Historical
8 At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house,
2 The cities which Huram had given to [him] Solomon rebuilt and fortified, and caused the Israelites to dwell there.
3 And Solomon took Hamath-zobah.
4 He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all his store cities in Hamath.
5 Also he built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars,
6 And Baalath and all the store cities [he] had, and all the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all his dominion.
7 All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel,
8 But descendants of those who were left in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed—of them Solomon made a levy for forced labor to this day.
9 But of the Israelites Solomon made no slaves for his work; but they were men of war, chiefs of his captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.
10 These were the chiefs of King Solomon’s officers, 250 in authority over the people.
11 Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh out of the City of David into the house he had built for her, for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy to which the ark of the Lord has come.
12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the Lord’s altar which he had built before the [temple] porch or vestibule,
13 A certain number every day, offering as Moses commanded for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the solemn feast days three times in the year—the Feasts of Unleavened Bread, of Weeks, and of Tabernacles.
14 And he appointed, as ordered by David his father, the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites to their offices to praise and to serve before the priests as the duty of every day required, and the gatekeepers also by their divisions at every gate; for so had David the man of God commanded.
15 And they did not turn from the command of the king to the priests and Levites in any respect or concerning the treasuries.
16 Thus all the work of Solomon was prepared from the day the foundation of the Lord’s house was laid until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the shore of the [Red] Sea in the land of Edom.
18 And Huram sent him by his servants ships and servants familiar with the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir and took from there 450 talents of gold and brought them to King Solomon.
9 When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions, accompanied by very many attendants and camels bearing spices, much gold, and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she talked with him of all that was on her mind.
2 And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from [him] which he was unable to make clear to her.
3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen Solomon’s wisdom, the house he had built,
4 The food of his table, the seating of his officials, the [standing at] attention of his servants, their apparel, his cupbearers also and their apparel, and his burnt offerings which he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.
5 She said to the king, The report which I heard in my own land of your acts and sayings and of your wisdom was true,
6 But I did not believe their words until I came and my eyes had seen it. Behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me; you surpass the fame that I heard of you.
7 Happy are your wives and men, and happy are these your servants who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!
8 Blessed be the Lord your God, Who delighted in you and set you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.
9 She gave the king 120 talents of gold, a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones; such spice was not anywhere as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.
10 The servants of Huram and [those] of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees and precious stones.
11 The king made of the algum trees terraces or walks to the house of the Lord and to the king’s palace, and lyres and harps for the singers; none such had ever been seen before in the land of Judah.
12 And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what she had brought to the king. So she with her servants returned to her own land.
13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents,
14 Besides what traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 And King Solomon made 200 large shields or bucklers of beaten gold; 600 shekels of beaten gold went into each shield.
16 And he made 300 shields of beaten gold, with 300 shekels of gold spread on each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 Moreover, [he] made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.
18 There were six steps to the throne and a gold footstool attached to the throne, and arms on each side of the seat, with two lions standing beside the arms.
19 And twelve lions stood there one on either end of each of the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom before.
20 King Solomon’s drinking vessels were all of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not counted as anything in the days of Solomon.
21 For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with Huram’s servants; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
22 King Solomon surpassed 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 which God had put into his mind.
24 And every man brought his tribute: silver and gold articles, robes, armor, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.
25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen, stationed in chariot cities or at Jerusalem with the king.(A)
26 And he ruled over [a]all the kings from the [Euphrates] River to the land of Philistia and to the frontier of Egypt.
27 The king made silver in Jerusalem as common as stones, and cedar wood as plentiful as sycamore trees in the lowlands.
28 And they imported horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.
29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, are they not written in the history of Nathan the prophet and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?
30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
31 Then Solomon slept with his fathers; he was buried in the city of David his father. Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
10 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.
2 Jeroboam the son of Nebat was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon, when he heard about the new king; so Jeroboam returned from Egypt.
3 And the people sent for him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came to Rehoboam, saying,
4 Your father [King Solomon] made our yoke grievous. So now make lighter the grievous service of your father and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve you.
5 Rehoboam replied, Come again to me after three days. And the people departed.
6 King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men who stood before Solomon his father while he was alive, saying, What counsel do you give me in reply to the people?
7 And they answered him, If you are kind to [these] people and please them and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.
8 But the king forsook the counsel which the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who were brought up with him and stood before him.
9 And he said to them, What answer do you advise that we give to the demand of [these] people, Make the yoke your father put upon us lighter?
10 The young men who were brought up with him said to him, Tell the people who said to you, Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter: My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins.
11 For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
12 The third day Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam as he had said.
13 And the king answered them harshly, forsaking the counsel of the old men,
14 And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
15 So the king did not heed the people, for it was [b]brought about of God, that the Lord might perform His word which He spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.(B)
16 And when all Israel saw that the king would not listen to and heed them, they answered [him], What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to your tents, O Israel! Now, David [tribe of Judah], see to your own house [under your tyrant King Rehoboam]! So all Israel went to their homes.
17 But as for the Israelites who dwelt in Judah’s cities, Rehoboam ruled over them.
18 Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the forced labor, and the Israelites stoned him and he died. But King Rehoboam hastened to get up to his royal chariot to flee to Jerusalem.
19 And Israel has rebelled against the house of David to this day.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation