(40 year reign - At 13:21)
(40 year reign; 1 Kg 2:11)
The Southern Kingdom
Rehoboam (931/30 – 913)
Abijam (913 – 911/10)
Asa (911/10 – 870/69)
Jehoshaphat (870/69 – 848)
Jehoram (848 – 841)
Ahaziah (841)
Athaliah (841 – 835)
Joash (836 – 796)
Amaziah (796 – 767)
Azariah (767 – 740/39)
Jotham (740/39 – 732/31)
Ahaz (732/31 – 716/15)
Hezekiah (716/15 – 687/86)
Manasseh (687/86 – 643/42)
Amon (643/42 – 641/40)
Josiah (640/39 – 609)
Jehoahaz (609)
Jehoiakin (609 – 597)
Jehoiachin (597)
Zedekiah (597 – 587)
The Northern Kingdom
Jeroboam I (931/30 – 910/9)
Nadab (910/9 – 909/8)
Baasha (909/8 – 886/5)
Elah (886/5 – 885/4)
Zimri (885/4)
Tibni (885/4 – 880)
Omri (880 – 874/3)
Ahab (874/3 – 853)
Ahaziah (853 – 852)
Joram (852 – 841)
Jehu (841 – 814/3)
Jehoahaz (814/3 – 798)
Jehoash (798 – 782/1)
Jeroboam II (782/1 – 753)
Zachariah (753 – 752)
Shallum (752)
Menahem (752 – 742/1)
Pekahiah (742/1 – 740/39)
Pekah (740/39 – 732/1)
Hoshea (732/1 – 723/2)
As with many of the Old Testament books, it is difficult to determine the inspired writer of 1 & 2 Kings. In reference to these two books, some Bible students have assumed that Jeremiah was the inspired writer. This assumption is based on the similarity between various sections of 1 & 2 Kings and the book of Jeremiah (Compare 2 Kg 24:18 – 25:30 and Jr 52:1-34). Other than assuming that Jeremiah was the writer, it is difficult to determine the writer, though we understand that the Jews accepted Jeremiah as one of their major prophets.
It is not possible to determine an exact date of writing of this book. The time that elapsed during 1 Kings was about 120 years. These years began with the death of David in 970 B.C. and the coronation of Solomon. The record of history of the kingdom of Israel continued to the death of King Ahab in the northern kingdom and Jehoshaphat in the southern kingdom around 893 B.C. Since the temple was still standing at the time of writing, both 1 & 2 Kings were written before the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple by the Babylonian Empire in 586 B.C. However, latter portions of the book could have been written after the fall, with an inspired writer writing the final material of 2 Kings after 586 B.C.
1 & 2 Kings were originally one book. They were divided into the two books we have in our Bibles today with the translation of the Hebrew text into Greek when the Septuagint was produced in the 3rd century B.C. The Kings and Chronicles are a history of how most the monarchies of Israel after David went wrong, and encouraged the people to create gods after their own imaginations. 1 & 2 Kings begin with the final years of David’s reign, and continue with Israelite history to the release of Jehoiachin from a Babylonian prison. Throughout 1 & 2 Kings reference is made to three sources of Israelite history that were not inspired, but were in the hands of the writer. Reference is made to (1) “the book of the acts of Solomon” (1 Kg 11:41), (2) “the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel” (1 Kg 14:19; 15:31; 16:5), and (3) “the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah” (1 Kg 14:29; 15:7,23). 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles are related, but not focused on the same plot. There are many passages in both Kings and Chronicles that are almost identical. Both documents contain historical information concerning the northern and southern kingdoms of the twelve tribes. However, Chronicles focuses primarily on the history of the southern kingdom of Judah. Chronicles also deals with the religious history while Kings focuses more on the political developments and decline of the people of God in the northern kingdom, which kingdom would eventually go into Assyrian captivity.
As Bible students study through the books
of the Kings and Chronicles, one question will
always come to mind: Why did Israel, with such
a rich history of the direct work of God, fall into
the extreme apostasy of worshiping imagined
gods, and in some cases, sacrificing their
own children to these gods? The answer to
the question lies in the nature of how we, as
created religious beings, conduct ourselves in
reference to divine authority. We seek to be free
from accountability, especially accountability in
reference to our Creator. Though God gives us
divine directives by which we should conduct
ourselves, we seek to do that which is right in
our own eyes. This desire leads to a gradual
fall from a conscious responsibility to submit to
the word of God. It may take generations for
this apostasy to play out in the history of any
particular society, but the decline and fall of all
civilizations is inevitable without a conscious
sense of being accountable to a High Power.
The more a religious people are ignorant of the
word of God, the faster this fall will occur.
A study of the Kings and Chronicles is a
classic example of how people move away
from being accountable to God. God originally
did not want Israel to have a king. He knew
what would happen. Having a king in Israel
was more than centralizing government around
one man on earth. God had originally intended
that He only be their King, and that He would
reign from heaven through the authority of His
word that was taught by the Levites. This was
a very successful plan that held Israel together
for over four hundred years. But Israel rejected
this theocratic system, for they sought to
continue to live after their own desires. They
could manipulate a king, but they could not
change the law of God. God, therefore, had
to go and the kings with their false gods had
to come in order that they could do that which
was right in their own eyes.
Once a king was anointed, the rapidity of
the apostasy accelerated. The kings became
political in order to retain the favor of the
people. This point is brought out clearly in the
kingship of Saul, for he yearned for the approval
of the people. In the life of David, however,
it was different. David sought to direct Israel
according to the commandments of God. He
had a deep sense of responsibility to obey
the will of God. But after David, everything
323 1 Kings
changed. From the time of Solomon, the mold
for apostasy was established as each king,
except for a few, followed after the gods of the
religious people they failed to eliminate from
the land. The people sought to live after their
own desires. It started with Solomon, David’s
son, who sought to please all his idolatrous
wives. The religious beliefs of the people
gradually changed to focus on the lusts of the
people, not the commandments of God that
were considered too restrictive.
As a society that sought to create religious
behavior after one’s own desires, it was easy
to create a god that would approve their
desires. When the culture of a society has
been established over decades, even the
righteous actions on the part of a king who
would seek to restore the people to God will
not turn the people from continued digression.
When Israel initially arrived at the Jordan in
order to possess the land under the leadership
of Joshua, the Canaanites, because of their
culture of rebellion, had given up their right
to exist as nations. Unfortunately, Israel,
throughout her history, followed the same
social route as the Canaanites. At the end
of Israel’s history, the twelve tribes of Israel
were left with only a remnant existence in the
land after the Babylonian captivity. It was a
tragic ending to such a great nation of people
who had been miraculously delivered out
of Egyptian captivity. Their search for God
brought them out of captivity. Their forsaking
of God took them back into captivity. Only
through repentance were they able to again
come out of captivity.
The political desire of a king to maintain the
favor of the people increased when kings started
to assassinate one another. Israel digressed
from God-anointed kings, to people-appointed
kings, then finally to foreign-appointed kings.
Political paranoia developed among the kings
as they turned from being obedient to God
who anointed them, to politically pleasing the
people who appointed them, and then finally, to
pleasing the foreign nations who appointed their
kings for them. The script of this play is written
in the Kings and Chronicles. It is written for
many nations throughout the world today who
would forsake teaching the principles of God to
the religious postulations of their people.
Once the leadership of Israel was changed,
then it was easy for the people to follow after
that which became commonly practiced. In
order for commonly accepted religious behavior
to be imposed on others, false prophets were
chosen to intimidate all who would not conform
with the norm of social and religious behavior.
Any person who would speak against the
message of the community of false prophets
was shunned, and thus considered a troubler
of Israel. Once this religious culture was
established, then there was no level too low to
which the society of Israel could sink. It was
for this reason that God did not want a central
government in Israel that was centered around
a king. He did not want the faith of His people
to become centralized around any person on
earth. He did not want any particular tribe
to take ownership of His presence by the
construction of a temple like the religions of
the nations around Israel. Unfortunately, Israel
did all the preceding, and thus we have the
inscriptions of the Kings and Chronicles that
explain how this epic of history played itself out
in the lives of the Israelites who fell from the
one true and living God in order to serve a god
they created after their own imagination.
In one’s inner self there is a God-created
sense of worship. Regardless of God’s written
revelation concerning how He seeks to be
worshiped, people often devise their own
expressions and physical places of worship.
This apostasy in worship is brought out clearly
in the Kings and Chronicles. In reference to
the worship of Israel in her digression into
apostasy, three key things constantly appear in
the worship of the Israelites that were related
to their apostasy: (1) People seek to do that
which is right in their own eyes, and then
create a concept of god that conforms to their
behavior. This is the spirit of idolatry. The gods
of the nations around Israel, which gods Israel
eventually adopted, were not really gods, but
only the imagination of the people who sought
to live according to their own desires.
(2) Constructing “high places.” Once the
false god was created in one’s mind, then the
natural thing to do was to relate to that god
through an image or idol that one created
to symbolize the god. The worshiper then
established a place to which he could go in
order to worship his imagined god. People
seek to sanctify a place where they can
perform their worship through various acts of
worship or ceremonies. By doing this they are
seeking to leave the environment of their daily
lives in order to “go to” a place where they can
worship. This gives them the opportunity to feel
that they can leave their daily conduct in life,
and go to face God at a place where they can
feel worshipful in the “presence of God.” The
places that the apostate Israelites constructed
for this worshipful feeling were called the “high
places.” These places were often associated
with sexual orgies, and in some cases, human
sacrifices. Regardless of the reforms that
some kings made at different times throughout
the digression of Israel into apostasy, these
places to which people went with offerings in
order to commit deplorable acts of worship,
were usually not destroyed.
(3) Constructing “places of worship.” People
seem to feel closer to God on high places, and
thus, the Asherah (wooded places, or groves)
were built on high hills. These were sanctified
places of worship. The high places were thus
sacred and prevailed throughout the history
of the apostasy. The high places became
customary places to go for worship, and thus
the reforming kings usually did not touch these
places in their restoration movements.
The high places played a significant role in
the apostasy of both the northern and southern
kingdoms. When Israel entered the promised
land, God told them to destroy all the molten
images, figured idols and high places (Nm
33:52). But they failed to drive out all the
Canaanites (Jg 1:19-35), and thus failed to eradicate the idolatry and high places from
the land. The people served the Lord all the
days of Joshua and the elders who lived after
them (Ja 24:31; Jg 2:7). However, after these
great leaders, the worship of the Canaanites
began to play a part in the worship of Israel.
In the days of the judges, the worship of Baal
became a strong part of Israelite worship, for
the judges often had to deal with idol worship
(See Jg 6:25). When Solomon became king,
idol worship on high places was entrenched in
the worship culture of Israel. Restorationists
as Hezekiah destroyed the high places (2
Ch 31:1), but apostate kings as Manasseh
restored them as places to which people could
go to perform their ceremonies of worship (2
Ch 33:3). When Manasseh was disciplined by
the Lord with captivity, and then restored to his
throne, he was a changed person. However,
he failed to destroy the high places to which
people continually went to perform their
acts of worship (2 Ch 33:17). The extent to
which apostasy and restoration went in Israel
depended on whether the high places were
retained or destroyed in the worship culture
of Israel (Compare Josiah’s restoration - 2 Kg
23:1-25).
The culture of going to the high places
worked against God’s original plan that worship
be family oriented and conducted according
to the simple principles that Moses taught in
Deuteronomy 6. But the simplicity of God’s
original plan that worship be focused at home
in the daily lives of every person was too simple
for the people in comparison to the Canaanites
who had elaborate temples and went to the
high places for entertaining worship behavior.
Once this Canaanite worship culture became a
part of the culture of Israel, it was not possible
to detour their end in captivity, for it led them
away from God. And in being led away from
God, they lost their purpose for existing as a
nation.
1 ¶ Now King David was old and stricken in years. And they put covers on him, but he could not keep warm.
2 Therefore, his servants said to him, “Let a young woman be sought for our lord the king. And let her stand before the king. And let her care for him, and let her lie in your bosom so that my lord the king may get heat.”
3 So they sought for a lovely girl throughout all the territory of Israel. And they found aAbishag a Shunammite and brought her to the king.
4 And the young woman was very beautiful. And she cared for the king and ministered to him. But the king did not have sexual relations with her.
5 Then bAdonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run before him.
6 And his father had not rebuked him at any time in saying, “Why have you done so?” And he also was a very handsome man, and his mother bore him after Absalom.
7 Now he conferred with cJoab the son of Zeruiah and with dAbiathar the priest. And following Adonijah, they helped him.
8 But eZadok the priest and fBenaiah the son of Jehoiada and gNathan the prophet and hShimei and Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.
9 And Adonijah killed sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by iEnrogel. And he called all his brethren, the king’s sons and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants.
10 But he did not call Nathan the prophet and Benaiah and the mighty men, and jSolomon his brother.
11 ¶ Therefore, Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith reigns and David our lord does not know it?”
12 “Now therefore come, please let me give you counsel so that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.
13 Go immediately to King David and say to him, ‘Did not you, my lord, O king, swear to your maidservant, saying, k“Assuredly Solomon your son will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne”? Why then does Adonijah reign?’
14 Behold, while you are still there speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.”
15 ¶ So Bathsheba went in to the king into the chamber. And the king was very old. And Abishag the Shunammite ministered to the king.
16 And Bathsheba bowed and prostrated herself to the king. And the king said, “What do you wish?”
17 And she said to him, “My lord, you swore by the LORD your God to your maidservant, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son will reign after me and he will sit on my throne.’
18 But now, behold, Adonijah is reigning. And now, my lord the king, you do not know it.
19 And he has slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance. And he has called all the sons of the king and Abiathar the priest and Joab the captain of the army. But he has not called Solomon your servant.
20 And you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
21 Otherwise it will come to pass when my lord the king will sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered offenders.”
22 ¶ And behold, while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in.
23 And they told the king, saying, “Behold Nathan the prophet.” And when he had come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
24 And Nathan said, “My lord, O king, have you said, ‘Adonijah will reign after me and he will sit on my throne’?
25 For he has gone down this day and has slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance. And he has called all the king’s sons and the captains of the army and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they eat and drink before him. And they say, ‘Long live King Adonijah.’
26 But me, even me your servant, and Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and your servant Solomon, he has not called.
27 Has this thing been done by my lord the king, and you have not shown it to your servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord and be the king after him?”
28 ¶ Then King David answered and said, “Call Bathsheba to me.” And she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king.
29 And the king swore and said, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all distress, even as I sware to you by the LORD God of Israel, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place,’ even so I will certainly do this day.”
30 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth and prostrated herself before the king. And she said, “Let my lord King David live forever.”
31 ¶ And King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” And they came before the king.
32 The king also 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.
33 And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel. And blow with the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon.’
34 Then you will come up after him so that he may come and sit on my throne, for he will be king in my place. And I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.”
35 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, “Amen! May the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.”
36 “As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so may He be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”
37 ¶ 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 they brought him to Gihon.
38 Then Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”
39 Then all the people came up after him. And the people piped with pipes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth shook with their sound.
40 ¶ And Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “Why is the city making such an uproar?”
41 And while he still spoke, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said to him, “Come in, for you are a valiant man and bring good tidings.”
42 And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, “No! Our lord King David has made Solomon king.
43 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.”
44 And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon. And they have come up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard.
45 And also Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom.
46 And furthermore, the king’s servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, “May 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.
47 And also thus said the king, “Blessed is the LORD God of Israel who has given one to sit on my throne this day while my own eyes see it.”
48 Then all the guests who were with Adonijah were afraid. And they rose up and went every man his way.
49 ¶ Now Adonijah feared because of Solomon. And he arose and took hold of the horns of the altar.
50 Then it was told Solomon, saying, “Behold, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, for behold, he has taken hold on the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not slay his servant with the sword.’”
51 So Solomon said, “If he will show himself a worthy man, there will not a hair of him fall to the earth. But if wickedness is found in him, he will die.”
52 So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to King Solomon. And Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”
Chapter 1 References: a 1 Ch 23:1 b 1 Kg 2:17 c Ja 19:18 d 2 Sm 3:4 e 2 Sm 15:1 f 2 Sm 3:3,4 g 1 Ch 11:6 h 2 Sm 20:25 i 1 Kg 2:22,28 j 1 Kg 2:35 k 1 Kg 2:25 l 2 Sm 12:1 m 1 Kg 4:18 n 2 Sm 23:8 o Ja 15:7; 18:16 p 2 Sm 12:24 q 2 Sm 3:4 r 1 Ch 22:9-13 s 1 Kg 1:13,30 t 1 Kg 1:7-9,25 u Dt 31:16 v 1 Kg 1:9,19 w 1 Sm 10:24 x 2 Sm 4:9; 12:5 y 1 Kg 1:13,17 z Dn 2:4; 3:9 a 2 Sm 20:6 b Et 6:8 c 2 Ch 32:30; 33:14 d 1 Sm 10:1; 16:3,12 e 2 Sm 15:10 f Jr 28:6 g 1 Sm 20:13 h 1 Kg 1:47 i 2 Sm 8:18; 23:20-23 j 2 Sm 20:7 k Ps 89:20 l 1 Ch 29:22 m 1 Sm 10:24 n 2 Sm 17:17,20 o 2 Sm 18:27 p 1 Ch 29:23 q 1 Kg 1:37 r Gn 47:31 s 1 Kg 3:6 t 2 Sm 7:12 u 1 Kg 2:28 v 1 Sm 14:45
1 ¶ Now the adays of David drew near that he should die. And he charged Solomon his son, saying,
2 b“I am going the way of all the earth. Therefore, cbe strong and show yourself a man.
3 “And keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes and His commandments and His judgments and His testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may dprosper in all that you do and wherever you turn,
4 “so that the LORD may efulfill His word that He spoke concerning me, saying, f‘If your children take heed to their way, to gwalk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, hyou will not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’”
5 “Furthermore, you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah idid to me, and what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to jAbner the son of Ner, and to kAmasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peace and put the blood of war on his belt that was about his loins and in his shoes that were on his feet.
6 “Do therefore laccording to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.
7 “But show kindness to the sons of mBarzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those who neat at your table; for othey came to me when I fled because of Absalom your brother.
8 “And behold, you have with you pShimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But qhe came down to meet me at the Jordan, and rI swore to him by the LORD, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’
9 “Now therefore, sdo not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him. But bring his tgray hair down to the grave with blood.”
10 ¶ So uDavid slept with his fathers and was buried in the vcity of David.
11 And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
12 xThen Solomon sat on the throne of David his father. And his kingdom was yfirmly established.
13 ¶ And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, z“Do you come peacefully?” And he said, “Peacefully.”
14 Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Say on.”
15 And he said, “You know that the kingdom was amine and that all Israel set their faces on me that I should reign. However, the kingdom is turned about and has become my brother’s, for bit was his from the LORD.
16 “And now I ask one request of you. Do not refuse me.” And she said to him, “Say on.”
17 And he said, “Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not refuse you, that he give me cAbishag the Shunammite as a wife.”
18 And Bathsheba said, “Very well. I will speak for you to the king.”
19 ¶ Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and dbowed himself to her. And he sat down on his throne and caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother. And eshe sat on his right hand.
20 Then she said, “I desire one small request of you. Do not refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”
21 And she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife.”
22 Then King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my felder brother; even for him and for gAbiathar the priest and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.”
23 Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, h“God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life.”
24 “Now therefore, as the LORD lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house as He ipromised, Adonijah will be put to death this day.”
25 And King Solomon sent by the hand of jBenaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he fell on him so that he died.
26 ¶ And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to kAnathoth, to your own fields, for you are worthy of death. But I will not at this time put you to death lbecause you carried the ark of the LORD GOD before David my father, and because you have been afflicted with everything with which my father was afflicted.”
27 So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to the LORD in order that he might mfulfill the word of the LORD that He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
28 ¶ Then news came to Joab, for Joab had nturned after Adonijah, although he did not turn after Absalom. And Joab fled to the tabernacle of the LORD and otook hold on the horns of the altar.
29 And it was told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tabernacle of the LORD. And behold, he was by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, pfall on him.”
30 And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD and said to him, “Thus says the king, q‘Come out.’” And he said, “No, for I will die here.” And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus said Joab and thus he answered me.”
31 And the king said to him, r“Do as he has said and fall on him, sso that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood that Joab shed.
32 “And the LORD twill return his blood on his own head, because he fell on two men more righteous and ubetter than he and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know it: vAbner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and wAmasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah.
33 “Their blood will therefore return on the head of Joab and xon the head of his seed forever. yBut on David and on his seed and on his house and on his throne, there will be peace forever from the LORD.”
34 So 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.
35 And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army. And the king appointed zZadok the priest in the place of aAbiathar.
36 ¶ And the king sent and called for bShimei. And he said to him, “Build a house in Jerusalem and dwell there. And do not go out from there to any place.
37 “For it will be that on the day you go out and pass over the cBrook Kidron, you will know for certain that you will surely die. dYour blood will be on your own head.”
38 Then Shimei said to the king, “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
39 ¶ Now it came to pass at the end of three years that two of the servants of Shimei ran away to eAchish, son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your servants are in Gath.”
40 So 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.
41 Then it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had come again.
42 And the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD and warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and walk abroad anywhere, that you will surely die?’ And you said to me, ‘The word that I have heard is good.’”
43 “Why then have you not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I have charged you?”
44 The king said also to Shimei, “You know, as your heart acknowledges, fall the wickedness that you did to my father David. Therefore, the LORD will greturn your wickedness on your own head.
45 “But King Solomon will be blessed, and the hthrone of David will be established before the LORD forever.”
46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, who went out and fell on him so that he died. And the ikingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
Chapter 2 References: a Gn 47:29; b Ja 23:14; c Dt 31:7,23; d Dt 29:9; e 2 Sm 7:25; f Ps 132:12; g 2 Kg 20:3; h 2 Sm 7:12,13; i 2 Sm 3:39; 18:5,12,14; j 2 Sm 3:27; k 2 Sm 20:10; l 1 Kg 2:9; m 2 Sm 19:31-39; n 2 Sm 9:7,10; 19:28; o 2 Sm 17:17-29; p 2 Sm 16:5-13; q 2 Sm 19:18; r 2 Sm 19:23; s Ex 20:7; t Gn 42:38; 44:31; u At 2:29; 13:36; v 2 Sm 5:7; w 2 Sm 5:4,5; x 1 Ch 29:23; y 2 Ch 1:1; z 1 Sm 2:35; a 1 Kg 2:27; b 1 Kg 2:8; c 2 Sm 15:23; d Ja 2:19; e 1 Sm 27:2; f 2 Sm 16:5-13; g 1 Sm 25:39; h Pv 25:5; i 2 Ch 1:1
1 ¶ And aSolomon made an alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And he took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the bcity of David until he had finished building his cown house and the dhouse of the LORD and the ewall around Jerusalem.
2 fMeanwhile, the people sacrificed on high places because there was no house built for the name of the LORD until those days.
3 And Solomon gloved the LORD, hwalking in the statutes of David his father, except he sacrificed and burnt incense on high places.
4 ¶ And ithe king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, jfor that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
5 kIn Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a ldream by night. And God said, “Ask what I will give you.”
6 mAnd Solomon said, “You have showed to your servant David my father great mercy, according as he nwalked before You in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with You. And You have kept for him this great kindness, that oYou have given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this day.
7 “And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of David my father. And I am but a plittle child. I do not know how qto go out or come in.
8 “And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You rhave chosen, a great people who scannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
9 t“Give therefore Your servant an understanding heart uto judge Your people, so that I may vdiscern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”
10 ¶ And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11 So God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have wnot asked for yourself long life, neither have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern judgment,
12 x“behold, I have done according to your words. yBehold, I have given you a wise and an understanding heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, neither after you will any arise like you.
13 “And I have also zgiven you what you have not asked, both a riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days.
14 “And bif you will walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, cas your father David walked, then I will dlengthen your days.”
15 And Solomon eawoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD and offered up burnt offerings. And he offered peace offerings and fmade a feast to all his servants.
16 ¶ Then two women who were harlots came to the king and gstood before him.
17 And one woman said, “O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house. And I gave birth to a child with her in the house.
18 “Now it came to pass the third day after I had delivered, that this woman delivered also. And we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house.
19 “Now this woman’s child died in the night because she lay on it.
20 “So she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept. And she laid him in her bosom and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21 “And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, he was dead. But when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son whom I had borne.”
22 Then the other woman said, “No, but the living is my son and the dead is your son.” And the first woman said, “No, but the dead is your son and the living is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.
23 ¶ Then the king said, “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.’”
24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” And they brought a sword before the king.
25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.”
26 Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for hshe yearned with compassion for her son. And she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means slay him.” But the other said, “Let it be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”
27 Then the king answered and said, “Give her the living child, and by no means slay it. She is the mother.”
28 And all Israel heard of the judgment with which the king had judged. And they feared the king, for they saw that the iwisdom of God was in him to do judgment.
Chapter 3 References: a 1 Kg 7:8; 9:24; b 2 Sm 5:7; c 1 Kg 7:1; d 1 Kg 6; e 1 Kg 9:15,19; f Dt 12:2-5,13,14; g Rm 8:28; h 1 Kg 3:6,14; i 2 Ch 1:3; j 1 Ch 16:39; 21:29; k 1 Kg 9:2; 11:9; l Nm 12:6; m 2 Ch 1:8; n 1 Kg 2:4; 9:4; o 1 Kg 1:48; p Jr 1:6,7; q Nm 27:17; r Dt 7:6; s Gn 13:6; 15:5; 22:17; t 2 Ch 1:10; u Ps 72:1,2; v Hb 5:14; w Js 4:3; x 1 Jn 5:14,15; y Ec 1:16; z Mt 6:33; a 1 Kg 4:21,24; 10:23; b 1 Kg 6:12; c 1 Kg 15:5; d Ps 91:16; e Gn 41:7; f 1 Kg 8:65; g Nm 27:2; h Jr 31:20; i 1 Kg 3:9,11,12
1 ¶ So King Solomon was king over all Israel.
2 And these were the princes he had: Azariah the son of Zadok the priest,
3 Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; aJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder.
4 And bBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army. And Zadok and cAbiathar were the priests.
5 And Azariah the son of Nathan was over dthe officers, and Zabud the son of Nathan was eprincipal officer and the fking’s friend.
6 And Ahishar was over the household. And gAdoniram the son of Abda was over the labor force.
7 ¶ And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel who provided food for the king and his household; each man had to provide for a month in the year.
8 And these are their names: The son of Hur was in the mountains of Ephraim;
9 Ben-Deker was in Makaz and Shaalbim and Beth Shemesh and Elonbeth Hanan;
10 Ben-Hesed was in Arubboth. To him belonged Sochoh and all the land of Hepher.
11 Ben-Abinadab was in all the region of Dor, who had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as a wife.
12 Baana the son of Ahilud was in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth Shean, which is by Zarethan beneath Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, even to the place that is beyond Jokneam.
13 Ben-Geber was in Ramoth Gilead. To him belonged the htowns of Jair the son of Manasseh that are in Gilead. To him also belonged the iregion of Argob that is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars.
14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim.
15 jAhimaaz was in Naphtali. He also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon to wife.
16 Baanah the son of kHushai was in Asher and in Aloth.
17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah was in Issachar.
18 lShimei the son of Elah was in Benjamin.
19 Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the mcountry of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And he was the only officer who was in the land.
20 ¶ Judah and Israel were many, as the nsand that is by the sea in multitude, oeating and drinking and making merry.
21 And pSolomon reigned over all kingdoms from qthe River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. rThey brought presents and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 ¶ sAnd Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour and sixty measures of meal,
23 ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, beside deer and gazelles and fattened fowl.
24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side of the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over tall the kings on this side of the River. uAnd he had peace on all sides around him.
25 And Judah and Israel vdwelt safely, wevery man under his vine and under his fig tree, xfrom Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
26 ¶ yAnd Solomon had 4,000 stalls of zhorses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.
27 And these aofficers provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, every man in his month. They lacked nothing.
28 They also brought barley and straw for the horses and swift steeds to the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.
29 ¶ And bGod gave Solomon great wisdom and understanding, and largeness of heart, as the sand that is on the seashore.
30 And Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the children cof the east country and all the dwisdom of Egypt.
31 For he was ewiser than all men, fwiser than Ethan the Ezrahite and gHeman and Chalcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame was in all the surrounding nations.
32 And hhe spoke 3,000 proverbs. And his isongs were 1,005.
33 And he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree 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.
34 And there jcame from all people men to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
Chapter 4 References: a 2 Sm 8:16; 20:24; b 1 Kg 2:35; c 1 Kg 2:27; d 1 Kg 4:7; e 2 Sm 8:18; 20:26; f 2 Sm 15:37; 16:16; g 1 Kg 5:14; h Nm 32:41; i Dt 3:4; j 2 Sm 15:27; k 1 Ch 27:33; l 1 Kg 1:8; m Dt 3:8-10; n Gn 22:17; 32:12; o Mc 4:4; p Ps 72:8; q Gn 15:18; r Ps 68:29; s Ne 5:18; t Ps 72:11; u 1 Ch 22:9; v Jr 23:6; w Mc 4:4; x Jg 20:1; y 1 Kg 10:26; z Dt 17:16; a 1 Kg 4:7; b 1 Kg 3:12; c Gn 25:6; d Is 19:11,12; e 1 Kg 3:12; f 1 Ch 15:19; g 1 Ch 2:6; h Ec 12:9; i Ss 1:1; j 1 Kg 10:1
1 ¶ Now aHiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he had heard that they had anointed him king in the place of his father, bfor Hiram was always a lover of David.
2 Then cSolomon sent to Hiram, saying,
3 d“You know that David my father could not build a house to the name of the LORD his God ebecause of the wars that were around him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.
4 “But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side so that there is neither adversary nor fevil occurrence.
5 g“And behold, I intend to build a house to the name of the LORD my God, has the LORD spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son whom I will set on your throne in your room, he will build a house to My name.’
6 “Now therefore, command that they cut for me icedar trees out of Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants. And I will give you wages for your servants according to all that you will appoint, for you know that there is not among us any who can cut timber like the Sidonians.”
7 ¶ Now it came to pass when Hiram heard the words of Solomon that he rejoiced greatly. And he said, “Blessed be the LORD this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.”
8 Then Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have considered the things that you sent to me. I will do all you desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of cypress.
9 “My servants will bring them down jfrom Lebanon to the sea. And I will take them by sea in rafts to the place that you will indicate to me. And I will cause them to be discharged there, and you will receive them. And you will accomplish my desire kin giving food for my household.”
10 So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and cypress trees according to all his desire.
11 lAnd Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 measures of wheat for food for his household, and twenty measures of pure oil; thus Solomon gave to Hiram every year.
12 So the LORD gave Solomon wisdom mas He promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two made a covenant together.
13 ¶ Now King Solomon raised a labor force from all Israel. And the levy was 30,000 men.
14 And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month by shifts. They were in Lebanon a month and two months at home. And nAdoniram was over the labor force.
15 oAnd Solomon had 70,000 who bore burdens, and 80,000 hewers of stone in the mountains,
16 besides the pchief of Solomon’s 3,300 officers who were over the work and who ruled over the people who were doing the work.
17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and qhewed stones to lay the foundation of the house.
18 So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites cut them. And they prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.
Chapter 5 References: a 2 Ch 2:3; b 2 Sm 5:11; c 2 Ch 2:3; d 1 Ch 28:2,3; e 1 Ch 22:8; 28:3; f 1 Kg 4:24; g 2 Ch 2:4; h 2 Sm 7:12,13; i 2 Ch 2:8,10; j Er 3:7; k Ex 27:17; l 2 Ch 2:10; m 1 Kg 3:12; n 1 Kg 12:18; o 2 Ch 2:17,18; p 1 Kg 9:23; q 1 Kg 6:7
1 ¶ Now ait came to pass in the 480th year after the children of Israel came 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 bhe began to build the house of the LORD.
2 And the chouse that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.
3 And the porch before the temple of the house was twenty cubits in length, according to the width of the house, and its width along the front of the house was ten cubits.
4 And for the house he made dwindows of beveled frames.
5 ¶ And against the wall of the house he built echambers all around, against the walls of the house all around, both in the temple and in the finner sanctuary. And he made chambers all around.
6 The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, and the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house all around in order that the beams not be inserted in the walls of the house.
7 And gthe house, when it was being built, was built of stone prepared at the quarry, so that there was neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was being built.
8 The door for the middle chamber was on the right side of the house. And they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.
9 hSo he built the house and finished it. And he covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.
10 Then he built chambers against all the house, each was five cubits high. And they rested on the house with timber of cedar.
11 ¶ Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,
12 “Concerning this house that you are building, iif you will walk in My statutes and execute My judgments and keep all My commandments to walk in them, then I will perform My word with you jthat I spoke to David your father.”
13 “And kI will dwell among the children of Israel and lwill not forsake My people Israel.”
14 ¶ So Solomon built the house and finished it.
15 Then he built the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house and the walls of the ceiling. He covered them on the inside with wood and covered the floor of the house with planks of cypress.
16 And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar. He even built them for it on the inside, even for the inner sanctuary, even as the mmost holy place.
17 And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long.
18 And the cedar of the house inside was carved as buds and open flowers. All was cedar. There was no stone seen.
19 And he prepared an inner sanctuary within the house in order to place there the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
20 And the inner sanctuary in the front was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height. And he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar with cedar.
21 So Solomon overlaid the house inside with pure gold. And he made a partition by the chains of gold before the inner sanctuary. And he overlaid it with gold.
22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house. Also the nwhole altar that was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.
23 ¶ And within the inner sanctuary ohe made two cherubim of olive tree, each ten cubits high.
24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub. There were ten cubits from the uttermost part of the one wing to the uttermost part of the other.
25 And the other cherub was ten cubits. Both the cherubim were of one measure and one size.
26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub.
27 Then he set the cherubim inside the inner house. And pthey stretched forth the wings of the cherubim 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 middle of the house.
28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 ¶ Then he carved all the walls of the house all around with carved qfigures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, inside and outside.
30 And he overlaid with gold the floor of the house, inside and outside.
31 ¶ And for the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall.
32 The two doors also were 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 gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.
33 So for the door of the temple he also made doorposts of olive tree, one-fourth of the wall.
34 And the two doors were of cypress wood. The rtwo panels of the one door were folding, and the two panels of the other door were folding.
35 And he carved on it cherubim and palm trees and open flowers. And he covered them with gold fitted on the carved work.
36 ¶ And he built the sinner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.
37 ¶ tIn the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month Ziv.
38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts, and according to all the fashion of it. So it took him useven years to build it.
Chapter 6 References: a 2 Ch 3:1,2; b At 7:47; c Ez 41:1; d Ez 40:16; 41:16; e Ez 41:6; f 1 Kg 6:16,19-21,31; g Dt 27:5,6; h 1 Kg 6:14,38; i 1 Kg 2:4; 9:4; j 2 Sm 7:13; k Ex 25:8; l Dt 31:6; m Ex 26:33; n Ex 30:1,3,6; o 2 Ch 3:10-12; p 2 Ch 5:8; q Ex 36:8,35; r Ez 41:23-25; s 1 Kg 7:12; t 1 Kg 6:1; u 1 Kg 5:5; 6:1; 8:19
1 ¶ Now Solomon was building his own house for athirteen years, and he finished all his house.
2 He built also the bhouse of the forest of Lebanon. The length of it was one hundred cubits and its width fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars with cedar beams on the pillars.
3 And it was covered with cedar above on the beams that lay on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row.
4 And there were windows in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers.
5 And all the doors and doorposts were square, with the windows. And window was opposite window in three tiers.
6 ¶ And he made a porch of pillars. The length of it was fifty cubits and the width of it thirty cubits. And the porch was in front of them. And the other pillars and the thick beam were in front of them.
7 Then he made a porch for the throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment. And it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.
8 And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which was of the same workmanship. Solomon made also a house like this porch for Pharaoh’s daughter cwhom he had married.
9 ¶ All these were of costly stones according to the measures of cut stones, sawed with saws, inside and outside, even from the foundation to the eaves, and also on the outside toward the great court.
10 And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits.
11 And above were costly stones after the measures of cut stones and cedars.
12 And all around the great court were three rows of cut stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the dinner court of the house of the LORD and efor the porch of the house.
13 ¶ Then King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre.
14 fHe was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and ghis father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And hhe was filled with wisdom and understanding and skillful in all works in bronze. And he came to King Solomon and performed all his work.
15 ¶ For he cast itwo pillars of bronze of eighteen cubits high each. And a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of both.
16 And he made two capitals of molten bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of one capital was five cubits and the height of the other capital was five cubits.
17 There were networks of interwoven threads of chainwork for the capitals that were on the top of the pillars, seven for one capital and seven for the other capital.
18 And he made the pillars and two rows around on one network to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pomegranates. And he also did the same for the other capital.
19 And the capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work, four cubits.
20 And the capitals on the two pillars also had pomegranates above, over against the convex surface that was by the network. And the pomegranates were jtwo hundred in rows around on the other capitals.
21 kThen he set up the pillars in 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.
22 And on the top of the pillars was lily work. So the work of the pillars was finished.
23 ¶ Then he made la molten sea, ten cubits from one brim to the other. It was circular, and its height was five cubits. And it took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it.
24 Under its brim gourds went around encircling it ten to a cubit, mcompletely surrounding the sea. The buds were cast in two rows when it was cast.
25 It stood on ntwelve 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 upon them, and all their back parts were inward.
26 And it was a hand breadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. Its content was 2,000 baths.
27 ¶ And he made ten stands of bronze. The length of each stand was four cubits and its width four cubits and its height three cubits.
28 And the work of the stands was after this manner: they had borders and the borders were between the ledges.
29 And on the borders 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 certain additions made of hanging work.
30 And every stand had four bronze wheels and plates of bronze. And its four corners had supports. Under the laver were molten supports at the side of every addition.
31 And on the inside of the crown was an opening that was a cubit. But the mouth of it was round after the work of the base, a cubit and a half. And also on the mouth of it were engravings, and their borders were square, not round.
32 And under the borders were four wheels. And the axles of the wheels were joined to the stand. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.
33 And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel. Their axles and their rims and their spokes and their hubs were all cast.
34 And there were four supports at the four corners of one stand. The supports were part of the stand itself.
35 And on the top of the stand, at the height of half a cubit, it was perfectly round. And on the top of the stand, its ledges and its borders were part of it.
36 On the plates of its ledges and on its borders, he engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees, according to the clear space of every one, with wreaths all around.
37 After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure and one size.
38 ¶ Then ohe made ten lavers of bronze. One laver contained forty baths and every laver was four cubits. On every one of the ten stands was one laver.
39 And he put five stands 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.
40 ¶ pThen Hiram made the lavers and the shovels and the basins. So Hiram completed doing all the work that he made for King Solomon for the house of the LORD:
41 the two pillars and the two bowls of the capitals that were on top of the two pillars, and the two qnetworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars;
42 and rfour hundred pomegranates for the two networks, even two rows of pomegranates for one network to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars;
43 and the ten bases and ten lavers on the bases;
44 and one sea and twelve oxen under the sea;
45 and sthe pots and the shovels and the basins. And all these vessels that Hiram made for King Solomon for the house of the LORD, were of bright bronze.
46 tIn the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between uSuccoth and vZarethan.
47 And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed because they were too many; neither was the weight of the bronze wdetermined.
48 And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained to the house of the LORD; the xaltar of gold and the ytable of gold, upon which the zshowbread was placed;
49 and the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left, before the sanctuary, with the flowers and the lamps and the tongs of gold;
50 and the bowls and the snuffers and the basins and the spoons and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, that is for the temple.
51 So all the work that King Solomon made for the house of the LORD was completed. And Solomon brought in the things athat his father David had dedicated, even the silver and the gold and the vessels. He put them among the treasures of the house of the LORD.
Chapter 7 References: a 2 Ch 8:1; b 2 Ch 9:16; c 2 Ch 8:11; d 1 Kg 6:36; e Jn 10:23; f 2 Ch 2:14; g 2 Ch 4:16; h Ex 31:3; 36:1; i Jr 52:21; j Jr 52:23; k 2 Ch 3:17; l 2 Ch 4:2; m 2 Ch 4:3; n Jr 52:20; o 2 Ch 4:6; p 2 Ch 4:11–5:1; q 1 Kg 7:17,18; r 1 Kg 7:20; s Ex 27:3; t 2 Ch 4:17; u Gn 33:17; v Ja 3:16; w 1 Ch 22:3,14; x Ex 37:25,26; y Ex 37:10,11; z Lv 24:5-8; a 2 Sm 8:11
1 ¶ Then aSolomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, bso that they might bring cup the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.
2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the dfeast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3 And all the elders of Israel came, eand the priests took up the ark.
4 Then they brought up the ark of the LORD and the ftabernacle of the assembly, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even these the priests and the Levites brought up.
5 And King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel who were assembled to him were with him before the ark, gsacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted because of the multitude.
6 Then the priests hbrought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to iits place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even junder the wings of the cherubim.
7 For the cherubim spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered from above the ark and the poles.
8 And they kextended the poles so that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place before the sanctuary. But they were not seen outside. And there they are to this day.
9 lThere was nothing in the ark mexcept the two tablets of stone that Moses nput there at Horeb owhen the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 Now it came to pass when the priests came out of the holy place that the cloud pfilled the house of the LORD,
11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the qglory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.
12 ¶ rThen Solomon said, “The LORD said that He would dwell sin the dark cloud.
13 “I have surely built You a house to dwell in, ta place for You to abide in forever.”
14 ¶ And the king turned his face around and vblessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood.
15 And he said, w“Blessed is the LORD God of Israel who xspoke with His mouth to David and has fulfilled it with His hand, saying,
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 in order that yMy name might be in it. But I chose zDavid to be over My people Israel.’
17 “Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
18 “And the LORD said to David my father, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house to My name, you did well that it was in your heart.
19 ‘Nevertheless, cyou will not build the house, but your son who will come forth out of your loins. He will build the house to My name.’
20 “And the LORD has performed His word that He spoke, and I am risen up in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, das the LORD promised. And I have built a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
21 “And I have set a place for the ark in which is ethe covenant of the LORD, that He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
22 ¶ And Solomon stood before the faltar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel. And he gspread forth his hands toward heaven.
23 Then he said, “LORD God of Israel, hthere is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, iwho keeps covenant and mercy with Your servants who jwalk before You with all their heart,
24 “who have kept with Your servant David my father that You promised him. You spoke also with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand as it is this day.
25 “Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father what You promised him, saying, k‘You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way to walk before Me as you have walked.’
26 “And now, O God of Israel, please let Your word be confirmed that You spoke to Your servant David my father.
27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and nheaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this house that I have built?
28 “Yet You have respect to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken to the cry and to the prayer that Your servant prays before You today;
29 “that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which You have said, o‘My name will be there,’ that You may hearken to the prayer that Your servant will make toward this place.
30 “And hearken to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they will pray toward this place; and hear in heaven Your dwelling place. And when You hear, forgive.
31 ¶ “If any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid on him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before Your altar in this house,
32 “then hear in heaven and act and judge Your servants, tcondemning the wicked to bring his way on his head, and justifying the righteous to give him according to his righteousness.
33 ¶ “When Your people Israel are smitten down before the enemy because they have sinned against You, and vwill turn again to You and confess Your name and pray and make supplication to You in this house,
34 “then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel and bring them again to the land that You gave to their fathers.
35 ¶ “When heaven 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 afflict them,
36 “then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel, so that You yteach them the zgood way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land that You have given to Your people for an inheritance.
37 ¶ “If there is in the land famine, if there is pestilence, blight, mildew, locust, or if there is grasshopper, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,
38 “whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house;
39 “then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart You know, for You, even You only know the hearts of all the children of men,
40 “that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land that You gave to our fathers.
41 ¶ “Furthermore, concerning an alien who is not of Your people Israel, but comes from a far country for Your name’s sake
42 “(for they will hear of Your great name and of dYour strong hand and of Your stretched out arm), when he comes and prays toward this house,
43 “hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and act according to all that the alien calls to You so that all people of the earth may know Your name, to ffear You as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by Your name.
44 ¶ “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You will send them, and they will pray to the LORD toward the city that You have chosen, and toward the house that I have built for Your name,
45 “then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause.
46 ¶ “If they sin against You (for there is no man that does not sin), and You are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy so that they carry them away captives to the land of the enemy, far or near;
47 “if they will take thought in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness’;
48 “and they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray to You toward their land that You gave to their fathers, the city that You have chosen and the house that I have built for Your name;
49 “then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Your dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
50 “and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against You, and give them compassion before those who carried them captive so that they may have compassion on them,
51 “(for they are Your people and Your inheritance that You brought forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron),
52 “that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to hearken to them in all that they call to You.
53 “For You separated them from among all the people of the earth to be Your inheritance as You spoke by the hand of Moses Your servant when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.”
54 ¶ rAnd it was so that when Solomon finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.
55 And he stood and sblessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
56 “Blessed be the LORD who has given trest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise that He promised by the hand of Moses His servant.
57 “The LORD our God be with us as He was with our fathers. vLet Him not leave us or forsake us,
58 “so that He may incline our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments that He commanded our fathers.
59 “And let these my words with which I have made supplication before the LORD be near to the LORD our God day and night, so that He maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel at all times, as the matter requires,
60 “so that all the people of the earth may know that ythe LORD is God, that there is no one else.
61 “Let your zheart therefore be loyal to the LORD our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”
62 ¶ And athe king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the LORD.
63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD—22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.
64 And on the same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered burnt offerings and grain offerings and the fat of the peace offerings; because the cbronze altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings and grain offerings and the fat of the peace offerings.
65 And at that time Solomon held a feast with all Israel, a great assembly, from the eentrance of Hamath to the fRiver of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.
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 the LORD had done for David His servant and for Israel His people.
Chapter 8 References: a 2 Ch 5:2-14; b 2 Sm 6:12-17; c 2 Sm 5:7; 6:12,16; d Lv 23:34; e Nm 4:15; 7:9; f 2 Ch 1:3; g 2 Sm 6:13; h 2 Sm 6:17; i 1 Kg 6:19; j 1 Kg 6:27; k Ex 25:13-15; 37:4,5; l Ex 25:21; m Dt 10:5; n Ex 24:7,8; 40:20; o Ex 34:27,28; p Ex 40:34,35; q 2 Ch 7:1,2; r 2 Ch 6:1; s Ps 18:11; 97:2; t 2 Sm 7:13; u Ps 132:14; v 2 Sm 6:18; w Lk 1:68; x 2 Sm 7:2,12,13,25; y 1 Kg 8:29; z 2 Sm 7:8; a 2 Ch 7:4-10; b 2 Ch 7:7; c 2 Ch 4:1; d Lv 23:34; e Nm 34:8; f 2 Ch 7:8; g 2 Ch 7:8; h 2 Ch 7:9
1 ¶ Now ait came to pass when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the bking’s house and call Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do,
2 that the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time das He had appeared to him at Gibeon.
3 And the LORD said to him, e“I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, fto put My name there forever. And gMy eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.”
4 “And if you will hwalk before Me ias David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will jkeep My statutes and My judgments,
5 “then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, kas I promised David your father, saying, ‘There will not lack a man from you on the throne of Israel.’”
6 “lBut if you or your children turn away from following Me and do not keep My commandments and My statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,
7 mthen I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and this house that I have consecrated nfor My name I will cast out of My sight. And oIsrael will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
8 “And pthis house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss, and they will say, q‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’
9 “Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods and worshiped them and served them—therefore the LORD has brought upon them rall this evil.’”
10 ¶ Now sit came to pass at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD and the king’s house,
11 (tHiram king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar, cypress, and gold according to all his desire) that King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
12 Then Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; but they did not please him.
13 So he said, “What cities are these which you have given me, my brother?” And he called them the land of uCabul to this day.
14 And Hiram sent to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.
15 ¶ And this is the account of the vforced labor which King Solomon raised to build the house of the LORD, his own house, the wMillo, the wall of Jerusalem, xHazor, yMegiddo, and zGezer.
16 (For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer and burned it with fire, and had slain the Canaanites who dwelt in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.)
17 Then Solomon built Gezer, bLower Beth Horon,
18 cBaalath and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,
19 all the storage cities that Solomon had, cities for dhis chariots and for ehis horsemen, and whatever fSolomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
20 ¶ gAll the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel—
21 their children hwho were left after them in the land, iwhom the children of Israel had not been able to destroy completely—from these Solomon raised jforced laborers, as it is to this day.
22 But Solomon did not lmake the children of Israel slaves; they were men of war, his servants, officers, captains, commanders of his chariots and his cavalry.
23 ¶ These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work—mfive hundred and fifty who ruled over the people who did the work.
24 ¶ But nPharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to oher house which Solomon had built for her; pthen he built the Millo.
25 ¶ qThree times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built to the LORD, and he burned incense on the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the house.
26 ¶ rKing Solomon also built a fleet of ships at sEzion Geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
27 tAnd Hiram sent his servants with the fleet—seamen who had knowledge of the sea—to work with the servants of Solomon.
28 And they went to uOphir, and acquired four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
References: a 2 Ch 7:11; b 1 Kg 7:1; c 2 Ch 8:6; d 1 Kg 3:5; e Ps 10:17; f 1 Kg 8:29; g Dt 11:12; h Gn 17:1; i 1 Kg 11:4,6; j 1 Kg 8:61; k 2 Sm 7:12,16; l 2 Sm 7:14-16; m Lv 18:24-29; n Jr 7:4-14; o Ps 44:14; p 2 Ch 7:21; q Dt 29:24-26; r Dt 29:25-28; s 2 Ch 8:1; t 1 Kg 5:1; u Ja 19:27; v 1 Kg 5:13; w 2 Sm 5:9; x Ja 11:1; y Ja 17:1; z Ja 16:10; b 2 Ch 8:5; c Ja 19:44; d 1 Kg 10:26; e 1 Kg 4:26; f 1 Kg 9:1; g 2 Ch 8:7; h Jg 1:21-36; i Ja 15:63; j Jg 1:28,35; l Lv 25:39; m 2 Ch 8:10; n 1 Kg 3:1; o 1 Kg 7:8; p 2 Sm 5:9; q Ex 23:14-17; r 2 Ch 8:17,18; s Nm 33:35; t 1 Kg 5:6,9; u Jb 22:24
1 ¶ Now when the aqueen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came bto test him with hard questions.
2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very large company, with camels that bore spices, and a great amount of gold and many precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she discussed with him about all that was in her heart.
3 And Solomon answered all her questions. Nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her.
4 Now when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built,
5 and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothes, and his cupbearers, cand his entryway by which he went up to the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her.
6 Then she said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom.
7 “However, I did not 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 that I heard.
8 d“Happy are your men, happy are these your servants who stand continually before you and who hear your wisdom.
9 e“Blessed be the LORD your God who fdelighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because the LORD loved Israel forever, therefore, He made you king in order gto do justice and righteousness.”
10 Then she hgave the king 120 talents of gold, and a great store of spices and precious stones. There came no greater abundance of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11 ¶ iAnd the ships also of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a very great number of almug wood and precious stones.
12 jAnd the king made of the almug wood pillars for the house of the LORD and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers. There came no such kalmug wood since, nor were seen to this day.
13 Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she and her servants returned and went to her own country.
14 ¶ Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold,
15 besides that from the lmerchants and from the traffic of the spice merchants and from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country.
16 ¶ And King Solomon made 200 shields of beaten gold. Six hundred shekels of gold went into one shield.
17 And he made n300 shields of beaten gold. Three minas of gold went into one shield. And the king put them in the ohouse of the forest of Lebanon.
18 ¶ pFurthermore, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the best gold.
19 The throne had six steps. And the top of the throne was round at the back. And there were arms on each side of the seat and two lions stood beside the arms.
20 And twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps. There was nothing like it for any other kingdom.
21 ¶ qNow 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. This was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
22 And the king had a fleet of rtrading ships with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years the trading ships came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.
23 So tKing Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.
24 ¶ And all the earth sought Solomon, to hear his wisdom that God had put in his heart.
25 And every man brought a present, vessels of silver and vessels of gold and garments and armor and spices, horses and mules, so much year after year.
26 ¶ uAnd Solomon vgathered together chariots and horsemen. And he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen whom he stationed in the cities for chariots and with the king at Jerusalem.
27 wAnd the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars he made as common as the sycamore trees that are abundant in the lowland.
28 ¶ xAnd Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt and Keveh. The king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.
29 And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150. yAnd they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
chapter-10 References: a Mt 12:42; b Jg 14:12; c 1 Ch 26:16; d Pv 8:34; e 1 Kg 5:7; f 2 Sm 22:20; g Ps 72:2; h Ps 72:10,15; i 1 Kg 9:27,28; j 2 Ch 9:11; k 2 Ch 9:10; l 2 Ch 1:16; m Ps 72:10; n 1 Kg 14:26; o 1 Kg 7:2; p 2 Ch 9:17; q 2 Ch 9:20; r Gn 10:4; s 1 Kg 9:26-28; t 1 Kg 3:12,13; 4:30; u 1 Kg 4:26; v 1 Kg 9:19; w 2 Ch 1:15-17; x Dt 17:16; y 2 Kg 7:6,7
1 ¶ But aKing Solomon loved bmany foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites,
2 of the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the children of Israel, c“You shall not go in to them, nor they to you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, dthat his wives turned his heart after other gods; and ehis heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, fas was the heart of David his father.
5 For Solomon went after gAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after hMilcom the abomination of the iAmmonites.
6 Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did David his father.
7 jThen Solomon built a high place for kChemosh the abomination of Moab, on lthe hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 ¶ The LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the LORD God of Israel, mwho had appeared to him twice,
10 and nhad commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the LORD had commanded.
11 Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes which I commanded you, oI will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your pservant.
12 Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for the sake of David your father; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 qHowever, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but will give rone tribe to your son, sfor the sake of My servant David and for Jerusalem, twhich I have chosen.”
14 ¶ The LORD ustirred up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal line in Edom.
15 vFor it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, wafter he had killed every male in Edom
16 (for six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom),
17 that Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, to go into Egypt, while Hadad was still a little child.
18 Then they arose from Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, food, and land.
19 Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen, as wife.
20 The sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath grew up in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.
21 xSo when Hadad heard in Egypt that David rested with his fathers, and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”
22 Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that you seek to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing; nevertheless, let me go anyway.”
23 ¶ God also stirred up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord yHadadezer king of Zobah.
24 He gathered men to himself and became captain over a band, zwhen David killed those of Zobah. They went to Damascus, dwelt there, and reigned in Damascus.
25 He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon—besides the trouble that Hadad caused; and he abhorred Israel and reigned over Syria.
26 ¶ aThen Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zereda, Solomon’s servant—whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow—balso crebelled against the king.
27 This was the reason he rebelled: dSolomon had built the Millo and repaired the damages to the City of David his father.
28 The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and when Solomon saw that the young man was eindustrious, he made him officer over all the labor force of the house of Joseph.
29 Now it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet fAhijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he had clothed himself with a new garment, and the two were alone in the field.
30 Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and gtore it into twelve pieces.
31 He said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces, hfor thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you—
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),
33 ibecause they have forsaken Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and to keep My statutes and My judgments, as did David his father.
34 Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David My servant, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes.
35 jBut I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and give it to you—ten tribes.
36 And to his son I will give one tribe, that kDavid My servant may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself to put My name there.
37 So I will take you, and you shall reign over all your heart’s desires, and you shall be king over Israel.
38 If you heed all that I command you, and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did, lI will be with you and mbuild you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.
39 I will afflict the descendants of David because of this, but not forever.’”
40 Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to nShishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
41 ¶ oNow the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?
42 pAnd the period that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
43 qThen Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his rplace.
Chapter-11 References: a Ne 13:26; b Dt 17:17; c Dt 7:3–4; d Dt 17:17; e 1 Kg 8:61; f 1 Kg 9:4; g Jg 2:13; h Lv 20:2–5; i 2 Kg 23:13; j Nm 33:52; k Jg 11:24; l 2 Kg 23:13; m 1 Kg 3:5; 9:2; n 1 Kg 6:12; 9:6–7; o 1 Kg 11:31; 12:15–16; p 1 Kg 11:31,37; q 2 Sm 7:15; r 1 Kg 12:20; s 2 Sm 7:15–16; t Dt 12:11; u 1 Ch 5:26; v 2 Sm 8:14; w Nm 24:18–19; x 1 Kg 2:10,34; y 2 Sm 8:3; 10:16; z 2 Sm 8:3; 10:8,18; a 1 Kg 12:2; b 2 Ch 13:6; c 2 Sm 20:21; d 1 Kg 9:15,24; e Pv 22:29; f 2 Ch 9:29; g 1 Sm 15:27–28; 24:5; h 1 Kg 11:11,13; i 1 Kg 11:5–8; j 1 Kg 12:16–17; k 1 Kg 15:4; l Ja 1:5; m 2 Sm 7:11,27; n 2 Ch 12:2–9; o 2 Ch 9:29; p 2 Ch 9:30; q 2 Ch 9:31; r 2 Ch 10:1
1 ¶ Then aRehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to bShechem to make him king.
2 Now it came to pass, when cJeroboam the son of Nebat, who was still in dEgypt, heard of it (for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon and was living in Egypt),
3 that they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
4 “Your father made our eyoke grievous. Now therefore make lighter the grievous service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”
5 So he said to them, “Depart for three days, then come again to me.” And the people departed.
6 ¶ Now King Rehoboam consulted with the old men who stood before Solomon his father while he still lived, and said, “How do you advise that I may answer this people?”
7 Then they spoke to him, saying, f“If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and grant their request, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”
8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men that they had given him, and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and served him.
9 And he said to them, “What counsel do you give that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter’?”
10 Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall speak to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter for us’—thus you shall say to them, ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins.
11 And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”
12 ¶ So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, “Come to me again the third day.”
13 And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him,
14 and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”
15 Therefore the king did not hearken to the people, gfor the cause was from the LORD, that He might perform His saying which the LORD spoke hby Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16 ¶ So when all Israel saw that the king did not hearken to them, the people answered the king, saying, i“What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now look to your own house, David.” So Israel departed to their tents.
17 But as for the jchildren of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
18 Then King Rehoboam ksent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him with stones so that he died. Therefore King Rehoboam made haste to get up to his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.
19 So lIsrael rebelled against the house of David to this day.
20 Now it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly, and made him king over all mIsrael. There was none who followed the house of David, except the tribe of nJudah only.
21 ¶ And when oRehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of pBenjamin—one hundred eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors—to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
22 But qthe word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
23 “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
24 ‘Thus says the LORD: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Return every man to his house, rfor this thing is from Me.”’ So they hearkened to the word of the LORD and returned according to the word of the LORD.”
25 ¶ Then Jeroboam sbuilt Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and dwelt in it; and went out from there and built tPenuel.
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David.
27 If this people ugo up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
28 So the king took counsel and vmade two calves of gold, and said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. wBehold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
29 He set one in xBethel, and the other he put in yDan.
30 Now this thing became za sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
31 Then he made a house of high places, and amade priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.
32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like bthe feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made; and che placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had ddevised in his own heart; and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered upon the altar, and eburned incense.
Chapter-12 References: a 2 Ch 10:1; b Jg 9:6; c 1 Kg 11:26; d 1 Kg 11:40; e 1 Sm 8:11-18; f 2 Ch 10:7; g Jg 14:4; h 1 Kg 11:11,29,31; i 2 Sm 20:1; j 1 Kg 11:13,36; k 1 Kg 4:6; 5:14; l 2 Kg 17:21; m 2 Kg 17:21; n 1 Kg 11:13,32,36; o 2 Ch 11:1-4; p 2 Sm 19:17; q 2 Ch 11:2; 12:5-7; r 1 Kg 12:15; s Jg 9:45-49; t Jg 8:8,17; u Dt 12:5-7,14; v 2 Kg 10:29; 17:16; w Ex 32:4,8; x Gn 28:19; y Jg 18:26-31; z 1 Kg 13:34; a 2 Kg 17:32; b Lv 23:33-34; c Am 7:10-13; d Nm 15:39; e 1 Kg 13:1
1 ¶ And behold, there came to Bethel a a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD. Now b Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
2 Then he cried out against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, a child will be born to the house of David, c Josiah by name. And on you he will offer the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones will be d burned on you.’”
3 Then he gave e a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the LORD has spoken, ‘Behold, the altar will be torn apart and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.’”
4 Now it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God who had cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Lay hold on him.” And his hand that he stretched out against him dried up so that he could not draw it in again to himself.
5 The altar also was torn apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.
6 Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please f entreat the LORD your God, and pray for me so that my hand may be restored to me again.” And the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him again and became as it was before.
7 Now the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and g I will give you a reward.”
8 But the man of God said to the king, h “If you will give me half your house, I will not go in with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water in this place.
9 For so it was commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, i ‘Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that you came.’”
10 So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.
11 ¶ Now there dwelt an j old prophet in Bethel. And his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. The words that he had spoken to the king, these they told also to their father.
12 Then their father said to them, “What way did he go?” For his sons had seen the way the man of God went who came from Judah.
13 And he said to his sons, “Saddle for me the donkey.” So they saddled for him the donkey, and he rode on it.
14 Then 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?” And he said, “I am.”
15 Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
16 And he said, k “I cannot return with you, nor go in with you. Neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place.
17 For it was said to me l by the word of the LORD, ‘You will eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that you came.’”
18 He said to him, “I am a prophet also as you are. And an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him.
19 So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.
20 ¶ Now it came to pass as they sat at the table that the word of the LORD came to the prophet who brought him back.
21 And he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Forasmuch as you have disobeyed the mouth of the LORD and have not kept the commandment that the LORD your God commanded you,
22 but came back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the m place of which the LORD said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water”; your body will not come to the grave of your fathers.’”
23 Now it came to pass after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
24 And when he was gone, n 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.
25 And behold, men passed by and saw the body cast in the way and the lion standing by the carcass. And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
26 Now 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 word of the LORD. Therefore, the LORD has delivered him to the lion that has torn him and slain him according to the word of the LORD that He spoke to him.”
27 And he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it.
28 And 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 carcass nor torn the donkey.
29 So the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey. And he brought it back. And the old prophet came to the city to mourn and to bury him.
30 Then he laid his body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, o “Alas, my brother!”
31 Now it came to pass after he had buried him that he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried. p Lay my bones beside his bones.
32 q For the saying that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of r Samaria, will surely come to pass.”
33 ¶ s After this thing Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests for the high places. Anyone who would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.
34 t And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off and u to destroy it from off the face of the earth.
1 ¶ At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please arise and disguise yourself so that you not be known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, there is Ahijah the prophet who told me that I should be king over this people.”
3 And take with you ten loaves, and cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the child.
4 And Jeroboam’s wife did so. And she arose and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim by reason of his age.
5 ¶ Then the LORD said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to ask something of you for her son, for he is sick. You will say thus and thus to her, for it will be when she comes in that she will pretend to be another woman.”
6 Now it was so that when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, that he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another woman? For I am sent to you with heavy news.
7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel,
8 Because I exalted you from among the people and made you prince over My people Israel, and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to 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 only that which was right in My eyes;
9 but you have done evil above all who were before you, for you have gone and made other gods and molten images in order to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back—
10 therefore behold, I will bring evil on the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male person, both bond and free in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam as a man takes away rubbish, until it is all gone.
11 The dogs will eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city. And he who dies in the field the birds of the air will eat, for the LORD has spoken it.’
12 Arise therefore, go to your own house. When your feet enter into the city, the child will die.
13 Then all Israel will mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam will come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.
14 Furthermore, the LORD will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam, this day and from now on!
15 For the LORD will smite Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. And He will root up Israel out of this good land that He gave to their fathers. And He will scatter them beyond the River because they have made their Asherim, provoking the LORD to anger.
16 And He will give up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and made Israel sin.
17 ¶ Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed, and came to Tirzah. When she came to the threshold of the door, the child died.
18 Then they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him according to the word of the LORD that He spoke by the hand of His servant Ahijah the prophet.
19 ¶ And 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.
20 And the days that Jeroboam reigned were twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.
21 ¶ And 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 that the LORD chose out of all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.
22 So Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD. And they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins that they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.
23 For they also built for themselves high places and images and Asherim, on every high hill and under every green tree.
24 Now there were also sodomites in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
25 ¶ Now it came to pass in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem.
26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. And he took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made.
27 So King Rehoboam made in their place bronze shields. And he committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard who kept the door of the king’s house.
28 Now it happened when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guards carried them and brought them back into the guards’ chamber.
29 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
31 Then 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. And Abijam his son reigned in his place.
1 ¶ Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah.
2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
3 And he walked in all the sins of his father that he had done before him. And his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.
4 Nevertheless, for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem;
5 because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
6 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
7 Now the rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
8 Then Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place.
9 ¶ Now in the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa began to reign as king of Judah.
10 And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
11 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, like David his father.
12 And he took away the sodomites out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
13 And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove. And Asa destroyed her idol and burned it by the Brook Kidron.
14 But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless Asa’s heart was loyal to the LORD all his days.
15 And he brought into the house of the LORD the things that his father had dedicated and the things that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and vessels.
16 ¶ And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
17 Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah so that he might not allow anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.
18 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasuries of the house of the LORD, and the treasuries of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And King Asa sent them to Benhadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt at Damascus, saying,
19 “There is a league between me and you, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent to you a present of silver and gold. Come and break your league with Baasha king of Israel so that he may depart from me.”
20 So Benhadad hearkened to King Asa and sent the captains of the armies that he had against the cities of Israel. And he attacked Ijon and Dan and Abel Beth Maachah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
21 Now it came to pass when Baasha heard this, that he ceased building Ramah. And he dwelt in Tirzah.
22 Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah. No one was exempt. And they took away the stones and timber of Ramah with which Baasha had built. And King Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.
23 ¶ The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might and all that he did and the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless, in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
24 And 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.
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.
26 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD. And he walked in the way of his father and in his sin with which he made Israel sin.
27 And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha killed him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon.
28 Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah Baasha killed him and reigned in his place.
29 Now it came to pass when he reigned, that he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam any persons alive, until he had destroyed them according to the word of the LORD that He spoke by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite,
30 because of the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and that he made Israel sin, by his provocation with which he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.
31 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
32 Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
33 ¶ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel in Tirzah. He reigned twenty-four years.
34 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin with which he made Israel sin.
1 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,
2 “Forasmuch as 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 sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins,
3 behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house. And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
4 Anyone of Baasha who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat.”
5 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
6 So Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah. And Elah his son reigned in his place.
7 And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the LORD against Baasha and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he killed him.
8 ¶ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa, king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah. He reigned two years.
9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward of his house at Tirzah.
10 So Zimri went in and killed him. And he killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah. And he reigned in his place.
11 Now it came to pass when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he killed all the house of Baasha. He did not leave a single male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends.
12 Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha according to the word of the LORD that He spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,
13 for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned and by which they made Israel sin, in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
15 ¶ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa, king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. And the people were camped against Gibbethon which belonged to the Philistines.
16 And the people who were camped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and has also slain the king.” Therefore, all Israel made Omri, the captain of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp.
17 And Omri went up from Gibbethon and all Israel with him. And they besieged Tirzah.
18 Now it came to pass when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over himself with fire. And he died
19 because of his sins that he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin that he did to make Israel sin.
20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and his treason that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
21 ¶ Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri.
22 But the people who followed Omri prevailed against the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri reigned.
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa, king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel. He reigned twelve years. He reigned six years at Tirzah.
24 And he bought the hill Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built on the hill. And he called the name of the city that he built Samaria after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill.
25 But Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD. And he did worse than all who were before him.
26 For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sin with which he made Israel sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger by their idols.
27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did and his might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
28 So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And Ahab his son reigned in his place.
29 ¶ And in the thirty-eighth year of Asa, king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel. And Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.
30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all who were before him.
31 Now it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians. And he went and served Baal and worshiped him.
32 And he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal that he had built in Samaria.
33 Now Ahab made a grove. And Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
34 In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. He laid the foundation of it with the loss of Abiram his firstborn. And he set up the gates of it with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD that He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
1 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,
2 “Forasmuch as 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 sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins,
3 behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house. And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
4 Anyone of Baasha who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat.”
5 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
6 So Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah. And Elah his son reigned in his place.
7 And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the LORD against Baasha and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he killed him.
8 ¶ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa, king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah. He reigned two years.
9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward of his house at Tirzah.
10 So Zimri went in and killed him. And he killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah. And he reigned in his place.
11 Now it came to pass when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he killed all the house of Baasha. He did not leave a single male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends.
12 Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha according to the word of the LORD that He spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,
13 for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned and by which they made Israel sin, in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
15 ¶ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa, king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. And the people were camped against Gibbethon which belonged to the Philistines.
16 And the people who were camped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and has also slain the king.” Therefore, all Israel made Omri, the captain of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp.
17 And Omri went up from Gibbethon and all Israel with him. And they besieged Tirzah.
18 Now it came to pass when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over himself with fire. And he died
19 because of his sins that he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin that he did to make Israel sin.
20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and his treason that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
21 ¶ Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri.
22 But the people who followed Omri prevailed against the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri reigned.
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa, king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel. He reigned twelve years. He reigned six years at Tirzah.
24 And he bought the hill Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built on the hill. And he called the name of the city that he built Samaria after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill.
25 But Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD. And he did worse than all who were before him.
26 For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sin with which he made Israel sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger by their idols.
27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did and his might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
28 So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And Ahab his son reigned in his place.
29 ¶ And in the thirty-eighth year of Asa, king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel. And Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.
30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all who were before him.
31 Now it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians. And he went and served Baal and worshiped him.
32 And he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal that he had built in Samaria.
33 Now Ahab made a grove. And Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
34 In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. He laid the foundation of it with the loss of Abiram his firstborn. And he set up the gates of it with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD that He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
1 ¶ Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the ainhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, b“As the LORD God of Israel lives, cbefore whom I stand, dthere will not be dew nor rain ethese years, except by my word.”
2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
3 “Get away from here and turn eastward. Hide yourself by the Brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan.
4 Now it will be that you will drink of the brook. And I have commanded the fravens to feed you there.”
5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and dwelt by the Brook Cherith that flows into the Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening. And he drank from the brook.
7 Now it came to pass after a while that the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
8 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
9 “Arise, go to gZarephath that belongs to hSidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to provide for you.”
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please fetch me a little water in a vessel so that I may drink.”
11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”
12 But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have a cake, only a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a jar. And behold, I am gathering two sticks so that I may go in and prepare for me and my son so that we may eat it and idie.”
13 Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear. Go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake from it and bring it to me, and afterward make for yourself and for your son.
14 For thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘The barrel of meal will not be exhausted, neither will the jar of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth.’”
15 So she went and did according to the saying of Elijah. And she and he, and her house ate many days.
16 And the barrel of meal was not exhausted, neither did the jar of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD that He spoke by Elijah.
17 ¶ Now it came to pass after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick. And his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.
18 And she said to Elijah, j“What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to call my sin to remembrance and to slay my son?”
19 Then he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him out of her bosom and carried him up into a loft where he lived. And he laid him on his own bed.
20 Then he cried out to the LORD and said, “O LORD my God, have You also brought evil on the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?”
21 kThen he stretched himself on the child three times and cried out to the LORD and said, “O LORD my God, please let this child’s soul come into him again.”
22 Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah. And the soul of the child came into him again and he lrevived.
23 So Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the chamber into the house. And he delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.”
24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this mI know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.”
Chapter-17 References: a Jg 12:4; b 2 Kg 3:14; 5:20; c Dt 10:8; d Js 5:17; e Lk 4:25; f Jb 38:41; g Ob 20; h 2 Sm 24:6; i Dt 28:23,24; j Lk 5:8; k 2 Kg 4:34,35; l Hb 11:35; m Jn 2:11; 3:2; 16:30
1 ¶ Now it came to pass after amany days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go. Show yourself to Ahab, and bI will send rain on the earth.”
2 And Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. And there was a severe famine in Samaria.
3 And Ahab called Obadiah who was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly,
4 for it was so when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD that Obadiah took 100 prophets and hid them by fifty in a cave and fed them with bread and water.)
5 Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go into the land, to all fountains of water and to all brooks. Perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive so that we not lose all the cattle.”
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.
7 ¶ Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him. And che recognized him and fell on his face. And he said, “Is it you, Elijah, my master?”
8 And he answered him, “It is I. Go tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’”
9 Then he said, “What sin have I committed that you would deliver your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me?
10 As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to seek you. And when they said, ‘He is not there,’ he made the kingdom and nation swear that they could not find you.
11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here.”’
12 Now it will come to pass as soon as I have left you that dthe Spirit of the LORD will carry you where I do not know; and so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant fear the LORD from my youth.
13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, how I hid 100 men of the Lord’s prophets by fifty in a cave and fed them with bread and water?
14 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here.”’ He will kill me.”
15 And Elijah said, “As the LORD of armies lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.”
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 ¶ Now it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Are eyou he f who troubles Israel?”
18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house because gyou have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and you have followed the Baals.
19 Now therefore send and gather to me all Israel at hMount Carmel, with the 450 prophets of Baal and i400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
20 ¶ So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel and jgathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
21 Then Elijah came to all the people and said, k“How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, lfollow Him, but if Baal, follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, m“I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD, nbut Baal’s prophets are 450 men.
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 wood and put no fire under it. And I will dress the other bull and lay it on wood and put no fire under it.
24 Then call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD. And the God who oanswers by fire, let him be God.” And all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.”
25 ¶ So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and dress it first, for you are many. Then call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under it.”
26 Then they took the bull that was given them, and they dressed it. And they called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us.” But there was pno voice, nor anyone who answered. And they leaped on the altar that was made.
27 Now it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them. And he said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is meditating or he is busy or he is on a journey. Perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.”
28 So they cried out with a loud voice and qcut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them.
29 Now it came to pass when midday was past, and rthey prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was sneither voice nor any to answer, nor any who paid attention.
30 ¶ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And the repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.
31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, u“Israel will be your name.”
32 And with the stones he built an altar vin the name of the LORD. And he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed.
33 Then he wput the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces. And he laid it on the wood and said, “Fill four waterpots with water and xpour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.”
34 Then he said, “Do it the second time.” And they did it the second time. And he said, “Do it the third time.” And they did it the third time.
35 And the water ran around the altar. And he filled the ytrench also with water.
36 Now it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “LORD zGod of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, alet it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and that bI have done all these things because of Your word.
37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me so that this people may know that You are the LORD God and that You have turned their heart back again.”
38 Then the cfire of the LORD 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.
39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces. And they said, d“The LORD, He is God. The LORD, He is God.”
40 Then Elijah said to them, e“Take the prophets of Baal. Do not let one of them escape.” And they took them, and Elijah brought them down to the fBrook Kishon. And ghe killed them there.
41 ¶ Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Get yourself up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain.”
42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel. And hhe cast himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees.
43 And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked. And he said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again seven times.”
44 Now it came to pass at the seventh time that he said, “Behold, there arises a small cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down so that the rain not stop you.’”
45 Now it came to pass in the meantime that the heaven was black with clouds and wind. And there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
46 Then the ihand of the LORD was on Elijah. And he jgirded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
Chapter-18 References: a Lk 4:25; b Dt 28:12; c 2 Kg 1:6-8; d At 8:39; e 1 Kg 21:20; f Ja 7:25; g 2 Ch 15:2; h Ja 19:26; i 1 Kg 16:33; j 1 Kg 22:6; k Mt 6:24; l Ja 24:15; m 1 Kg 19:10,14; n 1 Kg 18:19; o 1 Ch 21:26; p Jr 10:5; q Dt 14:1; r Ex 29:39,41; s 1 Kg 18:26; t 2 Ch 33:16; u Gn 32:28; 35:10; v Cl 3:17; w Lv 1:6-8; x Jg 6:20; y 1 Kg 18:32,38; z Ex 3:6; 4:5; a 1 Kg 8:43; b Nm 16:28; c 1 Ch 21:26; d 1 Kg 18:21,24; e 2 Kg 10:25; f Jg 4:7; 5:21; g Dt 13:5; 18:20; h Js 5:17,18; i 2 Kg 3:15; j 2 Kg 4:29; 9:1
1 ¶ Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how ahe had killed all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, b“So let the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”
3 Now when he saw this he arose and ran for his life. And he came to Beersheba which belongs to Judah. And he left his servant there.
4 ¶ But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. And he came and sat down under a juniper tree. And che requested for himself that he might die. And he said, “It is enough, now, O LORD. Take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
5 Now as he lay down and slept under a juniper tree, behold, there an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
6 Then he looked, and behold, there was a cake baked on the coals and a jar of water at his head. And he ate and drank and laid himself down again.
7 Then the angel of the LORD came again the second time. And he touched him and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.”
8 So he arose and ate and drank. And he went in the strength of that food dforty days and forty nights to eHoreb the mountain of God.
1 ¶ Now aBen-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 bSamaria and fought against it.
2 Then he sent messengers to the city to Ahab king of Israel. And he said to him, “Thus says Ben-hadad,
3 ‘Your silver and your gold are mine. Your wives also and your children, even the most beautiful, are mine.’”
4 Then the king of Israel answered and said, “My lord, O king, according to your saying, I am yours and all that I have.”
5 Then the messengers came again and said, “Thus says Ben-hadad, saying, ‘Although I have sent to you, saying, “You will deliver me your silver and your gold and your wives and your children,”
6 ‘yet I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time and they will search your house and the houses of your servants. And it will be that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they will put it in their hand and take it away.’”
7 ¶ Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, “Please observe and see 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 did not refuse him.”
8 Then all the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not hearken or consent.”
9 Therefore, he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, “Tell my lord the king, ‘I will do all that which you first sent to your servant to do. But this thing I cannot do.’” And the messengers departed and brought him word again.
10 Then Ben-hadad sent to him and said, c“The gods do so to me and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough for handfuls for all the people who follow me.”
11 And the king of Israel answered and said, “Tell him, ‘Do not let him who puts on his armor dboast himself as he who puts it off.’”
12 Now it came to pass when Ben-hadad heard this message as he was edrinking with the kings in the pavilions, that he said to his servants, “Get ready!” And they got ready to attack the city.
13 ¶ And behold, there came a prophet to Ahab king of Israel, saying, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, fI will deliver it into your hand this day, and you will know that I am the LORD.’”
14 Then Ahab said, “By whom?” And he said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces.’” Then he said, “Who will order the battle?” And he answered, “You.”
15 Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and there were 232. And after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being 7,000.
16 And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was gdrinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who helped him.
17 And 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 who have come out of Samaria.”
18 And he said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive. If they have come out for war, take them alive.”
19 So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army that followed them.
20 Then they killed every one his man. And the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. And Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen.
21 And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots. And he killed the Syrians with a great slaughter.
22 Then the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself and observe and see what you have to do. hFor at the turn of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.”
23 ¶ Now the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore, they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.
24 “And do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their place.
25 “And muster 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 will be stronger than they.” And he hearkened to their voice and did so.
26 Now it came to pass at the turn of the year that Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to iAphek to fight against Israel.
27 Then the children of Israel were mustered and were all present, and went against them. And the children of Israel camped before them like two little flocks of kids. But the Syrians filled the jcountry.
28 ¶ Then there came a kman of God and spoke to the king of Israel. And he said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore lI will deliver all this great multitude into your hand and you will know that I am the LORD.’”
29 And they camped opposite one another for seven days. And so it was, that on the seventh day the battle was joined. And the children of Israel killed 100,000 of the Syrian foot soldiers in one day.
30 But the rest fled to Aphek into the city, and there a wall fell on 27,000 of the men who were left. And Ben-hadad fled and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
31 ¶ And his servants said to him, “Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us mput sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will save your life.”
32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel. And they said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’” And he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
33 Now the men took this as an omen, and quickly understanding his word, said, “Your brother Ben-hadad.” Then he said, “Go, bring him.” Then Ben-hadad came out to him, and he took him up into the chariot.
34 Then Ben-hadad said to him, n“The cities that my father took from your father, I will restore. And you will make streets for trade for yourself in Damascus as my father made in Samaria.” Then Ahab said, “I will send you away with this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him and sent him away.
35 ¶ Then a certain man of othe sons of the prophets said to his neighbor pby the word of the LORD, “Please strike me.” And the man refused to strike him.
36 Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion will slay you.” And as soon as he had departed from him, qa lion found him and killed him.
37 Then he found another man and said, “Please strike me.” And the man struck him, so that in striking he wounded him.
38 So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way. And he disguised himself with ashes on his face.
39 Now ras the king passed by, he cried to the king and 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 is missing, then will syour life be for his life, or else you will pay a talent of silver.’
40 “And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” And the king of Israel said to him, “So will your judgment be. You yourself have decided it.”
41 Then he hastily took the bandage away from his face. And the king of Israel recognized him that he was of the prophets.
42 And he said to him, “Thus says the LORD, t‘Because you have let go out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life will go for his life and your people for his people.’”
43 And the king of Israel uwent to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.
Chapter-20 References: a 2 Kg 6:24; b 1 Kg 16:24; c 1 Kg 19:2; d Pv 27:1; e 1 Kg 20:16; f 1 Kg 20:28; g 1 Kg 16:9; 20:12; h 2 Sm 11:1; i Ja 13:4; j Jg 6:3-5; k 1 Kg 17:18; l 1 Kg 20:13; m Gn 37:34; n 1 Kg 15:20; o 2 Kg 2:3,5,7,15; p 1 Kg 13:17,18; q 1 Kg 13:24; r 2 Sm 12:1; s 2 Kg 10:24; t 1 Kg 22:31-37; u 1 Kg 21:4
1 ¶ Now it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard that was in aJezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
2 And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your bvineyard so 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. If you like, I will give you the value of it in money.”
3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The LORD forbid me cthat I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you.”
4 Then Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he laid himself down on his bed and turned away his face. And he would not eat food.
5 ¶ But dJezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sad that you are not eating food?”
6 Then he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money. Or, if it please you, I will give another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”
7 Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise and eat food, and let your heart be merry. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal. And she sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.
9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head among the people.
10 “And set worthless men before him, to bear witness against him, saying, ‘You eblasphemed God and the king.’ And then carry him out and fstone him so that he may die.”
11 ¶ So the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, and as it was written in the letters that she had sent to them.
12 gThey proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head among the people.
13 And there came in two worthless men and sat before him. And the worthless men bore hwitness against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth blasphemed God and the king.” iThen they carried him out of the city and stoned him with stones so that he died.
14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth is stoned and he is dead.”
15 ¶ Now it came to pass 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 that he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
16 Now it came to pass 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.
17 ¶ jAnd the word of the LORD came to kElijah the Tishbite, saying,
18 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, lwho is in Samaria. Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to possess it.
19 “And you will speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ And you will speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, m“In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth will dogs lick your blood, even yours.”’”
20 Then Ahab said to Elijah, n“Have you found me, O my enemy?” And he answered, “I have found you because oyou have sold yourself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.
21 “Behold, pI will bring evil on you, and will take away your qposterity. And I will cut off from Ahab revery male, both sbond and free in Israel.
22 “And I will make your house like the house of tJeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of uBaasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation by which you have provoked Me to anger and made Israel sin.
23 v“And concerning Jezebel also the LORD spoke, saying, ‘The dogs will eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’
24 “The dogs will eat wthe one belonging to Ahab who dies in the city. And the one who dies in the field the birds of heaven will eat.”
25 ¶ But xthere was no one like Ahab who sold himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom yJezebel his wife stirred up.
26 And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as zthe Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
27 ¶ Now it came to pass when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and aput sackcloth on his body. And he fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about depressed.
28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
29 “Do you see how Ahab bhas humbled himself before Me? Because he humbles himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days. But cin his son’s days I will bring the evil on his house.”
Chapter-21 References: a 1 Kg 18:45,46; b 1 Sm 8:14; c Nm 36:7; d 1 Kg 19:1,2; e Ex 22:28; f Lv 24:14; g Is 58:4; h Ex 20:16; 23:1,7; i 2 Kg 9:26; j Ps 9:12; k 1 Kg 19:1; l 2 Ch 22:9; m 1 Kg 22:38; n 1 Kg 18:17; o Rm 7:14; p 1 Kg 14:10; q 2 Kg 10:10; r 1 Sm 25:22; s 1 Kg 14:10; t 1 Kg 15:29; u 1 Kg 16:3,11; v 2 Kg 9:10,30-37; w 1 Kg 14:11; 16:4; x 1 Kg 16:30-33; 21:20; y 1 Kg 16:31; z 2 Kg 21:11; a Gn 37:34; b 2 Kg 22:19; c 2 Kg 9:25; 10:11,17
1 ¶ Now they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.
2 Then it came to pass in the third year that aJehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.
3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that bRamoth in Gilead is ours, and we are doing nothing to take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?”
4 Then he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle to Ramoth Gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, c“I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
5 So Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, d“Please inquire for the word of the LORD.”
6 Then the king of Israel egathered the prophets together, about 400 men. And he said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”
7 But fJehoshaphat said, “Is there not here a prophet of the LORD that we may inquire of him?”
8 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the LORD. But I hate him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.”
9 Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.”
10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, having put on their robes, were sitting each on his throne at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets prophesied before them.
11 Then Zedekiah the son of Chena-anah made ghorns of iron for himself. And he said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘With these hyou will gore the Syrians until you have consumed them.’”
12 Then all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the LORD will deliver it into the king’s hand.”
13 ¶ Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Behold now, the words of the prophets are favorable to the king with one mouth. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.”
14 But Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives, iwhat the LORD says to me, that I will speak.”
15 So he came to the king. And the king said to him, “Micaiah, will we go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or will we forbear?” And he answered him, “Go and prosper, for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.”
16 Then the king said to him, “How many times will I adjure you that you tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD?”
17 ¶ And he said, “I saw all Israel jscattered on the hills as sheep that have no shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These have no master. Let them return every man to his house in peace.’”
18 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?”
19 And he said, “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. kI saw the LORD sitting on His throne, land all the army of heaven standing by Him on his right hand and on His left.
20 “And the LORD said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab so that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ And one said on this manner and another said on that manner.
21 “Then there came forth a spirit and stood before the LORD. And he said, ‘I will persuade him.’
22 “And the LORD said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go forth and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, m‘You will persuade him and prevail also. Go forth and do so.’”
23 n“Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets, and the LORD has spoken evil concerning you.”
24 ¶ But Zedekiah the son of Chena-anah went near and ostruck Micaiah on the cheek. And he said, p“Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak to you?”
25 Then Micaiah said, “Behold, you will see in the day when you will go into an qinner chamber to hide yourself.”
26 And 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.
27 “Then say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this fellow in the rprison and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction until I come in peace.”’”
28 Then Micaiah said, “If you return at all in peace, sthe LORD has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hearken, O people, every one of you.”
29 ¶ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.
30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and enter into the battle. But you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel tdisguised himself and went into the battle.
31 But the uking of Syria commanded his thirty-two vcaptains who had command over his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with either small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.”
32 Now it came to pass 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 wcried out.
33 Then it came to pass when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.
34 Now a certain man drew a bow at random 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 fight, for I am wounded.”
35 And the battle increased that day. And the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, and he died at evening. And the blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot.
36 And there went a proclamation throughout the army close to sunset, saying, “Every man to his city and every man to his own country.”
37 ¶ So the king died and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria.
38 And they washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (now the harlots bathed themselves there), according xto the word of the LORD that He spoke.
39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the yivory house that he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
40 So Ahab slept with his fathers, and zAhaziah his son reigned in his place.
41 ¶ aAnd Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign. And he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
43 And bhe walked in all the ways of Asa his father. He turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD. Nevertheless, the chigh places were not taken away, for the people still offered and burned incense on the high places.
44 And dJehoshaphat made epeace with the king of Israel.
45 ¶ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat and his might that he showed, and how he warred, are they not written in the fbook of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
46 gAnd the remnant of the sodomites who remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.
47 hThere was then no king in Edom. A deputy was king.
48 iJehoshaphat jmade trading ships to go to kOphir for gold. lBut they did not go because the ships were wrecked at mEzion Geber.
49 Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.” But Jehoshaphat was not willing.
50 And nJehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father. And Jehoram his son reigned in his place.
51 ¶ oAhaziah 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.
52 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD. And he pwalked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.
53 So qhe served Baal and worshiped him. And he provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, raccording to all that his father had done.