Bible in 90 Days
19 They attacked me when I was in trouble,
but the Lord helped me.
20 He led me out to an open place where I would be safe.
He saved me because I made him happy.
21 The Lord was kind to me
because I do things that please him.
He blesses me
because I am not guilty of bad things.
22 I have obeyed the Lord's commands.
I have not turned against my God.
23 I understand all his rules,
and I do not refuse to obey them.
24 He knows that I have done nothing that is wrong.
I kept away from any sin.
25 The Lord was kind to me,
because I did good things.
He sees that I am not guilty.
26 Lord, if people are faithful to you,
then you are faithful to them.
If people do nothing that is bad,
they can trust you to do nothing bad to them.
27 If people keep themselves pure,
they can trust you to do only good things.
But if people are wicked,
you turn against them.
28 You save people who are humble.
But if people are proud, you cause them to fall.
29 Lord, you make my lamp burn brightly.
You are my light in the dark.
30 You make me strong,
so that I can chase a whole army!
With the help of my God,
I can climb over any high wall.
31 God's way is perfect.
The Lord's promises are always true.
He keeps safe everyone who goes to him for help,
like a shield that keeps a soldier safe.
32 We know that the Lord is God,
and no one else.
Only our God can keep us safe,
like a strong rock!
33 It is God who makes me strong.
He shows me the safe way through my life.
34 He makes my feet stand strongly on the ground.
Like a deer,
I can stand on high hills and not fall.
35 He teaches me how to fight in war.
He makes my arms strong
to shoot arrows from a metal bow.
36 You keep me safe in the battle,
like a shield.
Your kind help has made me great.
37 You have helped me to move safely,
so that my feet do not slip.
38 I ran after my enemies and I destroyed them.
I did not turn back until I had killed them.
39 I destroyed them completely.
I knocked them down to the ground.
They could not get up again.
They fell under my feet.
40 You have made me strong to fight battles
so that I win against my enemies.
41 You caused my enemies to turn their backs,
and they ran away from me.
I destroyed those who hate me.
42 They called out for help,
but nobody was there to save them.
They called to the Lord,
but he did not answer them.
43 I beat them until they became like dust.
I walked over them,
like dirt that lies on the streets.
44 You have saved me when my people were attacking me.
You have made me a ruler of other nations.
People that I did not know before
now serve me as their ruler.
45 Foreign people cannot stand against me,
because they are afraid.
When they hear about me,
they choose to obey me.
46 They are not brave enough to fight me.
They shake with fear
as they leave their strong cities.
47 The Lord is alive! He is my strong Rock!
Everyone should praise him!
He rules as king!
He is the strong God who saves me.
48 He is the true God who punishes my enemies.
He makes the nations obey me.
49 He is the one who saves me from my enemies.
Yes, God, you give me power
to win against those who attack me.
You keep me safe from angry and cruel men.
50 Lord, I will thank you,
so that all the nations know about you.
I will sing to praise your name.
51 Yes, the Lord gives power to me, David, his king.
He gives me great strength to win against my enemies.
I am the special king that he has chosen.
He will continue to be kind to me
and to my descendants for ever.’
David's last words
23 These are David's last words. The God that Jacob worshipped made Jesse's son David great. God chose him to rule Israel as king. He also wrote beautiful songs for the Israelites. This is David's message:
2 ‘The Spirit of the Lord gives me his message.
I speak what he tells me to say.
3 Israel's God has spoken.
The one who keeps Israel safe said to me,
“A king should rule over people in a way that is right and fair.
He should show that he respects and obeys God.
4 A king who rules like that is like the light of the sun at dawn.
He is like the sky when it has no clouds in it in the morning.
He is like bright sun after rain,
that helps the grass to grow strongly.”
5 That is how God will bless my descendants.
He has made a promise to me that will continue for ever.
It is a strong promise that will never change.
I know that he will always help me.
He will do for me everything that I hope for.
6 But God will remove all wicked people.
He will throw them away like weeds.
They are like thorn bushes
that you cannot pull out with your hands.
7 You need an iron tool or a spear to remove them.
Then you burn them completely in a fire.’
David's brave soldiers
8 These are the names of David's bravest soldiers:
Josheb-Basshebeth was the leader of the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’. He belonged to Tahkemon's clan. He used his spear to fight against 800 men in one battle and he killed them all.
9 Another of the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’ was Dodai's son, Eleazar. He belonged to Ahoh's clan. He was with David at Pas-Dammim when they insulted the Philistine soldiers before a battle.[a] The Israelite soldiers ran away from the fight, 10 but Eleazar stood there. He knocked down the Philistine soldiers until his hand became tired. It became fixed to his sword. On that day, the Lord caused him to win a great battle. When the other Israelite soldiers returned to help him, they took things from the dead Philistines. That was the only thing left for them to do.
11 The third of the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’ was Shammah, the son of Agee, who belonged to Harar's clan. The Philistine soldiers had come together in a field of beans. The Israelite soldiers ran away from them. 12 But Shammah stood in the middle of the field to stop the Philistines taking it for themselves. He killed the Philistines. The Lord caused him to win a great battle.
13 At the time of the harvest, three of David's 30 bravest soldiers went to be with David near Adullam. He was hiding there in a cave. A group of Philistine soldiers had made their camp in Rephaim valley. 14 David was in his strong safe place. A group of Philistine soldiers had made their home in Bethlehem. 15 David was very thirsty. He said, ‘I want someone to bring water from the well near Bethlehem's gate for me to drink.’ 16 So the three brave soldiers fought through the Philistine camp and they reached Bethlehem's gate. They took some water from the well there and they carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it. He poured it on the ground as an offering to the Lord. 17 He said, ‘Lord, it is not right for me to drink this water. It would seem like the blood of the men who fetched it for me. The Philistines might have killed them on the way.’ So David refused to drink it.
Those were some of the great things that the three brave soldiers did.
18 Abishai was the leader of David's 30 great soldiers. He was the brother of Zeruiah's son Joab. One time, he used his spear to fight 300 men and he killed them all. So he became as famous as the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’. 19 He was not one of the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’ but he received more honour than the other 30 great soldiers. So he became their leader.
20 Jehoiada's son, Benaiah, was also one of David's brave soldiers. He came from Kabzeel and he did many great things. He killed two of Moab's best soldiers. He also went down into a deep hole to kill a lion when snow was on the ground. 21 Benaiah also killed a great Egyptian man who held a spear. Benaiah attacked him with a heavy stick. He took the spear from the Egyptian's hand and he used it to kill him. 22 Those were some things that Jehoiada's son Benaiah did. He became as famous as the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’. 23 He received more honour than the other 30 great soldiers, but he did not belong to the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’. David made him the leader of his own special soldiers who were his guards.
24 These men were among David's 30 great soldiers:[b]
Joab's brother Asahel,
Elhanan, Dodo's son, from Bethlehem,
25 Shammah and Elika, from Harod's clan,
26 Helez, from Pelet,
Ira, Ikkesh's son, from Tekoa,
27 Abiezer, from Anathoth,
Mebunnai, from Hushah's clan,
28 Zalmon, from Ahoh's clan,
Maharai, from Netophah,
29 Heleb, Baanah's son, from Netophah,
Ittai, Ribai's son, from Gibeah in the land that belonged to Benjamin's tribe,
30 Benaiah, from Pirathon,
Hiddai, from the valleys near Gaash,
31 Abi-Albon from Arabah's clan,
Azmaveth, from Bahurim,
32 Eliahba, from Shaalbon,
Jashen's sons,
Jonathan, 33 Shammah's son, from Harar,
Ahiam, Sharar's son, from Harar,
34 Eliphelet, Ahasbai's son, from Maakah,
Eliam, Ahithophel's son, from Gilo,
35 Hezro, from Carmel,
Paarai, from Arba,
36 Igal, Nathan's son, from Zobah,
Bani, who belonged to Gad's tribe,
37 Zelek, from Ammon,
Naharai, from Beeroth (he carried Joab's weapons),
38 Ira and Gareb, from Jattir,
39 and Uriah the Hittite.
There were 37 great soldiers if you count them all.[c]
David counts his soldiers
24 The Lord again became angry with the Israelites. So he caused David to bring trouble to them. He said to David, ‘Send men to count the people in Israel and Judah.’
2 So the king said to Joab, the leader of his army, ‘Go from Dan to Beersheba, through all the tribes of Israel.[d] Count all the men who can fight. I want to know how many men there are.’
3 But Joab said to the king, ‘I pray that the Lord your God will make your army bigger and bigger. May it grow 100 times while you are alive to see it! But, my lord the king, why do you want to do this?’
4 But Joab and his officers had to obey the king's command. So Joab and the officers of the army went out to count the number of people in Israel.
5 They crossed the Jordan River. They made their first camp in a valley, on the south side of Aroer. Then they went through Gad's land and they reached Jazer. 6 They went from there to Gilead. Then they went to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites. Then they went to Dan and they continued west to Sidon. 7 Then they went south to Tyre, a strong city with walls around it. They went to all the towns of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they arrived at Beersheba in the south part of Judah.
8 In that way, they travelled through the whole country. After nine months and 20 days they returned to Jerusalem.
9 Joab reported to the king about the number of soldiers who could fight. There were 800,000 men in Israel who could use a sword to fight. There were also 500,000 soldiers in Judah.
The Lord punishes David
10 David had counted the men who were able to fight in his army. But now he was sorry that he had done it. He said to the Lord, ‘What I have done was a bad sin. Please forgive me, Lord. I have done a foolish thing.’
11 While David slept that night, the Lord gave a message to Gad, David's prophet. 12 The Lord told him, ‘Go and give my message to David: “There are three ways that I could punish you. You must choose one of them, and that is what I will do to punish you.” ’
13 So when David woke up, Gad went to him and he said, ‘You may choose to have three years when there will be a famine in the whole country. Or you may choose to have three months when your enemies are chasing after you. Or you may choose to have three days of very bad disease in the whole country. Now think carefully and decide. I will take your answer to God, who sent me with this message.’
14 David said to Gad, ‘I am very upset. I do not want men to punish me. The Lord is kind and he forgives people. So it would be better for him to punish me.’
15 So, from that morning, the Lord caused a bad disease to kill people in Israel. It continued for three days, as the Lord had said. 70,000 Israelite men died in that time, in the whole country, from Dan to Beersheba. 16 The Lord's angel was ready to destroy Jerusalem. But the Lord decided to stop the trouble that he was causing for the people. He said to the angel who was killing the people, ‘That is enough. Stop what you are doing!’ When the Lord said that, his angel was standing near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
17 David saw the angel who was killing the people. So he said to the Lord, ‘I am the person who has done an evil thing. These people have followed me like sheep that follow a shepherd. They have not done anything wrong. You should only punish me and my family.’
David builds an altar
18 That day, Gad went to David. He said to David, ‘Go up to the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Build an altar there to worship the Lord.’ 19 So David obeyed the Lord's message that Gad had spoken to him.
20 When Araunah looked, he saw the king and his officers. They were coming towards him. So he went out and he bent down low in front of the king, with his face towards the ground.
21 Araunah said, ‘My lord the king, why have you come here to me, your servant?’
David replied, ‘I have come to buy your threshing floor from you. I want to build an altar here to worship the Lord. Then he will stop this bad disease from killing the people.’
22 Araunah said to David, ‘My lord the king, take anything that you would like to offer to the Lord. You can take these oxen to offer as sacrifices. You can use the wood from these tools and yokes to make a fire. 23 I will give all these things to you sir, my lord the king.’
Araunah also said to the king, ‘I pray that the Lord your God will accept your offerings.’
24 But the king said to Araunah, ‘No, I must pay you for it. I will not burn as an offering to the Lord my God any sacrifice that costs me nothing.’
So David bought Araunah's threshing floor and his oxen for 50 silver coins. 25 Then he built an altar there to worship the Lord. He made burnt offerings and friendship offerings on the altar.
Then the Lord answered David's prayer. The disease stopped killing people in Israel.
Adonijah tries to become king[e]
1 King David was now a very old man. He could not stay warm, even when people put blankets over him. 2 So his servants said to him, ‘We will look for a young woman who has never had sex, for you, our master the king. She can take care of you and she can be your nurse. She can also sleep beside you, so that our master the king will be warm.’
3 So they looked through all the land of Israel for a beautiful young woman. They chose Abishag, who lived in Shunem.[f] They brought her to the king. 4 She was very beautiful. She took care of the king as his servant. But the king did not have sex with her.
5 At that time, David's son Adonijah, was telling everyone, ‘I will become the next king.’[g] He got for himself chariots and men who would ride on horses. He also had 50 men to run in front of him as his guards.[h] Haggith was Adonijah's mother. 6 His father, David, had never warned him when he did something wrong. He never asked Adonijah, ‘Why are you doing that?’ Adonijah was also very handsome. He was born after Absalom as David's next son.[i] 7 Adonijah spoke with Zeruiah's son Joab and with Abiathar, the priest. They said that they would help Adonijah.
8 But these people did not join Adonijah's group:
Zadok the priest,
Jehoiada's son Benaiah,
Nathan the prophet,
Shimei and Rei.
David's own special soldiers did not join Adonijah either.
9 Then Adonijah went to the Stone of Zoheleth that was near En Rogel.[j] He killed sheep, cows and fat calves as sacrifices there. He asked these people to join him:
all his brothers, who were King David's sons,
all the men of Judah who were the king's officers.
10 But he did not ask these people to come:
Nathan the prophet,
Benaiah,
David's own special soldiers,
his brother Solomon.
11 Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, ‘Have you heard about the things that Haggith's son Adonijah is doing? He has become king, but our master, David, does not know about it. 12 Please accept my advice so that you can save your life and the life of Solomon, your son. 13 Go to King David and say to him, “My master the king, do you remember your strong promise to me? You told me that my son Solomon would certainly become king after you. You said that he would sit on your throne. So why has Adonijah now become king?” 14 While you are still talking to the king, I will come in. I will say that your report is true.’
15 So Bathsheba went to see the king in his bedroom. The king was very old. Abishag, the young woman from Shunem, was taking care of him. 16 Bathsheba bent down low in front of the king. The king asked her, ‘What do you want?’ 17 She replied, ‘My master, you made a strong promise to me in the name of the Lord your God.[k] You said to me, “Your son Solomon will become king after me. He will sit on my throne.” 18 But see what has happened! Adonijah has become king. But, my master the king, you do not even know about it!
19 Adonijah has killed many cows, fat calves and sheep as sacrifices. He has asked the all the king's sons, Abiathar the priest and Joab the leader of the army to join him. But he did not ask your servant Solomon to come.
20 My master the king, everyone in Israel is waiting for you to speak. You must tell them who you have chosen to sit on the throne after you. 21 If you do not decide this now, there will be trouble for me and my son Solomon. Soon after they bury you in the grave of your ancestors, they will punish us as bad people.’
22 While Bathsheba was saying this to the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. 23 The king's servants told him, ‘Nathan the prophet is here.’ So Nathan went in to the king's bedroom. He bent low with his face towards the ground.
24 Nathan said, ‘My master the king, have you decided that Adonijah will become king after you? Have you said that he will sit on your throne? 25 Today Adonijah has killed many cows, fat calves and sheep as sacrifices. He has asked all the king's sons, the leaders of the army and Abiathar the priest to join with him. Even now, they are having a big feast with him. They are saying, “May King Adonijah live for a long time!”
26 But he did not ask me, your servant, to join him. He did not ask Zadok the priest, Jehoiada's son Benaiah, or your servant Solomon.
27 Has my master the king decided this, but you have not told us, your servants? We must know who will sit on your throne to rule as king after you.’
King David chooses Solomon to be king
28 King David answered Nathan, ‘Send Bathsheba to me!’ So Bathsheba came and she stood in front of the king. 29 Then the king made a strong promise. He said, ‘The Lord has saved me from every kind of trouble. I promise this, as surely as the Lord lives! 30 I will certainly do what I already promised to you in the name of the Lord, Israel's God. Your son Solomon will become king after me. He will sit on my throne to rule.’
31 Then Bathsheba bent down low with her face towards the ground. She said, ‘I pray that my master King David will live for ever!’
32 King David said, ‘Send to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Jehoiada's son Benaiah.’ So they came to the king. 33 The king said to them, ‘Take my officers with you and put my son Solomon on my own mule. Then lead him down to Gihon, as he rides on the mule. 34 There, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet can anoint him to be king over Israel. Make a loud noise with a trumpet and shout, “May King Solomon live for a long time!” 35 After that, you must follow him back here. He will sit on my throne as king instead of me. I have chosen him to be ruler over all Israel and Judah.’
36 Jehoiada's son Benaiah answered the king, ‘Amen! I agree! I pray that the Lord will cause it to happen! He is the God that my master the king serves. 37 The Lord has helped you, my master the king. We pray that he will also be with Solomon. We pray that he will make Solomon's kingdom even greater than the kingdom of my master, King David!’
38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Jehoiada's son Benaiah went to Solomon. David's own personal guards, the Kerethites and the Pelethites, went with them. They put Solomon on King David's mule and they led him to Gihon.
39 Zadok the priest filled a horn with special olive oil from the holy tent. Then he poured it on Solomon to anoint him as king. Then they made a loud noise with a trumpet. All the people shouted, ‘May King Solomon live for a long time!’ 40 Then all the people followed Solomon up into Jerusalem. They made music with flutes and they shouted with joy. The noise caused the ground to shake!
41 Adonijah and all the people who were with him heard the noise. They had just finished eating their feast together. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he asked, ‘Why is there all that noise in the city?’[l] 42 While Joab was still speaking, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest, arrived. Adonijah said to him, ‘Come in! You are an honest man, so I am sure that you are bringing good news.’ 43 Jonathan replied to Adonijah, ‘No, it is not good news! Our master King David has made Solomon king! 44 He sent these people to put Solomon onto the king's mule: Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Jehoiada's son Benaiah, and the king's personal guards.[m] They took Solomon to Gihon.
45 Then Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon at Gihon to become king. They have taken him from there into the city with happy shouts. People are shouting everywhere. That is the noise that you can hear. 46 So Solomon now sits on the king's throne. 47 The king's officers have told our master King David that he has done a good thing. They have said to him, “We pray that your God will make Solomon even more famous than you. We pray that his kingdom will be greater than your kingdom.” After they said that, the king bent his head down as he lay on his bed. 48 He said, “We should praise the Lord, Israel's God. He deserves this, because he has chosen one of my sons to become king after me. The Lord has let me see this happen.” ’
49 When all the people with Adonijah heard Jonathan's report, they were very afraid. They got up from the feast and they ran away in different directions. 50 But Adonijah was afraid of what Solomon would do to punish him. So he ran to the holy tent. He took hold of the horns of the altar there.[n] 51 Someone told Solomon, ‘Adonijah is afraid of you. He has taken hold of the horns of the altar. He says, “I want King Solomon to promise me today that he will not punish me with death. I am his servant.” ’ 52 Solomon said, ‘If he serves me faithfully, I will not hurt him at all. But if he turns against me, he will die.’
53 Then King Solomon sent men to the holy tent to bring Adonijah down from the altar. So Adonijah came. He bent down low to respect King Solomon. Solomon said to him, ‘Go to your home.’
David dies
2 David knew that he would soon die. So this is what he said to his son Solomon:
2 ‘Soon I will die, as everyone must die one day. Be strong and brave, as a man should be. 3 Do what the Lord your God tells you to do. Live in a way that pleases him. Obey his rules, commands and laws that Moses has written down in his books of God's Law. Then everything that you do will go well, wherever you go. 4 The Lord will also do what he has promised me that he will do. He promised this to me:
“Your descendants must be careful in how they live. They must serve me faithfully with all their mind and strength. If they do that, one of your descendants will always rule Israel as king.”
5 Do not forget what Zeruiah's son Joab did to me. He killed the two leaders of Israel's armies, Ner's son Abner[o] and Jether's son Amasa.[p] Joab killed them as if they were his enemies in a war. But there was no war. So he is guilty of their deaths when they had done nothing wrong. Their blood is on his belt and on his shoes. 6 So you should punish him in a way that you think is right. Do not let him die in peace as an old man.
7 Be kind to the sons of Barzillai, who lived in Gilead. Let them eat meals at your table. Help them, because they helped me when I was running away from your brother Absalom.[q]
8 Remember that Shimei is still there to give you trouble.[r] He is the son of Gera who came from Bahurim, and he belonged to Benjamin's tribe. When I went to Mahanaim, he prayed that terrible things would happen to me. But when he came to meet me at the Jordan River, I made a promise to him. I promised him in the Lord's name that I would not punish him with death. 9 But remember that he is guilty! You are a wise man, so you will know what to do to him. Even if he is an old man, make sure that he has a violent death.’
10 Then David died. They buried him in the City of David. 11 David had ruled Israel as king for 40 years. He ruled for seven years in Hebron. Then he ruled for 33 years in Jerusalem.
Solomon makes his kingdom strong
12 So Solomon ruled as king on the throne of his father David. His kingdom became strong.
13 Haggith's son Adonijah visited Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She asked him, ‘Do you come in peace?’ He answered, ‘Yes, I come in peace.’ 14 Then he said, ‘I want to say something to you.’ She replied, ‘Tell me.’
15 Adonijah said, ‘You know that the kingdom should belong to me. All the Israelite people thought that I should be their king. But everything changed, and now my brother is the king instead of me. The Lord decided that he should be king. 16 Now I have one thing to ask you. Please do not refuse me.’ Bathsheba replied, ‘Tell me.’
17 So Adonijah said, ‘Please ask King Solomon to give me Abishag, the girl from Shunem, to be my wife. He will do it if you ask him.’ 18 Bathsheba said, ‘I will speak to the king on your behalf.’
19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon, to speak on behalf of Adonijah. The king stood up to meet her. He bent his head down to respect her. Then he sat on his throne. He commanded his servants to bring another throne for his mother. So she sat down at his right side. 20 She said, ‘I have one small thing to ask you. Please do not refuse to do it for me.’ The king said to her, ‘Ask me, mother! I will not refuse you!’ 21 So she said, ‘Please let your brother Adonijah marry Abishag, the girl from Shunem.’ 22 But King Solomon said to his mother, ‘You are asking me to give Abishag to Adonijah as his wife! You should also ask me to give my kingdom to him, my older brother! That would be the same thing. Then he would rule together with Abiathar the priest and Zeruiah's son Joab!’[s]
23 Then King Solomon made this strong promise in the Lord's name. He said, ‘Because Adonijah has asked to have Abishag as his wife, I will certainly punish him with death. If I do not do that, I pray that God will punish me instead! 24 As surely as the Lord lives, Adonijah must die today. The Lord has done everything that he promised to me. He has made me strong so that now I rule on the throne of my father David. And my descendants will continue to rule as kings after me.’
25 So King Solomon commanded Jehoiada's son Benaiah to kill Adonijah. So Adonijah died.
26 Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, ‘Go back to your fields in Anathoth. You also deserve to die. But I will not kill you now because you served my father David. You carried the Covenant Box of the Almighty Lord when David was king. Also, the trouble that happened to my father happened to you too.’
27 Solomon sent Abiathar away so that he was no longer a priest who served the Lord. That was the punishment that the Lord had said would happen to Eli's family. So what the Lord had promised at Shiloh now happened.[t]
28 When Adonijah had tried to become king, Joab had joined with him. (But he had not joined with Absalom.) Joab heard the news about what had happened to Adonijah and Abiathar. So he hurried to the Lord's holy tent. He took hold of the horns of the altar there. 29 King Solomon heard that Joab had gone to the altar in the Lord's holy tent. He commanded Jehoiada's son Benaiah, ‘Go there! Knock Joab down to kill him!’ 30 So Benaiah went to the Lord's holy tent. When he arrived there, he said to Joab, ‘The king says, “Come out!” ’ But Joab answered, ‘No! I will die here!’
So Benaiah sent a message to tell the king what Joab had said.
31 The king replied, ‘Do as Joab said. Kill him there and bury him. He has killed people who did not deserve to die. Punish Joab with death. Then I and my father's family will no longer be guilty for the cruel murders that he has done. 32 The Lord will now punish him because of the murders that he did. He used his sword to attack and kill two men, but he did not tell my father David about it. He murdered Ner's son Abner, the leader of Israel's army. He also murdered Jether's son Amasa, the leader of Judah's army. Both those men were better and more honest than Joab was. 33 Joab and his descendants will always receive the punishment for those murders. But the Lord will cause David's descendants, his family and his kingdom to enjoy peace always.’
34 So Jehoiada's son Benaiah went to the holy tent and he punished Joab with death. They buried Joab at his home in the wilderness.
35 Then the king chose Benaiah to be the leader of the army instead of Joab. The king also chose Zadok to be the priest instead of Abiathar.
36 Then the king told Shimei to come to him. He said to Shimei, ‘Build a house for yourself here in Jerusalem. Live in it all the time. Never leave to go anywhere else. 37 If you ever leave the city and you cross the Kidron stream, you will certainly die. That will be a death that you choose for yourself.’ 38 Shimei said to the king, ‘My lord the king, your words are good. I will do as you have decided.’
So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. 39 But after three years, two of his slaves ran away. They went to Achish, who was the son of Maakah, the king of Gath. Someone told Shimei, ‘Your slaves are in Gath.’ 40 So Shimei prepared his donkey and he left home. He went to Achish in Gath to look for his slaves. He found them and he brought them back from Gath. 41 Someone told Solomon that Shimei had travelled from Jerusalem to Gath and now he had returned. 42 So the king told Shimei to come to him. He said to Shimei, ‘You made a strong promise to me in the Lord's name. I am sure that you remember that! I warned you never to leave Jerusalem. I said that if you went anywhere else, you would certainly die. You said to me at that time, “I agree with what you have said.” 43 But you have not done what you promised to do in the Lord's name. You should have obeyed my command.’
44 The king also said to Shimei, ‘I know that you remember how you insulted my father David. Now the Lord will punish you because of the evil things that you did. 45 But the Lord will bless me, King Solomon. David's descendants will continue to serve the Lord as kings for ever.’
46 Then the king commanded Jehoiada's son Benaiah to punish Shimei with death. So Benaiah went and he killed Shimei.
So Solomon now ruled the kingdom with complete authority.
Solomon asks for wisdom
3 Solomon made an agreement with Pharaoh, who was the king of Egypt.[u] Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter. He brought her to live in the City of David.[v] She lived there until Solomon could finish building his own house, the Lord's temple, and the wall around Jerusalem.
2 Because there was not yet a temple where people could give honour to the Lord, they offered sacrifices at altars in other places.
3 Solomon loved the Lord and he obeyed the rules of his father David. But he offered sacrifices and he burned incense at altars in country places.[w] 4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices there.[x] That was the place where the most important altar was. Solomon offered burnt offerings a thousand times on the altar there. 5 One night in Gibeon, the Lord showed himself to Solomon in a dream. God said, ‘Ask me to give you whatever you want.’
6 Solomon answered, ‘You always showed your faithful love to your servant, my father David. He served you faithfully as a good, honest man. You have continued to show your faithful love to him even now. You have given him a son to rule as king on his throne. 7 Lord my God, I am only a young man. I have not learned how to rule well. But you have now made me become king, as my father David was king.[y] 8 I am here as your servant to lead the people that you have chosen for yourself. It is a great nation and it has too many people to count. 9 So please give me a wise mind that understands things well. Then I will be able to rule your people properly. I will know the difference between right things and wrong things. I will only be able to rule this great nation of your people if you do that for me.’
10 The Lord God was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11-12 So God said to him, ‘You have not asked me to give you a long life, or to make you very rich. You have not asked me to punish your enemies with death. Instead you have asked for a wise mind so that you can rule well. Because of that, I will give you what you have asked for. Yes, I now give to you a wise mind that understands things well. You will be wiser than anyone who has already lived and wiser than anyone who will live after you.
13 I will give you even more than this. I will make you rich and famous, even though you did not ask for that. As long as you live, there will be no other king who is greater than you. 14 And if you serve me faithfully, I will also give you a long life. But you must obey my rules and my commands, as your father David did.’
15 Then Solomon woke up. He realized that it was a dream. He returned to Jerusalem and he stood in front of the Lord's Covenant Box. He offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to God there. Then he gave a feast for all his officers.
Solomon shows that he is wise
16 Two women who were prostitutes came to meet with the king. They stood in front of him to tell him their problem.
17 One woman said, ‘My lord I live in the same house with this woman. I gave birth to a baby while she lived there with me. 18 Three days later, she also gave birth to a baby. We were alone in the house. Only the two of us were there, no one else. 19 But in the night, this woman lay on her son and he died. 20 So she got up during the night and she took my son from my side. I was still asleep. She put my son beside her. She put her dead son beside me. 21 When I got up in the morning to feed my son, I saw that he was dead! So I looked carefully at him in the morning light. Then I realized that he was not my son. He was not the son that I had given birth to!’
22 Then the other woman said, ‘No, that is not true! It is my son who is alive. Your son is dead!’
But the first woman answered, ‘No! The dead baby is your son. My son is alive!’
They continued to argue like that in front of the king.
23 Then the king said, ‘One of you says, “My son is alive and your son is dead.” But the other one says, “No! Your son is dead and my son is alive.” ’
24 So the king said, ‘Bring a sword to me!’ So they brought a sword to the king. 25 Then the king commanded, ‘Cut the child who is alive into two pieces. Give one piece to one woman and the other piece to the other woman.’
26 Then the mother of the child who was alive spoke to the king. She loved her son very much. So she said to the king, ‘My lord, please do not kill the baby! Instead, give him to the other woman.’
But the other woman said, ‘Neither of us should have him. Cut him in two pieces!’
27 So King Solomon said, ‘Do not kill the child! Give him to the first woman. She is his mother.’ 28 Everybody in Israel heard about what the king had decided. So they respected the king's authority. They realized that God had given him wisdom to judge fairly.
Solomon's officers
4 King Solomon ruled over all Israel as king. 2 These were his important officers:
Zadok's son Azariah was the priest.
3 Shisha's sons, Elihoreph and Ahijah, were secretaries.
Ahilud's son Jehoshaphat recorded what happened.
4 Jehoiada's son Benaiah was the leader of the army.
Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
5 Nathan's son Azariah had authority over the 12 officers for each region.
Nathan's son Zabud was a priest who gave the king advice.
6 Ahishar had authority over work in the palace.
Abda's son Adoniram had authority over the groups of workers.
7 Solomon had 12 officers with authority in the regions of Israel. They supplied food for the king and for the people who lived in his palace. Each officer had to supply food to the king for one month in each year. 8 These are their names:
Ben-Hur had authority in Ephraim's hill country.
9 Ben-Deker had authority in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh and Elon Beth Hanan.
10 Ben-Hesed had authority in Arubboth. That included Sokoh and all the fields around Hepher.
11 Ben-Abinadab had authority in Naphath Dor. He had married Solomon's daughter, Taphath.
12 Ahilud's son Baana had authority in Taanach and Megiddo, as well as in all of Beth-Shan that is near Zarethan, below Jezreel. He had authority from Beth-Shan to Abel-Meholah and as far as Jokmeam.
13 Ben-Geber had authority in Ramoth Gilead. That included the villages of Manasseh's son Jair in Gilead. It also included the region of Argob in Bashan with 60 large cities which had strong walls gates with bronze bars.[z]
14 Iddo's son had authority in Mahanaim.
15 Ahimaaz had authority in Naphtali. He had married Solomon's daughter, Basemath.
16 Hushai's son Baana had authority in Asher and Aloth.
17 Paruah's son Jehoshaphat had authority in Issachar.
18 Ela's son Shimei had authority in Benjamin.
19 Uri's son Geber had authority in Gilead. Gilead was the region where Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, had ruled.[aa]
There was also one officer who had authority over the whole land.
Solomon's kingdom
20 The people in Judah and Israel were too many to count. There were as many of them as the sand on the shore of the sea. They had enough to eat and to drink and they were happy.
21 Solomon ruled over all the nations from the Euphrates river to the land of the Philistines, as far as Egypt's border. The people of these kingdoms paid taxes to Solomon. They served him all the days of his life.
22 This is the food that Solomon and the people in his palace ate each day:
5,000 litres of flour.
10,000 litres of grain.
23 10 fat calves that they fed with grain.
20 calves that ate grass in the fields.
100 sheep.
Many kinds of deer and fat birds.
24 Solomon ruled all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates river, from Tiphsah as far as Gaza. There was peace in all these places. 25 While Solomon was alive, Judah and Israel were safe from their enemies. In the whole country, from Dan to Beersheba, every family had a place to live and they could grow food to eat. 26 Solomon had places to keep 4,000 horses that pulled his chariots.[ab] He also had 12,000 horses. 27 The 12 officers in each region supplied food for King Solomon and for everybody that ate in his palace. Each region supplied food for one month each year so that there was enough for everyone. 28 Each officer also supplied barley and straw for the king's horses. They took the right amount to the different places where the horses lived.
Solomon's wisdom
29 God gave Solomon wisdom so that he understood things well. He knew about everything, more things than there is sand on the shore of the sea! 30 Solomon was wiser than all the wise men in the East and all the wise men in Egypt. 31 He was wiser than any other man. This includes Ethan the Ezrahite, as well as Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol.[ac] Solomon was famous in all the nations around Israel. 32 He wrote down 3,000 proverbs and he wrote 1,005 songs.[ad] 33 He could describe many plants. These included large trees like cedar trees that grow in Lebanon and small plants like hyssop that grows on walls. He also taught people about all kinds of animals, birds, insects and fish.[ae] 34 People came from all countries to listen to Solomon's wise teaching. Kings of all the nations in the world who heard about Solomon's wisdom sent people to learn from him.
Solomon prepares to build the temple
5 Hiram was the king of Tyre.[af] He heard that Solomon had become king of Israel after his father David. Hiram had always been a friend of King David, so he sent his men to say ‘hello’ to Solomon. 2 Solomon then sent this message to Hiram:
3 ‘You know that my father David could not build a temple for the Lord his God. This was because he had to fight battles against enemies that were all around Israel. He did that until the Lord helped him to win against all of them. 4 But now the Lord my God has made us safe from danger. No enemy tries to attack us on any of our borders. 5 So I have decided to build a temple to give honour to the Lord my God.[ag] The Lord said to my father David, “I will put your son on your throne to rule as king after you. He will build a temple for people to give honour to my name.” 6 So please tell your men to cut down cedar trees in Lebanon for me. We ourselves do not have people who know how to cut wood from trees as well as your men from Sidon. So our men will help your men with the work. And I will pay your workers whatever you decide is right.’[ah]
7 Hiram was very happy when he received Solomon's message. He said, ‘Praise the Lord today, because he gave David a wise son to rule over the great nation, Israel.’ 8 Then Hiram sent this message to Solomon:
‘I have received the message that you sent to me. I will give you the wood that you have asked for. I will send you cedar wood and pine wood, as much as you need. 9 My men will take the trees from the hills of Lebanon down to the sea. Then we will tie several trees together like a boat. We will take them on the sea to the place where you want them. There we will undo the ropes so that your men can carry the trees away. You will pay me with enough food to feed the people of my palace.’
10 So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the cedar trees and pine trees that Solomon asked for. 11 Then Solomon supplied Hiram with 2,000 tons of wheat as food for the people in his palace. He also supplied 450,000 litres of olive oil. Solomon sent this every year to Hiram.
12 The Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, as he had promised to do. King Hiram and King Solomon made an agreement that their nations would not fight against each other. So there was peace between them.
13 King Solomon commanded 30,000 men from everywhere in Israel to do the work. 14 He sent them to Lebanon in groups of 10,000 men each month. They worked in Lebanon for one month, then they lived at home for two months. Adoniram was the officer who had authority over them. 15 Solomon also had 80,000 men to cut stones in the hills. He had 70,000 men to carry the stones to Jerusalem. 16 He also had 3,300 officers who told the workers what they should do. 17 The king commanded the workers to cut large pieces of stone from the rocks. They cut the best stones into the right shape to build the foundation of the temple. 18 Solomon's men and Hiram's men worked together with men from Gebal.[ai] They cut the stones and the wood and they prepared them to build the temple.
Solomon builds the temple[aj]
6 Solomon began to build the Lord's temple 480 years after the Israelites had left Egypt. It was in the fourth year that he had ruled Israel as king. He started the work in the month called Ziv, the second month of the year.[ak]
2 The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was 27 metres long. It was 9 metres wide. It was 13.5 metres high. 3 The temple had an entrance room in front of its big hall. The entrance room was as wide as the temple, 9 metres wide. It came 4.5 metres out from the front of the temple itself. 4 Solomon made narrow windows near the tops of the temple walls.[al] 5 Solomon built rooms around the outside of the temple walls. These rooms continued outside the big hall and the inside room. The side rooms were on three levels.[am] 6 The lowest level of rooms was 2.3 metres wide. The middle level was 2.7 metres wide and the top level was 3.2 metres wide. Each floor was built on wooden beams. The beams rested on stones in the temple walls, so that there were no holes that they cut into the walls.
7 When they built the temple, they used stones that were the right shape. Workers had already cut the stones at the place where they came from. There was no sound of hammers, axes or any iron tools at the place of the temple. 8 The door to the lowest level of rooms on the sides of the temple was on the south side of the temple. Stairs went up to the middle level and to the top level.[an]
9 Solomon finished building the temple. He made the roof with wooden beams and with cedar boards. 10 He also built the rooms around the sides of the temple. Each room was 2.3 metres high. Cedar beams fixed the rooms to the temple building.
11 Then the Lord gave this message to Solomon:
12 ‘I will make my home in this temple that you are building. I will do everything for you that I promised to your father David. But you must obey my laws, rules and commands. 13 Then I will live among my people, the Israelites. I will never leave them.’
14 So Solomon finished building the temple. 15 He used cedar boards to cover the walls on the inside of the temple. The boards went from the floor of the temple up to its ceiling. He covered the floor of the temple with wood from pine trees. 16 He built a wall across the inside of the temple to make a separate room. That wall was 9 metres from the back wall of the temple. The inside room was the Most Holy Place.[ao] The walls were covered with cedar boards from the floor to the ceiling. 17 The big hall in front of the Most Holy Place was 18 metres long. 18 The inside of the temple was covered with boards made of cedar wood. The workers cut pictures of fruits and flowers on the wood. The cedar boards completely covered the stone walls, so you could not see any stone.
19 Solomon prepared the inside room to be the Most Holy Place where they would put the Lord's Covenant Box. 20 The inside room was 9 metres long, 9 metres wide and 9 metres high. Solomon used pure gold to cover the walls of this room. He also covered the cedar altar with gold. 21 Solomon covered all the walls inside the temple with gold. He also hung gold chains across the entrance to the Most Holy Place. He covered everything there with gold. 22 So he covered everything inside the whole temple with gold. That included the altar that was inside the Most Holy Place.
23 Solomon used olive wood to make models of two cherubs to stand in the Most Holy Place. Each cherub was 4.4 metres tall. 24 The first cherub had two wings that were 2.2 metres long each. So it was 4.4 metres from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing. 25 The second cherub was also 4.4 metres across its wings. The two cherubs were the same size and the same shape. 26 Each cherub was 4.4 metres high. 27 Solomon put the cherubs in the inside room of the temple. Their wings went from one wall of the temple to the other wall. One cherub's wing touched one wall of the temple. One of the other cherub's wings touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 Solomon covered the cherubs with gold.
29 Solomon's workers cut pictures in the wood on the walls of the big hall and the inside room. They were pictures of cherubs, palm trees and flowers. 30 They also covered the floors of both the rooms with gold. 31 They used olive wood to make doors for the entrance to the Most Holy Place. The doors were fixed to wooden pillars which had five sides. 32 The wooden doors had pictures of cherubs, palm trees and flowers. Solomon covered the pictures of the cherubs and the palm trees with very thin gold. 33 The doors to the big hall of the temple were fixed to pillars made of olive wood. Those pillars had four sides. 34 Solomon also made two doors from pine wood. Each door had two separate parts that could turn. 35 He cut pictures of cherubs, palm trees and flowers on those doors too. He covered them with gold in the same way.
36 Solomon also built a yard around the temple building. The wall around the yard had three rows of special stones, then a row of cedar beams, and so on.
37 They built the foundation of the Lord's temple in the fourth year that Solomon was king. It was in the month called Ziv. 38 They finished building the temple in the 11th year that Solomon was king. It was the eighth month, the month called Bul. So they built the temple in seven years, exactly as the plans showed that it should be.
Solomon builds his palace
7 Solomon was also building a palace for himself. After 13 years, he finished it.[ap] 2 He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.[aq] It was 46 metres long, 23 metres wide and 14 metres high. It had four rows of pillars. On top of them were beams. They used cedar wood to make the pillars and the beams. 3 They also used cedar wood to make the roof. They put the roof on top of the pillars and the beams. There were 45 beams, with 15 beams in each row. 4 There were three rows of windows on each side of the room. They were opposite each other, in groups of three windows. 5 All the doors had square corners and four sides. There were three doors in each group.
6 Solomon also built a Hall of Pillars. It was 23 metres long and 14 metres wide. There was an entrance room at the front of the hall. The entrance room also had pillars and a roof.
7 Solomon also built a Throne Room. He covered the walls with cedar boards, from the floor to the ceiling. He called it the Hall of Justice. He judged people's arguments in that room.
8 Solomon also built a house for himself to live in. It was in a yard behind the Hall of Justice. It was like the other buildings. He also built a house like it for his wife who was the king of Egypt's daughter.
9 Solomon's workers used valuable, large stones to make all the buildings, from the front to the great yard that was behind. They cut the stones to the right size and shape with special saws. They used these stones for the foundations and all the way up to the roof.
10 They made the foundations with very large, valuable stones. The stones were 3.5 metres or 4.5 metres long. 11 On top of the foundation they used the best stones that they cut to the right size. They also used beams of cedar wood. 12 There was a wall around the great yard. This had three rows of special stones, then a row of cedar beams, and so on. It was like the wall around the yard of the Lord's temple and the entrance room.
More work on the temple
13 King Solomon sent men to Tyre to fetch a man called Hiram. 14 Hiram was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali.[ar] His father was a worker who knew how to use bronze to make things. He lived in Tyre. Hiram also had special skills. He knew how to use bronze to make many kinds of things. So he came to work for King Solomon. He did all the work that Solomon asked him to do.
15 Hiram made two bronze pillars. Each pillar was 8.2 metres high and 5.5 metres around the outside. The metal itself was about 7 centimetres thick. 16 He also used bronze to make a top for each pillar. Each piece was 2.3 metres high. 17 Each piece had pictures like rows of chains that joined together. There were seven pictures like this on the top of each pillar. 18 Hiram also made pictures of two rows of pomegranates around the chains. They covered the tops of the pillars. 19 The tops of the two pillars were in the shape of flowers called lilies. Each one was 1.8 metres high. 20 There were pictures of 200 pomegranates in two rows all around the top of each pillar. They were next to the chains above the round shape at the top of the pillar.
21 Hiram put these two pillars at the entrance room of the temple, in front of the big hall, the hall of pillars in the temple. He called the pillar on the south side ‘Jakin’. He called the pillar on the north side ‘Boaz’. 22 The tops of the pillars were in the shape of flowers called lilies. Hiram finished the work on the two bronze pillars.
23 Hiram also used bronze to make a big bath which they called ‘the Sea’.[as] It was in the shape of a circle 4.5 metres across. It was 2.3 metres deep. It was 14 metres around the outside. 24 All around its edge, below the top, there were two rows of round shapes. They were pictures of fruits called gourds. They were all part of the same piece of bronze as ‘the Sea’. There were 20 gourds for every metre around the edge. 25 Hiram fixed ‘the Sea’ on top of 12 bronze bulls. Three pointed north, three pointed west, three pointed south and three pointed east. Their backs were towards the middle of ‘the Sea’. 26 The walls of ‘the Sea’ were 7½ centimetres thick. Its top edge was like a cup in the shape of a lily flower. ‘The Sea’ contained about 40,000 litres of water.
27 Hiram also made ten bronze carts to carry water.[at] Each one was 1.8 metres long, 1.8 metres wide and 1.3 metres deep. 28 This is how he made the water carts: He made them with bronze sides, which he fixed to bronze bars at the edges. 29 There were pictures of lions, bulls and cherubs on the bars and on the edges. There were shapes like leaves above and below the lions and the bulls. 30 Each cart had four bronze wheels fixed to bronze axles.[au] The axles were fixed under each cart at four places. These places had shapes like leaves on each side. 31 On the top of the cart there was a round piece which held a bowl. This piece was 50 centimetres deep and 75 centimetres across. Hiram cut pictures into the metal all around it. The bronze sides of the carts were square. They were not round.
32 There were four wheels under each cart. They were fixed to axles. The axles and the cart joined together in one piece. Each wheel was 70 centimetres high. 33 The wheels were like the wheels of a chariot. Hiram used bronze to make the axles and all the parts of the wheels.[av] 34 Each cart had four handles. There was one handle on each side, joined to the cart as one piece. 35 There was a piece of metal round the top of each cart. It was 23 centimetres deep. It was fixed at each corner of the cart with pieces of bronze. These pieces and the sides of each cart were all joined together. 36 Hiram cut pictures of cherubs, lions and palm trees on the sides of each cart and on the handles. He cut pictures where there was a space for them. There were also shapes of leaves all around. 37 Hiram used bronze to make the ten carts so that they all had the same size and shape.
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