Bible in 90 Days

³⁸ Then he made ten basins of bronze; each basin held forty baths and was four cubits, and there was one basin on each of the ten stands. ³⁹ Then he placed the bases, five on the right [or south] side of the house and five on the left [or north] side; and he set the Sea [of cast metal] on the right side of the house toward the southeast.

⁴⁰ Now Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the bowls. So Hiram finished all the work which he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord: ⁴¹ the two pillars and the [two] bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars; ⁴² and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; ⁴³ the ten stands and the ten basins on the stands; ⁴⁴ one Sea (basin), and the twelve oxen under the Sea; ⁴⁵ the pails, the shovels, and the bowls; all these utensils which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of polished bronze. ⁴⁶ In the plain of the Jordan [River] the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon left all the utensils unweighed, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

⁴⁸ Solomon made all the [other] furniture which was in the house of the Lord: the [incense] altar of gold; the table of gold on which was the bread of the Presence; ⁴⁹ the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary); with the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold; ⁵⁰ the cups, snuffers, bowls, spoons, firepans—of pure gold; and the hinges of gold [both] for the doors of the inner house, the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the house, the main room [the Holy Place].

⁵¹ So all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was completed. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the utensils—and he put them in the treasuries of the Lord’s house.

The Ark Brought into the Temple

8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion. ² All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim (September-October), that is, the seventh month. ³ All the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark. ⁴ They brought up the ark of the Lord and the Tent of Meeting and all the holy utensils that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, so many that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁶ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, into the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its [carrying] poles from above. ⁸ The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were visible from the Holy Place that was in front of the ^[a]Holy of Holies, but they were not visible from the outside; they are there to this day (the date of this writing). ⁹ There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb (Sinai), where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.^{(A) 10} Now it happened that when the priests had come out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Lord’s house, ¹¹ so the priests could not stand [in their positions] to minister because of the cloud, for the glory and brilliance of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house (temple).

Solomon Addresses the People

¹² Then Solomon said,

¹⁴ Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ¹⁵ He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hand, saying, ¹⁶ ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I did not choose a [particular] city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name (Presence) would be in it, but I chose David to be over My people Israel.’ ¹⁷ Now it was [determined] in the heart of my father David to build a house (temple) for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My Name, you did well, in that it was in your heart. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son, who shall be born to you, it is he who shall build it for My Name [and My Presence].’ ²⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; I have risen in the place of my father David and have taken my seat on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and have built the house (temple) for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹ There I have made a place [in the Holy of Holies] for the ark, in which is the covenant (solemn agreement) of the Lord, which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”^(B)

The Prayer of Dedication

²² Then Solomon stood [in the courtyard] before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. ²³ He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth below, who keeps the covenant and shows lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart; ²⁴ You who have kept what You ^[b]promised to Your servant my father David. You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled Your word with Your hand, as it is this day. ²⁵ Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep for Your servant my father David that which You promised him when You said, ‘You shall not be without a man (descendant) to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way [of life] to walk before Me [according to my laws] as you have done.’ ²⁶ Now, O God of Israel, please let Your word which You have spoken to Your servant David my father be confirmed.

²⁷ But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built! ²⁸ Yet graciously consider the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the [loud] cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today; ²⁹ that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My Name (Presence) shall be there,’ that You may listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. ³⁰ Listen to the prayer of Your servant and of Your people Israel which they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven, Your dwelling place; hear and forgive.

³¹ “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath [of innocence] and he comes to take the oath before Your altar in this house (temple), ³² then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his guilt on his own head, and justifying the righteous by rewarding him in accordance with his righteousness.

³³ “When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and then they turn to You again and praise Your Name and pray and ask for Your favor and compassion in this house (temple), ³⁴ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave their fathers.

³⁵ “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and praise 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; indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk (live). And send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

³⁷ “If there is famine in the land, or if there is pestilence (plague), blight, mildew, migratory locusts, or grasshoppers, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever affliction or plague, whatever sickness [there is], ³⁸ whatever prayer or pleading is made by any individual, or by Your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his hands out toward this house; ³⁹ then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and give to each according to his ways, whose heart (mind) You know, for You and You alone know the hearts of all the children of men, ⁴⁰ so that they may fear You [with reverence and awe] all the days that they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

⁴¹ “Moreover, concerning a ^[c]foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, but comes from a far (distant) country for the sake of Your name [to plead with You] ⁴² (for they will hear of Your great name, Your strong hand [of power], and outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house (temple), ⁴³ hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls upon (prays to) You, so that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You [with reverence and awe], as do Your people Israel, and that they may know [without any doubt] that this house which I have built is called by Your name.

⁴⁴ “When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way You send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen and the house that I have built for Your Name and Presence, ⁴⁵ then hear in heaven their prayer and their pleading, and maintain their right and defend their cause.

⁴⁶ “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the enemy’s land, [whether] far away or near; ⁴⁷ if they ^[d]take it to heart in the land where they have been taken captive, and they repent and pray to You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong and we have acted wickedly;’ ⁴⁸ if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and they pray to You toward their land [of Israel] which You gave to their fathers, the city [of Jerusalem] which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your Name and Presence; ⁴⁹ then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Your dwelling place, and maintain their right and defend their cause, ⁵⁰ and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all the transgressions which they have committed against You, and make them objects of compassion before their captors, that they will be merciful to them ⁵¹ (for they are Your people and Your heritage, whom You brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace [of slavery and oppression]), ⁵² that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them and be attentive to them whenever they call to You. ⁵³ For You singled them out from all the peoples of the earth as Your heritage, just as You declared through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

Solomon’s Benediction

⁵⁴ When Solomon finished offering this entire prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the Lord’s altar, where he had knelt down with his hands stretched toward heaven. ⁵⁵ And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, in accordance with everything that He promised. Not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He spoke through Moses His servant. ⁵⁷ May the Lord our God be with us as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us nor abandon us [to our enemies], ⁵⁸ that He may guide our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways [following Him] and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His precepts which He commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ Let these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, so that He will maintain the cause and right of His servant and of His people Israel as each day requires, ⁶⁰ so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else. ⁶¹ Therefore, your hearts are to be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as [you are doing] today.”

Dedicatory Sacrifices

⁶² Then the king and all [the people of] Israel with him [repeatedly] offered sacrifice before the Lord. ⁶³ Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord: 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house (temple) of the Lord. ⁶⁴ On that same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the house (temple) of the Lord; for he offered there the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to hold [all] the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵ So at that time Solomon held the ^[e]feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath [on the northern border of Israel] to the ^[f]Brook of Egypt [at Israel’s southern border], before the Lord our God, for seven days and seven more days [beyond the prescribed period for the Feast of Booths], fourteen days in all. ⁶⁶ On the eighth (fifteenth) day he sent the people away and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents joyful and in good spirits because of all the goodness which the Lord had shown to David His servant and Israel His people.

God’s Promise and Warning

9 Now it happened when Solomon had finished building the house (temple) of the Lord and the king’s house (palace), and all else which he was pleased to do, ² that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, just as He had appeared to him ^[g]at Gibeon. ³ The Lord told him, “I have heard your prayer and supplication which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My Name and My Presence there forever. My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually. ⁴ As for you, if you walk (live your life) before Me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, acting in accordance with everything that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My precepts, ⁵ then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised your father David, saying, ‘You shall not be without a man (descendant) on the throne of Israel.’

⁶ “But if you or your sons turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, ⁷ then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and I will cast out of My sight the house which I have consecrated for My Name and Presence. Then Israel will become a proverb (a saying) and a byword (object of ridicule) among all the peoples. ⁸ This house (temple) will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be appalled and ^[h]sneer and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this house?’ ⁹ And they [who know] will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and they have chosen other gods and have worshiped and served them; that is the reason the Lord has brought on them all this adversity.’”

Cities Given to Hiram

¹⁰ Now at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the temple of the Lord and the palace of the king ¹¹ (Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with as much cedar and cypress timber [from Lebanon] and gold as he desired), at that time King Solomon gave Hiram ^[i]twenty cities in the land of Galilee (northern Israel). ¹² So Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they ^[j]did not please him. ¹³ He said, “What are these cities [good for] which you have given me, my brother?” So they have been called the land of Cabul (like nothing, unproductive) to this day. ¹⁴ And Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.

¹⁵ Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the ^[k]Millo (fortification), the wall of Jerusalem, [and the fortress cities of] Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. ¹⁶ For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, burned it with fire and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and he had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. ¹⁷ So Solomon rebuilt [and fortified] Gezer and Lower Beth-horon, ¹⁸ Baalath and ^[l]Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, ¹⁹ and all the storage cities [for surplus provisions] which Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen, and whatever it pleased Solomon to build ^[m]in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule. ²⁰ As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the sons (descendants) of Israel, ²¹ their children who were left after them in the land, whom the Israelites were unable to completely destroy, from them Solomon levied (conscripted) forced laborers, even to this day (the date of this writing). ²² But Solomon did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war (soldiers), his servants, his officers, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.

²³ These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people doing the work.

²⁴ As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, then he built the Millo (fortification).

²⁵ Three times a year [during the ^[n]major annual festivals] Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built to the Lord, and he burned incense with them before the Lord. So he finished the house [of the Lord].

²⁶ King Solomon built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds), in the land of Edom. ²⁷ And Hiram [king of Tyre] sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon. ²⁸ They came to ^[o]Ophir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba

10 Now when the queen of ^[p]Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with riddles. ² So she came to Jerusalem with a very large caravan (entourage), with camels carrying spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything that was on her mind [to discover the extent of his wisdom]. ³ Solomon ^[q]answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king which he did not explain to her. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house (palace) which he had built, ⁵ the food on his table, the seating of his servants (court officials), the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, his ^[r]stairway by which he went up to the house (temple) of the Lord, she was breathless and awed [by the wonder of it all]. ⁶ Then she told the king, “The report which I heard in my own land about your words and wisdom is true! ⁷ I did not believe the report until I came and saw it with my own eyes. Behold, the half of it was not told to me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard. ⁸ How blessed (fortunate, happy) are your men! How blessed are these your servants who stand continually before you, hearing your wisdom! ⁹ Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, He made you king to execute justice and righteousness.” ¹⁰ She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again did such an abundance of spices come in [to Israel] as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

¹¹ Also the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a great quantity of almug wood (sandalwood) and precious stones. ¹² From the almug wood (sandalwood) the king made pillars for the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and also lyres and harps for the singers. Such almug wood did not come in [to Israel] again, nor has it been seen to this day.

¹³ King Solomon [in turn] gave to the queen of Sheba everything that she wanted, whatever she asked, besides what he gave to her ^[s]from his royal bounty. So she returned to her own country, she and her servants.

Wealth, Splendor and Wisdom

¹⁴ Now the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one [particular] year was six hundred and sixty-six ^[t]talents of gold, ¹⁵ besides the taxes from the traders and from the wares of the merchants, and [the tribute money] from all the kings of the Arabs (Bedouins) and the governors of the country. ¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten (hammered) gold; ^[u]six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷ He made three hundred smaller shields of beaten gold; ^[v]three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon [the king’s armory]. ¹⁸ Also the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the finest gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps, and a round ^[w]top was attached to the throne from the back. On either side of the seat were armrests, and two lions stood beside the armrests. ²⁰ Twelve lions stood there, one on either end of each of the six steps; there was nothing like it made for any other kingdom. ²¹ All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; it was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon. ²² For the king had at sea the [large cargo] ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.

²³ So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom. ²⁴ All the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his mind. ²⁵ Every man brought a gift [of tribute]: articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

²⁶ Now Solomon collected chariots and horsemen; he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as plentiful as the ^[x]sycamore trees that are in the lowland. ²⁸ Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from ^[y]Kue, and the king’s merchants acquired them from Kue, for a price.^{(C) 29} A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and in the same way they exported them, by the king’s merchants, to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram (Syria).

Solomon Turns from God

11 Now king Solomon [defiantly] loved ^[z]many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, ² from the very nations of whom the Lord said to the Israelites, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for the result will be that they will turn away your hearts to follow their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these in love.^{(D) 3} He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred ^[aa]concubines, and his wives turned his heart away [from God]. ⁴ For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not completely devoted to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. ⁵ For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the [fertility] goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the horror (detestable idol) of the Ammonites.^{(E) 6} Solomon did evil [things] in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as his father David had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a ^[ab]high place for [worshiping] Chemosh the horror (detestable idol) of Moab, on the hill which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the horror (detestable idol) of the sons of Ammon. ⁸ And he did the same for all of his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ So the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not follow other gods; but he did not observe (remember, obey) what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹ Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. ¹² However, I will not do it in your ^[ac]lifetime, for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son (Rehoboam). ¹³ However, I will not tear away all the kingdom; I will give one tribe (Judah) to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

God Raises Adversaries

¹⁴ Then the Lord stirred up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of royal descent in Edom. ¹⁵ For it came about, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury those killed [in battle] and had struck down every male in Edom ¹⁶ (for Joab and all [the army of] Israel stayed there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom), ¹⁷ that Hadad escaped to Egypt, he and some Edomites from his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was [still] a little boy. ¹⁸ They set out from Midian [south of Edom] and came to Paran, and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave [young] Hadad a house and ordered food and provisions for him and gave him land. ¹⁹ Hadad found great favor with Pharaoh, so that he gave Hadad in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. ²⁰ The sister of Tahpenes gave birth to Genubath, Hadad’s son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh. ²¹ But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David ^[ad]had died and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me leave, so that I may go to my own country.” ²² Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me that now you ask to go to your own country?” He replied, “Nothing; nevertheless you must let me go.”

²³ God also stirred up another adversary for Solomon, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴ Rezon gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, after David killed those in Zobah. They went to Damascus and stayed there and they reigned in Damascus.^{(F) 25} So Rezon was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad inflicted. Rezon hated Israel and reigned over Aram (Syria).

²⁶ Jeroboam, Solomon’s servant, the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zeredah whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king. ²⁷ Now this is the reason why he rebelled against the king: Solomon built the Millo (fortification) and he repaired and closed the breach of the city of his father David. ²⁸ The man Jeroboam was a brave warrior and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he put him in charge of all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. ²⁹ It came about at that time, when Jeroboam left Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road. Now Ahijah had covered himself with a new cloak; and the two of them were alone in the field. ³⁰ Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ He said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes— ³² but he [and his descendants] shall have ^[ae]one tribe (Benjamin was annexed to Judah), for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel— ³³ because ^[af]they have abandoned Me and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways and followed My commandments, doing what is right in My sight and keeping My statutes and My ordinances as did his father David. ³⁴ However, I will not take the entire kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes. ³⁵ But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and give it to you: ten tribes. ³⁶ Yet to his son I will give ^[ag]one tribe, so that My servant David may have a ^[ah]lamp always before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put My Name and Presence. ³⁷ I will take you [Jeroboam], and you shall reign over whatever your soul desires; and you shall be king over Israel (the ten northern tribes). ³⁸ Then it shall be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, keeping and observing My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build you an enduring house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. ³⁹ And in this way I will afflict the descendants of David for this (their sin), but not forever.’” ⁴⁰ So Solomon attempted to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam set out and escaped to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.

The Death of Solomon

⁴¹ 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 The time Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ⁴³ And Solomon slept [in death] with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

King Rehoboam Acts Foolishly

12 Rehoboam went to ^[ai]Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² Now when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard about it, he was living in Egypt (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon). ³ So they sent word and called for him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made our yoke (burden) heavy; so now lighten the hard labor and the heavy yoke your father imposed on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ Rehoboam replied to them, “Leave for three days, then come back to me [for my decision].” So the people left.

⁶ King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served and advised his father Solomon while he was still alive and said, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷ They spoke to him, saying, “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 ^[aj]ignored the advice which the elders gave him and consulted the young men who grew up with him and served him. ⁹ He said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke (burden) which your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him answered, “This is what you should say to this people who told you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but as for you, make our yoke lighter’—say this to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins [and my reign will be even more severe]. ¹¹ And now, whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with ^[ak]scorpions.’”

¹² Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had instructed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ The king answered the people harshly and ^[al]ignored the advice which the elders had given him, ¹⁴ and spoke to them in accordance with the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but as for me, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people; for the situation was from the Lord, so that He might fulfill His word which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.^(G)

The Kingdom Divided; Jeroboam Rules Israel

¹⁶ So when all [the ten northern tribes of] Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people replied to the king, saying,

Then Israel went back to their tents. ¹⁷ But as for the sons (descendants) of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah [including Benjamin], Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent ^[an]Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor [to represent him], and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to escape to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel (the ten northern tribes) has rebelled against the house (royal line) of David to this day (the date of this writing).

²⁰ It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent word and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah [including Benjamin].

²¹ Now when Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he assembled all the [fighting men from the] house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel to bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²² But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ²³ “Tell Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and all the house (fighting men) of Judah and Benjamin and the rest of the people, ²⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not go up and fight against your brothers, the sons of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing has come about from Me.”’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and returned to go home, in accordance with the word of the Lord.

Jeroboam’s Idolatry

²⁵ Then Jeroboam built Shechem [as his royal city] in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. He went out from there and rebuilt Penuel [as a stronghold]. ²⁶ Jeroboam [doubted God’s promise to him and] said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David.^{(H) 27} If these people go up to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, then their heart will turn to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” ²⁸ So the king took counsel [and followed bad advice] and made two ^[ao]calves of gold. And he said to the people, “It is too much for you to go [all the way] up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” ²⁹ He set the one [golden calf] in Bethel, and the other he put in ^[ap]Dan. ³⁰ Now this thing became a sin [for Israel]; because the people went to worship before the one [or the other of them] as far as Dan. ³¹ And Jeroboam also made houses on high places, and he made priests from ^[aq]all people who were not of the sons (descendants) of Levi. ³² Jeroboam held a feast on the fifteenth day of the ^[ar]eighth month, like the feast which is kept in Judah, and he went up to the altar; he did this in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.^{(I) 33} So he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart [in defiance of God’s commandments]; and he held a feast for the Israelites and he went up to the altar to burn ^[as]incense [in defiance of God’s law.]

Jeroboam Warned, Stricken

13 Now behold, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word (command) of the Lord, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar [which he had built] to burn incense. ² The man cried out against the [idolatrous] altar by the word of the Lord, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, ^[at]Josiah by name; and on you shall he sacrifice [the bodies of] the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” ³ And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be split apart and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’”^{(J) 4} When the king heard the words which the man of God cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” And his hand which he had put out against him withered, so that he was unable to pull it back to himself. ⁵ The altar also was split apart and the ashes were poured out from the altar in accordance with the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. ⁶ The king answered and said to the man of God, “Please entreat [the favor of] the Lord your God and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him and became as it was before. ⁷ And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” ⁸ But the man of God said to the king, “Even if you were to give me half your house (wealth), I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. ⁹ For I was commanded by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread or drink water, nor shall you return by the way you came.’” ¹⁰ So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.

The Disobedient Prophet

¹¹ Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel; and his sons came and told him everything that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. ¹² Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen which way the man of God who came from Judah had gone. ¹³ He said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it, ¹⁴ and he went after the man of God. And he found him sitting under an oak (terebinth) tree, and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” ¹⁵ Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” ¹⁶ He said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ For I was told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor shall you return by going the way that you came.’” ¹⁸ He answered him, “I too am a prophet, as you are; and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him. ¹⁹ So the man of God went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.

²⁰ Now it happened as they were sitting at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back. ²¹ And he cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, ²² but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “You shall not eat bread nor drink water”; your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers (ancestors).’” ²³ After the prophet of the house had eaten bread and after he had drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ Now when he had gone, a lion met him by the road and killed him, and his body was thrown in the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion was also standing beside the body. ²⁵ And there were men passing by, and they saw the body thrown in the road, and the lion standing beside the body. So they came and told about it in the city [of Bethel] where the old prophet lived.

²⁶ When the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard about it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” ²⁷ And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it. ²⁸ And he went and found the body thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion [miraculously] had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. ²⁹ Then the prophet picked up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back, and he came into the city (Bethel) of the old prophet to mourn and to bury him. ³⁰ And he laid the body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” ³¹ Then after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I am dead, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. ³² For the words which he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria shall certainly come to pass.”

³³ After this event, Jeroboam [still] did not turn from his evil way, but again made priests for the high places from among all the people. He ordained anyone who was willing, so that there would be priests for the high places. ³⁴ And this thing (idol worship) became the sin of the house of Jeroboam to blot it out and eliminate it from the face of the earth.

Ahijah Prophesies against the King

14 At that time Abijah the son [and crown prince, heir] of Jeroboam became sick. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please get up and disguise yourself, so that people will not know that you are Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there, the one who told me that I would be king over this people. ³ Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a bottle of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

⁴ Jeroboam’s wife did so. She got up and went [twenty miles] to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, because his eyes were dim from old age. ⁵ And the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the ^[au]wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you about her son, because he is sick. You shall say such and such to her, for when she arrives, she will pretend to be another woman.”

⁶ So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in the doorway, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another woman? For I have been sent to you [by God] with a harsh message. ⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel, ⁸ and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you—but you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes, ⁹ but have done more evil than all [the ^[av]kings] who were before you; for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back— ¹⁰ therefore behold, I am bringing evil on the house (royal line) of Jeroboam, and I will cut off (destroy) from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free, in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone. ¹¹ The dogs will eat [the carcass of] anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat [the carcass of] anyone who dies in the field, for the Lord has spoken it.”’^{(K) 12} Now as for you (Jeroboam’s wife), arise, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child [Abijah] will die. ¹³ All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family ^[aw]will come to [be placed in] the grave, because in him there was found something good and pleasing toward the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. ¹⁴ Moreover, the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house (royal line) of Jeroboam this day and from now on.

¹⁵ “The Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the [Euphrates] River, because they have made their ^[ax]Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. ¹⁶ He will give up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam which he has committed, and with which he has made Israel sin [by leading them into idolatry].”

¹⁷ So Jeroboam’s wife arose and left and came to Tirzah [the king’s residence]. As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child [Abijah] died. ¹⁸ And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

¹⁹ Now as for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ²⁰ The time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years, and he slept with his fathers [in death]; and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam Misleads Judah

²¹ Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to put His Name (Presence). His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. ²² And [the people of] Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord. They provoked Him to ^[ay]jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with their sins which they had committed. ²³ For they also built for themselves high places [to worship idols] and sacred pillars and Asherim [for the goddess Asherah]. These were on every high hill and under every luxuriant tree. ²⁴ There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They committed all the repulsive acts of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the Israelites.

²⁵ Now in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt [Jeroboam’s brother-in-law] came up against Jerusalem. ²⁶ He took away the treasures of the house (temple) of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything, he even took all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. ²⁷ So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and handed them over to the captains of the palace guard who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. ²⁸ And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guards would carry them and bring them back into the guardroom.

²⁹ Now as for the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ³⁰ There was also war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. ³¹ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam (Abijah) his son became king in his place.

Abijam Reigns over Judah

15 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Maacah [grand]daughter of Abishalom (^[az]Absalom). ³ He walked in all the sins [of idol worship] that his father [Rehoboam] committed before him; and his heart was not entirely devoted to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father (forefather) David. ⁴ Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp (descendant on the throne) in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him and establishing Jerusalem, ⁵ because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of [the betrayal of] Uriah the Hittite. ⁶ There was war between Rehoboam [Abijam’s father] and Jeroboam all the days of Rehoboam’s life.

⁷ Now as for the rest of the acts of Abijam and everything 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.

Asa Succeeds Abijam

⁸ Abijam slept with his fathers [in death] and they buried him in the City of David. Asa his son became king in his place.

⁹ So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign as king over Judah. ¹⁰ He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His [great-grand]mother was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom (Absalom).^{(L) 11} Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did his father (forefather) David. ¹² He expelled the male cult prostitutes (sodomites) from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers [Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijam] had made.^{(M) 13} He also deposed his [great-grand]mother Maacah from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid (obscene, vulgar) image for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa cut down her horrid image, and burned it by the Brook Kidron. ¹⁴ But the high places [of idol worship] were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa’s heart was entirely devoted to the Lord all his days. ¹⁵ He brought the things which his father had dedicated and the things which he had dedicated into the house of the Lord—silver, gold, and utensils and accessories.

¹⁶ Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. ¹⁷ Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah [north of Jerusalem], in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ Then Asa took all the silver and gold left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the palace of the king and handed them over to his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram (Syria), who lived in Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ “Let there be a treaty between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will ^[ba]withdraw from me.” ²⁰ So Ben-hadad listened to king Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth [the region of the Sea of Galilee], along with all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ When Baasha heard about it, he stopped ^[bb]fortifying Ramah and stayed in Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah—none was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had built [the fortifications]. And King Asa built with them [border fortresses at] Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa

²³ Now as for the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, everything that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But during the time of his old age he had a foot disease. ²⁴ Asa slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David. Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

Nadab, then Baasha, Rules over Israel

²⁵ Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years. ²⁶ He did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father [Jeroboam] and in his sin [of idolatry], with which he made Israel sin. ²⁷ Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house (tribe) of Issachar conspired against Nadab, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.

²⁸ So Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. ²⁹ As soon as he was king, Baasha struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave for Jeroboam anyone alive, but he destroyed them in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servant Ahijah the Shilonite—^{(N) 30} because of the sins committed by Jeroboam and which he made Israel commit, and because he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.

³¹ Now as for the rest of Nadab’s acts and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

War with Judah

³² 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 became king over all Israel in Tirzah [the capital city], and reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin [of idolatry] with which he made Israel sin.

Prophecy against Baasha

16 Now the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, ² “Because I exalted you [Baasha] from the dust and made you leader over My people Israel, and you walked in the way of Jeroboam and made My people Israel sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins [of idol worship], ³ behold, I am going to sweep away Baasha and his household (family), and I will make your house (royal line) like that of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ⁴ The dogs will eat anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat anyone belonging to him who dies in the field.”

⁵ Now as for the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

The Israelite Kings

⁶ Baasha slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in Tirzah. Elah his son became king in his place. ⁷ Moreover, the word of the Lord came against Baasha and his household through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani, both for all the evil that Baasha did in the sight of the Lord in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands (idolatry), in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he [willingly] destroyed it (the family of Jeroboam).

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel in Tirzah, and reigned two years. ⁹ His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against Elah. Now Elah was in Tirzah, getting drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the [king’s] household in Tirzah. ¹⁰ Then Zimri came in and struck and killed Elah in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and became king in his place. ¹¹ When he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, he killed the entire household of Baasha; he did not leave a single male [alive], either of his ^[bc]relatives or his friends.

¹² Thus Zimri destroyed the entire household of Baasha, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke against Baasha through Jehu the prophet,^{(O) 13} for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they committed, and made Israel commit, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. ¹⁴ Now as for the rest of the acts of Elah and everything 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 [over Israel] for seven days at Tirzah. Now the troops were camped against Gibbethon, [a city] which belonged to the Philistines, ¹⁶ and the people who were camped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and has also struck down the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷ Then Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the fortress of the king’s palace; and while inside, he set fire to the king’s palace and died, ¹⁹ because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, by walking in the way of Jeroboam, and because of his sin he caused Israel to sin. ²⁰ Now as for the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his [treasonous] conspiracy which he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?