1 Kings 2-15

New American Standard Bible 1995

David’s Charge to Solomon

2 As David’s ^[a](A)time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, ² “^(B)I am going the way of all the earth. ^(C)Be strong, therefore, and ^[b]show yourself a man. ³ Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, ^(D)according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that ^(E)you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, ⁴ so that ^(F)the Lord may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘^(G)If your sons are careful of their way, ^(H)to walk before Me in ^[c]truth with all their heart and with all their soul, ^[d](I)you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

⁵ “Now you also know what Joab the ^(J)son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to ^(K)Abner the son of Ner, and to ^(L)Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed; he also ^[e]shed the blood of war in peace. And he put the blood of war on his belt ^[f]about his waist, and on his sandals ^[g]on his feet. ^6 (M)So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to ^[h]Sheol in peace. ⁷ But ^(N)show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and ^(O)let them be among those who eat at your table; ^(P)for they ^[i]assisted me when I fled from Absalom your brother. ⁸ Behold, ^(Q)there is with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite, of Bahurim; now it was he who cursed me with a ^[j]violent curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when ^(R)he came down to me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ ⁹ Now therefore, do not let him go unpunished, ^(S)for you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you will bring his gray hair down to ^[k]Sheol with blood.”

Death of David

¹⁰ Then ^(T)David slept with his fathers and was buried in ^(U)the city of David. ^11 (V)The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: ^(W)seven years he reigned in Hebron and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem. ¹² And ^(X)Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

¹³ Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “^(Y)Do you come peacefully?” And he said, “Peacefully.” ¹⁴ Then he said, “I have something to say to you.” And she said, “Speak.” ¹⁵ So he said, “You know that ^(Z)the kingdom was mine and ^(AA)that all Israel ^[l]expected me to be king; ^(AB)however, the kingdom has turned about and become my brother’s, ^(AC)for it was his from the Lord. ¹⁶ Now I am making one request of you; do not ^[m]refuse me.” And she said to him, “Speak.” ¹⁷ Then he said, “Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not ^[n]refuse you, that he may give me ^(AD)Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.” ¹⁸ Bathsheba said, “Very well; I will speak to the king for you.”

Adonijah Executed

¹⁹ So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king arose to meet her, bowed before her, and sat on his throne; then he ^(AE)had a throne set for the king’s mother, and ^(AF)she sat on his right. ²⁰ Then she said, “I am making one small request of you; ^(AG)do not ^[o]refuse me.” And the king said to her, “Ask, my mother, for I will not ^[p]refuse you.” ²¹ So she said, “^(AH)Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife.” ²² King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “And why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ^(AI)Ask for him also the kingdom—^(AJ)for he is my older brother—even for him, for ^(AK)Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah!” ²³ Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah has ^(AL)not spoken this word against his own ^[q]life. ²⁴ Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father and ^(AM)who has made me a house as He promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death today.” ²⁵ So King Solomon ^(AN)sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him so that he died.

²⁶ Then to Abiathar the priest the king said, “^(AO)Go to Anathoth to your own field, ^(AP)for you ^[r]deserve to die; but I will not put you to death at this time, because ^(AQ)you carried the ark of the Lord ^[s]God before my father David, and because ^(AR)you were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted.” ²⁷ So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, in order to fulfill ^(AS)the word of the Lord, which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

Joab Executed

²⁸ Now the news came to Joab, ^(AT)for Joab had followed Adonijah, ^(AU)although he had not followed Absalom. And Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and ^(AV)took hold of the horns of the altar. ²⁹ It was told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord, and behold, he is beside the altar. Then Solomon ^(AW)sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “^(AX)Go, fall upon him.” ³⁰ So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, “Thus the king has said, ‘Come out.’” But he said, “No, for I will die here.” And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, “Thus spoke Joab, and thus he answered me.” ³¹ The king said to him, “^(AY)Do as he has spoken and fall upon him and bury him, ^(AZ)that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the blood which Joab shed without cause. ^32 (BA)The Lord will return his blood on his own head, ^(BB)because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and killed them with the sword, while my father David did not know it: ^(BC)Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and ^(BD)Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. ^33 (BE)So shall their blood return on the head of Joab and on the head of his ^[t]descendants forever; but to David and his ^[u]descendants and his house and his throne, may there be peace from the Lord forever.” ³⁴ Then ^(BF)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him and put him to death, and he was buried at his own house ^(BG)in the wilderness. ^35 (BH)The king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed ^(BI)Zadok the priest ^(BJ)in the place of Abiathar.

Shimei Executed

³⁶ Now the king sent and called for ^(BK)Shimei and said to him, “Build for yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not go out from there to any place. ³⁷ For on the day you go out and ^(BL)cross over the ^[v]brook Kidron, you will know for certain that you shall surely die; ^(BM)your blood shall be on your own head.” ³⁸ Shimei then said to the king, “The word is good. As my lord the king has said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

³⁹ But it came about at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away ^(BN)to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, “Behold, your servants are in Gath.” ⁴⁰ Then Shimei arose and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish to look for his servants. And Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. ⁴¹ It was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned. ⁴² So the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘You will know for certain that on the day you depart and go anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word which I have heard is good.’ ⁴³ Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord, and the command which I ^[w]have laid on you?” ⁴⁴ The king also said to Shimei, “^(BO)You know all the evil which ^[x]you acknowledge in your heart, which you did to my father David; therefore ^(BP)the Lord shall return your evil on your own head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon shall be blessed, and ^(BQ)the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.” ^46 (BR)So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and fell upon him so that he died.

^(BS)Thus the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon.

Solomon’s Rule Consolidated

3 Then ^(BT)Solomon ^[y]formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter ^(BU)and brought her to the city of David ^(BV)until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and ^(BW)the wall around Jerusalem. ^2 (BX)The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days.

³ Now ^(BY)Solomon loved the Lord, ^(BZ)walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. ^4 (CA)The king went to ^(CB)Gibeon to sacrifice there, ^(CC)for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ^5 (CD)In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon ^(CE)in a dream at night; and God said, “^(CF)Ask what you wish Me to give you.”

Solomon’s Prayer

⁶ Then Solomon said, “^(CG)You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, ^(CH)according as he walked before You in ^[z]truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and ^(CI)You have ^[aa]reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. ⁷ Now, O Lord my God, ^(CJ)You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet ^(CK)I am but a little child; ^(CL)I do not know how to go out or come in. ^8 (CM)Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, ^(CN)a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. ⁹ So ^(CO)give Your servant ^[ab]an understanding heart to judge Your people ^(CP)to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this ^[ac]great people of Yours?”

God’s Answer

^10 [ad]It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. ¹¹ God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have ^(CQ)not asked for yourself ^[ae]long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself ^[af]discernment to understand justice, ¹² behold, ^(CR)I have done according to your words. Behold, ^(CS)I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. ^13 (CT)I have also given you what you have not asked, both ^(CU)riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. ^14 (CV)If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will ^(CW)prolong your days.”

¹⁵ Then ^(CX)Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and ^(CY)made a feast for all his servants.

Solomon Wisely Judges

¹⁶ Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, ^[ag]this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. ¹⁸ It happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house. ¹⁹ This woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on it. ²⁰ So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom. ²¹ When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne.” ²² Then the other woman said, “No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” But ^[ah]the first woman said, “No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.

²³ Then the king said, “^[ai]The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and ^[aj]the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” ²⁴ The king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” ²⁶ Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for ^[ak](CZ)she was deeply stirred over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!” ²⁷ Then the king said, “Give ^[al]the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.” ²⁸ When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had ^[am]handed down, they feared the king, for ^(DA)they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to ^[an]administer justice.

Solomon’s Officials

4 Now King Solomon was king over all Israel. ² These were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was ^(DB)the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha were secretaries; ^(DC)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; ⁴ and ^(DD)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; and Zadok and ^(DE)Abiathar were priests; ⁵ and Azariah the son of Nathan was over ^(DF)the deputies; and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest, was the king’s friend; ⁶ and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor.

⁷ Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who ^[ao]provided for the king and his household; each man had to ^[ap]provide for a month in the year. ⁸ These are their names: Ben-hur, in the ^(DG)hill country of Ephraim; ⁹ Ben-deker in Makaz and ^(DH)Shaalbim and ^(DI)Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan; ¹⁰ Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (^(DJ)Socoh was his and all the land of ^(DK)Hepher); ¹¹ Ben-abinadab, in all ^[aq]the ^(DL)height of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife); ¹² Baana the son of Ahilud, in ^(DM)Taanach and Megiddo, and all ^(DN)Beth-shean which is beside ^(DO)Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to ^(DP)Abel-meholah as far as the other side of ^(DQ)Jokmeam; ¹³ Ben-geber, in ^(DR)Ramoth-gilead (^(DS)the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead were his: ^(DT)the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars were his); ¹⁴ Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in ^(DU)Mahanaim; ^15 (DV)Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon); ¹⁶ Baana the son of ^(DW)Hushai, in Asher and ^[ar]Bealoth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ^18 (DX)Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; ¹⁹ Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, ^(DY)the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only deputy who was in the land.

Solomon’s Power, Wealth and Wisdom

^20 (DZ)Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the ^[as]seashore in abundance; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.

^21 [at](EA)Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms ^(EB)from the ^[au]River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; ^(EC)they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

²² Solomon’s ^[av]provision for one day was thirty ^[aw]kors of fine flour and sixty ^[ax]kors of meal, ²³ ten fat oxen, twenty ^[ay]pasture-fed oxen, a hundred sheep besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. ²⁴ For he had dominion over everything ^[az]west of the ^[ba]River, from Tiphsah even to ^(ED)Gaza, ^(EE)over all the kings ^[bb]west of the ^[bc]River; and ^(EF)he had peace on all sides around about him. ^25 (EG)So Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, ^(EH)from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. ^26 (EI)Solomon had ^[bd]40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. ²⁷ Those deputies ^[be]provided for King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they left nothing lacking. ²⁸ They also brought barley and straw for the horses and ^(EJ)swift steeds to the place where it should be, each according to his charge.

²⁹ Now ^(EK)God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of ^[bf]mind, ^(EL)like the sand that is on the seashore. ³⁰ Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all ^(EM)the sons of the east and ^(EN)all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ For ^(EO)he was wiser than all men, than ^(EP)Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, ^(EQ)Calcol and ^[bg]Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his ^[bh]fame was known in all the surrounding nations. ^32 (ER)He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. ³³ He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish. ^34 [bi]Men ^(ES)came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Alliance with King Hiram

5 ^[bj](ET)Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for ^(EU)Hiram had ^[bk]always been a friend of David. ² Then ^(EV)Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, ³ “You know that ^(EW)David my father was unable to build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. ⁴ But now ^(EX)the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor ^[bl]misfortune. ⁵ Behold, ^(EY)I ^[bm]intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he will build the house for My name.’ ⁶ Now therefore, command that they cut for me ^(EZ)cedars from Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your servants according to all that you say, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

⁷ When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.” ⁸ So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you have sent me; I will do ^[bn]what you desire concerning the cedar and cypress timber. ⁹ My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea ^(FA)to the place where you ^[bo]direct me, and I will have them broken up there, and you shall carry them away. Then ^(FB)you shall accomplish my desire by giving food to my household.” ¹⁰ So ^[bp]Hiram ^[bq]gave Solomon ^[br]as much as he desired of the cedar and cypress timber. ^11 (FC)Solomon then gave Hiram 20,000 ^[bs]kors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty ^[bt]kors of beaten oil; thus Solomon would give Hiram year by year. ^12 (FD)The Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, just as He ^[bu]promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a covenant.

Conscription of Laborers

¹³ Now ^(FE)King Solomon ^[bv]levied forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers ^[bw]numbered 30,000 men. ¹⁴ He sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in relays; they were in Lebanon a month and two months at home. And ^(FF)Adoniram was over the forced laborers. ¹⁵ Now ^(FG)Solomon had 70,000 ^[bx]transporters, and 80,000 hewers of stone in the mountains, ^16 (FH)besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were over the ^[by]project and who ruled over the people who were doing the work. ¹⁷ Then ^(FI)the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones. ¹⁸ So Solomon’s builders and ^[bz]Hiram’s builders and ^(FJ)the Gebalites ^[ca]cut them, and prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.

The Building of the Temple

6 ^(FK)Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv which is the second month, that he ^[cb]began to build the house of the Lord. ² As for the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty ^[cc]cubits and its width twenty cubits and its height thirty cubits. ³ The porch in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits ^[cd]in length, ^[ce]corresponding to the width of the house, and its ^[cf]depth along the front of the house was ten cubits. ⁴ Also for the house ^(FL)he made windows with artistic frames. ^5 (FM)Against the wall of the house he built stories encompassing the walls of the house around both the nave and the ^(FN)inner sanctuary; thus he made ^(FO)side chambers all around. ⁶ The lowest story was five cubits wide, and the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for on the outside he ^[cg]made offsets in the wall of the house all around in order that the beams would not ^[ch]be inserted in the walls of the house.

^7 (FP)The house, while it was being built, was built of stone ^[ci]prepared at the quarry, and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any iron tool heard in the house while it was being built.

⁸ The doorway for the ^[cj]lowest side chamber was on the right side of the house; and they would go up by winding stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third. ⁹ So ^(FQ)he built the house and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and ^[ck]planks of cedar. ¹⁰ He also built the stories against the whole house, each five ^[cl]cubits high; and they ^[cm]were fastened to the house with timbers of cedar.

¹¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon saying, ¹² “Concerning this house which you are building, ^(FR)if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father. ^13 (FS)I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and ^(FT)will not forsake My people Israel.”

^14 (FU)So Solomon built the house and finished it. ¹⁵ Then he ^(FV)built the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to the ^[cn]ceiling he overlaid the walls on the inside with wood, and he overlaid the floor of the house with boards of cypress. ^16 (FW)He built twenty cubits on the rear part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ^[co]ceiling; he built them for it on the inside as an inner sanctuary, even as ^(FX)the most holy place. ¹⁷ The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty ^[cp]cubits long. ¹⁸ There was cedar on the house within, carved in the shape of ^(FY)gourds and open flowers; all was cedar, there was no stone seen. ¹⁹ Then he prepared an inner sanctuary within the house in order to place there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ^20 [cq]The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar with cedar. ²¹ So Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold. And he drew chains of gold across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold. ²² He overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also ^(FZ)the whole altar which was by the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

^23 (GA)Also in the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. ²⁴ Five cubits was the one wing of the cherub and five cubits the other wing of the cherub; from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing were ten cubits. ²⁵ The other cherub was ten cubits; both the cherubim were of the same measure and the same form. ²⁶ The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. ²⁷ He placed the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and ^(GB)the wings of the cherubim were spread out, so that the wing of the one was touching the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall. So their wings were touching each other in the center of the house. ²⁸ He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ Then he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inner and outer sanctuaries. ³⁰ He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inner and outer sanctuaries.

³¹ For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood, the lintel and five-sided doorposts. ³² So he made two doors of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.

³³ So also he made for the entrance of the nave four-sided doorposts of olive wood ³⁴ and ^(GC)two doors of cypress wood; the two leaves of the one door turned on pivots, and the two ^[cr]leaves of the other door turned on pivots. ³⁵ He carved on it cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the engraved work. ^36 (GD)He built the inner court with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

^37 (GE)In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.

Solomon’s Palace

7 Now ^(GF)Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. ^2 (GG)He built the house of the forest of Lebanon; its length was 100 ^[cs]cubits and its width 50 cubits and its height 30 cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars with cedar beams on the pillars. ³ It was paneled with cedar above the side chambers which were on the 45 pillars, 15 in each row. ⁴ There were artistic window frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three ranks. ⁵ All the doorways and doorposts had squared artistic frames, and window was opposite window in three ranks.

⁶ Then he made ^(GH)the hall of pillars; its length was 50 cubits and its width 30 cubits, and a porch was in front of them and pillars and a ^(GI)threshold in front of them.

⁷ He made the hall of the ^(GJ)throne where he was to judge, the hall of judgment, and ^(GK)it was paneled with cedar from floor to floor.

⁸ His house where he was to live, the other court inward from the hall, was of the same workmanship. ^(GL)He also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, ^(GM)whom Solomon had married.

⁹ All these were of costly stones, of stone cut according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside; even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court.

¹⁰ The foundation was of costly stones, even large stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits. ¹¹ And above were costly stones, stone cut according to measure, and cedar. ¹² So ^(GN)the great court all around had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams even as the inner court of the house of the Lord, and ^(GO)the porch of the house.

Hiram’s Work in the Temple

¹³ Now ^(GP)King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. ^14 (GQ)He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze; and ^(GR)he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill for doing any work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and ^(GS)performed all his work.

¹⁵ He fashioned ^(GT)the two pillars of bronze; ^(GU)eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits ^[ct]measured the circumference of both. ¹⁶ He also made two capitals of molten bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; the height of the one capital was five ^[cu]cubits and the height of the other capital was five cubits. ¹⁷ There were nets of network and twisted threads of chainwork for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital and seven for the other capital. ¹⁸ So he made the pillars, and two rows around on the one network to cover the capitals which were on the top of the pomegranates; and so he did for the other capital. ¹⁹ The capitals which were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily design, four cubits. ²⁰ There were capitals on the two pillars, even above and close to the ^[cv]rounded projection which was beside the network; and ^(GV)the pomegranates numbered two hundred in rows around ^[cw]both capitals. ^21 (GW)Thus he set up the pillars at the ^(GX)porch of the nave; and he set up the right pillar and named it ^[cx]Jachin, and he set up the left pillar and named it ^[cy]Boaz. ²² On the top of the pillars was lily design. So the work of the pillars was finished.

^23 (GY)Now he made the sea of ^(GZ)cast metal ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits, and ^[cz]thirty cubits in circumference. ²⁴ Under its brim ^(HA)gourds went around encircling it ten to a cubit, ^(HB)completely surrounding the sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast ^[da]with the rest. ^25 (HC)It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the sea was set on top of them, and all their rear parts turned inward. ²⁶ It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, as a lily blossom; it could hold two thousand baths.

²⁷ Then ^(HD)he made the ten stands of bronze; the length of each stand was four cubits and its width four cubits and its height three cubits. ²⁸ This was the design of the stands: they had borders, even borders between the ^[db]frames, ²⁹ and on the borders which were between the ^[dc]frames were lions, oxen and cherubim; and on the ^[dd]frames there was a pedestal above, and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work. ³⁰ Now each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and its four feet had supports; beneath the basin were cast supports with wreaths at each side. ³¹ Its opening inside the crown at the top was a cubit, and its opening was round like the design of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on its opening there were engravings, and their borders were square, not round. ³² The four wheels were underneath the borders, and the axles of the wheels were on the stand. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. ³³ The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel. Their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. ³⁴ Now there were four supports at the four corners of each stand; its supports were part of the stand itself. ³⁵ On the top of the stand there was a circular form half a ^[de]cubit high, and on the top of the stand its ^[df]stays and its borders were part of it. ³⁶ He engraved on the plates of its stays and on its borders, cherubim, lions and palm trees, according to the clear space on each, with wreaths all around. ^37 (HE)He made the ten stands like this: all of them had one casting, one measure and one form.

^38 (HF)He made ten basins of bronze, one basin held forty baths; each basin was four cubits, and on each of the ten stands was one basin. ³⁹ Then he set the stands, five on the right side of the house and five on the left side of the house; and he set the sea of cast metal on the right side of the house eastward toward the south.

⁴⁰ Now Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the bowls. So Hiram finished doing all the work which he performed for King Solomon in the house of the Lord: ⁴¹ the two pillars and the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the ^(HG)two pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; ⁴² and the ^(HH)four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the tops of the pillars; ⁴³ and the ten stands with the ten basins on the stands; ⁴⁴ and ^(HI)the one sea and the twelve oxen under the sea; ⁴⁵ and ^(HJ)the pails and the shovels and the bowls; even all these utensils which Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of polished bronze. ^46 (HK)In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between ^(HL)Succoth and ^(HM)Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon left all the utensils unweighed, because they were too many; ^(HN)the weight of the bronze could not be ascertained.

⁴⁸ Solomon made all the furniture which was in the house of the Lord: ^(HO)the golden altar and the golden table on which was the ^(HP)bread of the Presence; ⁴⁹ and the lampstands, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary, of pure gold; and ^(HQ)the flowers and the lamps and the tongs, of gold; ⁵⁰ and the cups and the snuffers and the bowls and the spoons and the ^(HR)firepans, of pure gold; and the hinges both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, that is, of the nave, of gold.

^51 (HS)Thus all the work that King Solomon performed in the house of the Lord was finished. And ^(HT)Solomon brought in the things dedicated by his father David, the silver and the gold and the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

The Ark Brought into the Temple

8 ^(HU)Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all ^(HV)the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, ^(HW)to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from ^(HX)the city of David, which is Zion. ² All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at ^(HY)the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ Then all the elders of Israel came, and ^(HZ)the priests took up the ark. ⁴ They brought up the ark of the Lord and ^(IA)the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils, which were in the tent, and the priests and the Levites brought them up. ⁵ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, ^(IB)were with him before the ark, sacrificing ^[dg]so many sheep and oxen they could not be counted or numbered. ⁶ Then ^(IC)the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^(ID)to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, ^(IE)under the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles from above. ⁸ But ^(IF)the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day. ^9 (IG)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where ^(IH)the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, ^(II)the cloud filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Solomon Addresses the People

^12 (IJ)Then Solomon said,

¹⁴ Then the king ^[dh]faced about and ^(IN)blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ¹⁵ He said, “^(IO)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(IP)who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hand, saying, ¹⁶ ‘^(IQ)Since the day that I brought My people Israel from Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that ^(IR)My name might be there, but ^(IS)I chose David to be over My people Israel.’ ^17 (IT)Now it was ^[di]in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was ^[dj]in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was ^[dk]in your heart. ^19 (IU)Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who ^[dl]will be born to you, he will build the house for My name.’ ²⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for ^(IV)I have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord ^[dm]promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹ There I have set a place for the ark, ^(IW)in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with our fathers when He brought them from the land of Egypt.”

The Prayer of Dedication

²² Then ^(IX)Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and ^(IY)spread out his hands toward heaven. ²³ He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, ^(IZ)there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, ^(JA)keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart, ²⁴ who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You have ^[dn]promised him; indeed, You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand as it is this day. ²⁵ Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father that which You have ^[do]promised him, saying, ‘^[dp](JB)You shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way to walk before Me as you have walked.’ ²⁶ Now therefore, O God of Israel, let Your word, I pray, be confirmed ^(JC)which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David.

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

³¹ “^(JK)If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house, ³² then hear in heaven and act and judge Your servants, ^(JL)condemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

³³ “^(JM)When Your people Israel are ^[dr]defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, ^(JN)if they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray and make supplication to You in this house, ³⁴ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.

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

³⁷ “^(JR)If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their ^[ds]cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, ³⁸ whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, ^[dt]each knowing the ^[du]affliction of his own heart, and spreading his ^[dv]hands toward this house; ³⁹ then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each according to all his ways, ^(JS)whose heart You know, for ^(JT)You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men, ⁴⁰ that they may ^[dw]fear You all the days that they live ^[dx]in the land which You have given to our fathers.

⁴¹ “Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your name’s sake ⁴² (for they will hear of Your great name ^(JU)and Your mighty hand, and of Your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house, ⁴³ hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order ^(JV)that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to ^[dy]fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that ^[dz]this house which I have built is called by Your name.

⁴⁴ “When Your people go out to battle against ^[ea]their enemy, by whatever way You shall send them, and ^(JW)they pray to the Lord ^[eb]toward the city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name, ⁴⁵ then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their ^[ec]cause.

⁴⁶ “When they sin against You (for ^(JX)there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that ^[ed]they take them away captive ^(JY)to the land of the enemy, far off or near; ^47 (JZ)if they ^[ee]take thought in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of those who have taken them captive, saying, ‘^(KA)We have sinned and have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly’; ^48 (KB)if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and ^(KC)pray to You toward their land which You have given to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name; ⁴⁹ then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Your dwelling place, and maintain their ^[ef]cause, ⁵⁰ and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You, and ^(KD)make them objects of compassion before those who have taken them captive, that they may have compassion on them ⁵¹ (^(KE)for they are Your people and Your inheritance which You have brought forth from Egypt, ^(KF)from the midst of the iron furnace), ^52 (KG)that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You. ⁵³ For You have separated them from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, ^(KH)as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord ^[eg]God.”

Solomon’s Benediction

^54 (KI)When Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and supplication to the Lord, ^(KJ)he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his ^[eh]hands spread toward heaven. ⁵⁵ And he stood and ^(KK)blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:

⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, ^(KL)according to all that He ^[ei]promised; ^(KM)not one word has ^[ej]failed of all His good ^[ek]promise, which He ^[el]promised through Moses His servant. ⁵⁷ May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; ^(KN)may He not leave us or forsake us, ⁵⁸ that ^(KO)He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the ^[em]cause of His servant and the ^[en]cause of His people Israel, ^[eo]as each day requires, ⁶⁰ so ^(KP)that all the peoples of the earth may know that ^(KQ)the Lord is God; there is no one else. ^61 (KR)Let your heart therefore be ^[ep]wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”

Dedicatory Sacrifices

^62 (KS)Now the king and all Israel with him ^(KT)offered sacrifice before the Lord. ⁶³ Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. ^(KU)So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. ⁶⁴ On the same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, because there he ^[eq]offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat of the peace offerings; for ^(KV)the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵ So ^(KW)Solomon observed the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly ^(KX)from the entrance of Hamath ^(KY)to the brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, for seven days and seven more days, even fourteen days. ⁶⁶ On the eighth day he sent the people away and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had ^[er]shown to David His servant and to Israel His people.

God’s Promise and Warning

9 ^(KZ)Now it came about when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord, and ^(LA)the king’s house, and ^(LB)all ^[es]that Solomon desired to do, ² that ^(LC)the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ The Lord said to him, “^(LD)I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built ^(LE)by putting My name there forever, and ^(LF)My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. ⁴ As for you, ^(LG)if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, ⁵ then ^(LH)I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I ^[et]promised to your father David, saying, ‘^[eu]You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

⁶ “^(LI)But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, ^7 (LJ)then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and ^(LK)the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will ^[ev]cast out of My sight. So ^(LL)Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ⁸ And this house will become ^[ew](LM)a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be astonished and hiss and say, ‘^(LN)Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ ⁹ And they will say, ‘^(LO)Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore the Lord has brought all this adversity on them.’”

Cities Given to Hiram

^10 (LP)It came about ^(LQ)at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house ¹¹ (Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold according to all his desire), then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. ¹² So Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they ^[ex]did not please him. ¹³ He said, “What are these cities which you have given me, my brother?” So ^[ey]they were called the land of ^[ez](LR)Cabul to this day. ^14 (LS)And Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.

¹⁵ Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon ^(LT)levied to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the ^[fa](LU)Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, ^(LV)Hazor, ^(LW)Megiddo, and ^(LX)Gezer. ¹⁶ For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and killed the ^(LY)Canaanites who lived in the city, and had ^(LZ)given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. ¹⁷ So Solomon rebuilt Gezer and the lower ^(MA)Beth-horon ¹⁸ and ^(MB)Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, ¹⁹ and all the storage cities which Solomon had, even ^(MC)the cities for ^[fb]his chariots and the cities for ^[fc](MD)his horsemen, and ^[fd](ME)all that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land ^[fe]under his rule. ²⁰ As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel, ^21 (MF)their descendants who were left after them in the land ^(MG)whom the sons of Israel were unable to destroy utterly, ^(MH)from them Solomon levied ^(MI)forced laborers, even to this day. ²² But Solomon ^(MJ)did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war, his servants, his princes, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.

²³ These were the ^[ff](MK)chief officers who were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, ^(ML)who ruled over the people doing the work.

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

²⁵ Now ^(MO)three times in a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he built to the Lord, burning incense with them on the altar which was before the Lord. So he finished the house.

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

The Queen of Sheba

10 ^(MT)Now when the ^(MU)queen of ^(MV)Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came ^(MW)to test him with difficult questions. ² So she came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels ^(MX)carrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. ³ Solomon ^[fh]answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from the king which he did not ^[fi]explain to her. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba perceived all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁵ the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and ^[fj]his stairway 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 Nevertheless I did not believe the ^[fk]reports, until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard. ⁸ How ^(MY)blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. ^9 (MZ)Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel; ^(NA)because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, ^(NB)to do justice and righteousness.” ^10 (NC)She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. Never again did such abundance of spices come in as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

^11 (ND)Also the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a very great number of almug trees and precious stones. ^12 (NE)The king made of the almug trees supports for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also lyres and harps for the singers; such almug trees have not come in again nor have they been seen to this day.

¹³ King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she requested, besides what he gave her according to ^[fl]his royal bounty. Then she turned and went to her own land ^[fm]together with her servants.

Wealth, Splendor and Wisdom

^14 (NF)Now the weight of gold which came in to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, ¹⁵ besides that from the traders and the ^[fn]wares of the merchants and all the kings of the ^(NG)Arabs and the governors of the country. ^16 (NH)King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, ^[fo]using 600 shekels of gold on each large shield. ¹⁷ He made ^(NI)300 shields of beaten gold, ^[fp]using three minas of gold on each shield, and ^(NJ)the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. ¹⁸ Moreover, the king made a great throne of ^(NK)ivory and overlaid it with refined gold. ¹⁹ There were six steps to the throne and a round top to the throne at its rear, and ^[fq]arms ^[fr]on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the ^[fs]arms. ²⁰ 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. ²¹ All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None was of silver; it was not considered ^[ft]valuable in the days of Solomon. ²² For ^(NL)the king had at sea the ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.

^23 (NM)So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. ²⁴ All the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, ^(NN)to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. ^25 (NO)They brought every man his gift, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

^26 (NP)Now Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; and he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he ^[fu]stationed them in the ^(NQ)chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ^27 (NR)The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the ^[fv]lowland. ^28 (NS)Also Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s merchants procured them from Kue for a price. ²⁹ A chariot ^[fw]was imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150; and ^[fx]by the same means they exported them ^(NT)to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of the Arameans.

Solomon Turns from God

11 Now ^(NU)King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, ² from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “^(NV)You shall not ^[fy]associate with them, nor shall they ^[fz]associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love. ^3 (NW)He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. ⁴ For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and ^(NX)his heart was not ^[ga]wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ For Solomon went after ^(NY)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after ^[gb](NZ)Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for ^(OA)Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is ^[gc]east of Jerusalem, and for ^(OB)Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. ⁸ Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ Now ^(OC)the Lord was angry with Solomon ^(OD)because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(OE)who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and ^(OF)had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹ So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because ^[gd]you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, ^(OG)I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. ¹² Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ However, ^(OH)I will not tear away all the kingdom, but ^(OI)I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and ^(OJ)for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

God Raises Adversaries

¹⁴ Then the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the ^[ge]royal line in Edom. ¹⁵ For it came about, ^(OK)when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, and had ^(OL)struck down every male in Edom ¹⁶ (for Joab and all Israel stayed there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom), ¹⁷ that Hadad fled ^[gf]to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, while Hadad was a young boy. ¹⁸ They arose from Midian and came to ^(OM)Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him food and gave him land. ¹⁹ Now Hadad found great favor ^[gg]before Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. ²⁰ The sister of Tahpenes bore his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh. ²¹ But ^(ON)when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Send me away, that I may go to my own country.” ²² Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you are seeking to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing; nevertheless you must surely ^[gh]let me go.”

^23 (OO)God also raised up another adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord ^(OP)Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴ He gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, ^(OQ)after David slew them of Zobah; and they went to Damascus and stayed ^[gi]there, and reigned in Damascus. ²⁵ So he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad did; and he abhorred Israel and reigned over Aram.

²⁶ Then ^(OR)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, ^(OS)also ^[gj]rebelled against the king. ²⁷ Now this was the reason why he ^[gk]rebelled against the king: ^(OT)Solomon built the ^[gl]Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of his father David. ²⁸ Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when ^(OU)Solomon saw that the young man was ^[gm]industrious, he appointed him over all the ^[gn]forced labor of the house of Joseph. ²⁹ It came about at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that ^(OV)the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now ^[go]Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field. ³⁰ Then ^(OW)Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ He said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, ^(OX)I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes ³² (^(OY)but he will have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, ^(OZ)the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel), ³³ because they have forsaken Me, and ^(PA)have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, ^(PB)Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and observing My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did. ³⁴ Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ^[gp]ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who observed My commandments and My statutes; ³⁵ but ^(PC)I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you, even ten tribes. ³⁶ But ^(PD)to his son I will give one tribe, ^(PE)that My servant David may have a lamp always before Me in Jerusalem, ^(PF)the city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name. ³⁷ I will take you, and you shall reign over whatever ^[gq]you desire, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸ Then it will be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by observing My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then ^(PG)I will be with you and ^(PH)build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. ³⁹ Thus I will afflict the ^[gr]descendants of David for this, but not always.’” ⁴⁰ Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to ^(PI)Shishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

The Death of Solomon

^41 (PJ)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and whatever he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? ⁴² Thus ^(PK)the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ⁴³ And Solomon ^(PL)slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son ^(PM)Rehoboam reigned in his place.

King Rehoboam Acts Foolishly

12 ^(PN)Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to ^(PO)Shechem to make him king. ² Now ^(PP)when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, ^[gs]he was living in Egypt (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon). ³ Then they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “^(PQ)Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ Then he said to them, “^(PR)Depart ^[gt]for three days, then return to me.” So the people departed.

⁶ King Rehoboam ^(PS)consulted with the elders who had ^[gu]served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to answer this people?” ⁷ Then they spoke to him, saying, “^(PT)If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and ^[gv]grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him ^[gw]and served him. ⁹ So he said to them, “What counsel do you give 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 grew up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!’ But you shall speak to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! ¹¹ Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

¹² Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had ^[gx]directed, saying, “^(PU)Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ The king answered the people harshly, for he forsook the advice of the elders which they had ^[gy]given him, ¹⁴ and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “^(PV)My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people; ^(PW)for it was a turn of events from the Lord, ^(PX)that He might establish His word, which the Lord spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The Kingdom Divided; Jeroboam Rules Israel

¹⁶ 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 ^(PZ)as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent ^(QA)Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him ^[gz]to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ^19 (QB)So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰ It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. ^(QC)None but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.

^21 (QD)Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²² But the word of God came to ^(QE)Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ²³ “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the ^(QF)rest of the people, saying, ²⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord, “You must not go up and fight against your ^[ha]relatives the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, ^(QG)for this thing has come from Me.”’” So they listened to the word of the Lord, and returned and went their way according to the word of the Lord.

Jeroboam’s Idolatry

²⁵ Then ^(QH)Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived ^[hb]there. And he went out from there and built ^(QI)Penuel. ²⁶ Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. ^27 (QJ)If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” ²⁸ So the king ^[hc]consulted, and ^(QK)made two golden ^(QL)calves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; ^(QM)behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” ²⁹ He set ^(QN)one in ^(QO)Bethel, and the other he put in ^(QP)Dan. ³⁰ Now ^(QQ)this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. ³¹ And ^(QR)he made houses on high places, and ^(QS)made priests from among ^[hd]all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. ³² Jeroboam ^[he]instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, ^(QT)like the feast which is in Judah, and he ^[hf]went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel ^(QU)the priests of the high places which he had made. ³³ Then he ^[hg]went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had ^[hh](QV)devised ^[hi]in his own heart; and he ^[hj]instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and ^[hk]went up to the altar ^(QW)to burn ^[hl]incense.

Jeroboam Warned, Stricken

13 Now behold, there came ^(QX)a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar ^(QY)to burn incense. ^2 (QZ)He cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, ^(RA)Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” ³ Then he gave a ^[hm]sign the same day, saying, “^(RB)This is the ^[hn]sign which the Lord has spoken, ‘Behold, the altar shall be split apart and the ^[ho]ashes which are on it shall be poured out.’” ⁴ Now when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” But his hand which he stretched out against him dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. ⁵ The altar also was split apart and the ^[hp]ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the ^[hq]sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. ⁶ The king said to the man of God, “Please ^[hr](RC)entreat the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” So ^(RD)the man of God ^[hs]entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before. ⁷ Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and ^(RE)I will give you a reward.” ⁸ But the man of God said to the king, “^(RF)If you were to give me half your house I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. ⁹ For so ^[ht]it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came.’” ¹⁰ So he went another way and did not return by the way which he came to Bethel.

The Disobedient Prophet

¹¹ Now ^(RG)an old prophet was living in Bethel; and his ^[hu]sons came and told him all the deeds which the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken to the king, these also they related to their father. ¹² Their father said to them, “^[hv]Which way did he go?” Now his sons ^[hw]had seen the way which the man of God who came from Judah had gone. ¹³ Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it. ¹⁴ So he went after the man of God and found him sitting under ^[hx]an oak; and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” ¹⁵ Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” ¹⁶ He said, “^(RH)I cannot return with you, nor go with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ For a command came to me ^(RI)by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.’” ¹⁸ He said to him, “^(RJ)I also am a prophet like you, and ^(RK)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.’” But ^(RL)he lied to him. ¹⁹ So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.

²⁰ Now it came about, as they were sitting down at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; ²¹ and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have ^[hy]disobeyed the ^[hz]command of the Lord, and have not observed the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, ²² but have returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water”; your body shall not come to the grave of your fathers.’” ²³ It came about after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ Now when he had gone, ^(RM)a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body. ²⁵ And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the body; so they came and told it in the city where ^(RN)the old prophet lived.

²⁶ Now when the prophet who brought him back from the way heard it, he said, “It is the man of God, who ^[ia]disobeyed the ^[ib]command of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” ²⁷ Then he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it. ²⁸ He went and found his body thrown on the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion had not eaten the body nor torn the donkey. ²⁹ So the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back, and he came to the city of the old prophet to mourn and to bury him. ³⁰ He laid his body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, “^(RO)Alas, my brother!” ³¹ After he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; ^(RP)lay my bones beside his bones. ^32 (RQ)For the thing shall surely come to pass which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and ^(RR)against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of ^(RS)Samaria.”

³³ After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but ^(RT)again he made priests of the high places from among ^[ic]all the people; ^(RU)any who would, he ordained, to be priests of the high places. ^34 [id](RV)This event became sin to the house of Jeroboam, ^(RW)even to blot it out and destroy it from off the face of the earth.

Ahijah Prophesies against the King

14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise now, and ^(RX)disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to ^(RY)Shiloh; behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who ^(RZ)spoke concerning me that I would be king over this people. ^3 (SA)Take ten loaves with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

⁴ Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose and went to ^(SB)Shiloh, and came to the house of ^(SC)Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, ^(SD)for his eyes were ^[ie]dim because of his age. ⁵ Now the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to ^[if]inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. You shall say thus and thus to her, for it will be when she arrives that ^(SE)she will pretend to be another woman.”

⁶ When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet coming in the doorway, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why do you pretend to be another woman? For I am sent to you with a harsh message. ⁷ Go, say to Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “^(SF)Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel, ⁸ and ^(SG)tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you—^(SH)yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, ^(SI)to do only that which was right in My sight; ⁹ you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and ^(SJ)have gone and made for yourself other gods and ^(SK)molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have ^(SL)cast Me behind your back— ¹⁰ therefore behold, I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam, and ^(SM)will cut off from Jeroboam ^[ig]every male person, ^(SN)both bond and free in Israel, and I ^(SO)will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone. ^11 (SP)Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat; for the Lord has spoken it.”’ ¹² Now you, arise, go to your house. ^(SQ)When your feet enter the city the child will die. ¹³ All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for ^[ih]he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to the grave, because in him ^(SR)something good was found toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. ¹⁴ Moreover, ^(SS)the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam this day ^[ii]and from now on.

¹⁵ “For the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and ^(ST)He will uproot Israel from ^(SU)this good land which He gave to their fathers, and ^(SV)will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, ^(SW)because they have made their ^[ij]Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. ¹⁶ He will give up Israel ^(SX)on account of the sins of Jeroboam, which he ^[ik]committed and with which he made Israel to sin.”

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed and came to ^(SY)Tirzah. ^(SZ)As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child died. ^18 (TA)All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

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

Rehoboam Misleads Judah

^21 (TC)Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, ^(TD)the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. ^22 (TE)Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they ^(TF)provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with ^[il]the sins which they ^[im]committed. ²³ For they also built for themselves ^(TG)high places and sacred ^(TH)pillars and ^[in](TI)Asherim on every high hill and ^(TJ)beneath every luxuriant tree. ²⁴ There were also ^(TK)male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.

^25 (TL)Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. ²⁶ He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house, and ^(TM)he took everything, ^[io](TN)even taking all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. ²⁷ So King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and ^(TO)committed them to the ^[ip]care of the commanders of the ^[iq]guard who guarded the doorway of the king’s house. ²⁸ Then it happened as often as the king entered the house of the Lord, that the ^[ir]guards would carry them and would bring them back into the ^[is]guards’ room.

^29 (TP)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 (TQ)There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. ³¹ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and ^(TR)his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. And Abijam his son became king in his place.

Abijam Reigns over Judah

15 ^(TS)Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was ^[it](TT)Maacah the daughter of ^[iu](TU)Abishalom. ³ He walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him; and ^(TV)his heart was not ^[iv]wholly devoted to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father David. ⁴ But for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a ^(TW)lamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem; ^5 (TX)because David did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, ^(TY)except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. ^6 (TZ)There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.

⁷ Now ^(UA)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? ^(UB)And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

Asa Succeeds Abijam

^8 (UC)And Abijam slept with his fathers and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son became king in his place.

⁹ So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa began to reign as king of Judah. ¹⁰ He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem; and ^(UD)his mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ^11 (UE)Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father. ^12 (UF)He also put away the male cult prostitutes from the land and ^(UG)removed all the idols which his fathers had made. ^13 [iw](UH)He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image ^[ix]as an Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid image and ^(UI)burned it at the brook Kidron. ^14 (UJ)But the high places were not taken away; nevertheless ^(UK)the heart of Asa was ^[iy]wholly devoted to the Lord all his days. ^15 (UL)He brought into the house of the Lord the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver and gold and utensils.

^16 (UM)Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. ^17 (UN)Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and ^[iz](UO)fortified Ramah ^(UP)in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ Then ^(UQ)Asa took all the silver and the gold which were left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the king’s house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And ^(UR)King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived in ^(US)Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ “Let there be a ^(UT)treaty between ^[ja]you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you a present of silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” ²⁰ So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and ^[jb]conquered ^(UU)Ijon, ^(UV)Dan, ^(UW)Abel-beth-maacah and all ^(UX)Chinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ When Baasha heard of it, ^(UY)he ceased ^[jc]fortifying Ramah and remained in ^(UZ)Tirzah.