Beginning
9 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came with a very great train, and camels that bore sweet odors and much gold and precious stones, to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions. And when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him of all that was in her heart.
2 And Solomon answered all her questions. And there was nothing hidden from Solomon which he did not tell her.
3 Then the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, and the House that he had built,
4 and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the order of his waiters, and their apparel, and his butlers, and their apparel, and his Burnt Offerings which he offered in the House of the LORD. And she was greatly astonished.
5 And she said to the king, “It was a true word which I heard in my own land of your sayings, and of your wisdom!
6 “However, I did not believe their report until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, one half of your great wisdom was not told to me! You exceed the fame that I heard!
7 “Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants who stand before you always and hear your wisdom.
8 “Blessed be the LORD your God! Who loved you, setting you on His throne as king in the place of the LORD your God! Because your God loves Israel, to establish it forever, He has therefore made you king over them, to execute judgments and justice.”
9 Then she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, and an abundance of sweet odors, and precious stones. Never were there such sweet odors as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10 And also the servants of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought Algummim wood and precious stones.
11 And the king made from the Algummim wood stairs in the House of the LORD, and in the king’s house, and harps and viols for singers. And there was no such thing seen before in the land of Judah.
12 And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba every pleasant thing that she asked, more than that which she had brought to the king. So she returned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
13 Also, the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold,
14 besides that which traders and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia, and the princes of the country, brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold. Six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one large shield.
16 And for three hundred shields of beaten gold, three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the wood of Lebanon.
17 And the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.
18 And the throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold fastened to the throne and supports on either side on the place of the seats, and two lions standing by the supports.
19 And twelve lions stood there on the six steps on either side. There was not any like it made in any kingdom.
20 And all King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold. And all the vessels of the house of the wood of Lebanon were of pure gold; for silver was considered nothing special in the days of Solomon.
21 For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram. Every three years the ships of Tarshish came and brought gold and silver, ivory, and apes and peacocks.
22 So, King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the Earth in riches and wisdom.
23 And all the kings of the Earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom that God had put in his heart.
24 And every man brought his present: vessels of silver and vessels of gold and clothing, armor, sweet odors, horses and mules, year after year.
25 And Solomon had four thousand stalls of horses, and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.
26 And he reigned over all the kings, from the River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt.
27 And the king gave silver in Jerusalem as stones and gave cedar trees as the wild fig trees (which are abundant in the plain).
28 And they brought horses out of Egypt to Solomon, and out of all lands.
29 Concerning the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the Book of Nathan the Prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the Seer against Jeroboam, the son of Nebat?
30 And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all Israel, for forty years.
31 And Solomon slept with his fathers. And they buried him in the city of David, his father. And Rehoboam, his son, reigned in his place.
10 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem. For all Israel came to Shechem to make him king.
2 And when Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, heard it (who was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of Solomon the king) he returned out of Egypt.
3 And they sent and called him. So, Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke with Rehoboam, saying,
4 “Your father made our yoke grievous. Now, therefore, make the grievous servitude of your father, and his severe yoke that he put upon us, lighter. And we will serve you.”
5 And he said to them, “Come back to me in three days.” And the people departed.
6 And King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men who had stood before Solomon, his father, while he still lived, saying, “What counsel do you give, so that I may answer these people?”
7 And they spoke to him, saying, “If you are kind to this people, and please them, and speak loving words to them, they will be your servants forever.”
8 But he rejected the counsel of the ancient men that they had given him and took counsel of the young men who were brought up with him and waited on him.
9 And he said to them, “What counsel do you give, so that we may answer these people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Make the yoke which your father put upon us, lighter’?”
10 And the young men who had been brought up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus shall you answer the people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter for us.’ Thus shall you say to them, ‘My least part shall be bigger than my father’s loins.
11 ‘Now, whereas my father burdened you with a grievous yoke, I will increase your yoke more. My father chastised you with rods, but I will do so with scourges.’”
12 Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.”
13 And the king answered them sharply. And King Rehoboam rejected the counsel of the ancient men,
14 and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke grievous, but I will increase it! My father chastised you with rods, but I will do so with scourges!”
15 So the king did not listen to the people. For it was the Ordinance of God that the LORD might perform His saying which He had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.
16 So, when all Israel saw that the king would not hear them, the people answered the king, saying, “What portion do we have in David? For we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. O Israel, every man to your tents now! See to your own House, David!” So, all Israel departed to their tents.
17 However, Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.
18 Then, King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the tribute. And the children of Israel stoned him with stones, so that he died. Then, King Rehoboam hurried to get himself up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
19 And Israel has rebelled against the House of David to this day.
11 And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he gathered one hundred eighty thousand chosen men of war from the House of Judah and Benjamin, to fight against Israel and to bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam.
2 But the Word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying,
3 “Speak to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel who are in Judah and Benjamin, saying,
4 ‘Thus says the LORD: “You shall neither go up nor fight against your brethren. Every man should return to his house. For I have done this thing.”’” Therefore, they obeyed the Word of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.
5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem and built strong cities in Judah.
6 He also built Bethlehem and Etam and Tekoa
7 and Beth Zur and Sochoh and Adullam
8 and Gath, Mareshah and Ziph
9 and Adoraim and Lachish and Azekah
10 and Zorah and Aijalon and Hebron, which were strong cities in Judah and Benjamin.
11 And he repaired the strongholds and put captains in them, and stores of food, oil and wine.
12 And he put shields and spears in all cities and made them exceedingly strong. So, Judah and Benjamin were his.
13 And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel, out of all their territories, stood with him.
14 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possessions and came to Judah and to Jerusalem. For Jeroboam and his sons had cast them out from ministering to the LORD in the priests’ office.
15 And he ordained for himself priests for the high places, and for the demons, and for the calves which he had made.
16 And after the Levites, there came to Jerusalem such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel, to offer to the LORD God of their fathers, from all the tribes of Israel.
17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and made Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, mighty for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.
18 And Rehoboam took Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth, the son of David, for himself as a wife. And he also took Abihail, the daughter of Eliah, the son of Jesse,
19 who bore him sons: Jeush and Shamariah and Zaham.
20 And after her, he took Maachah, the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah and Attai and Ziza and Shelomith.
21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah, the daughter of Absalom, above all his wives and his concubines. For he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begat twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
22 And Rehoboam made Abijah, the son of Maachah, the chief ruler among his brethren, and intended to make him king.
23 And he taught him and dispersed all his sons throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, to every strong city. And he gave them abundance of food and desired many wives.
12 And when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and made it strong, he forsook the Law of the LORD, and all Israel with him.
2 Therefore, in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, the king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem (because they had transgressed against the LORD)
3 with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt—the Lubim, Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians—were without number.
4 And he took the strong cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.
5 Then Shemaiah the Prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the LORD: ‘You have forsaken Me. Therefore, I have also left you in the hands of Shishak.’”
6 Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves, and said, “The LORD is just.”
7 And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the Word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them. But I will shortly send them deliverance. And My wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
8 “Nevertheless, they shall be his servants, so they shall know My service from the service of the kingdoms of the Earth.”
9 Then Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem and took the treasures of the House of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house. He took it all. And he carried away the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
10 In their place, King Rehoboam made shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard who waited at the door of the king’s house.
11 And when the king entered into the House of the LORD, the guard came and bore them and brought them back to the guard chamber.
12 And because he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so that He would not completely destroy. And things also prospered in Judah.
13 So, King Rehoboam was strong in Jerusalem and reigned. For Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city in which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His Name. And his mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess.
14 And he did evil. For he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.
15 Also the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the Book of Shemaiah the Prophet and Iddo the Seer, in recounting the genealogy? And there was perpetual war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.
16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. And Abijah, his son, reigned in his place.
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