1 Kings 4:1-19

New King James Version

Solomon’s Administration

4 So King Solomon was king over all Israel. ² And these were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, ^[a]scribes; ^(A)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder; ^4 (B)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, over the army; Zadok and ^(C)Abiathar, the priests; ⁵ Azariah the son of Nathan, over ^(D)the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan, ^(E)a priest and ^(F)the king’s friend; ⁶ Ahishar, over the household; and ^(G)Adoniram the son of Abda, over the labor force.

⁷ And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each one made provision for one month of the year. ⁸ These are their names: ^[b]Ben-Hur, in the mountains of Ephraim; ^9 [c]Ben-Deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan; ^10 [d]Ben-Hesed, in Arubboth; to him belonged Sochoh and all the land of Hepher; ^11 [e]Ben-Abinadab, in all the regions of Dor; he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as wife; ¹² Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth Shean, which is beside Zaretan below Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as the other side of Jokneam; ^13 [f]Ben-Geber, in Ramoth Gilead; to him belonged ^(H)the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, in Gilead; to him also belonged ^(I)the region of Argob in Bashan—sixty large cities with walls and bronze gate-bars; ¹⁴ Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ^15 (J)Ahimaaz, in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife; ¹⁶ Baanah the son of ^(K)Hushai, in Asher and Aloth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ^18 (L)Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin; ¹⁹ Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in ^(M)the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan. He was the only governor who was in the land.

Prosperity and Wisdom of Solomon’s Reign

²⁰ Judah and Israel were as numerous ^(N)as the sand by the sea in multitude, ^(O)eating and drinking and rejoicing. ²¹ So ^(P)Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from ^(Q)the^[g] River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. ^(R)They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

^22 (S)Now Solomon’s ^[h]provision for one day was thirty ^[i]kors of fine flour, sixty kors of meal, ²³ ten fatted oxen, twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl.

²⁴ For he had dominion over all the region on this side of ^[j]the River from Tiphsah even to Gaza, namely over ^(T)all the kings on this side of the River; and ^(U)he had peace on every side all around him. ²⁵ And Judah and Israel ^(V)dwelt^[k] safely, ^(W)each man under his vine and his fig tree, ^(X)from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

^26 (Y)Solomon had ^[l]forty thousand stalls of ^(Z)horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷ And ^(AA)these governors, each man in his month, provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon’s table. There was no lack in their supply. ²⁸ They also brought barley and straw to the proper place, for the horses and steeds, each man according to his charge.

²⁹ And ^(AB)God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. ³⁰ Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men ^(AC)of the East and all ^(AD)the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ For he was ^(AE)wiser than all men—^(AF)than Ethan the Ezrahite, ^(AG)and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. ^32 (AH)He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his ^(AI)songs were one thousand and five. ³³ Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. ³⁴ And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, ^(AJ)came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple^(AK)

5 Now ^(AL)Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, ^(AM)for Hiram had always loved David. ² Then ^(AN)Solomon sent to Hiram, saying:

⁷ So it was, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said,

⁸ Then Hiram sent to Solomon, saying:

¹⁰ Then Hiram gave Solomon cedar and cypress logs according to all his desire. ^11 (AW)And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand ^[q]kors of wheat as food for his household, and ^[r]twenty kors of pressed oil. Thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.

¹² So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, ^(AX)as He had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.

¹³ Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; ^(AY)Adoniram was in charge of the labor force. ^15 (AZ)Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains, ¹⁶ besides three thousand ^[s]three hundred from the ^(BA)chiefs of Solomon’s deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work. ¹⁷ And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and ^(BB)hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the ^[t]temple. ¹⁸ So Solomon’s builders, Hiram’s builders, and the Gebalites quarried them; and they prepared timber and stones to build the ^[u]temple.

Solomon Builds the Temple^(BC)

6 And ^(BD)it came to pass in the four hundred and ^[v]eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of ^[w]Ziv, which is the second month, ^(BE)that he began to build the house of the Lord. ² Now ^(BF)the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits. ³ The vestibule in front of the ^[x]sanctuary of the house was ^[y]twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the width of ^[z]the vestibule extended ^[aa]ten cubits from the front of the house. ⁴ And he made for the house ^(BG)windows with beveled frames.

⁵ Against the wall of the ^[ab]temple he built ^(BH)chambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary ^(BI)and the ^[ac]inner sanctuary. Thus he made side chambers all around it. ⁶ The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the temple, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the ^[ad]temple. ⁷ And ^(BJ)the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. ⁸ The doorway for the ^[ae]middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.

^9 (BK)So he built the ^[af]temple and finished it, and he paneled the temple with beams and boards of cedar. ¹⁰ And he built side chambers against the entire temple, each five cubits high; they were attached to the temple with cedar beams.

¹¹ Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: ¹² “Concerning this ^[ag]temple which you are building, ^(BL)if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My ^[ah]word with you, ^(BM)which I spoke to your father David. ¹³ And ^(BN)I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not ^(BO)forsake My people Israel.”

¹⁴ So Solomon built the temple and finished it. ¹⁵ And he built the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards; from the floor of the temple to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the temple with planks of cypress. ¹⁶ Then he built the twenty-cubit room at the rear of the temple, from floor to ceiling, with cedar boards; he built it inside as the inner sanctuary, as the ^(BP)Most Holy Place. ¹⁷ And in front of it the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long. ¹⁸ The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with ornamental buds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone to be seen.

¹⁹ And he prepared the ^[ai]inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. ²⁰ The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the altar of cedar. ²¹ So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. ²² The whole temple he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the temple; also he overlaid with gold ^(BQ)the entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary.

²³ Inside the inner sanctuary ^(BR)he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. ²⁴ One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits: ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. ²⁵ And the other cherub was ten cubits; both cherubim were of the same size and shape. ²⁶ The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. ²⁷ Then he set the cherubim inside the inner ^[aj]room; and ^(BS)they stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. ²⁸ Also he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ Then he carved all the walls of the temple all around, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved ^(BT)figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. ³⁰ And the floor of the temple he overlaid with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

³¹ For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were ^[ak]one-fifth of the wall. ³² The two doors were of olive wood; and he carved on them figures of cherubim, 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 ^[al]sanctuary he also made doorposts of olive wood, ^[am]one-fourth of the wall. ³⁴ And the two doors were of cypress wood; ^(BU)two panels comprised one folding door, and two panels comprised the other folding door. ³⁵ Then he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold applied evenly on the carved work.

³⁶ And he built the ^(BV)inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams.

^37 (BW)In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of ^[an]Ziv. ³⁸ And in the eleventh year, in the month of ^[ao]Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was ^(BX)seven years in building it.

Solomon’s Other Buildings

7 But Solomon took ^(BY)thirteen years to build his own house; so he finished all his house.

² He also built the ^(BZ)House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was ^[ap]one hundred cubits, its width ^[aq]fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, with four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar beams on the pillars. ³ And it was paneled with cedar above the beams that were on forty-five pillars, fifteen to a row. ⁴ There were windows with beveled frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers. ⁵ And all the doorways and doorposts had rectangular frames; and window was opposite window in three tiers.

⁶ He also made the Hall of Pillars: its length was fifty cubits, and its width thirty cubits; and in front of them was a portico with pillars, and a canopy was in front of them.

⁷ Then he made a hall for the throne, the Hall of Judgment, where he might judge; and it was paneled with cedar from floor to ^[ar]ceiling.

⁸ And the house where he dwelt had another court inside the hall, of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, ^(CA)whom he had taken as wife.

⁹ All these were of costly stones cut to size, trimmed with saws, inside and out, from the foundation to the eaves, and also on the outside to the great court. ¹⁰ The foundation was of costly stones, large stones, some ten cubits and some eight cubits. ¹¹ And above were costly stones, hewn to size, and cedar wood. ¹² The great court was enclosed with three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams. So were the ^(CB)inner court of the house of the Lord ^(CC)and the vestibule of the temple.

Hiram the Craftsman

¹³ Now King Solomon sent and brought ^[as]Huram from Tyre. ^14 (CD)He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and ^(CE)his father was a man of Tyre, a bronze worker; ^(CF)he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill in working with all kinds of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and did all his work.

The Bronze Pillars for the Temple^(CG)

¹⁵ And he ^[at]cast ^(CH)two pillars of bronze, each one eighteen cubits high, and a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of each. ¹⁶ Then he made two capitals of cast 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 He made a lattice network, with wreaths of chainwork, for the capitals which were on top of the pillars: seven chains for one capital and seven for the other capital. ¹⁸ So he made the pillars, and two rows of pomegranates above the network all around to cover the capitals that were on top; and thus he did for the other capital.

¹⁹ The capitals which were on top of the pillars in the hall were in the shape of lilies, four cubits. ²⁰ The capitals on the two pillars also had pomegranates above, by the convex surface which was next to the network; and there were ^(CI)two hundred such pomegranates in rows on each of the capitals all around.

^21 (CJ)Then he set up the pillars by the vestibule of the temple; he set up the pillar on the right and called its name ^[au]Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name ^[av]Boaz. ²² The tops of the pillars were in the shape of lilies. So the work of the pillars was finished.

The Sea and the Oxen

²³ And he made ^(CK)the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.

²⁴ Below its brim were ornamental buds encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, ^(CL)all the way around the Sea. The ornamental buds were cast in two rows when it was cast. ²⁵ It stood on ^(CM)twelve oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward. ²⁶ It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained ^[aw]two thousand baths.

The Carts and the Lavers

²⁷ He also made ten ^[ax]carts of bronze; four cubits was the length of each cart, four cubits its width, and three cubits its height. ²⁸ And this was the design of the carts: They had panels, and the panels were between frames; ²⁹ on the panels that were between the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. And on the frames was a pedestal on top. Below the lions and oxen were wreaths of plaited work. ³⁰ Every cart had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and its four feet had supports. Under the laver were supports of cast bronze beside each wreath. ³¹ Its opening inside the crown at the top was one cubit in diameter; and the opening was round, shaped like a pedestal, one and a half cubits in outside diameter; and also on the opening were engravings, but the panels were square, not round. ³² Under the panels were the four wheels, and the axles of the wheels were joined to the cart. The height of a wheel was one and a half cubits. ³³ The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel; their axle pins, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all of cast bronze. ³⁴ And there were four supports at the four corners of each cart; its supports were part of the cart itself. ³⁵ On the top of the cart, at the height of half a cubit, it was perfectly round. And on the top of the cart, its flanges and its panels were of the same casting. ³⁶ On the plates of its flanges and on its panels he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was a clear space on each, with wreaths all around. ³⁷ Thus he made the ten carts. All of them were of ^[ay]the same mold, one measure, and one shape.

³⁸ Then ^(CN)he made ten lavers of bronze; each laver contained ^[az]forty baths, and each laver was four cubits. On each of the ten carts was a laver. ³⁹ And he put five carts on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house. He set the Sea on the right side of the house, toward the southeast.

Furnishings of the Temple^(CO)

^40 (CP)Huram^[ba] made the lavers and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing all the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of the Lord: ⁴¹ the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two ^(CQ)networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars; ^42 (CR)four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the pillars); ⁴³ the ten carts, and ten lavers on the carts; ⁴⁴ one Sea, and twelve oxen under the Sea; ^45 (CS)the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.

All these articles which ^[bb]Huram made for King Solomon for the house of the Lord were of burnished bronze. ^46 (CT)In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between ^(CU)Succoth and ^(CV)Zaretan. ⁴⁷ And Solomon did not weigh all the articles, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze was not ^(CW)determined.

⁴⁸ Thus Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of the Lord: ^(CX)the altar of gold, and ^(CY)the table of gold on which was ^(CZ)the showbread; ⁴⁹ the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left in front of the inner sanctuary, with the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold; ⁵⁰ the basins, the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the ^[bc]censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner room (the Most Holy Place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

⁵¹ So all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of the Lord was finished; and Solomon brought in the things ^(DA)which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and the furnishings. He put them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

The Ark Brought into the Temple^(DB)

8 Now ^(DC)Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, ^(DD)that they might bring ^(DE)up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion. ² Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the ^(DF)feast in the month of ^[bd]Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ So all the elders of Israel came, ^(DG)and the priests took up the ark. ⁴ Then they brought up the ark of the Lord, ^(DH)the ^[be]tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him, were with him before the ark, ^(DI)sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. ⁶ Then the priests ^(DJ)brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to ^(DK)its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, ^(DL)under the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. ⁸ The poles ^(DM)extended so that the ^[bf]ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. ^9 (DN)Nothing was in the ark ^(DO)except the two tablets of stone which Moses ^(DP)put there at Horeb, ^(DQ)when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud ^(DR)filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹ so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the ^(DS)glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

^12 (DT)Then Solomon spoke:

Solomon’s Speech at Completion of the Work^(DX)

¹⁴ Then the king turned around and ^(DY)blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ¹⁵ And he said: ^(DZ)“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who ^(EA)spoke with His mouth to my father David, and with His hand has fulfilled it, saying, ¹⁶ ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that ^(EB)My name might be there; but I chose ^(EC)David to be over My people Israel.’ ¹⁷ Now ^(ED)it was in the heart of my father David to build a ^[bg]temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ^18 (EE)But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well that it was in your heart. ¹⁹ Nevertheless ^(EF)you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.’ ²⁰ So the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; and I have ^[bh]filled the position of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, ^(EG)as the Lord promised; and I have built a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ²¹ And there I have made a place for the ark, in which is ^(EH)the covenant of the Lord which He made with our fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication^(EI)

²² Then Solomon stood before ^(EJ)the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and ^(EK)spread out his hands toward heaven; ²³ and he said: “Lord God of Israel, ^(EL)there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, ^(EM)who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who ^(EN)walk before You with all their hearts. ²⁴ You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. ²⁵ Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ^(EO)‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’ ^26 (EP)And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David my father.

²⁷ “But ^(EQ)will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the ^(ER)heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! ²⁸ Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today: ²⁹ that Your eyes may be open toward this ^[bi]temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ^(ES)‘My name shall be ^(ET)there,’ that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes ^(EU)toward this place. ^30 (EV)And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.

³¹ “When anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take ^(EW)an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple, ³² then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, ^(EX)condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

^33 (EY)“When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and ^(EZ)when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this temple, ³⁴ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their ^(FA)fathers.

^35 (FB)“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, ³⁶ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may ^(FC)teach them ^(FD)the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

^37 (FE)“When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their ^[bj]cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; ³⁸ whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple: ³⁹ then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone ^(FF)know the hearts of all the sons of men), ^40 (FG)that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.

⁴¹ “Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name’s sake ⁴² (for they will hear of Your great name and Your ^(FH)strong hand and Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple, ⁴³ hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, ^(FI)that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and ^(FJ)fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name.

⁴⁴ “When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name, ⁴⁵ then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their ^[bk]cause.

⁴⁶ “When they sin against You ^(FK)(for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive ^(FL)to the land of the enemy, far or near; ^47 (FM)yet when they ^[bl]come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, ^(FN)saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness’; ⁴⁸ and when they ^(FO)return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and ^(FP)pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name: ⁴⁹ then hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their ^[bm]cause, ⁵⁰ and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and ^(FQ)grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them ⁵¹ (for ^(FR)they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, ^(FS)out of the iron furnace), ^52 (FT)that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You. ⁵³ For You separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, ^(FU)as You spoke by Your servant Moses, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

Solomon Blesses the Assembly^(FV)

^54 (FW)And so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. ⁵⁵ Then he stood ^(FX)and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying: ⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord, who has given ^(FY)rest^[bn] to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. ^(FZ)There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses. ⁵⁷ May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. ^(GA)May He not leave us nor forsake us, ⁵⁸ that He may ^(GB)incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day may require, ^60 (GC)that all the peoples of the earth may know that ^(GD)the Lord is God; there is no other. ⁶¹ Let your ^(GE)heart therefore be ^[bo]loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.”

Solomon Dedicates the Temple^(GF)

⁶² Then ^(GG)the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁶³ And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. ⁶⁴ On ^(GH)the same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the ^(GI)bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵ At that time Solomon held ^(GJ)a feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from ^(GK)the entrance of Hamath to ^(GL)the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, ^(GM)seven days and seven more days—fourteen days. ^66 (GN)On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they ^[bp]blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done for His servant David, and for Israel His people.

God’s Second Appearance to Solomon^(GO)

9 And ^(GP)it came to pass, when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord ^(GQ)and the king’s house, and ^(GR)all Solomon’s desire which he wanted to do, ² that the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, ^(GS)as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ And the Lord said to him: ^(GT)“I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built ^(GU)to put My name there forever, ^(GV)and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. ⁴ Now if you ^(GW)walk before Me ^(GX)as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you ^(GY)keep My statutes and My judgments, ⁵ then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, ^(GZ)as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ ^6 (HA)But if you or your sons at all ^[bq]turn 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 (HB)then I will ^[br]cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated ^(HC)for My name I will cast out of My sight. ^(HD)Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ⁸ And as for ^(HE)this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss, and say, ^(HF)‘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 all this ^(HG)calamity on them.’ ”

Solomon and Hiram Exchange Gifts

¹⁰ Now ^(HH)it happened at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house ^11 (HI)(Hiram the king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress and gold, as much as he desired), that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. ¹² Then Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, but they did not please him. ¹³ So he said, “What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother?” ^(HJ)And he called them the land of ^[bs]Cabul, as they are to this day. ¹⁴ Then Hiram sent the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.

Solomon’s Additional Achievements^(HK)

¹⁵ And this is the reason for ^(HL)the labor force which King Solomon raised: to build the house of the Lord, his own house, ^[bt]the ^(HM)Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, ^(HN)Hazor, ^(HO)Megiddo, and ^(HP)Gezer. ¹⁶ (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer and burned it with fire, ^(HQ)had killed the Canaanites who dwelt in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.) ¹⁷ And Solomon built Gezer, Lower ^(HR)Beth Horon, ^18 (HS)Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, ¹⁹ all the storage cities that Solomon had, cities for ^(HT)his chariots and cities for his ^(HU)cavalry, and whatever Solomon ^(HV)desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

^20 (HW)All the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel— ²¹ that is, their descendants ^(HX)who were left in the land after them, ^(HY)whom the children of Israel had not been able to destroy completely—^(HZ)from these Solomon raised ^(IA)forced labor, as it is to this day. ²² But of the children of Israel Solomon ^(IB)made no forced laborers, because they were men of war and his servants: his officers, his captains, commanders of his chariots, and his cavalry.

²³ Others were chiefs of the officials who were over Solomon’s work: ^(IC)five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people who did the work.

²⁴ But ^(ID)Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to ^(IE)her house which ^[bu]Solomon had built for her. ^(IF)Then he built the Millo.

^25 (IG)Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for the Lord, and he burned incense with them on the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the temple.

^26 (IH)King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at ^(II)Ezion Geber, which is near ^[bv]Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. ^27 (IJ)Then Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, to work with the servants of Solomon. ²⁸ And they went to ^(IK)Ophir, and acquired four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon^(IL)

10 Now when the ^(IM)queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came ^(IN)to test him with hard questions. ² She came to Jerusalem with a very great ^[bw]retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. ³ So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing ^[bx]so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. ⁴ And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁵ the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, ^(IO)and 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 which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁷ However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. ^8 (IP)Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! ^9 (IQ)Blessed be the Lord your God, who ^(IR)delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, ^(IS)to do justice and righteousness.”

¹⁰ Then she ^(IT)gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. ^11 (IU)Also, the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought great quantities of ^[by]almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. ^12 (IV)And the king made ^[bz]steps of the almug wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers. There never again came such ^(IW)almug wood, nor has the like been seen to this day.

¹³ Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon had given her according to the royal generosity. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Great Wealth

¹⁴ The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, ¹⁵ besides that from the ^(IX)traveling merchants, from the income of traders, ^(IY)from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country.

¹⁶ And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷ He also made ^(IZ)three hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the ^(JA)House of the Forest of Lebanon.

^18 (JB)Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round at the back; there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. ²⁰ Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.

^21 (JC)All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. ²² For the king had ^(JD)merchant^[ca] ships at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant ^(JE)ships came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and ^[cb]monkeys. ²³ So ^(JF)King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

²⁴ Now all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. ²⁵ Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.

^26 (JG)And Solomon ^(JH)gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he ^[cc]stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. ^27 (JI)The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.

^28 (JJ)Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. ²⁹ Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse one hundred and fifty; ^(JK)and ^[cd]thus, through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

Solomon’s Heart Turns from the Lord

11 But ^(JL)King Solomon loved ^(JM)many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— ² from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, ^(JN)“You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with 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 was so, when Solomon was old, ^(JO)that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his ^(JP)heart was not ^[ce]loyal to the Lord his God, ^(JQ)as was the heart of his father David. ⁵ For Solomon went after ^(JR)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after ^(JS)Milcom^[cf] the abomination of the ^(JT)Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. ^7 (JU)Then Solomon built a ^[cg]high place for ^(JV)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on ^(JW)the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. ⁸ And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, ^(JX)who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and ^(JY)had 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 have commanded you, ^(JZ)I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your ^(KA)servant. ¹² Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ^13 (KB)However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give ^(KC)one tribe to your son ^(KD)for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem ^(KE)which I have chosen.”

Adversaries of Solomon

¹⁴ Now the Lord ^(KF)raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was a descendant of the king in Edom. ^15 (KG)For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, ^(KH)after he had killed every male in Edom ¹⁶ (because for six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut down every male in Edom), ¹⁷ that Hadad fled to go to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him. 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, apportioned food for him, and gave him land. ¹⁹ And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, that is, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. ²⁰ Then the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.

^21 (KI)So when Hadad heard in Egypt that David ^[ch]rested with his fathers, and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, ^[ci]“Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”

²² Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that suddenly you seek to go to your own country?”

So he answered, “Nothing, but do let me go anyway.”

²³ And God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord, ^(KJ)Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴ So he gathered men to him and became captain over a band of raiders, ^(KK)when David killed those of Zobah. And they went to Damascus and 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.

Jeroboam’s Rebellion

²⁶ Then Solomon’s servant, ^(KL)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zereda, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, ^(KM)also ^(KN)rebelled against the king.

²⁷ And this is what caused him to rebel against the king: ^(KO)Solomon had built the Millo and ^[cj]repaired the damages to the City of David his father. ²⁸ The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon, seeing that the young man was ^(KP)industrious, made him the 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 ^(KQ)Ahijah 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 ^(KR)tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for ^(KS)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 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 (KT)because ^[ck]they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David. ³⁴ However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made 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 ^(KU)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 ^(KV)My servant David 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 desires, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸ Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then ^(KW)I will be with you and ^(KX)build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. ³⁹ And 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 Egypt, to ^(KY)Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

Death of Solomon^(KZ)

⁴¹ Now ^(LA)the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? ^42 (LB)And the period that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ^43 (LC)Then Solomon ^[cl]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his ^(LD)place.

The Revolt Against Rehoboam^(LE)

12 And ^(LF)Rehoboam went to ^(LG)Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. ² So it happened, when ^(LH)Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in ^(LI)Egypt, for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt), ³ that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made our ^(LJ)yoke ^[cm]heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome 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 back to me.” And the people departed.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”

⁷ And they spoke to him, saying, ^(LK)“If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

⁸ But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. ⁹ And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”

¹⁰ Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with ^[cn]scourges!’ ”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.” ¹³ Then the king answered the people ^[co]roughly, and rejected the advice which the elders had given him; ¹⁴ and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with ^[cp]scourges!” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people; for ^(LL)the turn of events was from the Lord, that He might fulfill His word, which the Lord had ^(LM)spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶ Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:

So Israel departed to their tents. ¹⁷ But Rehoboam reigned over ^(LO)the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.

¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam ^(LP)sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So ^(LQ)Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰ Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all ^(LR)Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah ^(LS)only.

²¹ And when ^(LT)Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of ^(LU)Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²² But ^(LV)the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ²³ “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, ²⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, ^(LW)for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the word of the Lord, and turned back, according to the word of the Lord.

Jeroboam’s Gold Calves

²⁵ Then Jeroboam ^(LX)built^[cq] Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built ^(LY)Penuel. ²⁶ And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: ²⁷ If these people ^(LZ)go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

²⁸ Therefore the king asked advice, ^(MA)made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. ^(MB)Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” ²⁹ And he set up one in ^(MC)Bethel, and the other he put in ^(MD)Dan. ³⁰ Now this thing became ^(ME)a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. ³¹ He made ^[cr]shrines on the high places, ^(MF)and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

³² Jeroboam ^[cs]ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like ^(MG)the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. ^(MH)And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. ³³ So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had ^(MI)devised in his own heart. And he ^[ct]ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and ^(MJ)burned incense.

The Message of the Man of God

13 And behold, ^(MK)a man of God went from Judah to Bethel ^[cu]by the word of the Lord, ^(ML)and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. ² Then he cried out against the altar ^[cv]by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a child, ^(MM)Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be ^(MN)burned on you.’ ” ³ And he gave ^(MO)a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.”

⁴ So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. ⁵ The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which 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 ^(MP)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 before. ⁷ Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and ^(MQ)I will give you a reward.”

⁸ But the man of God said to the king, ^(MR)“If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. ⁹ For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ^(MS)‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’ ” ¹⁰ So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel.

Death of the Man of God

¹¹ Now an ^(MT)old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his ^[cw]sons came and told him all the works 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 And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons ^[cx]had seen which way the man of God went who came from Judah. ¹³ Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, ¹⁴ and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then 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, ^(MU)“I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ For ^[cy]I have been told ^(MV)by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ”

¹⁸ He said to 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, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.)

¹⁹ So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

²⁰ Now it happened, as they sat 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 came from Judah, saying, “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 you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the ^(MW)place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ”

²³ So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ When he was gone, ^(MX)a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. ²⁵ And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

²⁶ Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard 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, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” ²⁷ And he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it. ²⁸ Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey. ²⁹ And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn, and to bury him. ³⁰ Then he laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over him, saying, ^(MY)“Alas, my brother!” ³¹ So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; ^(MZ)lay my bones beside his bones. ^32 (NA)For the ^[cz]saying which he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the ^[da]shrines on the high places which are in the cities of ^(NB)Samaria, will surely come to pass.”

^33 (NC)After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. ^34 (ND)And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as ^(NE)to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth.

Judgment on the House of Jeroboam

14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. ² And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please arise, and disguise yourself, that they may not recognize you as the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Indeed, Ahijah the prophet is there, who told me that ^(NF)I would be king over this people. ^3 (NG)Also take ^[db]with you ten loaves, some 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; she arose ^(NH)and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were ^[dc]glazed by reason of his age.

⁵ Now the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Here is the wife of Jeroboam, coming to ask you something about her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus you shall say to her; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend to be another woman.”

⁶ And so it was, when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another person? For I have been sent to you with bad news. ⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ^(NI)“Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, ⁸ and ^(NJ)tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as My servant David, ^(NK)who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes; ⁹ but you have done more evil than all who were before you, ^(NL)for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and ^(NM)have cast Me behind your back— ¹⁰ therefore behold! ^(NN)I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and ^(NO)will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, ^(NP)bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone. ¹¹ The dogs shall eat ^(NQ)whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the Lord has spoken!” ’ ¹² Arise therefore, go to your own house. ^(NR)When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. ¹³ And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one of Jeroboam who shall ^[dd]come to the grave, because in him ^(NS)there is found something good toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

^14 (NT)“Moreover the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam; ^[de]this is the day. What? Even now! ¹⁵ For the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water. He will ^(NU)uproot Israel from this ^(NV)good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them ^(NW)beyond ^[df]the River, ^(NX)because they have made their ^[dg]wooden images, provoking the Lord to anger. ¹⁶ And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, ^(NY)who sinned and who made Israel sin.”

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed, and came to ^(NZ)Tirzah. ^(OA)When she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. ¹⁸ And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, ^(OB)according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he ^(OC)made war and how he reigned, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ²⁰ The period that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. So he rested with his fathers. Then ^(OD)Nadab his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam Reigns in Judah^(OE)

²¹ And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. ^(OF)Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king. He reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city ^(OG)which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. ^(OH)His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. ^22 (OI)Now Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they ^(OJ)provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. ²³ For they also built for themselves ^(OK)high^[dh] places, ^(OL)sacred pillars, and ^(OM)wooden images on every high hill and ^(ON)under every green tree. ^24 (OO)And there were also ^[di]perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the ^(OP)abominations of the nations which the Lord had cast out before the children of ^(OQ)Israel.

^25 (OR)It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. ^26 (OS)And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything. He also took away all the gold shields ^(OT)which Solomon had made. ²⁷ Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and ^[dj]committed them to the hands of the captains of the ^[dk]guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. ²⁸ And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards carried them, then brought them back into the guardroom.

^29 (OU)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 ^(OV)war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. ^31 (OW)So Rehoboam ^[dl]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. ^(OX)His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. Then ^(OY)Abijam^[dm] his son reigned in his place.

Abijam Reigns in Judah^(OZ)

15 ^(PA)In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem. ^(PB)His mother’s name was ^(PC)Maachah the granddaughter of ^(PD)Abishalom. ³ And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; ^(PE)his heart was not ^[dn]loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. ⁴ Nevertheless ^(PF)for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem; ⁵ because David ^(PG)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, ^(PH)except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ^6 (PI)And there was war between ^[do]Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. ^7 (PJ)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 (PK)So Abijam ^[dp]rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then Asa his son reigned in his place.

Asa Reigns in Judah^(PL)

⁹ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah. ¹⁰ And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother’s name was Maachah the granddaughter of Abishalom. ^11 (PM)Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did his father David. ^12 (PN)And he banished the ^[dq]perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. ¹³ Also he removed ^(PO)Maachah his grandmother from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of ^[dr]Asherah. And Asa cut down her obscene image and ^(PP)burned it by the Brook Kidron. ^14 (PQ)But the ^[ds]high places were not removed. Nevertheless Asa’s ^(PR)heart was loyal to the Lord all his days. ¹⁵ He also brought into the house of the Lord the things which his father ^(PS)had dedicated, and the things which he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils.

¹⁶ Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. ¹⁷ And ^(PT)Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built ^(PU)Ramah, ^(PV)that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ Then Asa took all the silver and gold that was 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 ^(PW)Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt in ^(PX)Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ “Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a present of silver and gold. Come and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”

²⁰ So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and ^(PY)sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. He attacked ^(PZ)Ijon, ^(QA)Dan, ^(QB)Abel Beth Maachah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah, and remained in ^(QC)Tirzah.

^22 (QD)Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted. And they took away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them King Asa built ^(QE)Geba of Benjamin, and ^(QF)Mizpah.

²³ The rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, all 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 ^(QG)in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. ²⁴ So Asa ^[dt]rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. ^(QH)Then ^(QI)Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

Nadab Reigns in Israel

²⁵ Now ^(QJ)Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king 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 walked in the way of his father, and in ^(QK)his sin by which he had made Israel sin.

^27 (QL)Then Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha killed him at ^(QM)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon. ²⁸ Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. ²⁹ And it was so, when he became king, that he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to ^(QN)the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ^30 (QO)because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he had 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 (QP)And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

Baasha Reigns in Israel

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in ^(QQ)the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin.

The Reigns of Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab

16 Then the word of the Lord came to ^(QR)Jehu the son of ^(QS)Hanani, against ^(QT)Baasha, saying: ^2 (QU)“Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and ^(QV)you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins, ³ surely I will ^(QW)take^[du] away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and I will make your house like ^(QX)the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ⁴ The dogs shall eat ^(QY)whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the fields.”

⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his might, ^(QZ)are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁶ So Baasha ^[dv]rested with his fathers and was buried in ^(RA)Tirzah. Then Elah his son reigned in his place.

⁷ And also the word of the Lord came by the prophet ^(RB)Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, because of 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 ^(RC)he killed them.

Elah Reigns in Israel

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel, and reigned two years in Tirzah. ^9 (RD)Now his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, ^(RE)steward^[dw] of his house in Tirzah. ¹⁰ And Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

¹¹ Then it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he ^(RF)did not leave him one male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends. ¹² Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, ^(RG)according to the word of the Lord, which 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 had sinned and by which they had made Israel sin, in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger ^(RH)with their ^[dx]idols.

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?

Zimri Reigns in Israel

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven days. And the people were encamped ^(RI)against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶ Now the people who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and also has killed the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷ Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ And it happened, when Zimri saw that the city was ^[dy]taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house ^[dz]down upon himself with fire, and died, ¹⁹ because of the sins which he had committed in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(RJ)in walking in the ^(RK)way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin.

²⁰ Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the treason he committed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Omri Reigns in 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 over 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 became king over Israel, and reigned twelve years. Six years he reigned in ^(RL)Tirzah. ²⁴ And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; then he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, ^(RM)Samaria,^[ea] after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill. ^25 (RN)Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him. ²⁶ For he ^(RO)walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their ^(RP)idols.^[eb]

²⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

²⁸ So Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. Then Ahab his son reigned in his place.

Ahab Reigns in Israel

²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰ Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. ³¹ And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(RQ)that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the ^(RR)Sidonians; ^(RS)and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. ³² Then he set up an altar for Baal in ^(RT)the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. ^33 (RU)And Ahab made a ^[ec]wooden image. Ahab ^(RV)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 of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation ^[ed]with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, ^(RW)according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.

Elijah Proclaims a Drought

17 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the ^(RX)inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, ^(RY)“As the Lord God of Israel lives, ^(RZ)before whom I stand, ^(SA)there shall not be dew nor rain ^(SB)these years, except at my word.”

² Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ³ “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. ⁴ And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ^(SC)ravens to feed you there.”

⁵ So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. ⁷ And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

Elijah and the Widow

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁹ “Arise, go to ^(SD)Zarephath, which belongs to ^(SE)Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” ¹⁰ So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” ¹¹ And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

¹² So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a ^[ee]jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and ^(SF)die.”

¹³ And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ”

¹⁵ So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶ The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

Elijah Revives the Widow’s Son

¹⁷ Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so ^[ef]serious that ^[eg]there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸ So she said to Elijah, ^(SG)“What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?”

¹⁹ And he said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. ²⁰ Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” ^21 (SH)And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” ²² Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he ^(SI)revived.

²³ And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!”

²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this ^(SJ)I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.”

Elijah’s Message to Ahab

18 And it came to pass after ^(SK)many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and ^(SL)I will send rain on the earth.”

² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and there was a severe famine in Samaria. ³ And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was ^[eh]in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. ⁴ For so it was, while Jezebel ^[ei]massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.) ⁵ And Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any livestock.” ⁶ So they divided the land between them to explore it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

⁷ Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he ^(SM)recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, “Is that you, my lord Elijah?”

⁸ And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’ ”

⁹ So he said, “How have I sinned, that you are delivering 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 master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. ¹¹ And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here” ’! ¹² And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that ^(SN)the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. ¹³ Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid one hundred men of the Lord’s prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water? ¹⁴ And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here.” ’ He will kill me!”

¹⁵ Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today.”

¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

¹⁷ Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, ^(SO)“Is that you, O ^(SP)troubler of Israel?”

¹⁸ And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, ^(SQ)in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. ¹⁹ Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on ^(SR)Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, ^(SS)and the four hundred prophets of ^[ej]Asherah, who ^[ek]eat at Jezebel’s table.”

Elijah’s Mount Carmel Victory

²⁰ So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and ^(ST)gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. ²¹ And Elijah came to all the people, and said, ^(SU)“How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, ^(SV)follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. ²² Then Elijah said to the people, ^(SW)“I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; ^(SX)but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. ²³ Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who ^(SY)answers by fire, He is God.”

So all the people answered and said, ^[el]“It is well spoken.”

²⁵ Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”

²⁶ So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, ^[em]hear us!” But there was ^(SZ)no voice; no one answered. Then they ^[en]leaped about the altar which they had made.

²⁷ And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry ^[eo]aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” ²⁸ So they cried aloud, and ^(TA)cut themselves, as was their custom, with ^[ep]knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. ²⁹ And when midday was past, ^(TB)they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was ^(TC)no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. ^(TD)And he 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 had come, saying, ^(TE)“Israel shall be your name.” ³² Then with the stones he built an altar ^(TF)in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. ³³ And he ^(TG)put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and ^(TH)pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” ³⁴ Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. ³⁵ So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled ^(TI)the trench with water.

³⁶ And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord ^(TJ)God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, ^(TK)let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that ^(TL)I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷ Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

³⁸ Then ^(TM)the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it 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, ^(TN)“The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

⁴⁰ And Elijah said to them, ^(TO)“Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook ^(TP)Kishon and ^(TQ)executed them there.

The Drought Ends

⁴¹ Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” ⁴² So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; ^(TR)then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, ⁴³ and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.”

So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.”

⁴⁴ Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ^[eq]‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”

⁴⁵ Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. ⁴⁶ Then the ^(TS)hand of the Lord came upon Elijah; and he ^(TT)girded^[er] up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

Elijah Escapes from Jezebel

19 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had ^(TU)executed all the prophets with the sword.