2 Chronicles 8-11

New American Standard Bible

Solomon’s Activities and Accomplishments

8 ^(A)Now it came about at the end of the twenty years in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, ² that he built the cities which Huram had given ^[a]him, and settled the sons of Israel there.

³ Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it. ⁴ He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities which he had built in Hamath. ⁵ He also built upper ^(B)Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, which were ^(C)fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars; ⁶ and Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for ^[b]his chariots and cities for ^[c]his horsemen, and everything that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and all the land ^[d]under his rule.

^7 (D)All of the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, ⁸ that is, from their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel had not destroyed, ^(E)Solomon raised them as forced laborers to this day. ⁹ But Solomon did not make slaves from the sons of Israel for his work; for they were men of war, his chief captains and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen. ¹⁰ These were the chief ^[e]officers of King Solomon, 250 who ruled over the people.

^11 (F)Then Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, because ^[f]the places where the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”

¹² Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on ^(G)the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the porch; ¹³ and ^(H)he did so according to the daily rule, offering them up ^(I)according to the commandment of Moses, for ^(J)the Sabbaths, ^(K)the new moons, and the ^(L)three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths.

¹⁴ Now according to the ordinance of his father David, he appointed ^(M)the divisions of the priests for their service, and ^(N)the Levites for their duties of praise and ministering before the priests according to the daily rule, and ^(O)the gatekeepers by their divisions at every gate; for this is what ^(P)David, the man of God, had commanded. ¹⁵ And they did not deviate from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites in any matter or regarding the storehouses.

¹⁶ So all the work of Solomon was carried out ^[g]from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to ^(Q)Ezion-geber and to ^(R)Eloth on the seashore in the land of Edom. ¹⁸ And by his servants Huram sent him ships and servants who knew the sea; and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir and ^(S)took from there ^[h]450 talents of gold, and brought it to King Solomon.

Visit of the Queen of Sheba

9 ^(T)Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with riddles. She had a very large entourage, with camels carrying balsam oil and a large amount of gold and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything that was on her heart. ² Solomon ^[i]answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from Solomon which he did not ^[j]explain to her. ³ When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built, ⁴ the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and ^[k]his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, she was breathless. ⁵ Then she said to the king, “It was a true ^[l]story that I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁶ But I did not believe their ^[m]stories until I came and my own eyes saw it all. And behold, not even half of the greatness of your wisdom was reported to me. You have surpassed the report that I heard. ⁷ How ^[n]blessed are your men, how ^[o]blessed are these servants of yours, who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom! ⁸ Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you, ^(U)setting you on His throne as king for the Lord your God; ^(V)because your God loved Israel, establishing them forever, He made you king over them, to carry out justice and righteousness.” ⁹ Then she gave the king ^[p]120 talents of gold and a very great amount of balsam oil and precious stones; there had never been balsam oil like that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

¹⁰ The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon ^(W)who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees and precious stones. ¹¹ From the algum trees the king made steps to the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and lyres and harps for the singers; and nothing like them was seen before in the land of Judah.

¹² King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba her every desire, whatever she requested, besides gifts equal to what she had brought to the king. Then she turned and went to her own land with her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth and Power

^13 (X)Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was ^[q]666 talents of gold, ¹⁴ besides what the traders and merchants brought; and all ^(Y)the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁵ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, ^[r]using six hundred shekels of beaten gold on each large shield. ¹⁶ He made three hundred shields of beaten gold, ^[s]using three hundred shekels of gold on each shield; and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷ Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁸ There were six steps to the throne and a footstool in gold attached to the throne, and ^[t]arms ^[u]on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the ^[v]arms. ¹⁹ Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom. ²⁰ All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered ^[w]valuable in the days of Solomon. ^21 (Z)For the king had ships which went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

^22 (AA)So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. ²³ And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. ^24 (AB)They were bringing, each of them his gift: articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, balsam oil, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

²⁵ Now Solomon had ^(AC)four thousand stalls for horses and chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ^26 (AD)He was ruler over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. ^27 (AE)And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the ^[x]lowland. ^28 (AF)And they were bringing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all countries.

^29 (AG)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from the first to the last, ^(AH)are they not written in the ^[y]records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of ^[z]Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? ^30 (AI)Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

Death of Solomon

³¹ And Solomon ^[aa]lay down with his fathers and was buried in ^(AJ)the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

Rehoboam’s Reign of Foolishness

10 ^(AK)Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard about it (^(AL)he was in Egypt where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³ So they sent word and summoned him. When Jeroboam and all Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made our ^(AM)yoke hard; but now, lighten the hard labor imposed by your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ He said to them, “Return to me again in three days.” So the people departed.

⁶ And then King Rehoboam ^(AN)consulted with the elders who had ^[ab]served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” ⁷ They spoke to him, saying, “If you are kind to this people and please them and ^(AO)speak pleasant words to them, then they will be your servants always.” ⁸ But he ^(AP)ignored the advice of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him ^[ac]and served him. ⁹ He said to them, “What advice do you give, so that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “This is what you should say to the people who spoke to you, saying: ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us!’ You should speak this way to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ Now then, my father loaded you with a heavy yoke; yet I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with ^[ad]scorpions!’”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had ^[ae]directed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ The king answered them harshly, and King Rehoboam ignored the advice of the elders. ¹⁴ He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “^[af]My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with ^[ag]scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, ^(AQ)because it was a turn of events from God ^(AR)so that the Lord might establish His word, which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people replied to the king, saying,

^(AT)So all Israel went away to their tents. ¹⁷ But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in ^(AU)charge of the forced labor, and the sons of Israel stoned him ^[ah]to death. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So ^(AV)Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Rehoboam Reigns over Judah and Builds Cities

11 ^(AW)Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. ² But the word of the Lord came to ^(AX)Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ³ “Tell Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: “You shall not go up nor fight against ^(AY)your relatives; return, every man, to his house, ^(AZ)for this ^[ai]event is from Me.”’” So they listened to the words of the Lord and returned from going against Jeroboam.

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and ^(BA)built cities for defense in Judah. ⁶ He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹ He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and supplies of food, oil, and wine. ¹² He put shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

¹³ Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel also stood with him from all their districts.

Jeroboam Appoints False Priests

¹⁴ For ^(BB)the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because ^(BC)Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the Lord. ^15 (BD)He set up priests of his own for the high places, for the satyrs and the calves which he had made. ^16 (BE)Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the Lord God of Israel ^[aj]followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers. ^17 (BF)They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam’s Family

¹⁸ Then Rehoboam married Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of ^(BG)Eliab the son of Jesse, ¹⁹ and she bore to him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. ²⁰ After her he married ^(BH)Maacah the daughter of ^[ak]Absalom, and she bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For ^(BI)he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. ^22 (BJ)Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. ²³ He acted wisely and distributed ^[al]some of his sons through all the territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and he gave them plenty of provisions. And he sought many wives for them.