The First of Kings
Outline of Contents
Chapter 1
	David and Abishag (1-4)
	Adonijah seeks the throne (5-10)
	Nathan and Bath-sheba take action (11-27)
	David orders that Solomon be anointed (28-40)
	Adonijah flees to the altar (41-53)
Chapter 2
	David instructs Solomon (1-9)
	David dies; Solomon on the throne (10-12)
	Adonijah’s plot leads to his death (13-25)
	Abiathar banished; Joab killed (26-35)
	Shimei killed (36-46)
Chapter 3
	Solomon marries Pharaoh’s daughter (1-3)
	Jehovah appears to Solomon in a dream (4-15)
		Solomon asks for wisdom (7-9)
	Solomon judges between two mothers (16-28)
Chapter 4
	Solomon’s administration (1-19)
	Prosperity under Solomon’s rule (20-28)
		Security under vine and fig tree (25)
	Solomon’s wisdom and proverbs (29-34)
Chapter 5
	King Hiram provides building materials (1-12)
	Solomon’s conscripted workforce (13-18)
Chapter 6
	Solomon builds the temple (1-38)
		Innermost room (19-22)
		Cherubs (23-28)
		Engravings, doors, inner courtyard (29-36)
		Temple completed in about seven years (37, 38)
Chapter 7
	Solomon’s palace complex (1-12)
	Skilled Hiram to assist Solomon (13-47)
		The two copper pillars (15-22)
		The Sea of cast metal (23-26)
		Ten carriages and basins of copper (27-39)
	Furnishings of gold completed (48-51)
Chapter 8
	The Ark brought into the temple (1-13)
	Solomon addresses the people (14-21)
	Solomon’s prayer of temple dedication (22-53)
	Solomon blesses the people (54-61)
	Sacrifices and dedication festival (62-66)
Chapter 9
	Jehovah appears to Solomon again (1-9)
	Solomon’s gift to King Hiram (10-14)
	Diverse projects of Solomon (15-28)
Chapter 10
	Queen of Sheba visits Solomon (1-13)
	Solomon’s great wealth (14-29)
Chapter 11
	Solomon’s wives incline his heart (1-13)
	Resisters against Solomon (14-25)
	Jeroboam promised ten tribes (26-40)
	Solomon dies; Rehoboam made king (41-43)
Chapter 12
	Rehoboam’s harsh reply (1-15)
	Ten tribes revolt (16-19)
	Jeroboam made king of Israel (20)
	Rehoboam not to fight against Israel (21-24)
	Jeroboam’s calf worship (25-33)
Chapter 13
	Prophecy against the altar at Bethel (1-10)
		Altar ripped apart (5)
	The man of God is disobedient (11-34)
Chapter 14
	Ahijah’s prophecy against Jeroboam (1-20)
	Rehoboam reigns over Judah (21-31)
		Shishak’s invasion (25, 26)
Chapter 15
	Abijam, king of Judah (1-8)
	Asa, king of Judah (9-24)
	Nadab, king of Israel (25-32)
	Baasha, king of Israel (33, 34)
Chapter 16
	Jehovah’s judgment against Baasha (1-7)
	Elah, king of Israel (8-14)
	Zimri, king of Israel (15-20)
	Omri, king of Israel (21-28)
	Ahab, king of Israel (29-33)
	Hiel rebuilds Jericho (34)
Chapter 17
	The prophet Elijah foretells a drought (1)
	Elijah fed by ravens (2-7)
	Elijah visits a widow in Zarephath (8-16)
	Widow’s son dies and is raised (17-24)
Chapter 18
	Elijah meets Obadiah and Ahab (1-18)
	Elijah versus the Baal prophets at Carmel (19-40)
		‘Limping between two opinions’ (21)
	The three-and-a-half year drought ends (41-46)
Chapter 19
	Elijah flees Jezebel’s wrath (1-8)
	Jehovah appears to Elijah at Horeb (9-14)
	Elijah to anoint Hazael, Jehu, Elisha (15-18)
	Elisha appointed to succeed Elijah (19-21)
Chapter 20
	Syrians wage war against Ahab (1-12)
	Ahab defeats the Syrians (13-34)
	A prophecy against Ahab (35-43)
Chapter 21
	Ahab covets Naboth’s vineyard (1-4)
	Jezebel maneuvers Naboth’s death (5-16)
	Elijah’s message against Ahab (17-26)
	Ahab humbles himself (27-29)
Chapter 22
	Jehoshaphat’s alliance with Ahab (1-12)
	Micaiah’s prophecy of defeat (13-28)
		A deceptive spirit to fool Ahab (21, 22)
	Ahab killed at Ramoth-gilead (29-40)
	Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah (41-50)
	Ahaziah king of Israel (51-53)
Chapter 1
1 Now King David was old, advanced in years, and although they would cover him with garments, he could not get warm. 2 So his servants said to him: “Let a girl, a virgin, be found for my lord the king, and she will wait on the king as his nurse. She will lie in your arms so that my lord the king may feel warm.” 3 They searched throughout all the territory of Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her in to the king. 4 The girl was extremely beautiful, and she became the king’s nurse and waited on him, but the king did not have sexual relations with her.
5 Meanwhile, Adonijah the son of Haggith was exalting himself, saying: “I am going to be king!” He had a chariot made for himself with horsemen and 50 men to run before him. 6 But his father had never confronted him by saying: “Why have you done this?” He was also very handsome, and his mother had given birth to him after Absalom. 7 He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and Abiathar the priest, and they offered Adonijah help and support. 8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s mighty warriors did not support Adonijah.
9 Eventually Adonijah held a sacrifice of sheep, cattle, and fattened animals by the stone of Zoheleth, which is near En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah the king’s servants. 10 But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah and the mighty warriors, or Solomon his brother. 11 Nathan then said to Bath-sheba, Solomon’s mother: “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and our lord David does not know anything about it? 12 So now come, please, and let me advise you, so that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go in to King David and say to him, ‘Was it not you, my lord the king, who swore to your servant, saying: “Your son Solomon will become king after me, and he is the one who will sit on my throne”? So why has Adonijah become king?’ 14 While you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”
15 So Bath-sheba went in to the king, into his private room. The king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was waiting on the king. 16 Then Bath-sheba bowed low and prostrated herself to the king, and the king said: “What is your request?” 17 She replied: “My lord, it was you who swore by Jehovah your God to your servant, ‘Your son Solomon will become king after me, and he is the one who will sit on my throne.’ 18 But look! Adonijah has become king, and my lord the king does not know anything about it. 19 He sacrificed bulls, fattened animals, and sheep in great quantity and invited all the sons of the king and Abiathar the priest and Joab the chief of the army; but he did not invite your servant Solomon. 20 And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you to tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise, as soon as my lord the king is laid to rest with his forefathers, I and also my son Solomon will be considered traitors.”
22 And while she was still speaking to the king, Nathan the prophet came in. 23 At once the king was told: “Here is Nathan the prophet!” He came in before the king and prostrated himself to the king with his face to the ground. 24 Then Nathan said: “My lord the king, did you say, ‘Adonijah will become king after me, and he is the one who will sit on my throne’? 25 For today he has gone down to sacrifice bulls, fattened animals, and sheep in great quantity, and he has invited all the sons of the king and the chiefs of the army and Abiathar the priest. They are there eating and drinking with him, and they keep saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26 But he did not invite me, your servant, or Zadok the priest, or Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, or your servant Solomon. 27 Has my lord the king authorized this without telling your servant who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”
28 King David now answered: “Call Bath-sheba for me.” At that she came in and stood before the king. 29 The king then swore an oath: “As surely as Jehovah is living, the one who rescued me out of all distress, 30 just as I swore to you by Jehovah the God of Israel, saying, ‘Your son Solomon will become king after me, and he is the one who will sit on my throne in my place!’ that is what I will bring about this day.” 31 Then Bath-sheba bowed low with her face to the ground and prostrated herself to the king and said: “May my lord King David live forever!”
32 Immediately King David said: “Call for me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came in before the king. 33 The king said to them: “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and lead him down to Gihon. 34 Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet will anoint him there as king over Israel; then blow the horn and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35 Then follow him back, and he will come in and sit on my throne; and he will be king in my place, and I will commission him as leader over Israel and over Judah.” 36 At once Benaiah the son of Jehoiada said to the king: “Amen! May Jehovah the God of my lord the king confirm it. 37 Just as Jehovah was with my lord the king, so let him be with Solomon, and may He make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”
38 Then Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on the mule of King David, and they brought him to Gihon. 39 Zadok the priest now took the horn of oil out of the tent and anointed Solomon, and they began to blow the horn, and all the people began shouting: “Long live King Solomon!” 40 After that all the people followed him and went up, playing flutes and rejoicing greatly, so that the earth was split open by their noise.
41 Adonijah and all those invited by him heard it when they had finished eating. As soon as Joab heard the sound of the horn, he said: “Why is there such a noisy uproar in the city?” 42 While he was still speaking, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. Then Adonijah said: “Come in, for you are a good man, and you must bring good news.” 43 But Jonathan answered Adonijah: “No! Our lord King David has made Solomon king. 44 The king sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and they had him ride on the mule of the king. 45 Then Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him as king in Gihon. After that they came up from there rejoicing, and the city is in an uproar. That was the noise that you heard. 46 Moreover, Solomon has sat down on the royal throne. 47 Another thing, the servants of the king have come in to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s name more splendid than your name, and may He make his throne greater than your throne!’ At that the king bowed down on the bed. 48 And the king also said, ‘May Jehovah the God of Israel be praised, who today has granted someone to sit on my throne and has allowed my own eyes to see it!’”
49 And all those invited by Adonijah became terrified, and each of them rose up and went his own way. 50 Adonijah was also afraid because of Solomon, so he got up and went and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. 51 The report was made to Solomon: “Here Adonijah has become afraid of King Solomon; and he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon first swear to me that he will not put his servant to death by the sword.’” 52 To this Solomon said: “If he behaves in a worthy manner, not a single hair of his will fall to the ground; but if what is bad is found in him, he will have to die.” 53 So King Solomon sent for him to be brought down from the altar. Then he came in and bowed down to King Solomon, after which Solomon said to him: “Go to your own house.”
Chapter 2
1 When the time of David’s death drew near, he gave his son Solomon these instructions: 2 “I am about to die. Therefore, be strong and prove yourself a man. 3 You must keep your obligation to Jehovah your God by walking in his ways and by observing his statutes, his commandments, his judgments, and his reminders as they are written in the Law of Moses; then you will succeed in everything you do and everywhere you turn. 4 And Jehovah will carry out his promise that he made concerning me: ‘If your sons pay attention to their way by walking faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, there will never fail to be a man of your line sitting on the throne of Israel.’
5 “You also well know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to two chiefs of the armies of Israel—Abner the son of Ner and Amasa the son of Jether. He killed them, shedding the blood of war in peacetime, and he put the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet. 6 You must act according to your wisdom and not let his gray hairs go down in peace to the Grave.
7 “But toward the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, you should show loyal love, and they should be among those eating at your table, for that was how they stood by me when I ran away from your brother Absalom.
8 “There is also with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjaminite from Bahurim. He was the one who cursed me with a vicious curse on the day that I was going to Mahanaim; but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by Jehovah: ‘I will not put you to death by the sword.’ 9 Now do not leave him unpunished, for you are a wise man and you know what you should do to him; you must bring his gray hairs down to the Grave with blood.”
10 Then David was laid to rest with his forefathers and was buried in the City of David. 11 The length of David’s reign over Israel was 40 years. In Hebron he reigned for 7 years, and in Jerusalem he reigned for 33 years.
12 Solomon then sat down on the throne of David his father, and gradually his kingship became firmly established.
13 In time Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba, Solomon’s mother. She asked: “Is your coming peaceable?” He replied: “It is peaceable.” 14 He then said: “I have something to say to you.” So she said: “Speak.” 15 He continued: “You well know that the kingship was to become mine, and all Israel expected me to become king; but the kingship eluded me and became my brother’s, for it was from Jehovah that it became his. 16 But now there is just one request that I am making of you. Do not turn me away.” So she said to him: “Speak.” 17 He then said: “Please, ask Solomon the king—for he will not turn you away—to give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife.” 18 To this Bath-sheba said: “Very well! I will speak for you to the king.”
19 So Bath-sheba went in to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. At once the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king’s mother, so that she could sit at his right. 20 She then said: “There is one small request that I am making of you. Do not turn me away.” So the king said to her: “Make it, my mother; for I will not turn you away.” 21 She said: “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given as a wife to your brother Adonijah.” 22 At this King Solomon answered his mother: “Why are you requesting Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You may as well request the kingship for him, for he is my older brother, and supporting him are Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zeruiah.”
23 With that King Solomon swore by Jehovah: “So may God do to me and add to it if it was not at the cost of his own life that Adonijah made this request. 24 And now, as surely as Jehovah is living, who has firmly established me and seated me on the throne of David my father and who made a house for me, just as he promised, Adonijah will be put to death today.” 25 King Solomon immediately sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, who went out and struck Adonijah down, and he died.
26 To Abiathar the priest, the king said: “Go to your fields in Anathoth! You deserve to die, but on this day I will not put you to death because you carried the Ark of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah before David my father and because you shared in all the hardships that my father suffered.” 27 So Solomon drove Abiathar out from serving as a priest of Jehovah, to fulfill Jehovah’s word against the house of Eli in Shiloh.
28 When the news reached Joab—for Joab had supported Adonijah but he had not supported Absalom—Joab fled to the tent of Jehovah and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. 29 Then King Solomon was told: “Joab has fled to the tent of Jehovah, and he is there beside the altar.” So Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying: “Go, strike him down!” 30 So Benaiah went to the tent of Jehovah and said to him: “This is what the king says, ‘Come out!’” But he said: “No! I will die here.” Benaiah brought word back to the king: “This is what Joab said, and this is what he answered me.” 31 Then the king said to him: “Do just as he said; strike him down and bury him and remove from me and from the house of my father the blood that Joab spilled without just cause. 32 Jehovah will bring his blood back on his own head, for without my father David’s knowledge, he struck down and killed with the sword two men more righteous and better than he was: Abner the son of Ner, the chief of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, the chief of the army of Judah. 33 Their blood will come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his offspring forever; but for David, his offspring, his house, and his throne, may there be peace from Jehovah forever.” 34 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck Joab down and put him to death, and he was buried at his own house in the wilderness. 35 Then the king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and the king appointed Zadok the priest in place of Abiathar.
36 Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him: “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and live there; do not go out from there to any other place. 37 On the day you go out and cross the Kidron Valley, you can be sure that you will die. Your blood will be on your own head.” 38 Shimei replied to the king: “What you have said is fair. Your servant will do just as my lord the king has said.” So Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for many days.
39 But at the end of three years, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish the son of Maacah the king of Gath. When Shimei was told: “Look! Your slaves are in Gath,” 40 Shimei immediately saddled his donkey and went to see Achish in Gath to find his slaves. When Shimei returned from Gath with his slaves, 41 Solomon was told: “Shimei has gone out of Jerusalem to Gath and has returned.” 42 At that the king summoned Shimei and said to him: “Did I not put you under oath by Jehovah and warn you: ‘On the day you go out from here to any other place, you can be sure that you will die’? And did you not say to me, ‘What you are saying is fair; I will obey’? 43 Why, then, did you not keep the oath of Jehovah and the commandment that I imposed on you?” 44 The king then said to Shimei: “You know in your heart all the injury that you did to David my father, and Jehovah will bring back that injury on your own head. 45 But King Solomon will be blessed, and the throne of David will be firmly established before Jehovah forever.” 46 With that the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, who went out and struck him down, and he died.
Thus the kingdom was firmly established in the hand of Solomon.
Chapter 3
1 Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He married Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the City of David until he finished building his own house, and the house of Jehovah, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 But the people were still sacrificing on the high places, because until that time a house for the name of Jehovah had not yet been built. 3 Solomon continued to love Jehovah by walking in the statutes of David his father, except that he was sacrificing and making offerings smoke on the high places.
4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the most prominent high place. Solomon offered 1,000 burnt sacrifices on that altar. 5 In Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said: “Ask what you would like me to give you.” 6 At this Solomon said: “You have shown great loyal love toward your servant David my father as he walked before you in faithfulness and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart. You have continued to show him this great loyal love down to this day by giving him a son to sit on his throne. 7 And now, Jehovah my God, you have made your servant king in the place of David my father, though I am just a youth and I am inexperienced. 8 Your servant is among your people whom you have chosen, a people so vast that they cannot be numbered or counted. 9 So grant your servant an obedient heart to judge your people, to discern between good and bad, for who is able to judge this numerous people of yours?”
10 It was pleasing to Jehovah that Solomon had requested this. 11 God then said to him: “Because you requested this and you did not request for yourself long life or riches or the death of your enemies, but you requested understanding to hear judicial cases, 12 I will do what you asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that just as there has never been anyone like you before, there will never be anyone like you again. 13 Furthermore, what you have not requested I will give you, both riches and glory, so that there will be no other king like you in your lifetime. 14 And if you walk in my ways by keeping my regulations and my commandments, just as David your father walked, I will also give you a long life.”
15 When Solomon awoke, he realized that it had been a dream. Then he went to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and offered up burnt sacrifices and communion offerings and spread a feast for all his servants.
16 At that time two prostitutes came in to the king and stood before him. 17 The first woman said: “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in one house, and I gave birth while she was in the house. 18 On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together, just the two of us; there was no one else with us in the house. 19 During the night this woman’s son died, because she lay on him. 20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your slave girl was asleep and laid him in her arms, and she laid her dead son in my arms. 21 When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, I saw that he was dead. So I examined him closely in the morning and saw that it was not my son whom I had given birth to.” 22 But the other woman said: “No, my son is the living one, and your son is the dead one!” But the first woman was saying: “No, your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.” That is how they argued before the king.
23 Finally the king said: “This one says, ‘This is my son, the living one, and your son is the dead one!’ and that one says, ‘No, your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one!’” 24 The king said: “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword to the king. 25 The king then said: “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other.” 26 At once the woman whose son was the living one pleaded with the king, for her compassions were stirred toward her son. She said: “Please, my lord! You should give her the living child! By no means put him to death!” But the other woman was saying: “He will be neither mine nor yours! Let them cut him in two!” 27 At that the king answered: “Give the living child to the first woman! By no means put him to death, for she is his mother.”
28 So all Israel heard about the judgment that the king had handed down, and they were in awe of the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was with him to execute justice.
Chapter 4
1 King Solomon ruled over all Israel. 2 These were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 4 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 5 Azariah the son of Nathan was over the deputies; Zabud the son of Nathan was a priest and the king’s friend; 6 Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over those conscripted for forced labor.
7 Solomon had 12 deputies in charge of all Israel who provided the king and his household with food. Each one was responsible for providing the food for one month of the year. 8 These were their names: The son of Hur, in the mountainous region of Ephraim; 9 the son of Deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan; 10 the son of Hesed, in Arubboth (he had Socoh and all the land of Hepher); 11 the son of Abinadab, in all the slopes of Dor (Solomon’s daughter Taphath became his wife); 12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah to the region of Jokmeam; 13 the son of Geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the tent villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; he also had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan: 60 large cities with walls and copper bars); 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; 15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he took Basemath, another of Solomon’s daughters, as his wife); 16 Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18 Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. There was also one deputy in charge of all these other deputies in the land.
20 Judah and Israel were as numerous as the grains of sand by the sea; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
21 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines and to the boundary of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 Solomon’s food for each day was 30 cor measures of fine flour and 60 cor measures of flour, 23 10 fattened cattle, 20 pastured cattle, and 100 sheep, besides some stags, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened cuckoos. 24 For he controlled everything this side of the River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, including all the kings on this side of the River; and he enjoyed peace in every region, all around him. 25 Judah and Israel lived in security, everyone under his own vine and under his own fig tree, from Dan to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.
26 And Solomon had 4,000 stalls of horses for his chariots and 12,000 horses.
27 These deputies supplied food to King Solomon and to everyone who ate at the table of King Solomon. Each was responsible for his month and saw to it that nothing was lacking. 28 They also brought barley and straw wherever it was needed for the horses and for the teams of horses, each according to his quota.
29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and discernment in very great measure and a broadness of heart like the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than any other man, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; his fame spread among all the surrounding nations. 32 He composed 3,000 proverbs and his songs numbered 1,005. 33 He would speak about the trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he would speak about the animals, the birds, the creeping things, and the fish. 34 People from all the nations came to hear Solomon’s wisdom, including kings from all over the earth who had heard about his wisdom.
Chapter 5
1 When Hiram the king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed as king in place of his father, he sent his servants to Solomon, for Hiram had always been a friend of David’s. 2 In turn Solomon sent word to Hiram: 3 “You well know that David my father was not able to build a house for the name of Jehovah his God because of the wars waged against him from every side until Jehovah put his enemies under the soles of his feet. 4 But now Jehovah my God has given me rest on all sides. There is no one opposing me and nothing bad happening. 5 So I intend to build a house for the name of Jehovah my God, just as Jehovah promised to David my father, saying: ‘Your son whom I will put on your throne in your place, he is the one who will build the house for my name.’ 6 Now command your people to cut cedars of Lebanon for me. My servants will work with your servants, and I will pay the wages of your servants according to the rate you set, for you are aware that not one of us knows how to cut trees like the Sidonians.”
7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s words, he rejoiced greatly and said: “May Jehovah be praised today, for he has given David a wise son over this great people!” 8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon: “I have heard the message you sent to me. I will do all you desire in providing the cedar and juniper timbers. 9 My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into log rafts to go by sea to the place that you designate to me. I will have them broken up there, and you can carry them away. In exchange, you will provide the food that I request for my household.”
10 So Hiram supplied all the timbers of cedar and juniper that Solomon desired. 11 And Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cor measures of wheat as food supplies for his household and 20 cor measures of very fine olive oil. That was what Solomon gave Hiram year after year. 12 And Jehovah gave Solomon wisdom, just as He had promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.
13 King Solomon conscripted men for forced labor out of all Israel; 30,000 men were conscripted. 14 He would send them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000 each month. They would spend a month in Lebanon and two months at their homes; and Adoniram was over those conscripted for forced labor. 15 Solomon had 70,000 common laborers and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, 16 as well as Solomon’s 3,300 princely deputies who served as foremen to supervise the workmen. 17 At the king’s order, they quarried large stones, expensive stones, to lay the foundation of the house with hewn stones. 18 So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites did the cutting, and they prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.
Chapter 6
1 In the 480th year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year after Solomon became king over Israel, in the month of Ziv (that is, the second month), he began to build the house of Jehovah. 2 The house that King Solomon built for Jehovah was 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. 3 The porch in front of the temple was 20 cubits long, corresponding to the width of the house. Its depth was ten cubits from the front of the house.
4 He made windows of narrowing frames for the house. 5 Further, he built a side structure against the wall of the house; it went around the walls of the house, those of the temple and the innermost room, and he made side chambers all around. 6 The lowest level of the side chambers was five cubits wide, the middle level was six cubits wide, and the third level was seven cubits wide, for he made offsets all around the house, so that nothing was attached to the walls of the house.
7 The house was built with quarry stone that had already been prepared, so that no hammers or axes or any iron tools were heard in the house while it was being built. 8 The entrance of the lowest side chamber was on the south side of the house, and a winding staircase led up to the middle floor, and from the middle floor up to the third floor. 9 He continued building the house and finished it and covered the house with cedar beams and rows of cedar planks. 10 He built the side chambers all around the house, each five cubits high, and they were joined to the house by cedar timbers.
11 Meanwhile, the word of Jehovah came to Solomon, saying: 12 “As for this house that you are building, if you walk in my statutes and carry out my judgments and observe all my commandments by walking in them, I will also carry out with you my promise that I made to David your father, 13 and I will reside in the midst of the Israelites, and I will not forsake my people Israel.”
14 Solomon continued building the house to finish it. 15 He built the inside walls of the house with cedar boards. He paneled the inside walls with timber, from the floor of the house up to the rafters of the ceiling, and he overlaid the floor of the house with juniper boards. 16 And he built a section of 20 cubits at the rear of the house with cedar boards, from the floor up to the rafters, and he built inside of it the innermost room, the Most Holy. 17 And the temple—the part of the house in front of it—was 40 cubits. 18 The cedar inside the house was carved with gourds and flowers in bloom. All of it was cedar; no stone was seen.
19 And he prepared the innermost room inside the house to put there the ark of the covenant of Jehovah. 20 The innermost room was 20 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 20 cubits high; and he overlaid it with pure gold; he overlaid the altar with cedar. 21 Solomon overlaid the interior of the house with pure gold, and he stretched gold chains in front of the innermost room, which was overlaid with gold. 22 He overlaid the whole house with gold until all the house was completed; he also overlaid with gold the entire altar near the innermost room.
23 In the innermost room he made two cherubs of pinewood, each ten cubits high. 24 One wing of the cherub measured five cubits, and the other wing was five cubits. From the tip of one wing to the tip of the other wing was ten cubits. 25 The second cherub was also ten cubits. The two cherubs had the same size and shape. 26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, as was that of the other cherub. 27 Then he put the cherubs inside the inner house. The wings of the cherubs were extended so that the wing of the one cherub reached to one wall and the wing of the other cherub reached to the other wall, and their wings extended toward the middle of the house, so that the wings touched. 28 And he overlaid the cherubs with gold.
29 And on all the walls of the house all around both the inner and outer rooms, he carved figures of cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom. 30 He overlaid the floor of the house with gold in the inner and outer rooms. 31 And for the entrance of the innermost room he made doors of pinewood, side pillars, and doorposts, as a fifth part. 32 The two doors were of pinewood, and he carved on them cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom, and he overlaid them with gold; and he hammered the gold down over the cherubs and the palm trees. 33 For the entrance of the temple, that was how he made the doorposts of pinewood, belonging to a fourth part. 34 And he made two doors of juniper wood. The one door had two leaves that turned on pivots, and the other door had two leaves that turned on pivots. 35 He carved cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom, and overlaid gold foil on the carvings.
36 He built the inner courtyard with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams.
37 In the 4th year, in the month of Ziv, the house of Jehovah had its foundation laid; 38 and in the 11th year, in the month of Bul (that is, the eighth month), the house was finished in all its details and according to its plan. So he spent seven years building it.
Chapter 7
1 And it took Solomon 13 years to build his own house, until his whole house was completed.
2 And he built the House of the Forest of Lebanon 100 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high on four rows of cedar pillars; and there were cedar beams on the pillars. 3 It was paneled above with cedar on the girders that rested on the pillars; they numbered 45, with 15 to a row. 4 There were three rows of framed windows, and each window was opposite another window in three tiers. 5 All the entrances and the doorposts had square frames, as did the front of the windows that were opposite each other in three tiers.
6 And he built the Hall of Pillars 50 cubits long and 30 cubits wide, and there was a porch in front of it with pillars and a canopy.
7 He also built the Hall of the Throne, where he would judge—the Hall of Judgment—and they paneled it with cedar from the floor to the rafters.
8 The house where he was to live, at the other courtyard, was set back from the Hall, and it was similar in workmanship. He also built a house similar to this Hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom Solomon had taken as a wife.
9 All of these were made of expensive stones hewn according to measure, trimmed with stonesaws inside and out, from the foundation up to the coping, and outside as far as the great courtyard. 10 And the foundation was laid with very large, expensive stones; some stones measured ten cubits, and other stones, eight cubits. 11 And above these were expensive stones, hewn according to measure, as well as cedar. 12 Around the great courtyard were three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams, like that for the inner courtyard of the house of Jehovah and the porch of the house.
13 King Solomon sent for Hiram and brought him from Tyre. 14 He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a Tyrian coppersmith; and he had great skill, understanding, and experience for all kinds of work in copper. So he came to King Solomon and did all his work.
15 He cast the two pillars of copper; each pillar was 18 cubits high, and it took a measuring cord 12 cubits long to encircle each of the two pillars. 16 And he made two capitals cast in copper to put on the tops of the pillars. One capital was five cubits high, and the other capital was five cubits high. 17 The capital on top of each pillar had mesh network with wreathed chains; seven for the one capital and seven for the other capital. 18 And he made pomegranates in two rows around the one network to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; he did the same for both capitals. 19 The capitals on top of the pillars at the porch were of a lily pattern four cubits high. 20 The capitals were on the two pillars, just above the rounded portion adjoining the network; and there were 200 pomegranates in rows all around on each capital.
21 He set up the pillars of the porch of the temple. He set up the right-hand pillar and named it Jachin, and then he set up the left-hand pillar and named it Boaz. 22 And the top of the pillars were of a lily pattern. So the work of the pillars was completed.
23 Then he made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, 10 cubits from brim to brim and 5 cubits high, and it took a measuring line 30 cubits long to encircle it. 24 And there were ornamental gourds below its brim, completely encircling it, ten to a cubit all around the Sea, with two rows of the gourds cast in one piece with it. 25 It stood on 12 bulls, 3 facing north, 3 facing west, 3 facing south, and 3 facing east; and the Sea rested on them, and all their hindquarters were toward the center. 26 And its thickness was a handbreadth; and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It would hold 2,000 bath measures.
27 Then he made the ten carriages of copper. Each carriage was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. 28 And this was how the carriages were constructed: They had side panels, and the side panels were between the crossbars. 29 And on the side panels between the crossbars were lions, bulls, and cherubs, and the same design was on the crossbars. Above and beneath the lions and the bulls were wreaths in relief. 30 And each carriage had four copper wheels and copper axles, and its four cornerpieces served as supports for them. Beneath the basin were the supports, cast with wreaths at the side of each. 31 Its opening was inside the crown, extending upward one cubit; and its opening was round, making up a stand of one and a half cubits, and on its mouth were engravings. And their side panels were square, not round. 32 The four wheels were below the side panels, and the supports of the wheels were attached to the carriage, and the height of each wheel was one and a half cubits. 33 And the wheels were made like chariot wheels. Their supports, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of cast metal. 34 There were four supports on the four corners of each carriage; its supports were cast as part of the carriage. 35 On top of the carriage was a circular band half a cubit high, and on the top of the carriage, its framing pieces and its side panels were cast as part of it. 36 On the surfaces of its framing pieces and on its side panels he engraved cherubs, lions, and palm trees according to the amount of space on each, with wreaths all around. 37 This is how he made the ten carriages; they were all cast alike, with the same measure and shape.
38 He made ten copper basins; each could hold 40 bath measures. Each basin measured four cubits. There was one basin for each of the ten carriages. 39 Then he put five carriages on the right side of the house and five on the left side of the house, and he placed the Sea on the right side of the house, toward the southeast.
40 Hiram also made the basins, the shovels, and the bowls.
So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of Jehovah: 41 the two pillars and the bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the pillars; 42 the 400 pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the two pillars; 43 the ten carriages and the ten basins on the carriages; 44 the Sea and the 12 bulls beneath the Sea; 45 and the cans, the shovels, the bowls, and all the utensils, which Hiram made of polished copper for King Solomon for the house of Jehovah. 46 The king cast them in clay molds in the district of the Jordan, between Succoth and Zarethan.
47 Solomon left all the utensils unweighed because they were in such great quantities. The weight of the copper was not ascertained. 48 Solomon made all the utensils for the house of Jehovah: the altar of gold; the gold table on which to put the showbread; 49 the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right and five on the left before the innermost room; and the blossoms, the lamps, and the snuffers, of gold; 50 the basins, the extinguishers, the bowls, the cups, and the fire holders, of pure gold; and the sockets for the doors of the inner house, that is, the Most Holy, and for the doors of the house of the temple, of gold.
51 So King Solomon completed all the work he had to do for the house of Jehovah. Solomon then brought in the things that David his father had made holy, and he put the silver, the gold, and the articles into the treasuries of the house of Jehovah.
Chapter 8
1 At that time Solomon congregated the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, the chieftains of the paternal houses of Israel. They came to King Solomon at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah from the City of David, that is, Zion. 2 All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the festival in the month of Ethanim, that is, the seventh month. 3 So all the elders of Israel came, and the priests lifted up the Ark. 4 They brought up the Ark of Jehovah, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel, who had been summoned to meet with him, were before the Ark. So many sheep and cattle were being sacrificed that they could not be counted or numbered.
6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to its place, into the innermost room of the house, the Most Holy, underneath the wings of the cherubs.
7 Thus the wings of the cherubs were spread out over the place of the Ark, so that the cherubs overshadowed the Ark and its poles. 8 The poles were so long that the tips of the poles were visible from the Holy in front of the innermost room, but they were not visible from outside. And they are there to this day. 9 There was nothing in the Ark but the two stone tablets that Moses placed there at Horeb, when Jehovah made a covenant with the people of Israel while they were coming out of the land of Egypt.
10 When the priests came out from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of Jehovah. 11 The priests were not able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah. 12 At that time Solomon said: “Jehovah said he would reside in the thick gloom. 13 I have successfully built a lofty house for you, an established place for you to dwell in forever.”
14 Then the king turned around and began to bless all the congregation of Israel while all the congregation of Israel stood. 15 He said: “May Jehovah the God of Israel be praised, the one who by his own mouth promised my father David, and by his own hand has given fulfillment, saying, 16 ‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house for my name to remain there, but I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ 17 And it was the heart’s desire of my father David to build a house for the name of Jehovah the God of Israel. 18 But Jehovah said to my father David, ‘It was your heart’s desire to build a house for my name, and you did well to desire this in your heart. 19 However, you will not build the house, but your own son who is to be born to you is the one who will build the house for my name.’ 20 Jehovah has carried out the promise that he made, for I have succeeded my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, just as Jehovah promised. I have also built the house for the name of Jehovah the God of Israel 21 and have set up a place there for the Ark containing the covenant that Jehovah made with our forefathers when he was bringing them out of the land of Egypt.”
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in front of all the congregation of Israel, and he spread his hands out to the heavens, 23 and he said: “O Jehovah the God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens above or on the earth beneath, keeping the covenant and showing loyal love to your servants who are walking before you with all their heart. 24 You have kept the promise that you made to your servant David my father. You made the promise with your own mouth, and this day you have fulfilled it with your own hand. 25 And now, O Jehovah the God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant David my father when you said: ‘There will never fail to be a man of your line before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons will pay attention to their way by walking before me, just as you have walked before me.’ 26 And now, O God of Israel, let the promise that you made to your servant David my father prove trustworthy, please.
27 “But will God really dwell on the earth? Look! The heavens, yes, the heaven of the heavens, cannot contain you; how much less, then, this house that I have built! 28 Now pay attention to the prayer of your servant and to his request for favor, O Jehovah my God, and listen to the cry for help and to the prayer that your servant is praying before you today. 29 May your eyes be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which you said, ‘My name will be there,’ to listen to the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. 30 And listen to your servant’s request for favor and to the request by your people Israel that they pray toward this place, and may you hear from your dwelling place in the heavens; yes, may you hear and forgive.
31 “When a man sins against his fellow man and is made to take an oath and is brought under liability to the oath, and while under the oath he comes before your altar in this house, 32 may you then hear from the heavens and act and judge your servants by pronouncing the wicked one guilty and bringing what he did on his own head, and by pronouncing the righteous one innocent and rewarding him according to his own righteousness.
33 “When your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they kept sinning against you, and they return to you and glorify your name and pray and beg you for favor in this house, 34 may you then hear from the heavens and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land that you gave to their forefathers.
35 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they kept sinning against you, and they pray toward this place and glorify your name and turn back from their sin because you humbled them, 36 may you then hear from the heavens and forgive the sin of your servants, of your people Israel, for you will instruct them about the good way in which they should walk; and bring rain on your land that you gave to your people as an inheritance.
37 “If a famine occurs in the land, or a pestilence, a scorching blight, mildew, swarming locusts, or voracious locusts; or if their enemy besieges them in any of the cities of the land or if any other sort of plague or disease occurs, 38 whatever prayer, whatever request for favor may be made by any man or by all your people Israel (for each one knows the plague of his own heart) when they spread out their hands toward this house, 39 then may you hear from the heavens, your dwelling place, and may you forgive and take action; and reward each one according to all his ways, for you know his heart (you alone truly know every human heart), 40 so that they may fear you all the days they live on the land that you gave to our forefathers.
41 “Also concerning the foreigner who is not part of your people Israel and who comes from a distant land because of your name 42 (for they will hear about your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm), and he comes and prays toward this house, 43 may you then listen from the heavens, your dwelling place, and do all that the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as your people Israel do, and may know that your name has been called on this house that I have built.
44 “If your people go to war against their enemy in the way that you send them, and they pray to Jehovah in the direction of the city that you have chosen and toward the house that I have built for your name, 45 then hear from the heavens their prayer and their request for favor and execute judgment for them.
46 “If they sin against you (for there is no man who does not sin), and you are furious with them and you abandon them to an enemy, and their captors carry them off captive to the land of the enemy, far or near; 47 and they come to their senses in the land where they were carried off captive, and they return to you and beg you for favor in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’ 48 and they return to you with all their heart and all their soul in the land of their enemies who carried them off captive, and they pray to you in the direction of their land that you gave to their forefathers and of the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 49 then hear from the heavens, your dwelling place, their prayer and their request for favor, and execute judgment for them 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, forgiving all their transgressions they committed against you. You will make them objects of pity before their captors, and they will pity them 51 (for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, from inside the iron-smelting furnace). 52 May your eyes be opened to your servant’s request for favor and to the request for favor by your people Israel by listening whenever they call to you. 53 For you set them apart as your inheritance out of all the peoples of the earth, just as you declared through Moses your servant when you were bringing our forefathers out of Egypt, O Sovereign Lord Jehovah.”
54 And as soon as Solomon finished offering to Jehovah this entire prayer and request for favor, he rose up from before the altar of Jehovah, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out to the heavens. 55 He then stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying: 56 “Praised be Jehovah, who has given a resting-place to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one word of all his good promise that he made through Moses his servant has failed. 57 May Jehovah our God be with us just as he was with our forefathers. May he not abandon us nor forsake us. 58 May he draw our heart toward himself, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his regulations, and his judgments, which he commanded our forefathers to observe. 59 And may these words of mine with which I have begged Jehovah for favor be near to Jehovah our God by day and night, that he may execute judgment for his servant and for his people Israel as each day requires, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that Jehovah is the true God. There is no other! 61 So let your heart be complete with Jehovah our God by walking in his regulations and by keeping his commandments as on this day.”
62 Now the king and all Israel with him offered a grand sacrifice before Jehovah. 63 Solomon offered the communion sacrifices to Jehovah: He offered 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Thus the king and all the Israelites inaugurated the house of Jehovah. 64 On that day the king had to sanctify the middle of the courtyard that is before the house of Jehovah, for there he had to offer up the burnt sacrifices, the grain offerings, and the fat pieces of the communion sacrifices, because the copper altar that is before Jehovah was too small to contain the burnt sacrifices, the grain offerings, and the fat pieces of the communion sacrifices. 65 At that time Solomon held the festival together with all Israel, a great congregation from Lebo-hamath down to the Wadi of Egypt, before Jehovah our God for 7 days and then another 7 days, 14 days in all. 66 On the following day, he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes rejoicing and feeling glad of heart over all the goodness that Jehovah had shown to David his servant and Israel his people.
Chapter 9
1 As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of Jehovah, the house of the king, and everything Solomon desired to make, 2 Jehovah appeared to Solomon a second time, just as he had appeared to him in Gibeon. 3 Jehovah said to him: “I have heard your prayer and your request for favor that you made before me. I have sanctified this house that you built by permanently putting my name there, and my eyes and my heart will always be there. 4 And you, if you walk before me as your father David walked, with integrity of heart and with uprightness, by doing everything I have commanded you, and you obey my regulations and my judgments, 5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised your father David, saying, ‘There will never fail to be a man of your line sitting on the throne of Israel.’ 6 But if you and your sons turn away from following me and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have put before you, and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, 7 I will cut Israel off from the surface of the land that I have given to them, and the house that I have sanctified for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become an object of scorn and a cause for ridicule among all the peoples. 8 And this house will become heaps of ruins. Everyone passing by it will stare in amazement and will whistle and say, ‘Why did Jehovah do that to this land and this house?’ 9 Then they will say, ‘It was because they abandoned Jehovah their God, who had brought their forefathers out of the land of Egypt, and they embraced other gods and bowed down to them and served them. That is why Jehovah brought all this calamity on them.’”
10 At the end of 20 years, during which Solomon built the two houses, the house of Jehovah and the house of the king, 11 Hiram the king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and juniper timbers and with as much gold as he desired, and King Solomon gave to Hiram 20 cities in the land of Galilee. 12 So Hiram went out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, but he was not satisfied with them. 13 He said: “What sort of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?” So they came to be called the Land of Cabul down to this day. 14 In the meantime, Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.
15 This is the account of those whom King Solomon conscripted for forced labor to build the house of Jehovah, his own house, the Mound, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had come up and captured Gezer and had burned it with fire, and he had also killed the Canaanites dwelling in the city. So he gave it as a parting gift to his daughter, the wife of Solomon.) 17 Solomon built up Gezer, Lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath, and Tamar in the wilderness, within the land, 19 as well as all of Solomon’s storage cities, the chariot cities, the cities for the horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 20 As for all the people who were left from the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not part of the people of Israel, 21 their descendants who were left in the land—those whom the Israelites had been unable to devote to destruction—were conscripted by Solomon for forced labor as slaves until this day. 22 But Solomon did not make any of the Israelites slaves, for they were his warriors, servants, princes, adjutants, and the chiefs of his charioteers and horsemen. 23 There were 550 chiefs of the deputies who were over the work of Solomon, the foremen over the people who were doing the work.
24 But Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to her own house that he had built for her; then he built the Mound.
25 Three times a year Solomon offered up burnt sacrifices and communion sacrifices on the altar that he had built for Jehovah, also making sacrificial smoke on the altar, which was before Jehovah, so he completed the house.
26 King Solomon also made a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is by Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom. 27 Hiram sent his own servants with the fleet of ships, experienced seamen, to serve along with the servants of Solomon. 28 They went to Ophir and took from there 420 talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon.
Chapter 10
1 Now the queen of Sheba heard the report about Solomon in connection with the name of Jehovah, so she came to test him with perplexing questions. 2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a very impressive entourage, with camels carrying balsam oil and great quantities of gold and precious stones. She went in to Solomon and spoke to him about everything that was close to her heart. 3 Solomon then answered all her questions. There was nothing too difficult for the king to explain to her.
4 When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he built, 5 the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the table service of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his burnt sacrifices that he regularly offered up at the house of Jehovah, she was left completely breathless. 6 So she said to the king: “The report that I heard in my own land about your achievements and about your wisdom was true. 7 But I did not put faith in the reports until I had come and had seen it with my own eyes. And look! I had not been told the half. You have far surpassed in wisdom and prosperity the report that I heard. 8 Happy are your men, and happy are your servants who stand before you constantly, listening to your wisdom! 9 May Jehovah your God be praised, who has taken pleasure in you by putting you on the throne of Israel. Because of Jehovah’s everlasting love for Israel, he appointed you as king to administer justice and righteousness.”
10 Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold and a great amount of balsam oil and precious stones. Never again was such a quantity of balsam oil brought in as what the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11 Hiram’s fleet of ships that carried gold from Ophir also brought from Ophir algum timbers in very great quantity, and precious stones. 12 The king made from the algum timbers supports for the house of Jehovah and for the king’s house, as well as harps and stringed instruments for the singers. Such algum timbers have never again been brought in or seen down to this day.
13 King Solomon also gave the queen of Sheba whatever she desired and asked for, in addition to what he gave her out of his own generosity. After that she left and returned to her own land, together with her servants.
14 And the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year amounted to 666 talents of gold, 15 besides that from the merchants and the profit from the traders and from all the kings of the Arabs and the governors of the land.
16 King Solomon made 200 large shields of alloyed gold (600 shekels of gold went on each shield) 17 and 300 bucklers of alloyed gold (three minas of gold went on each buckler). Then the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with refined gold. 19 There were six steps to the throne, and the throne had a round canopy behind it, and there were armrests on both sides of the seat, and two lions were standing beside the armrests. 20 And there were 12 lions standing on the six steps, one at each end of the six steps. No other kingdom had made anything like it.
21 All the drinking vessels of King Solomon were of gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. There was nothing made of silver, for silver was considered as nothing in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish on the sea along with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years, the fleet of ships of Tarshish would come loaded with gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
23 So King Solomon was greater than all the other kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 24 And people of all the earth sought an audience with Solomon to hear his wisdom that God had put in his heart. 25 They would each bring a gift—articles of silver, articles of gold, garments, armor, balsam oil, horses, and mules—and this continued year after year.
26 And Solomon kept accumulating chariots and horses; he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, and he kept them stationed in the chariot cities and close by the king in Jerusalem.
27 The king made the silver in Jerusalem as plentiful as the stones, and cedarwood as plentiful as the sycamore trees in the Shephelah.
28 The horses of Solomon had been imported from Egypt, and the company of the king’s merchants would obtain the horses in droves for one price. 29 Each chariot imported from Egypt cost 600 silver pieces, and a horse cost 150; in turn, they would export them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
Chapter 11
1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women besides the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women. 2 They were from the nations about whom Jehovah had said to the Israelites: “You must not go in among them, and they should not come in among you, for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods.” But Solomon clung to them and loved them. 3 And he had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, and his wives gradually inclined his heart. 4 In Solomon’s old age, his wives inclined his heart to follow other gods, and his heart was not complete with Jehovah his God like the heart of David his father. 5 And Solomon followed after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the disgusting god of the Ammonites. 6 And Solomon did what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah, and he did not follow Jehovah completely as David his father had done.
7 It was then that Solomon built a high place to Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, on the mountain in front of Jerusalem and to Molech, the disgusting god of the Ammonites. 8 That was what he did for all his foreign wives who were making sacrificial smoke and sacrificing to their gods.
9 Jehovah became furious at Solomon, because his heart had inclined away from Jehovah the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice 10 and had warned him about this very thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not obey what Jehovah had commanded. 11 Jehovah now said to Solomon: “Because you have done this and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes as I commanded you, I will surely rip the kingdom away from you, and I will give it to one of your servants. 12 However, for the sake of your father David, I will not do it in your lifetime. I will rip it out of the hand of your son, 13 but I will not rip away the entire kingdom. One tribe I will give to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
14 Jehovah then raised up a resister against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite, of the royal family of Edom. 15 When David defeated Edom, Joab the chief of the army went up to bury the slain, and he tried to strike down every male in Edom. 16 (For Joab and all Israel stayed there for six months until he had done away with every male in Edom.) 17 But Hadad fled with some of his father’s Edomite servants, and they went to Egypt; Hadad was then a young boy. 18 So they set out from Midian and came to Paran. They took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, assigned him a food allowance, and gave him land. 19 Hadad found favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, so much so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, Tahpenes the queen. 20 In time the sister of Tahpenes bore him a son, Genubath, and Tahpenes brought him up in the house of Pharaoh, and Genubath remained in the house of Pharaoh among the sons of Pharaoh.
21 Hadad heard in Egypt that David had been laid to rest with his forefathers and that Joab the chief of the army had died. So Hadad said to Pharaoh: “Send me away, so that I may go to my own land.” 22 But Pharaoh said to him: “What have you lacked with me that you now seek to go to your own land?” To this he said: “Nothing, but please send me away.”
23 God also raised up against Solomon another resister, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer the king of Zobah. 24 He gathered men to himself and became chief of a marauder band when David defeated them. So they went to Damascus and settled there and began reigning in Damascus. 25 And he became a resister of Israel all the days of Solomon, adding to the harm done by Hadad, and he abhorred Israel while he reigned over Syria.
26 And there was Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, a servant of Solomon’s whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow. He too began to rebel against the king. 27 This is why he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the Mound and had closed up the gap of the City of David his father. 28 Now this Jeroboam was a capable man. When Solomon saw that the young man was a hard worker, he made him overseer over all the compulsory service of the house of Joseph. 29 During that time Jeroboam went out from Jerusalem, and the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Ahijah was wearing a new garment, and the two of them were by themselves in the field. 30 Ahijah took hold of the new garment he was wearing and ripped it into 12 pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam:
“Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what Jehovah the God of Israel says: ‘Here I am ripping the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give you ten tribes. 32 But one tribe will remain his for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. 33 I will do this because they have left me and are bowing down to Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, to Chemosh the god of Moab, and to Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways by doing what is right in my eyes and observing my statutes and my judgments as his father David did. 34 But I will not take the entire kingdom out of his hand, and I will keep him as a chieftain for all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, because he obeyed my commandments and my statutes. 35 But I will take the kingship out of the hand of his son and give it to you, that is, ten tribes. 36 To his son I will give one tribe, so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen for myself as the place to put my name. 37 I will take you, and you will reign over all that you desire, and you will become king over Israel. 38 And if you obey all that I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my statutes and my commandments, just as David my servant did, I will also be with you. I will build you a lasting house, just as I have built for David, and I will give you Israel. 39 And I will humiliate the offspring of David because of this, but not always.’”
40 So Solomon tried to put Jeroboam to death, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king of Egypt, and he remained in Egypt until Solomon’s death.
41 As for the rest of the history of Solomon, all that he did and his wisdom, is it not written in the book of the history of Solomon? 42 The length of Solomon’s reign in Jerusalem over all Israel was 40 years. 43 Then Solomon was laid to rest with his forefathers and was buried in the City of David his father; and his son Rehoboam became king in his place.
Chapter 12
1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 As soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (he was still in Egypt because he had run off on account of King Solomon and was living in Egypt), 3 they sent for him. After that Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came to Rehoboam and said: 4 “Your father made our yoke harsh. But if you make the harsh service of your father easier and you lighten the heavy yoke he put on us, we will serve you.”
5 At this he said to them: “Go away for three days; then return to me.” So the people went away. 6 King Rehoboam then consulted with the older men who had served his father Solomon while he was alive, saying: “What advice would you give on how to reply to this people?” 7 They answered him: “If today you would become a servant to this people and submit to their request and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”
8 However, he rejected the advice that the older men gave him, and he consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and who were now his attendants. 9 He asked them: “What advice do you offer on how we should reply to this people who have said to me, ‘Make the yoke your father put on us lighter’?” 10 The young men who had grown up with him said to him: “This is what you should say to this people who have said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you should make it lighter for us’; this is what you should tell them, ‘My little finger will be thicker than my father’s hips. 11 My father imposed a heavy yoke on you, but I will add to your yoke. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scourges.’”
12 Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had said: “Return to me on the third day.” 13 But the king answered the people harshly, rejecting the advice that the older men had given him. 14 He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying: “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scourges.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was caused by Jehovah, in order to carry out the word that Jehovah had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people replied to the king: “What share do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your gods, O Israel. Now look after your own house, O David!” With that Israel returned to their homes. 17 But Rehoboam continued to reign over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.
18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of those conscripted for forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19 And the Israelites have been in revolt against the house of David down to this day.
20 As soon as all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None of the people followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah.
21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he immediately congregated all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 trained warriors, to fight against the house of Israel in order to restore the kingship to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 Then the word of the true God came to Shemaiah the man of the true God, saying: 23 “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon the king of Judah and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and the rest of the people, 24 ‘This is what Jehovah says: “You must not go up and fight against your Israelite brothers. Each one of you must return to his house, for I have caused this to happen.”’” So they obeyed the word of Jehovah and went back home, as Jehovah had told them.
25 Jeroboam then built up Shechem in the mountainous region of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Penuel. 26 Jeroboam said in his heart: “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. 27 If this people continues to go up to offer sacrifices at the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem, the heart of this people will also return to their lord, King Rehoboam of Judah. Yes, they will kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.” 28 After consultation, the king made two golden calves and said to the people: “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here is your God, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” 29 Then he placed one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 And this caused them to sin, and the people went as far as Dan to worship the one there.
31 And he made houses of worship on the high places and appointed priests from the people in general, those who were not Levites. 32 Jeroboam also established a festival in the eighth month, on the 15th day of the month, like the festival in Judah. On the altar that he made at Bethel, he sacrificed to the calves he had made, and at Bethel he assigned priests for the high places that he had made. 33 And he began to make offerings on the altar that he had made at Bethel on the 15th day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised on his own; and he established a festival for the people of Israel, and he ascended the altar to make offerings and sacrificial smoke.
Chapter 13
1 By the word of Jehovah, a man of God came from Judah to Bethel while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make sacrificial smoke. 2 Then he called out against the altar by the word of Jehovah and said: “O altar, altar! This is what Jehovah says: ‘Look! A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David! He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places, those making sacrificial smoke on you, and he will burn human bones on you.’” 3 He gave a sign on that day, saying: “This is the sign that Jehovah has declared: Look! The altar will be ripped apart, and the ashes that are on it will be spilled out.”
4 As soon as the king heard the word that the man of the true God had called out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar and said: “Seize him!” Immediately, the hand that he had stretched out against him dried up, and he could not draw it back. 5 Then the altar was ripped apart and the ashes were spilled out from the altar according to the sign that the man of the true God had given by the word of Jehovah.
6 The king now said to the man of the true God: “Please, beg for the favor of Jehovah your God, and pray in my behalf that my hand may be restored to me.” At this the man of the true God begged for the favor of Jehovah, and the king’s hand was restored to its former condition. 7 The king then said to the man of the true God: “Come home with me and take some food, and let me give you a gift.” 8 But the man of the true God said to the king: “Even if you gave me half your house, I would not come with you and eat bread or drink water in this place. 9 For this is what I was commanded by the word of Jehovah: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water, and you must not return by the way you came.’” 10 So he left by another way, and he did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.
11 There was a certain old prophet dwelling in Bethel, and his sons came home and related to him all the things that the man of the true God had done that day in Bethel and the words he had spoken to the king. After they related this to their father, 12 their father asked them: “Which way did he go?” So his sons showed him the way that the man of the true God from Judah had gone. 13 He now said to his sons: “Saddle the donkey for me.” They saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it.
14 He followed the man of the true God and found him sitting under a big tree. Then he said to him: “Are you the man of the true God who came from Judah?” He replied: “I am.” 15 He said to him: “Come home with me and eat bread.” 16 But he said: “I cannot go back with you or accept your invitation, nor may I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 For I was told by the word of Jehovah, ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there. You must not return by the way you came.’” 18 At this he said to him: “I too am a prophet like you, and an angel told me by the word of Jehovah, ‘Have him come back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (He deceived him.) 19 So he went back with him to eat bread and drink water in his house.
20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of Jehovah came to the prophet who had brought him back, 21 and he called out to the man of the true God from Judah, saying, “This is what Jehovah says: ‘Because you rebelled against the order of Jehovah and did not keep the commandment that Jehovah your God gave you, 22 but you went back to eat bread and drink water in the place about which you were told, “Do not eat bread or drink water,” your dead body will not come into the tomb of your forefathers.’”
23 After the man of the true God ate bread and drank, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 Then he got on his way, but a lion came across him on the road and killed him. His dead body was thrown onto the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion was also standing beside the dead body. 25 There were men passing by who saw the dead body thrown onto the road and the lion standing beside the dead body. They came in and told about it in the city where the old prophet lived.
26 When the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard of it, he immediately said: “It is the man of the true God who rebelled against the order of Jehovah; so Jehovah gave him over to the lion, to maul and to kill him, according to the word of Jehovah that he spoke to him.” 27 He then said to his sons: “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it. 28 Then he went on his way and found the dead body thrown onto the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had not eaten the dead body, nor had it mauled the donkey. 29 The prophet lifted up the dead body of the man of the true God and put him on the donkey, and he brought him back into his own city to mourn and bury him. 30 So he laid the dead body in his own tomb, and they kept crying out over him: “Too bad, my brother!” 31 After burying him, he told his sons: “When I die, you must bury me in the place where the man of the true God is buried. Lay my bones next to his bones. 32 The word that he called out by the word of Jehovah against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of worship on the high places in the cities of Samaria is sure to take place.”
33 Even after this happened, Jeroboam did not turn back from his bad way, but he kept appointing priests for the high places from the people in general. He would install as priests anyone who so desired, saying: “Let him become one of the priests for the high places.” 34 This sin on the part of the household of Jeroboam led to their destruction and annihilation from the face of the earth.
Chapter 14
1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. 2 So Jeroboam said to his wife: “Rise up, please, and disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh. Look! Ahijah the prophet is there. He is the one who spoke of me becoming king over this people. 3 Take with you ten loaves of bread, sprinkled cakes, and a flask of honey, and go to him. He will then tell you what is going to happen to the boy.”
4 Jeroboam’s wife did what he said. She rose up and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Ahijah’s eyes stared straight ahead, and he could not see because of his age.
5 But Jehovah had told Ahijah: “Here is the wife of Jeroboam coming to inquire of you regarding her son, for he is sick. I will tell you what to say to her. When she arrives, she will conceal her identity.”
6 As soon as Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she was coming into the entrance, he said: “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why are you concealing your identity? I have been assigned to give you a harsh message. 7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what Jehovah the God of Israel says: “I raised you up from among your people to make you a leader over my people Israel. 8 Then I ripped the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you. But you have not become like my servant David, who kept my commandments and who walked after me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. 9 But you have done worse than all those who were prior to you, and you made for yourself another god and metal images to offend me, and it is I whom you have turned your back on. 10 For that reason I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam, and I will annihilate from Jeroboam every male, including the helpless and weak in Israel, and I will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, just as one clears away the dung until it is all gone! 11 Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city, the dogs will eat; and anyone who dies in the field, the birds of the heavens will eat, for Jehovah has spoken it.”’
12 “Now rise up; go to your house. When you set foot in the city, the child will die. 13 All Israel will mourn him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family will be laid in a grave, because he is the only one of the house of Jeroboam in whom Jehovah the God of Israel has found something good. 14 Jehovah will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will do away with the house of Jeroboam from that day forward, yes, even now. 15 Jehovah will strike Israel down like a reed that sways in the water, and he will uproot Israel off this good land that he gave to their forefathers, and he will scatter them beyond the River, because they made their sacred poles, offending Jehovah. 16 And he will abandon Israel because of the sins that Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”
17 At that Jeroboam’s wife rose up and went on her way and came to Tirzah. As she came to the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18 So they buried him, and all Israel mourned him, according to Jehovah’s word that he had spoken through his servant Ahijah the prophet.
19 And the rest of the history of Jeroboam, how he waged war and how he reigned, is written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Israel. 20 And the length of Jeroboam’s reign was 22 years, after which he was laid to rest with his forefathers; and his son Nadab became king in his place.
21 Meanwhile, Rehoboam the son of Solomon had become king in Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king, and he reigned for 17 years in Jerusalem, the city that Jehovah had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel as the place to put his name. The name of Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah the Ammonitess. 22 And Judah was doing what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah, and by the sins they committed they provoked him more than their forefathers had done. 23 They too kept building for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and sacred poles on every high hill and under every luxuriant tree. 24 There were also male temple prostitutes in the land. They acted according to all the detestable things of the nations that Jehovah had driven out before the Israelites.
25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. 26 He took the treasures of the house of Jehovah and the treasures of the king’s house. He took everything, including all the gold shields that Solomon had made. 27 So King Rehoboam made copper shields to replace them, and he entrusted them to the chiefs of the guard, who guarded the entrance of the king’s house. 28 Whenever the king came to the house of Jehovah, the guards would carry them, and then they would return them to the guard chamber.
29 And the rest of the history of Rehoboam, all that he did, is it not written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Judah? 30 There was constant warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 31 Then Rehoboam was laid to rest with his forefathers and was buried with his forefathers in the City of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. And his son Abijam became king in his place.
Chapter 15
1 In the 18th year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. 2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the granddaughter of Abishalom. 3 He went on walking in all the sins that his father committed prior to him, and his heart was not complete with Jehovah his God like the heart of David his forefather. 4 However, on account of David, Jehovah his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up his son after him and keeping Jerusalem in existence. 5 For David did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah, and he did not turn aside from anything that He had commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 6 And there was warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
7 As for the rest of the history of Abijam, all that he did, is it not written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Judah? There was also war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 Then Abijam was laid to rest with his forefathers, and they buried him in the City of David; and his son Asa became king in his place.
9 In the 20th year of King Jeroboam of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah. 10 He reigned in Jerusalem for 41 years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah the granddaughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah, like David his forefather. 12 He expelled the male temple prostitutes from the land and removed all the disgusting idols that his forefathers had made. 13 He even removed Maacah his grandmother from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene idol for the worship of the sacred pole. Asa cut down her obscene idol and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa’s heart was complete with Jehovah all his life. 15 And he brought the things that he and his father had made holy into the house of Jehovah—silver, gold, and various utensils.
16 There was constant warfare between Asa and Baasha the king of Israel. 17 So King Baasha of Israel came up against Judah and began to build up Ramah to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to King Asa of Judah. 18 At that Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasuries of the house of Jehovah and the treasuries of the house of the king and handed them over to his servants. King Asa then sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon the son of Hezion, the king of Syria, who was dwelling in Damascus, saying: 19 “There is a treaty between me and you and between my father and your father. I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Come, break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.” 20 Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the chiefs of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they struck down Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, all Chinnereth, and all the land of Naphtali. 21 When Baasha heard of it, he immediately quit building Ramah and continued dwelling in Tirzah. 22 King Asa then summoned all Judah—no one was exempt—and they carried off the stones and timbers of Ramah that Baasha had been building with, and with them King Asa built up Geba in Benjamin, and Mizpah.
23 As for all the rest of the history of Asa, all his mightiness and all that he did and the cities that he built, is it not written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Judah? But in his old age he suffered from a disease in his feet. 24 Then Asa was laid to rest with his forefathers and was buried with them in the City of David his forefather; and his son Jehoshaphat became king in his place.
25 Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of King Asa of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years. 26 He kept doing what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah and walked in the way of his father and in his sin that he caused Israel to commit. 27 Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon. 28 So Baasha put him to death in the third year of King Asa of Judah and became king in his place. 29 And as soon as he became king, he struck down all the house of Jeroboam. He did not let remain anyone breathing who belonged to Jeroboam; he had them annihilated according to Jehovah’s word that he had spoken through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. 30 This was because of the sins that Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit and because he had greatly offended Jehovah the God of Israel. 31 As for the rest of the history of Nadab, all that he did, is it not written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Israel? 32 And there was constant warfare between Asa and King Baasha of Israel.
33 In the third year of King Asa of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king in Tirzah over all Israel and reigned for 24 years. 34 But he kept doing what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah, and he walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin that he caused Israel to commit.
Chapter 16
1 The word of Jehovah against Baasha then came to Jehu the son of Hanani, saying: 2 “I raised you up out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, but you kept walking in the way of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin so that they offended me with their sins. 3 So I am making a clean sweep of Baasha and his house, and I will make his house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 4 Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs will eat; and anyone belonging to him who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat.”
5 As for the rest of the history of Baasha, what he did and his mightiness, is it not written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Israel? 6 Then Baasha was laid to rest with his forefathers and was buried in Tirzah; and Elah his son became king in his place. 7 Also through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani, Jehovah’s word came against Baasha and his house, both because of all the badness that he committed in the eyes of Jehovah by offending him with the work of his hands, becoming like the house of Jeroboam, and also because of his striking him down.
8 In the 26th year of King Asa of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned for two years. 9 His servant Zimri, the chief of half of his chariot forces, conspired against him while he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk at the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah. 10 Zimri came in and struck him down and put him to death in the 27th year of King Asa of Judah, and he became king in his place. 11 When he became king, as soon as he sat down on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not spare a single male, whether of his relatives or of his friends. 12 Thus Zimri annihilated the whole house of Baasha, according to the word that Jehovah had spoken against Baasha through Jehu the prophet. 13 This was for all the sins that Baasha and his son Elah had committed and the sins they had caused Israel to commit by offending Jehovah the God of Israel with their worthless idols. 14 As for the rest of the history of Elah, all that he did, is it not written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Israel?
15 In the 27th year of King Asa of Judah, Zimri became king for seven days in Tirzah while the troops were camped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 16 In time the troops who were encamped heard it being said: “Zimri has conspired and has also struck down the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the chief of the army, king over Israel on that day in the camp. 17 Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon and laid siege to Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city had been captured, he went into the fortified tower of the king’s house and burned the house down over himself, and he died. 19 This was for his own sins that he had committed by doing what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah by walking in the way of Jeroboam and for the sin he had caused Israel to commit. 20 As for the rest of the history of Zimri and his conspiracy, is it not written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Israel?
21 It was then that the people of Israel were divided into two factions. One part of the people became followers of Tibni the son of Ginath, wanting to make him king, and the other part followed Omri. 22 But the people who were following Omri prevailed over the people following Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king.
23 In the 31st year of King Asa of Judah, Omri became king over Israel, and he reigned for 12 years. In Tirzah he reigned for six years. 24 He bought the mountain of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he built a city on the mountain. He named the city that he built Samaria, after Shemer the owner of the mountain. 25 Omri kept doing what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah, and he was worse than all who were prior to him. 26 He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in the sin he had caused Israel to commit by offending Jehovah the God of Israel with their worthless idols. 27 As for the rest of the history of Omri, what he did and his mighty exploits, is it not written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Israel? 28 Then Omri was laid to rest with his forefathers and was buried in Samaria; and his son Ahab became king in his place.
29 Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the 38th year of King Asa of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria for 22 years. 30 Ahab the son of Omri was worse in the eyes of Jehovah than all those who were prior to him. 31 As if it were a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he also took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and to bow down to him. 32 Further, he set up an altar to Baal at the house of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made the sacred pole. Ahab did more to offend Jehovah the God of Israel than all the kings of Israel prior to him.
34 In his days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he put up its doors, according to the word of Jehovah spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.
Chapter 17
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, an inhabitant of Gilead, said to Ahab: “As surely as Jehovah the God of Israel whom I serve is living, during these years there will be no dew or rain except by my word!”
2 The word of Jehovah came to him, saying: 3 “Leave here, and turn eastward and hide at the Valley of Cherith, east of the Jordan. 4 You should drink from the stream, and I will command the ravens to supply you food there.” 5 He immediately went and did according to the word of Jehovah; he went and stayed by the Valley of Cherith, east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens were bringing him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the stream. 7 But after some days, the stream ran dry, because there was no rain in the land.
8 The word of Jehovah then came to him: 9 “Rise up, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Look! I will command a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he rose up and went to Zarephath. When he came to the entrance of the city, there was a widow gathering pieces of wood. So he called to her and said: “Please, bring me a little water in a cup so that I may drink.” 11 As she went to get it, he called to her: “Please, bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” 12 At this she said: “As surely as Jehovah your God is living, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the large jar and a little oil in the small jar. Now I am gathering a few pieces of wood, and I will go in and make something for me and my son. After we have eaten, we will die.”
13 Then Elijah said to her: “Do not be afraid. Go in and do as you said. But first make me a small round loaf of bread with what is there, and bring it out to me. Then you can make something afterward for you and your son. 14 For this is what Jehovah the God of Israel says: ‘The large jar of flour will not run out, and the small jar of oil will not run dry until the day Jehovah makes it rain on the surface of the ground.’” 15 So she went and did as Elijah said, and she together with him and her household ate for many days. 16 The large jar of flour did not run out, and the small jar of oil did not run dry, according to Jehovah’s word that he had spoken through Elijah.
17 After these things, the son of the woman who owned the house fell sick, and his sickness became so severe that he stopped breathing. 18 At this she said to Elijah: “What do you have against me, O man of the true God? Have you come to remind me of my guilt and to put my son to death?” 19 But he said to her: “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her arms and carried him up to the roof chamber, where he was staying, and he laid him on his own bed. 20 He called out to Jehovah: “O Jehovah my God, are you also bringing harm to the widow with whom I am staying by putting her son to death?” 21 Then he stretched himself out over the child three times and called out to Jehovah: “O Jehovah my God, please, let this child’s life come back into him.” 22 Jehovah listened to Elijah’s request, and the life of the child came back into him, and he revived. 23 Elijah took the child and brought him down from the roof chamber into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said: “See, your son is alive.” 24 At that the woman said to Elijah: “Now I know that you truly are a man of God and that Jehovah’s word in your mouth is truth.”
Chapter 18
1 After some time, in the third year, Jehovah’s word came to Elijah, saying: “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the surface of the ground.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab, while the famine was severe in Samaria.
3 Meanwhile, Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah greatly feared Jehovah, 4 and when Jezebel was doing away with Jehovah’s prophets, Obadiah took 100 prophets and hid them 50 to a cave, and he supplied them with bread and water.) 5 Ahab then said to Obadiah: “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we can find enough grass to keep the horses and mules alive and not have all our animals die.” 6 So they divided between themselves the land they were going to pass through. Ahab went alone by one way, and Obadiah went alone by another way.
7 As Obadiah was on his way, Elijah was there to meet him. At once he recognized him and fell facedown and said: “Is this you, my lord Elijah?” 8 He replied to him: “It is I. Go and tell your lord: ‘Elijah is here.’” 9 But he said: “What sin have I committed that you should hand your servant over to Ahab to put me to death? 10 As surely as Jehovah your God is living, there is not a nation or a kingdom where my lord has not sent to look for you. After they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made the kingdom and the nation swear that they could not find you. 11 Now you are saying, ‘Go and tell your lord: “Elijah is here.”’ 12 When I depart from you, the spirit of Jehovah will carry you away to a place I will not know, and when I tell Ahab and he does not find you, he will surely kill me. Yet, your servant has feared Jehovah from his youth. 13 Has my lord not been told what I did when Jezebel was killing the prophets of Jehovah, how I hid 100 of the prophets of Jehovah by groups of 50 in a cave and kept supplying them bread and water? 14 But now you are saying, ‘Go and tell your lord: “Elijah is here.”’ He will certainly kill me.” 15 However, Elijah said: “As surely as Jehovah of armies whom I serve is living, today I will present myself to him.”
16 So Obadiah went off to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 As soon as Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him: “Is this you, the one bringing great trouble on Israel?”
18 To this he said: “I have not brought trouble on Israel, but you and the house of your father have, by abandoning the commandments of Jehovah and by following the Baals. 19 And now summon all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, as well as the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the sacred pole, who are eating at the table of Jezebel.” 20 So Ahab sent word among all the people of Israel and collected the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said: “How long will you be limping between two different opinions? If Jehovah is the true God, follow him; but if Baal is, follow him!” But the people did not say a word in answer to him. 22 Elijah then said to the people: “I am the only prophet of Jehovah left, while the prophets of Baal are 450 men. 23 Let them give us two young bulls, and let them choose one young bull and cut it into pieces and put it on the wood, but they should not put fire to it. I will prepare the other young bull, and I will place it on the wood, but I will not put fire to it. 24 Then you must call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Jehovah. The God who answers by fire will show that he is the true God.” To this all the people answered: “What you say is good.”
25 Elijah now said to the prophets of Baal: “Choose one young bull and prepare it first, because you are the majority. Then call on the name of your god, but you must not put fire to it.” 26 So they took the young bull that was given to them, prepared it, and kept calling on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying: “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice and no one answering. They kept limping around the altar that they had made. 27 About noon Elijah began to mock them and say: “Call out at the top of your voice! After all, he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought or he has gone to relieve himself. Or maybe he is asleep and someone needs to wake him up!” 28 They were calling out at the top of their voice and cutting themselves with daggers and lances, according to their custom, until their blood gushed out all over them. 29 Noon was past and they continued in a frenzy until the time the evening grain offering is presented, but there was no voice and no one answering; no one was paying attention.
30 At length Elijah said to all the people: “Approach me.” So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the altar of Jehovah that had been torn down. 31 Elijah then took 12 stones, corresponding to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom Jehovah’s word had come, saying: “Israel will be your name.” 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah. Then he made a trench all around the altar, an area large enough to sow with two seah measures of seed. 33 After that he put the pieces of wood in order, cut the young bull into pieces, and placed it on the wood. He now said: “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the pieces of wood.” 34 Then he said: “Do it again.” So they did it again. Once more he said: “Do it a third time.” So they did it a third time. 35 And the water ran all around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water.
36 About the time when the evening grain offering is presented, Elijah the prophet stepped forward and said: “O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and that it is by your word that I have done all these things. 37 Answer me, O Jehovah! Answer me so that this people may know that you, Jehovah, are the true God and that you are turning their hearts back to you.”
38 At that the fire of Jehovah fell from above and consumed the burnt offering, the pieces of wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water from the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they immediately fell facedown and said: “Jehovah is the true God! Jehovah is the true God!” 40 Then Elijah said to them: “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one of them escape!” At once they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the stream of Kishon and slaughtered them there.
41 Elijah now said to Ahab: “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy downpour.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink, while Elijah went up to the top of Carmel and crouched on the ground, keeping his face between his knees. 43 Then he said to his attendant: “Go up, please, and look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked and said: “There is nothing at all.” Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” 44 The seventh time his attendant said: “Look! There is a small cloud like a man’s hand ascending out of the sea.” He now said: “Go, say to Ahab, ‘Hitch up the chariot! Go down so that the downpour may not detain you!’” 45 Meanwhile, the sky grew dark with clouds, the wind blew, and a heavy downpour fell; and Ahab kept riding and made his way to Jezreel. 46 But the hand of Jehovah came on Elijah, and he wrapped his garment around his hips and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
Chapter 19
1 Then Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 At that Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying: “So may the gods do to me and add to it if by this time tomorrow I do not make you like each one of them!” 3 At that he became afraid, so he got up and ran for his life. He came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah, and he left his attendant there. 4 He went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree, and he asked that he might die. He said: “It is enough! Now, O Jehovah, take my life away, for I am no better than my forefathers.”
5 Then he lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree. But suddenly an angel touched him and said to him: “Get up and eat.” 6 When he looked, there at his head was a round loaf on heated stones and a jug of water. He ate and drank and lay down again. 7 Later the angel of Jehovah came back a second time and touched him and said: “Get up and eat, for the journey will be too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank, and in the strength of that nourishment he went on for 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of the true God.
9 There he entered a cave and spent the night; and look! Jehovah’s word came to him, telling him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 To this he said: “I have been absolutely zealous for Jehovah the God of armies; for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, your altars they have torn down, and your prophets they have killed with the sword, and I am the only one left. Now they are seeking to take my life away.” 11 But He said: “Go out and stand on the mountain before Jehovah.” And look! Jehovah was passing by, and a great and strong wind was splitting mountains and breaking crags before Jehovah, but Jehovah was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but Jehovah was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake, there was a fire, but Jehovah was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a calm, low voice. 13 As soon as Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his official garment and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice asked him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 To this he said: “I have been absolutely zealous for Jehovah the God of armies; for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, your altars they have torn down, and your prophets they have killed with the sword, and I am the only one left. Now they are seeking to take my life away.”
15 Jehovah said to him: “Return, and go to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 16 And you should anoint Jehu the grandson of Nimshi as king over Israel, and you should anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah as prophet to take your place. 17 Anyone escaping from Hazael’s sword, Jehu will put to death; and anyone escaping from Jehu’s sword, Elisha will put to death. 18 And I still have left 7,000 in Israel, all whose knees have not bent down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
19 So he went from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat while he was plowing with 12 pairs of bulls ahead of him, and he was with the 12th pair. So Elijah went over to him and threw his official garment on him. 20 At that he left the bulls and ran after Elijah and said: “Please, let me kiss my father and my mother. Then I will follow you.” He replied to him: “Go, return, for what have I done to stop you?” 21 So he went back and took a pair of bulls and sacrificed them, and he used the plowing gear to boil the meat of the bulls and gave it to the people, and they ate. After that he rose up and followed Elijah and began to minister to him.
Chapter 20
1 Now King Ben-hadad of Syria gathered his whole army together along with 32 other kings and their horses and chariots; he went up and laid siege to Samaria and fought against it. 2 Then he sent messengers to King Ahab of Israel at the city and said to him: “This is what Ben-hadad says, 3 ‘Your silver and your gold are mine, as well as the best of your wives and your sons.’” 4 To this the king of Israel answered: “According to your word, my lord the king, I am yours along with all that belongs to me.”
5 The messengers later came back and said: “This is what Ben-hadad says, ‘I sent this message to you: “Your silver, your gold, your wives, and your sons you will give me.” 6 But about this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you, and they will carefully search your house and the houses of your servants, and all your desirable things they will seize and take away.’”
7 At that the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said: “Take note, please, and see that this man is bent on bringing calamity, for he demanded my wives, my sons, my silver, and my gold, and I did not refuse him.” 8 Then all the elders and all the people said to him: “Do not obey, and do not consent.” 9 So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad: “Say to my lord the king, ‘All that you first demanded of your servant I will do, but this I cannot do.’” With that the messengers went off and brought word back to him.
10 Ben-hadad now sent him this message: “So may the gods do to me and add to it if there is enough dust in Samaria to give each of the people following me a handful!” 11 The king of Israel answered: “Tell him, ‘The one who puts on his armor should not boast about himself like one who takes it off.’” 12 As soon as he heard this reply, while he and the kings were drinking in their tents, he said to his servants: “Get ready to attack!” So they got ready to attack the city.
13 But a prophet approached King Ahab of Israel and said: “This is what Jehovah says, ‘Have you seen all this large crowd? Here I am giving it into your hand today, and then you will know that I am Jehovah.’” 14 Ahab asked: “By whom?” to which he said: “This is what Jehovah says, ‘By the attendants of the princes of the provinces.’” So he asked: “Who will start the battle?” to which he said: “You!”
15 Ahab then counted the attendants of the princes of the provinces, and they were 232; after that, he counted all the Israelite men, 7,000. 16 They went out at noon while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the tents along with the 32 kings who were helping him. 17 When the attendants of the princes of the provinces came out first, Ben-hadad at once sent messengers. They reported to him: “Men have come out from Samaria.” 18 At that he said: “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for battle, you should still take them alive.” 19 But when these came out of the city—the attendants of the princes of the provinces and the armies that were following them— 20 each one struck down his opponent. Then the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them, but King Ben-hadad of Syria escaped on a horse with some of the horsemen. 21 But the king of Israel went out and kept striking down the horses and the chariots, and he inflicted a great defeat on the Syrians.
22 Later the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him: “Go, strengthen yourself and consider what you are going to do, for at the start of the next year the king of Syria will come up against you.”
23 Now the servants of the king of Syria said to him: “Their God is a God of mountains. That is why they overpowered us. But if we fight against them on level land, we will overpower them. 24 Also do this: Remove all the kings from their places, and replace them with governors. 25 Then gather an army equal to the army you lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. Let us fight against them on level land, and we will surely overpower them.” So he listened to their advice and did just that.
26 At the start of the year, Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek for battle against Israel. 27 The people of Israel were also mustered and supplied, and they went out to meet them. When the people of Israel camped in front of them, they were like two tiny flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the whole land. 28 Then the man of the true God approached the king of Israel and said: “This is what Jehovah says, ‘Because the Syrians have said: “Jehovah is a God of mountains, and he is not a God of plains,” I will give all this large crowd into your hand, and you will certainly know that I am Jehovah.’”
29 They remained encamped opposite each other for seven days, and on the seventh day the battle began. The people of Israel struck down 100,000 Syrian foot soldiers in one day. 30 And the rest fled to Aphek, into the city. But the wall fell down on 27,000 of the men who were left. Ben-hadad also fled and came into the city, and he hid in an inner room.
31 So his servants said to him: “Look, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please, let us wear sackcloth on our hips and put ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life.” 32 So they wore sackcloth around their hips and ropes on their heads and came in to the king of Israel and said: “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please, let me live.’” He replied: “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” 33 The men took it as an omen and quickly took him at his word, so they said: “Ben-hadad is your brother.” At that he said: “Go and get him.” Then Ben-hadad went out to him, and he had him get up into the chariot.
34 Ben-hadad now said to him: “The cities that my father took from your father I will return, and you may establish markets for yourself in Damascus, just as my father did in Samaria.”
Ahab replied: “On the basis of this agreement, I will let you go.”
With that he made an agreement with him and let him go.
35 By the word of Jehovah, one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion: “Strike me, please.” But the man refused to strike him. 36 So he said to him: “Because you did not listen to the voice of Jehovah, as soon as you leave me, a lion will kill you.” After he left him, a lion came upon him and killed him.
37 He found another man and said: “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him and wounded him.
38 Then the prophet went and waited for the king by the road, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39 As the king was passing by, he cried out to the king: “Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and there was a man coming out who brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man. If he is found missing, your life will have to take the place of his life, or else you will pay a talent of silver.’ 40 And while your servant was busy here and there, suddenly the man was gone.” The king of Israel said to him: “So your own judgment will be; you have decided it yourself.” 41 Then he quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets. 42 He said to him: “This is what Jehovah says, ‘Because you have let the man who I said should be destroyed escape from your hand, your life must take the place of his life, and your people the place of his people.’” 43 At that the king of Israel went home to Samaria, sullen and dejected.
Chapter 21
1 After these things, an incident took place concerning a vineyard that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite; it was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab the king of Samaria. 2 Ahab said to Naboth: “Give me your vineyard for me to use as a vegetable garden, for it is near my house. Then I will give you a better vineyard to replace it. Or if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.” 3 But Naboth said to Ahab: “It is unthinkable, from Jehovah’s standpoint, for me to give you the inheritance of my forefathers.” 4 So Ahab came into his house, sullen and dejected over the answer that Naboth the Jezreelite had given him when he said: “I will not give you the inheritance of my forefathers.” Then he lay down on his bed, kept his face turned away, and refused to eat.
5 His wife Jezebel came in to him and asked him: “Why are you so sad that you refuse to eat?” 6 He replied to her: “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Give me your vineyard for money. Or if you prefer, let me give you another vineyard to replace it.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” 7 His wife Jezebel said to him: “Are you not the one ruling as king over Israel? Get up, eat something, and let your heart be cheerful. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” 8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived in Naboth’s city. 9 She wrote in the letters: “Proclaim a fast, and have Naboth sit at the head of the people. 10 And have two good-for-nothing men sit in front of him and testify against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king!’ Then bring him out and stone him to death.”
11 So the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did just as was written in the letters that Jezebel sent to them. 12 They proclaimed a fast and had Naboth sit at the head of the people. 13 Then two of the good-for-nothing men came in and sat down in front of him and began to testify against Naboth in front of the people, saying: “Naboth has cursed God and the king!” After that they brought him to the outskirts of the city and stoned him to death. 14 They now sent word to Jezebel, saying: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”
15 As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab: “Get up, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is no longer alive. He is dead.” 16 As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab got up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it.
17 But Jehovah’s word came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: 18 “Get up, go down to meet Ahab the king of Israel, who is in Samaria. There he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession of it. 19 You must tell him, ‘This is what Jehovah says: “Have you murdered a man and also taken his property?”’ Then say to him, ‘This is what Jehovah says: “In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick up your own blood.”’”
20 Ahab said to Elijah: “So you have found me, O my enemy!” He replied: “I have found you. ‘Because you are determined to do what is bad in the eyes of Jehovah, 21 here I am bringing calamity upon you, and I will make a clean sweep after you and will annihilate from Ahab every male, including the helpless and weak in Israel. 22 And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for you have provoked my anger and have caused Israel to sin.’ 23 Also concerning Jezebel, Jehovah has said: ‘The dogs will eat up Jezebel in the plot of land of Jezreel. 24 Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs will eat up, and anyone who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat up. 25 Indeed, there has never been anyone like Ahab, who was so determined to do what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah, egged on by his wife Jezebel. 26 He acted in the most detestable way by going after the disgusting idols, just as all the Amorites had done, whom Jehovah drove out from before the Israelites.’”
27 As soon as Ahab heard these words, he ripped his garments apart and put sackcloth on his body; and he went on a fast and kept lying down in sackcloth and walking despondently. 28 Jehovah’s word then came to Elijah the Tishbite: 29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself on my account? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the calamity during his lifetime. I will bring the calamity upon his house in the days of his son.”
Chapter 22
1 For three years there was no war between Syria and Israel. 2 In the third year King Jehoshaphat of Judah went down to the king of Israel. 3 Then the king of Israel said to his servants: “Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us? And yet we are hesitating to take it back from the king of Syria.” 4 He then said to Jehoshaphat: “Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel: “I am the same as you. My people are the same as your people. My horses are the same as your horses.”
5 But Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel: “First inquire, please, for the word of Jehovah.” 6 So the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about 400 men, and said to them: “Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?” They said: “Go up, and Jehovah will give it into the king’s hand.”
7 Jehoshaphat then said: “Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah? Let us also inquire through him.” 8 At that the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: “There is still one more man through whom we can inquire of Jehovah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good things concerning me, only bad. He is Micaiah the son of Imlah.” However, Jehoshaphat said: “The king should not say such a thing.”
9 So the king of Israel called a court official and said: “Bring Micaiah the son of Imlah quickly.” 10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were each sitting on his throne, dressed in royal attire, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 11 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself iron horns and said: “This is what Jehovah says, ‘With these you will gore the Syrians until you exterminate them.’” 12 All the other prophets were prophesying the same way, saying: “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and you will be successful; Jehovah will give it into the king’s hand.”
13 So the messenger who went to call Micaiah said to him: “Look! The words of the prophets are unanimously favorable to the king. Let your word, please, become like their words, and speak favorably.” 14 But Micaiah said: “As surely as Jehovah is living, whatever Jehovah says to me is what I will speak.” 15 Then he came in to the king, and the king asked him: “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should we refrain?” At once he replied: “Go up and you will be successful; Jehovah will give it into the king’s hand.” 16 At that the king said to him: “How many times must I put you under oath not to speak to me anything but the truth in the name of Jehovah?” 17 So he said: “I see all the Israelites scattered on the mountains, like sheep that have no shepherd. Jehovah said: ‘These have no master. Let each one go back to his house in peace.’”
18 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: “Did I not tell you, ‘He will not prophesy good things concerning me, only bad’?”
19 Micaiah then said: “Therefore, hear the word of Jehovah: I saw Jehovah sitting on his throne and all the army of the heavens standing by him, to his right and to his left. 20 Jehovah then said, ‘Who will fool Ahab, so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one was saying one thing while another said something else. 21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before Jehovah and said, ‘I will fool him.’ Jehovah asked him, ‘How will you do it?’ 22 He replied, ‘I will go out and become a deceptive spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ So he said, ‘You will fool him, and what is more, you will be successful. Go out and do that.’ 23 And now Jehovah has put a deceptive spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, but Jehovah has declared calamity for you.”
24 Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah now approached and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said: “Which way did the spirit of Jehovah pass from me to speak with you?” 25 Micaiah replied: “Look! You will see which way on the day when you will enter the innermost room to hide.” 26 Then the king of Israel said: “Take Micaiah and turn him over to Amon the chief of the city and to Joash the king’s son. 27 Tell them, ‘This is what the king says: “Put this fellow in the prison and feed him with a reduced allowance of bread and water until I return in peace.”’” 28 But Micaiah said: “If you do return in peace, Jehovah has not spoken with me.” Then he added: “Take note, all you peoples.”
29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. 30 The king of Israel now said to Jehoshaphat: “I will disguise myself and will go into the battle, but you should put on your royal attire.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and entered the battle. 31 Now the king of Syria had ordered his 32 chariot commanders: “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.” 32 And as soon as the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said to themselves: “Surely it is the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him; and Jehoshaphat began to cry for help. 33 When the chariot commanders saw that it was not the king of Israel, they immediately turned back from following him.
34 But one man shot his bow at random, and he struck the king of Israel between the joints of his coat of mail. So the king said to his charioteer: “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I have been badly wounded.” 35 The fighting raged throughout that day, and the king had to be propped up in the chariot, facing the Syrians. The blood of the wound poured out into the interior of the war chariot, and he died in the evening. 36 Around sunset a cry passed through the camp, saying: “Everyone to his city! Everyone to his land!” 37 Thus the king died, and he was brought to Samaria; they buried the king in Samaria. 38 When they washed off the war chariot by the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood and the prostitutes bathed there, according to the word that Jehovah had spoken.
39 As for the rest of the history of Ahab, all that he did and the house of ivory that he built and all the cities that he built, is it not written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Israel? 40 Then Ahab was laid to rest with his forefathers; and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.
41 Jehoshaphat the son of Asa had become king over Judah in the fourth year of King Ahab of Israel. 42 Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king, and he reigned for 25 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43 He kept walking in all the way of Asa his father. He did not deviate from it, and he did what was right in Jehovah’s eyes. However, the high places were not removed, and the people were still sacrificing and making sacrificial smoke on the high places. 44 Jehoshaphat kept peaceful relations with the king of Israel. 45 As for the rest of the history of Jehoshaphat, his mighty exploits and how he waged war, is it not written in the book of the history of the times of the kings of Judah? 46 He also cleared out of the land the rest of the male temple prostitutes who had been left over in the days of Asa his father.
47 Then there was no king in Edom; a deputy was acting as king.
48 Jehoshaphat also made Tarshish ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go because the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber. 49 It was then that Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat: “Let my servants go with your servants in the ships,” but Jehoshaphat did not consent.
50 Then Jehoshaphat was laid to rest with his forefathers and was buried with his forefathers in the City of David his forefather; and his son Jehoram became king in his place.
51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the 17th year of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years. 52 And he kept doing what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes and walking in the way of his father and his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin. 53 He continued serving Baal and bowing down to him and kept offending Jehovah the God of Israel, just as his father had done.