the sons of Ammon.

Omri bought the hill Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he built a city on the hill [and fortified it], and named the city which he built Samaria, after the owner of the hill, Shemer.

Now it happened as they were sitting at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back.

God also stirred up another adversary for Solomon, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah.

So with the stones Elijah built an altar in the name of the Lord. He made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures of seed.

It came about at that time, when Jeroboam left Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road. Now Ahijah had covered himself with a new cloak; and the two of them were alone in the field.

Solomon overlaid the interior of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across the front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary), and he overlaid it with gold.

Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Israel’s god is a god of the hills; that is why they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.

He built twenty cubits on the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling; he built its interior as the [inner] sanctuary, the Holy of Holies.

Now Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the [Euphrates] River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; they brought tribute (money) and served Solomon all the days of his life.

besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were in charge of the project and who were in charge of the people doing the work.

As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, then he built the Millo (fortification).

Moreover, the king’s servants came to bless (congratulate) our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon better (more famous) than your name and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king bowed himself [before God] upon the bed.

As midday passed, they played the part of prophets and raved dramatically until the time for offering the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.

Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the [lower part of the] house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.”

Solomon’s food [for the royal household] for one day was thirty kors of finely milled flour, sixty kors of wheat flour,

Every man brought a gift [of tribute]: articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

The Holy of Holies was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height (a cube), and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the cedar altar [with gold].

Now this thing became a sin [for Israel]; because the people went to worship before the one [or the other of them] as far as Dan.

He also made two capitals (crowns) of cast bronze to put on the tops of the pillars; the height of one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.

from the very nations of whom the Lord said to the Israelites, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for the result will be that they will turn away your hearts to follow their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these in love.

You who have kept what You promised to Your servant my father David. You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled Your word with Your hand, as it is this day.

And he cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you,

He said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you; ask that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.”

Hiram set up the pillars at the porch of the temple; he set up the right pillar and named it Jachin (may he establish), and he set up the left pillar and named it Boaz (in it is strength).

Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim.

There were nets of network (lattice-work) and twisted threads (wreaths) of chainwork for the capitals which were on the tops of the pillars, seven for one capital and seven for the other.

Baana the son of Hushai, in [the tribe of] Asher and Bealoth;

So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from [his place] beside me while your maidservant was asleep, and laid him on her bosom, and laid her dead son on my bosom.

But [in the meantime] the people were still sacrificing [to God] on the high places (hilltops) [as the pagans did to their idols], for there was no [permanent] house yet built for the Name of the Lord.

And look, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite of Bahurim; he is the one who cursed me with a sinister curse the day I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan [on my return], and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’

The length of the house which King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits (90 ft.), its width twenty (30 ft.), and its height thirty cubits (45 ft.).

“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath [of innocence] and he comes to take the oath before Your altar in this house (temple),

Now the king of Aram (Syria) had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with [anyone, either] small or great, but with [Ahab] the king of Israel alone.”

Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

The [rest of the] house, that is, the temple in front of the Holy of Holies, was forty cubits long.

The king has sent him with Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have had him ride on the king’s [own royal] mule.

Now Solomon collected chariots and horsemen; he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as plentiful as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland.

So Hiram made the pillars [in this manner], and two rows around on the one network to cover the capitals which were on the top of the pomegranates; and he did the same for the other capital.

Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.

Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue, and the king’s merchants acquired them from Kue, for a price.

He also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was a hundred cubits (150 ft.), its width fifty cubits (75 ft.), and its height thirty cubits (45 ft.), upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.

All the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark.

It was a hand width thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.

Judah and Israel lived in security, every man under his vine and fig tree [in peace and prosperity], from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south], during all the days of Solomon.

For he was ruling over everything west of the [Euphrates] River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the [Euphrates] River; and he had peace on all sides around him.

So she came to Jerusalem with a very large caravan (entourage), with camels carrying spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything that was on her mind [to discover the extent of his wisdom].

So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom.

The time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years, and he slept with his fathers [in death]; and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

They came to Ophir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men of Gebal cut and chiseled the stones, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house (temple).

Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in [the tribe of] Issachar;

The capitals which were upon the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work (design), four cubits.

Now this woman’s son died during the night, because she lay on him [and smothered him].

Then he overlaid the entire house with gold, until the whole house was finished. He also overlaid the entire [incense] altar which was by the Holy of Holies with gold.

then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and I will cast out of My sight the house which I have consecrated for My Name and Presence. Then Israel will become a proverb (a saying) and a byword (object of ridicule) among all the peoples.

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and enter the battle, but you put on your [royal] clothing.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.

ten fat oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, a hundred sheep not counting fallow deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.

Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all [the kings] who were before him.

So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and handed them over to the captains of the palace guard who guarded the doorway of the king’s house.

Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha, were scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder [of important events];

that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My Name (Presence) shall be there,’ that You may listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.

Now as for the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

After the prophet of the house had eaten bread and after he had drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.

But one man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the fight, because I have been seriously wounded.”

Then Elijah took twelve stones in accordance with the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”

If these people go up to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, then their heart will turn to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, so many that they could not be counted or numbered.

So the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

Shimei the son of Ela, in [the tribe of] Benjamin;

These were his [chief] officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the high priest;

So they took the bull that was given to them and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, hear and answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they had made.

When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

Now as for the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his [treasonous] conspiracy which he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Asa slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David. Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

Listen to the prayer of Your servant and of Your people Israel which they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven, Your dwelling place; hear and forgive.

Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.

Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to another by the word of the Lord, “Please strike me.” But the man refused to strike him.

Now, O God of Israel, please let Your word which You have spoken to Your servant David my father be confirmed.

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.

“But if you or your sons turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,

Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep for Your servant my father David that which You promised him when You said, ‘You shall not be without a man (descendant) to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way [of life] to walk before Me [according to my laws] as you have done.’

So Rezon was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad inflicted. Rezon hated Israel and reigned over Aram (Syria).

Then Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying,

Bathsheba replied, “Very well; I will speak to the king for you.”

but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “You shall not eat bread nor drink water”; your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers (ancestors).’”

These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people doing the work.

But Solomon did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war (soldiers), his servants, his officers, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.

that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, just as He had appeared to him at Gibeon.

The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were visible from the Holy Place that was in front of the Holy of Holies, but they were not visible from the outside; they are there to this day (the date of this writing).

Those deputies provided food for King Solomon and for all [the staff] who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they let nothing be lacking.

The capitals were on the two pillars and also above and close to the rounded projection which was beside the network. There were two hundred pomegranates in rows around both capitals.

One wing of the cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was also five cubits long; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other.

Ahab also made the Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

But Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted more wickedly than all who came before him.

Now when he had gone, a lion met him by the road and killed him, and his body was thrown in the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion was also standing beside the body.

A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and in the same way they exported them, by the king’s merchants, to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram (Syria).

For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its [carrying] poles from above.

He took away the treasures of the house (temple) of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything, he even took all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv (April-May) which is the second month, that he began to build the Lord’s house (temple).

And Hiram [king of Tyre] sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon.

The Lord told him, “I have heard your prayer and supplication which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My Name and My Presence there forever. My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually.

Then the king said, “Give the first woman [who is pleading for his life] the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.”

When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead. But when I examined him carefully in the morning, behold, it was not my son, the one whom I had borne.”

Now Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.

“Your father made our yoke (burden) heavy; so now lighten the hard labor and the heavy yoke your father imposed on us, and we will serve you.”

In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah [the capital city], and reigned twenty-four years.

And now, whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

They brought up the ark of the Lord and the Tent of Meeting and all the holy utensils that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.

Now as for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Against the wall of the house he built extensions around the walls of the house, around both the main room (Holy Place) and the Holy of Holies; and he made side chambers all around.

He set the one [golden calf] in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had instructed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.”

The porch in front of the main room of the house (temple) was twenty cubits long, corresponding to the width of the house, and its depth in front of the house was ten cubits.

So the man of God went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.

the food on his table, the seating of his servants (court officials), the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, his stairway by which he went up to the house (temple) of the Lord, she was breathless and awed [by the wonder of it all].

As for you, if you walk (live your life) before Me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, acting in accordance with everything that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My precepts,

Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house (tribe) of Issachar conspired against Nadab, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.

Behold, I intend to build a house (temple) to the Name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord said to my father David: ‘Your son whom I will put on your throne in your place shall build the house for My Name and Presence.’

So his servants said to him, “Let a young virgin be found for my lord the king and let her attend him and become his nurse; let her lie against your chest, so that my lord the king may feel warm.”

Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply moved over her son, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; cut him!”

There was also war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not follow other gods; but he did not observe (remember, obey) what the Lord had commanded.

He carved all the walls of the house all around with carved engravings of cherubim, palm-shaped decorations, and open flowers, [both] the inner and the outer sanctuaries.

As soon as he was king, Baasha struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave for Jeroboam anyone alive, but he destroyed them in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servant Ahijah the Shilonite—

He put the cherubim [above the ark] inside the innermost room of the house, and their wings were spread out so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall; and their inner wings were touching each other in the middle of the house.

And Rehoboam slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam (Abijah) his son became king in his place.

So they sent word and called for him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,

When the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard about it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.”

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

“Let there be a treaty between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”

Solomon did evil [things] in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as his father David had done.

Then the other woman said, “No! For my son is the one who is living, and your son is the dead one.” But the first woman said, “No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.” [This is how] they were speaking before the king.

but he [and his descendants] shall have one tribe (Benjamin was annexed to Judah), for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel—

“Tell Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and all the house (fighting men) of Judah and Benjamin and the rest of the people,

She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again did such an abundance of spices come in [to Israel] as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

On the tops of the pillars was lily work (design). So the work of the pillars was finished.

So Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

And it was covered with cedar [as a roof] on the supporting beams that were upon the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row.

King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served and advised his father Solomon while he was still alive and said, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”

“You know that David my father could not build a house (temple) for the Name (Presence) of the Lord his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.

A man of God approached and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Arameans have said, “The Lord is a god of the hills, but He is not a god of the valleys,” I will give this great army into your hand, and you shall know [by experience] that I am the Lord.’”

Then Hiram made ten bronze stands [for smaller basins]; the length of each stand was four cubits, its width was four cubits and its height was three cubits.

The lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made offsets (niches) in the walls all around on the outside of the house so that the supporting beams would not be inserted into the walls of the house.

But now do not let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man; and you will know what to do to him, and you will bring his gray head down to Sheol [covered] with blood.”

Then he laid out the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood.

The young men who had grown up with him answered, “This is what you should say to this people who told you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but as for you, make our yoke lighter’—say this to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins [and my reign will be even more severe].

Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, He made you king to execute justice and righteousness.”

Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king which he did not explain to her.

When all [the people of] Israel heard about the judgment which the king had made, they [were in awe and reverently] feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was within him to administer justice.

There were artistic window frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers.

They also brought the barley and straw for the horses and swift steeds (warhorses, chargers) to the place where it was needed, each man according to his assignment.

When all the people saw it, they fell face downward; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

He made the hall for the throne where he was to judge, the Hall of Judgment; it was paneled with cedar from [one] floor to [another] floor.

Then the king said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to the one [woman] and half to the other.”

But the rest ran to the city of Aphek, and the [city] wall fell on 27,000 of the men who were left. Ben-hadad escaped and came into the city, going into an inner chamber [to hide].

Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.

Then she told the king, “The report which I heard in my own land about your words and wisdom is true!

And there were men passing by, and they saw the body thrown in the road, and the lion standing beside the body. So they came and told about it in the city [of Bethel] where the old prophet lived.

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built!

He did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father [Jeroboam] and in his sin [of idolatry], with which he made Israel sin.

He also made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits (75 ft.) and its width thirty cubits (45 ft.). There was a porch in front, and pillars and a threshold in front of them.

The [wingspan of the] other cherub was also ten cubits. The measurements and cut (shape) of the two cherubim were the same;

On the borders between the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the frames there was a pedestal above. Beneath the lions and oxen were borders of hanging work.

But now that the Lord my God has given me rest [from war] on every side, there is neither adversary nor misfortune [confronting me].

Now when Ahab heard these words [of Elijah], he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly (mourning).

This house (temple) will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be appalled and sneer and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this house?’

Solomon also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

Under its brim were gourds encircling it ten to a cubit, completely surrounding the Sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast in one piece with it.

the height of the one cherub was ten cubits, as was the other.

But he ignored the advice which the elders gave him and consulted the young men who grew up with him and served him.