The Daily Audio Bible
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11 Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the City of David to the house which he had built for her, because he said, “My wife will not live in the house of David, king of Israel, because those places to which the Ark of the Lord has come are holy.”
12 At that time Solomon offered whole burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built in front of the porch, 13 in keeping with the day-by-day requirement for burnt offerings commanded by Moses for the sabbaths, for the new moons, and for the appointed festivals three times during the year, namely, the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Shelters.
14 He appointed the divisions of the priests to serve according to the regulations of his father David, as well as the Levites for their offices of praise and service in the presence of the priests, in keeping with each day’s requirement. He also appointed the gatekeepers by their divisions, gate by gate, because this was the command of David, the man of God. 15 They did not turn aside from the king’s command for the priests and the Levites concerning any matter, including the treasuries.
16 So all Solomon’s work was accomplished, from the day that the foundation of the Lord’s house was laid until its completion. So the House of the Lord was finished.
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and to Elat on the shore of the sea in the land of Edom. 18 Huram sent him ships and experienced crews, who knew the sea. They were under the direction of his officers. They went to Ophir with Solomon’s crews, and from there they obtained four hundred fifty talents[a] of gold and brought it to King Solomon.
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
9 The Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s fame, so she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with difficult questions. She came with a very great entourage,[b] with camels carrying spices, a large quantity of gold, and precious stones. She came to Solomon and spoke with him about everything that was on her heart.
2 Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from Solomon that he could not explain to her.
3 When the Queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built, 4 the food on his table, the council meeting of his officials, the careful attention of his ministers and their attire, also his cupbearers and their attire, and the passageway by which he went up to the House of the Lord,[c] it took her breath away.
5 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my land about your accomplishments[d] and about your wisdom is true. 6 I did not believe the report, until I came and saw it with my own eyes. Now I find that I was not informed about even half of the greatness of your wisdom. You surpass the report that I heard. 7 Blessed are your men! Blessed are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!
8 “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has been delighted with you and has placed you on his throne as king to serve the Lord your God. Because of your God’s love for Israel and his purpose of establishing Israel forever, he has placed you over them as king to administer justice and righteousness.”
9 Then she gave the king one hundred twenty talents[e] of gold, a very great quantity of spices and incense,[f] and precious stones. There was nothing comparable to these spices and incense that the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10 In addition, the servants of Huram and Solomon who brought gold from Ophir also brought algum[g] wood and precious stones. 11 The king made the algum wood into steps[h] for the Lord’s house and for the house of the king and into lyres and harps for the singers. Nothing like them had ever been seen before in the land of Judah.
12 King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba everything she desired, whatever she asked for, more than what she had brought to the king. Then she returned to her land along with her servants.
Solomon’s Wealth
13 The weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents,[i] 14 not counting what the traders and merchants were bringing. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land also kept bringing gold and silver to Solomon.
15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold. Seven and a half pounds[j] of hammered gold went into each shield. 16 He made three hundred small shields of hammered gold. Almost four pounds[k] of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 The king made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 There were six steps up to the throne. A golden footstool was attached to the throne, and there were armrests on either side of the seat. There were two lions standing beside the armrests 19 and twelve lions standing on the steps, one on each end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any kingdom.
20 All of King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold. All the utensils in the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.[l] Silver was not thought to be worth anything in the days of Solomon, 21 because the king’s ships would go to Tarshish[m] with the servants of Huram, and once every three years the Tarshish ships would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.[n]
22 King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. 23 All the kings of the earth were seeking an audience with Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 24 Each of them would bring his gift: articles of silver and gold, clothing, scents,[o] spices, horses, and mules, year after year.
25 Solomon had four thousand teams[p] of horses and chariots and twelve thousand charioteers. He stationed them in the chariot cities and in Jerusalem with him.
26 He was ruling over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, to the border of Egypt.
27 The king made silver in Jerusalem as plentiful as ordinary stones, and the cedars were like the sycamore fig trees, which are so abundant in the Shephelah.[q]
28 Horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all the lands.
The Death of Solomon
29 The rest of the acts of Solomon, from the first to the last, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah from Shiloh, and in the visions of Iddo the seer about Jeroboam son of Nebat?
30 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem and over all Israel for forty years, 31 and then Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam became king in his place.
Rehoboam King of Judah
10 Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.
2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat, who was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon, heard about this, he returned from Egypt, 3 and the people then sent for Jeroboam.
Jeroboam and all Israel came to Rehoboam and said, 4 “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke that he laid on us, and we will serve you.”
5 Rehoboam said to them, “Return to me in three days.” So the people left.
6 King Rehoboam asked for advice from the old men[r] who had served his father Solomon while he was alive: “How would you advise me to respond to these people?”
7 They said to him, “If you are good to these people and respond favorably to their request, and you speak accommodating words to them, they will be your servants forever.”
8 But Rehoboam did not follow the advice the old men gave him. Instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who were serving as his advisors. 9 He said to them, “How would you advise me to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father laid upon us’?”
10 The young men who had grown up with him said to him, “This is what you should say to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy. You make it light for us.’ This is what you should say to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist.[s] 11 My father imposed a heavy yoke on you. I will add to your yoke. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.’”[t]
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had directed: “Come back to me on the third day.”
13 The king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the old men.
14 Instead, he spoke to them as the young men had advised: “My father made your yoke heavy. I will add to it. My father punished you with whips. I will punish you with scorpions.”
15 The king did not listen to the people, because this turn of events was from God, so that the Lord would keep his word, as he had spoken it to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah from Shiloh.
16 When all Israel saw[u] that the king did not listen to them, they responded to the king:
What share do we have in David?
No inheritance with the son of Jesse!
To your tents, Israel!
Now, look after your own house, David!
So all Israel went to their tents.[v]
17 Rehoboam continued to rule over the people of Israel who were living in the cities of Judah.
18 King Rehoboam sent Hadoram,[w] who was in charge of the forced labor, but the people of Israel stoned Hadoram to death. King Rehoboam, however, was able to get into his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.
19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David until this day.
9 But you are not in the sinful flesh but in the spirit, if indeed God’s Spirit lives in you. And if someone does not have the Spirit of Christ, that person does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you.
12 So then, brothers, we do not owe it to the sinful flesh to live in harmony with it. 13 For if you live in harmony with the sinful flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live.
The Spirit Assures Us We Are Children of God
14 Indeed, those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery so that you are afraid again, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom[a] we call out, “Abba, Father!” 16 The Spirit himself joins our spirit in testifying that we are God’s children.
17 Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him.
Suffering Leads Us to Look Ahead to Heaven
18 For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 In fact, creation is waiting with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in the hope 21 that even creation itself will be set free from slavery to corruption, in order to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22 For we know that all of creation is groaning with birth pains right up to the present time. 23 And not only creation, but also we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,[b] groan inwardly while we eagerly await our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 Indeed, it was for this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for something we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patient endurance.
16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me.
He drew me out of deep waters.
17 Because they were too strong for me,
he rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from those who hate me.
18 They confronted me on the day of my disaster,
but the Lord supported me.
19 Then he brought me out into a wide-open space.
He rescued me because he delighted in me.
David’s Uprightness as a Basis for God’s Judgment
20 The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness.
According to the cleanness of my hands he has repaid me,
21 for I have kept the ways of the Lord.
I have not done evil and departed from my God.
22 So all his just decrees remain before me,
and I have not turned his statutes away from me.
23 I have been blameless with him.
I have kept myself from guilt.
24 The Lord has repaid me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
God’s Uprightness as a Basis for His Judgment
25 To the merciful you reveal yourself as merciful.
To the blameless person you reveal yourself as blameless.
26 To the pure you reveal yourself as pure,
but to the crooked you reveal yourself as crafty.
27 For you save humble people,
but you bring low the eyes of the arrogant.
28 Yes, you light my lamp, O Lord.
My God turns my darkness to light.
29 For with you I can charge against a battalion,
and with my God I can jump over a wall.
God Equips David for Victory
30 This God—his way is blameless.
The speech of the Lord is pure.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
32 This God wraps me with strength
and makes my way perfect.[a]
33 By making my feet like those of a deer
he enables me to stand on high places.
34 Because he trains my hands for battle,
my arms can draw a bronze bow.
35 Then you give me the shield of your salvation.
Your right hand sustains me,
and you stoop down to lift me up.
36 You widen the path under my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way.
26 A son who attacks his father and chases away his mother
brings shame and disgrace.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.