1 Kings
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 -
6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 -
12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 -
18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22
TOC
Maps
King David was old and advanced in years; and although
they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm. 2 So his servants said to
him, "Let a young virgin be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the
king, and be his attendant; let her lie in your bosom, so that my lord the king
may be warm." 3 So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout all the
territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the
king. 4 The girl was very beautiful. She became the king's attendant and served
him, but the king did not know her sexually. 5 Now Adonijah son of Haggith
exalted himself, saying, "I will be king"; he prepared for himself chariots and
horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6 His father had never at any time
displeased him by asking, "Why have you done thus and so?" He was also a very
handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom. 7 He conferred with Joab son
of Zeruiah and with the priest Abiathar, and they supported Adonijah. 8 But the
priest Zadok, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the prophet Nathan, and Shimei,
and Rei, and David's own warriors did not side with Adonijah. 9 Adonijah
sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fatted cattle by the stone Zoheleth, which is beside
En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the royal
officials of Judah, 10 but he did not invite the prophet Nathan or Benaiah or
the warriors or his brother Solomon. 11 Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon's
mother, "Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king and our
lord David does not know it? 12 Now therefore come, let me give you advice, so
that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go in at
once to King David, and say to him, 'Did you not, my lord the king, swear to
your servant, saying: Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall
sit on my throne? Why then is Adonijah king?' 14 Then while you are still there
speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words." 15 So
Bathsheba went to the king in his room. The king was very old; Abishag the
Shunammite was attending the king. 16 Bathsheba bowed and did obeisance to the
king, and the king said, "What do you wish?" 17 She said to him, "My lord, you
swore to your servant by the LORD your God, saying: Your son Solomon shall
succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne. 18 But now suddenly Adonijah
has become king, though you, my lord the king, do not know it. 19 He has
sacrificed oxen, fatted cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the
children of the king, the priest Abiathar, and Joab the commander of the army;
but your servant Solomon he has not invited. 20 But you, my lord the king--the
eyes of all Israel are on you to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my
lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the
king sleeps with his ancestors, that my son Solomon and I will be counted
offenders." 22 While she was still speaking with the king, the prophet Nathan
came in. 23 The king was told, "Here is the prophet Nathan." When he came in
before the king, he did obeisance to the king, with his face to the ground. 24
Nathan said, "My lord the king, have you said, 'Adonijah shall succeed me as
king, and he shall sit on my throne'? 25 For today he has gone down and has
sacrificed oxen, fatted cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the
king's children, Joab the commander of the army, and the priest Abiathar, who
are now eating and drinking before him, and saying, 'Long live King Adonijah!'
26 But he did not invite me, your servant, and the priest Zadok, and Benaiah son
of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon. 27 Has this thing been brought about by
my lord the king and you have not let your servants know who should sit on the
throne of my lord the king after him?" 28 King David answered, "Summon Bathsheba
to me." So she came into the king's presence, and stood before the king. 29 The
king swore, saying, "As the LORD lives, who has saved my life from every
adversity, 30 as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Your son
Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,' so
will I do this day." 31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, and
did obeisance to the king, and said, "May my lord King David live forever!" 32
King David said, "Summon to me the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah
son of Jehoiada." When they came 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 bring him down to Gihon. 34 There let the priest Zadok and the prophet
Nathan anoint him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet, and say, 'Long live
King Solomon!' 35 You shall go up following him. Let him enter and sit on my
throne; he shall be king in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over
Israel and over Judah." 36 Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, "Amen! May
the LORD, the God of my lord the king, so ordain. 37 As the LORD has been with
my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than
the throne of my lord King David." 38 So the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan,
and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, went down
and had Solomon ride on King David's mule, and led him to Gihon. 39 There the
priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they
blew the trumpet, and all the people said, "Long live King Solomon!" 40 And all
the people went up following him, playing on pipes and rejoicing with great joy,
so that the earth quaked at their noise. 41 Adonijah and all the guests who were
with him heard it as they finished feasting. When Joab heard the sound of the
trumpet, he said, "Why is the city in an uproar?" 42 While he was still
speaking, Jonathan son of the priest Abiathar arrived. Adonijah said, "Come in,
for you are a worthy man and surely you bring good news." 43 Jonathan answered
Adonijah, "No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king; 44 the king has
sent with him the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada,
and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they had him ride on the king's
mule; 45 the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan have anointed him king at
Gihon; and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an
uproar. This is the noise that you heard. 46 Solomon now sits on the royal
throne. 47 Moreover the king's servants came to congratulate our lord King
David, saying, 'May God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and
make his throne greater than your throne.' The king bowed in worship on the bed
48 and went on to pray thus, 'Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who today
has granted one of my offspring to sit on my throne and permitted me to witness
it.'" 49 Then all the guests of Adonijah got up trembling and went their own
ways. 50 Adonijah, fearing Solomon, got up and went to grasp the horns of the
altar. 51 Solomon was informed, "Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; see, he has
laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, 'Let King Solomon swear to me first
that he will not kill his servant with the sword.'" 52 So Solomon responded, "If
he proves to be a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the ground; but
if wickedness is found in him, he shall die." 53 Then King Solomon sent to have
him brought down from the altar. He came to do obeisance to King Solomon; and
Solomon said to him, "Go home."
Return to Top
When David's time to die drew near, he charged his son Solomon,
saying: 2 "I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous,
3 and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his
statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is
written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and
wherever you turn. 4 Then the LORD will establish his word that he spoke
concerning me: 'If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in
faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail
you a successor on the throne of Israel.' 5 "Moreover you know also what Joab
son of Zeruiah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of
Israel, Abner son of Ner, and Amasa son of Jether, whom he murdered, retaliating
in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of
war on the belt around his waist, and on the sandals on his feet. 6 Act
therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to
Sheol in peace. 7 Deal loyally, however, with the sons of Barzillai the
Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table; for with such
loyalty they met me when I fled from your brother Absalom. 8 There is also with
you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a
terrible curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim; but when he came down to meet
me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD, 'I will not put you to death with
the sword.' 9 Therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man; you
will know what you ought to do to him, and you must bring his gray head down
with blood to Sheol." 10 Then David slept with his ancestors, and was buried in
the city of David. 11 The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years;
he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12 So
Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly
established. 13 Then Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, Solomon's
mother. She asked, "Do you come peaceably?" He said, "Peaceably." 14 Then he
said, "May I have a word with you?" She said, "Go on." 15 He said, "You know
that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel expected me to reign; however,
the kingdom has turned about and become my brother's, for it was his from the
LORD. 16 And now I have one request to make of you; do not refuse me." She said
to him, "Go on." 17 He said, "Please ask King Solomon--he will not refuse
you--to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife." 18 Bathsheba said, "Very
well; I will speak to the king on your behalf." 19 So Bathsheba went to King
Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. The king rose to meet her, and
bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a throne brought for the
king's mother, and she sat on his right. 20 Then she said, "I have one small
request to make of you; do not refuse me." And the king said to her, "Make your
request, my mother; for I will not refuse you." 21 She said, "Let Abishag the
Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah as his wife." 22 King Solomon
answered his mother, "And why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah?
Ask for him the kingdom as well! For he is my elder brother; ask not only for
him but also for the priest Abiathar and for Joab son of Zeruiah!" 23 Then King
Solomon swore by the LORD, "So may God do to me, and more also, for Adonijah has
devised this scheme at the risk of his life! 24 Now therefore as the LORD lives,
who has established me and placed me on the throne of my father David, and who
has made me a house as he promised, today Adonijah shall be put to death." 25 So
King Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he struck him down, and he died. 26
The king said to the priest Abiathar, "Go to Anathoth, to your estate; for you
deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried
the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and because you shared in all
the hardships my father endured." 27 So Solomon banished Abiathar from being
priest to the LORD, thus fulfilling the word of the LORD that he had spoken
concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. 28 When the news came to Joab--for Joab
had supported Adonijah though he had not supported Absalom--Joab fled to the
tent of the LORD and grasped the horns of the altar. 29 When it was told King
Solomon, "Joab has fled to the tent of the LORD and now is beside the altar,"
Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, strike him down." 30 So
Benaiah came to the tent of the LORD and said to him, "The king commands, 'Come
out.'" But he said, "No, I will die here." Then Benaiah brought the king word
again, saying, "Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me." 31 The king replied to
him, "Do as he has said, strike him down and bury him; and thus take away from
me and from my father's house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without
cause. 32 The LORD will bring back his bloody deeds on his own head, because,
without the knowledge of my father David, he attacked and killed with the sword
two men more righteous and better than himself, Abner son of Ner, commander of
the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. 33
So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his
descendants forever; but to David, and to his descendants, and to his house, and
to his throne, there shall be peace from the LORD forevermore." 34 Then Benaiah
son of Jehoiada went up and struck him down and killed him; and he was buried at
his own house near the wilderness. 35 The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada over
the army in his place, and the king put the priest Zadok in the place of
Abiathar. 36 Then the king sent and summoned Shimei, and said to him, "Build
yourself a house in Jerusalem, and live there, and do not go out from there to
any place whatever. 37 For on the day you go out, and cross the Wadi Kidron,
know for certain that you shall die; your blood shall be on your own head." 38
And Shimei said to the king, "The sentence is fair; as my lord the king has
said, so will your servant do." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. 39 But
it happened at the end of three years that two of Shimei's slaves ran away to
King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. When it was told Shimei, "Your slaves are in
Gath," 40 Shimei arose and saddled a donkey, and went to Achish in Gath, to
search for his slaves; Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath. 41 When
Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned, 42
the king sent and summoned Shimei, and said to him, "Did I not make you swear by
the LORD, and solemnly adjure you, saying, 'Know for certain that on the day you
go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die'? And you said to me, 'The
sentence is fair; I accept.' 43 Why then have you not kept your oath to the LORD
and the commandment with which I charged you?" 44 The king also said to Shimei,
"You know in your own heart all the evil that you did to my father David; so the
LORD will bring back your evil on your own head. 45 But King Solomon shall be
blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever."
46 Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada; and he went out and struck
him down, and he died. So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
Return to Top
) Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt; he
took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David, until he had
finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall around
Jerusalem. 2 The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no
house had yet been built for the name of the LORD. 3 Solomon loved the LORD,
walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered
incense at the high places. 4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for
that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt
offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by
night; and God said, "Ask what I should give you." 6 And Solomon said, "You have
shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he
walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart
toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have
given him a son to sit on his throne today. 7 And now, O LORD my God, you have
made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little
child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the
midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they
cannot be numbered or counted. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding
mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can
govern this your great people?" 10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked
this. 11 God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for
yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked
for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 I now do according to
your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has
been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. 13 I give you also
what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king
shall compare with you. 14 If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and
my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life."
15 Then Solomon awoke; it had been a dream. He came to Jerusalem where he stood
before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. He offered up burnt offerings and
offerings of well-being, and provided a feast for all his servants. 16 Later,
two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one
woman said, "Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I
gave birth while she was in the house. 18 Then on the third day after I gave
birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together; there was no one else with
us in the house, only the two of us were in the house. 19 Then this woman's son
died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 She got up in the middle of the
night and took my son from beside me while your servant slept. She laid him at
her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21 When I rose in the morning to
nurse my son, I saw that he was dead; but when I looked at him closely in the
morning, clearly it was not the son I had borne." 22 But the other woman said,
"No, the living son is mine, and the dead son is yours." The first said, "No,
the dead son is yours, and the living son is mine." So they argued before the
king. 23 Then the king said, "The one says, 'This is my son that is alive, and
your son is dead'; while the other says, 'Not so! Your son is dead, and my son
is the living one.'" 24 So the king said, "Bring me a sword," and they brought a
sword before the king. 25 The king said, "Divide the living boy in two; then
give half to the one, and half to the other." 26 But the woman whose son was
alive said to the king--because compassion for her son burned within her--"
Please, my lord, give her the living boy; certainly do not kill him!" The other
said, "It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it." 27 Then the king
responded: "Give the first woman the living boy; do not kill him. She is his
mother." 28 All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered; and
they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was
in him, to execute justice.
Return to Top
King Solomon was king over all Israel, 2 and these were his high
officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah sons of
Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; 4 Benaiah son
of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 5
Azariah son of Nathan was over the officials; Zabud son of Nathan was priest and
king's friend; 6 Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram son of Abda
was in charge of the forced labor. 7 Solomon had twelve officials over all
Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each one had to make
provision for one month in the year. 8 These were their names: Ben-hur, in the
hill country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and
Elon-beth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the
land of Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (he had Taphath, Solomon's
daughter, as his wife); 12 Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all
Beth-shean, which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to
Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber, in
Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead,
and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with
walls and bronze bars); 14 Ahinadab son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; 15 Ahimaaz, in
Naphtali (he had taken Basemath, Solomon's daughter, as his wife); 16 Baana son
of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18
Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19 Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the
country of King Sihon of the Amorites and of King Og of Bashan. And there was
one official in the land of Judah. 20 Judah and Israel were as numerous as the
sand by the sea; they ate and drank and were happy. 21 Solomon was sovereign
over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, even to
the border of Egypt; they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his
life. 22 Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors of choice flour, and
sixty cors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, one hundred
sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl. 24 For he had dominion
over all the region west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the
kings west of the Euphrates; and he had peace on all sides. 25 During Solomon's
lifetime Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all of
them under their vines and fig trees. 26 Solomon also had forty thousand stalls
of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 27 Those officials
supplied provisions for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon's
table, each one in his month; they let nothing be lacking. 28 They also brought
to the required place barley and straw for the horses and swift steeds, each
according to his charge. 29 God gave Solomon very great wisdom, discernment, and
breadth of understanding as vast as the sand on the seashore, 30 so that
Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east, and all the
wisdom of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone else, wiser than Ethan the
Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, children of Mahol; his fame spread
throughout all the surrounding nations. 32 He composed three thousand proverbs,
and his songs numbered a thousand and five. 33 He would speak of trees, from the
cedar that is in the Lebanon to the hyssop that grows in the wall; he would
speak of animals, and birds, and reptiles, and fish. 34 People came from all the
nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon; they came from all the kings of the earth
who had heard of his wisdom.
Return to Top
Now King Hiram of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he
heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father; for Hiram had
always been a friend to David. 2 Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, 3 "You know
that my father David could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God
because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the LORD put
them under the soles of his feet. 4 But now the LORD my God has given me rest on
every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune. 5 So I intend to build a
house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD said to my father David,
'Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house
for my name.' 6 Therefore command that cedars from the Lebanon be cut for me. My
servants will join your servants, and I will give you whatever wages you set for
your servants; for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut
timber like the Sidonians." 7 When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced
greatly, and said, "Blessed be the LORD today, who has given to David a wise son
to be over this great people." 8 Hiram sent word to Solomon, "I have heard the
message that you have sent to me; I will fulfill all your needs in the matter of
cedar and cypress timber. 9 My servants shall bring it down to the sea from the
Lebanon; I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you indicate. I
will have them broken up there for you to take away. And you shall meet my needs
by providing food for my household." 10 So Hiram supplied Solomon's every need
for timber of cedar and cypress. 11 Solomon in turn gave Hiram twenty thousand
cors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty cors of fine oil. Solomon
gave this to Hiram year by year. 12 So the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he
promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and the two of them
made a treaty. 13 King Solomon conscripted forced labor out of all Israel; the
levy numbered thirty thousand men. 14 He sent them to the Lebanon, ten thousand
a month in shifts; they would be a month in the Lebanon and two months at home;
Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. 15 Solomon also had seventy thousand
laborers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hill country, 16 besides
Solomon's three thousand three hundred supervisors who were over the work,
having charge of the people who did the work. 17 At the king's command, they
quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house
with dressed stones. 18 So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the
Gibalites did the stonecutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build
the house.
Return to Top
In the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites came out
of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the
month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the
LORD. 2 The house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long,
twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. 3 The vestibule in front of the nave
of the house was twenty cubits wide, across the width of the house. Its depth
was ten cubits in front of the house. 4 For the house he made windows with
recessed frames. 5 He also built a structure against the wall of the house,
running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary;
and he made side chambers all around. 6 The lowest story was five cubits wide,
the middle one was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for
around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the
supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house. 7 The house
was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor ax nor
any tool of iron was heard in the temple while it was being built. 8 The
entrance for the middle story was on the south side of the house: one went up by
winding stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third. 9 So
he built the house, and finished it; he roofed the house with beams and planks
of cedar. 10 He built the structure against the whole house, each story five
cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar. 11 Now the
word of the LORD came to Solomon, 12 "Concerning this house that you are
building, if you will walk in my statutes, obey my ordinances, and keep all my
commandments by walking in them, then I will establish my promise with you,
which I made to your father David. 13 I will dwell among the children of Israel,
and will not forsake my people Israel." 14 So Solomon built the house, and
finished it. 15 He lined the walls of the house on the inside with boards of
cedar; from the floor of the house to the rafters of the ceiling, he covered
them on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house with boards
of cypress. 16 He built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of
cedar from the floor to the rafters, and he built this within as an inner
sanctuary, as the most holy place. 17 The house, that is, the nave in front of
the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long. 18 The cedar within the house had
carvings of gourds and open flowers; all was cedar, no stone was seen. 19 The
inner sanctuary he prepared in the innermost part of the house, to set there the
ark of the covenant of the LORD. 20 The interior of the inner sanctuary was
twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high; he overlaid it
with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar with cedar. 21 Solomon overlaid the
inside of the house with pure gold, then he drew chains of gold across, in front
of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. 22 Next he overlaid the whole
house with gold, in order that the whole house might be perfect; even the whole
altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold. 23 In the
inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high. 24 Five
cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the length of
the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the
tip of the other. 25 The other cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim
had the same measure and the same form. 26 The height of one cherub was ten
cubits, and so was that of the other cherub. 27 He put the cherubim in the
innermost part of the house; the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a
wing of one was touching the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub was
touching the other wall; their other wings toward the center of the house were
touching wing to wing. 28 He also overlaid the cherubim with gold. 29 He carved
the walls of the house all around about with carved engravings of cherubim, palm
trees, and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms. 30 The floor of the house
he overlaid with gold, in the inner and outer rooms. 31 For the entrance to the
inner sanctuary he made doors of olivewood; the lintel and the doorposts were
five-sided. 32 He covered the two doors of olivewood with carvings of cherubim,
palm trees, and open flowers; he overlaid them with gold, and spread gold on the
cherubim and on the palm trees. 33 So also he made for the entrance to the nave
doorposts of olivewood, four-sided each, 34 and two doors of cypress wood; the
two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door
were folding. 35 He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, overlaying
them with gold evenly applied upon the carved work. 36 He built the inner court
with three courses of dressed stone to one course of cedar beams. 37 In the
fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month of
Ziv. 38 In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month,
the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its
specifications. He was seven years in building it.
Return to Top
Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he
finished his entire house. 2 He built the House of the Forest of the Lebanon one
hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high, built on four
rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. 3 It was roofed with
cedar on the forty-five rafters, fifteen in each row, which were on the pillars.
4 There were window frames in the three rows, facing each other in the three
rows. 5 All the doorways and doorposts had four-sided frames, opposite, facing
each other in the three rows. 6 He made the Hall of Pillars fifty cubits long
and thirty cubits wide. There was a porch in front with pillars, and a canopy in
front of them. 7 He made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce
judgment, the Hall of Justice, covered with cedar from floor to floor. 8 His own
house where he would reside, in the other court back of the hall, was of the
same construction. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh's
daughter, whom he had taken in marriage. 9 All these were made of costly stones,
cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, from the foundation
to the coping, and from outside to the great court. 10 The foundation was of
costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits. 11 There were costly
stones above, cut to measure, and cedarwood. 12 The great court had three
courses of dressed stone to one layer of cedar beams all around; so had the
inner court of the house of the LORD, and the vestibule of the house. 13 Now
King Solomon invited and received Hiram from Tyre. 14 He was the son of a widow
of the tribe of Naphtali, whose father, a man of Tyre, had been an artisan in
bronze; he was full of skill, intelligence, and knowledge in working bronze. He
came to King Solomon, and did all his work. 15 He cast two pillars of bronze.
Eighteen cubits was the height of the one, and a cord of twelve cubits would
encircle it; the second pillar was the same. 16 He also made two capitals of
molten bronze, to set on the tops of the pillars; the height of the one capital
was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. 17 There
were nets of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals on the
tops of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital.
18 He made the columns with two rows around each latticework to cover the
capitals that were above the pomegranates; he did the same with the other
capital. 19 Now the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars in the
vestibule were of lily-work, four cubits high. 20 The capitals were on the two
pillars and also above the rounded projection that was beside the latticework;
there were two hundred pomegranates in rows all around; and so with the other
capital. 21 He set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple; he set up the
pillar on the south and called it Jachin; and he set up the pillar on the north
and called it Boaz. 22 On the tops of the pillars was lily-work. Thus the work
of the pillars was finished. 23 Then he made the molten sea; it was round, ten
cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high. A line of thirty cubits would
encircle it completely. 24 Under its brim were panels all around it, each of ten
cubits, surrounding the sea; there were two rows of panels, cast when it was
cast. 25 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three
facing south, and three facing east; the sea was set on them. The hindquarters
of each were toward the inside. 26 Its thickness was a handbreadth; its brim was
made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily; it held two thousand
baths. 27 He also made the ten stands of bronze; each stand was four cubits
long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. 28 This was the construction of
the stands: they had borders; the borders were within the frames; 29 on the
borders that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the
frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled
work. 30 Each stand had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze; at the four
corners were supports for a basin. The supports were cast with wreaths at the
side of each. 31 Its opening was within the crown whose height was one cubit;
its opening was round, as a pedestal is made; it was a cubit and a half wide. At
its opening there were carvings; its borders were four-sided, not round. 32 The
four wheels were underneath the borders; the axles of the wheels were in the
stands; and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. 33 The wheels were
made like a chariot wheel; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs
were all cast. 34 There were four supports at the four corners of each stand;
the supports were of one piece with the stands. 35 On the top of the stand there
was a round band half a cubit high; on the top of the stand, its stays and its
borders were of one piece with it. 36 On the surfaces of its stays and on its
borders he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, where each had space, with
wreaths all around. 37 In this way he made the ten stands; all of them were cast
alike, with the same size and the same form. 38 He made ten basins of bronze;
each basin held forty baths, each basin measured four cubits; there was a basin
for each of the ten stands. 39 He set five of the stands on the south side of
the house, and five on the north side of the house; he set the sea on the
southeast corner of the house. 40 Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the
basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house
of the LORD: 41 the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the
tops of the pillars, the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals
that were on the tops of the pillars; 42 the four hundred pomegranates for the
two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the
two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; 43 the ten stands, the ten
basins on the stands; 44 the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath the sea. 45
The pots, the shovels, and the basins, all these vessels that Hiram made for
King Solomon for the house of the LORD were of burnished bronze. 46 In the plain
of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and
Zarethan. 47 Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many
of them; the weight of the bronze was not determined. 48 So Solomon made all the
vessels that were in the house of the LORD: the golden altar, the golden table
for the bread of the Presence, 49 the lampstands of pure gold, five on the south
side and five on the north, in front of the inner sanctuary; the flowers, the
lamps, and the tongs, of gold; 50 the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for
incense, and firepans, of pure gold; the sockets for the doors of the innermost
part of the house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the nave of the
temple, of gold. 51 Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the
LORD was finished. Solomon brought in the things that his father David had
dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the
treasuries of the house of the LORD.
Return to Top
) Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of
the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, before King
Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the
city of David, which is Zion. 2 All the people of Israel assembled to King
Solomon at the festival in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3 And
all the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark. 4 So they
brought up the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels
that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 King
Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were
with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not
be counted or numbered. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of
the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy
place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim spread out their
wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the
ark and its poles. 8 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen
from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen
from outside; they are there to this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except
the two tablets of stone that Moses had placed there at Horeb, where the LORD
made a covenant with the Israelites, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10
And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the
LORD, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud;
for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. 12 Then Solomon said,
"The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. 13 I have built you an
exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever." 14 Then the king turned
around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel
stood. 15 He said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand
has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to my father David, saying, 16
'Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a
city from any of the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name
might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.' 17 My father
David had it in mind to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of
Israel. 18 But the LORD said to my father David, 'You did well to consider
building a house for my name; 19 nevertheless you shall not build the house, but
your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.' 20 Now the
LORD has upheld the promise that he made; for I have risen in the place of my
father David; I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have
built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 21 There I have
provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made
with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt." 22 Then
Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly
of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. 23 He said, "O LORD, God of
Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping
covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their
heart, 24 the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you
declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with
your hand. 25 Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father
David that which you promised him, saying, 'There shall never fail you a
successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children look
to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.' 26 Therefore, O
God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant my
father David. 27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the
highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! 28
Regard your servant's prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and
the prayer that your servant prays to you today; 29 that your eyes may be open
night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, 'My name shall be
there,' that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.
30 Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward
this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive. 31 "If
someone sins against a neighbor and is given an oath to swear, and comes and
swears before your altar in this house, 32 then hear in heaven, and act, and
judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing their conduct on their
own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding them according to their
righteousness. 33 "When your people Israel, having sinned against you, are
defeated before an enemy but turn again to you, confess your name, pray and
plead with you in this house, 34 then hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your
people Israel, and bring them again to the land that you gave to their
ancestors. 35 "When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have
sinned against you, and then they pray toward this place, confess your name, and
turn from their sin, because you punish them, 36 then hear in heaven, and
forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the
good way in which they should walk; and grant rain on your land, which you have
given to your people as an inheritance. 37 "If there is famine in the land, if
there is plague, blight, mildew, locust, or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges
them in any of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; 38
whatever prayer, whatever plea there is from any individual or from all your
people Israel, all knowing the afflictions of their own hearts so that they
stretch out their hands toward this house; 39 then hear in heaven your dwelling
place, forgive, act, and render to all whose hearts you know--according to all
their ways, for only you know what is in every human heart-- 40 so that they may
fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our ancestors.
41 "Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a
distant land because of your name 42 --for they shall hear of your great name,
your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm--when a foreigner comes and prays
toward this house, 43 then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and do according
to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may
know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know
that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built. 44 "If your
people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send
them, and they pray to the LORD toward the city that you have chosen and the
house that I have built for your name, 45 then hear in heaven their prayer and
their plea, and maintain their cause. 46 "If they sin against you--for there is
no one who does not sin--and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy,
so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near;
47 yet if they come to their senses in the land to which they have been taken
captive, and repent, and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying,
'We have sinned, and have done wrong; we have acted wickedly'; 48 if they repent
with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies, who took them
captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their ancestors,
the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name; 49
then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, maintain
their cause 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all
their transgressions that they have committed against you; and grant them
compassion in the sight of their captors, so that they may have compassion on
them 51 (for they are your people and heritage, which you brought out of Egypt,
from the midst of the iron-smelter). 52 Let your eyes be open to the plea of
your servant, and to the plea of your people Israel, listening to them whenever
they call to you. 53 For you have separated them from among all the peoples of
the earth, to be your heritage, just as you promised through Moses, your
servant, when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, O Lord GOD." 54 Now when
Solomon finished offering all this prayer and this plea to the LORD, he arose
from facing the altar of the LORD, where he had knelt with hands outstretched
toward heaven; 55 he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud
voice: 56 "Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel
according to all that he promised; not one word has failed of all his good
promise, which he spoke through his servant Moses. 57 The LORD our God be with
us, as he was with our ancestors; may he not leave us or abandon us, 58 but
incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his
commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our
ancestors. 59 Let these words of mine, with which I pleaded before the LORD, be
near to the LORD our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his
servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires; 60 so that all
the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other. 61
Therefore devote yourselves completely to the LORD our God, walking in his
statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day." 62 Then the king, and
all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD. 63 Solomon offered as
sacrifices of well-being to the LORD twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred
twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the
house of the LORD. 64 The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court
that was in front of the house of the LORD; for there he offered the burnt
offerings and the grain offerings and the fat pieces of the sacrifices of
well-being, because the bronze altar that was before the LORD was too small to
receive the burnt offerings and the grain offerings and the fat pieces of the
sacrifices of well-being. 65 So Solomon held the festival at that time, and all
Israel with him--a great assembly, people from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of
Egypt--before the LORD our God, seven days. 66 On the eighth day he sent the
people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents, joyful and in
good spirits because of all the goodness that the LORD had shown to his servant
David and to his people Israel.
Return to Top
When Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the
king's house and all that Solomon desired to build, 2 the LORD appeared to
Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The LORD said to
him, "I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you made before me; I have
consecrated this house that you have built, and put my name there forever; my
eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 4 As for you, if you will walk
before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness,
doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my
ordinances, 5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I
promised your father David, saying, 'There shall not fail you a successor on the
throne of Israel.' 6 "If you turn aside from following me, you or your children,
and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but
go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut Israel off from the
land that I have given them; and the house that I have consecrated for my name I
will cast out of my sight; and Israel will become a proverb and a taunt among
all peoples. 8 This house will become a heap of ruins; everyone passing by it
will be astonished, and will hiss; and they will say, 'Why has the LORD done
such a thing to this land and to this house?' 9 Then they will say, 'Because
they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of the
land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, worshiping them and serving them;
therefore the LORD has brought this disaster upon them.'" 10 At the end of
twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD
and the king's house, 11 King Hiram of Tyre having supplied Solomon with cedar
and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram
twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see
the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him. 13 Therefore he
said, "What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?" So
they are called the land of Cabul to this day. 14 But Hiram had sent to the king
one hundred twenty talents of gold. 15 This is the account of the forced labor
that King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the LORD and his own house,
the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer 16 (Pharaoh king of
Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it down, had killed the
Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter,
Solomon's wife; 17 so Solomon rebuilt Gezer), Lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath,
Tamar in the wilderness, within the land, 19 as well as all of Solomon's storage
cities, the cities for his chariots, the cities for his cavalry, and whatever
Solomon desired to build, in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his
dominion. 20 All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the
Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of
Israel-- 21 their descendants who were still left in the land, whom the
Israelites were unable to destroy completely--these Solomon conscripted for
slave labor, and so they are to this day. 22 But of the Israelites Solomon made
no slaves; they were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his
captains, and the commanders of his chariotry and cavalry. 23 These were the
chief officers who were over Solomon's work: five hundred fifty, who had charge
of the people who carried on the work. 24 But Pharaoh's daughter went up from
the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her; then he built
the Millo. 25 Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and
sacrifices of well-being on the altar that he built for the LORD, offering
incense before the LORD. So he completed the house. 26 King Solomon built a
fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea,
in the land of Edom. 27 Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who were
familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. 28 They went to
Ophir, and imported from there four hundred twenty talents of gold, which they
delivered to King Solomon.
Return to Top
When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, (fame due
to the name of the LORD), she came to test him with hard questions. 2 She came
to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very
much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she told him all
that was on her mind. 3 Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing
hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. 4 When the queen of Sheba
had observed all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5 the food
of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants,
their clothing, his valets, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house
of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her. 6 So she said to the king, "The
report was true that I heard in my own land of your accomplishments and of your
wisdom, 7 but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had
seen it. Not even half had been told me; your wisdom and prosperity far surpass
the report that I had heard. 8 Happy are your wives! Happy are these your
servants, who continually attend you and hear your wisdom! 9 Blessed be the LORD
your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because
the LORD loved Israel forever, he has made you king to execute justice and
righteousness." 10 Then she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, a
great quantity of spices, and precious stones; never again did spices come in
such quantity as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 11
Moreover, the fleet of Hiram, which carried gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir
a great quantity of almug wood and precious stones. 12 From the almug wood the
king made supports for the house of the LORD, and for the king's house, lyres
also and harps for the singers; no such almug wood has come or been seen to this
day. 13 Meanwhile King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba every desire that she
expressed, as well as what he gave her out of Solomon's royal bounty. Then she
returned to her own land, with her servants. 14 The weight of gold that came to
Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, 15 besides that
which came from the traders and from the business of the merchants, and from all
the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land. 16 King Solomon made two
hundred large shields of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each
large shield. 17 He made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas of
gold went into each shield; and 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 the
finest gold. 19 The throne had six steps. The top of the throne was rounded in
the back, and on each side of the seat were arm rests and two lions standing
beside the arm rests, 20 while twelve lions were standing, one on each end of a
step on the six steps. Nothing like it was ever made in any kingdom. 21 All King
Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the
Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver--it was not considered
as anything in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had a fleet of ships of
Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of
ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
23 Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in
wisdom. 24 The whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom,
which God had put into his mind. 25 Every one of them brought a present, objects
of silver and gold, garments, weaponry, spices, horses, and mules, so much year
by year. 26 Solomon gathered together chariots and horses; he had fourteen
hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in the chariot
cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as common in
Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as numerous as the sycamores of the
Shephelah. 28 Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's
traders received them from Kue at a price. 29 A chariot could be imported from
Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty; so
through the king's traders they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites
and the kings of Aram.
Return to Top
King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of
Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the
nations concerning which the LORD had said to the Israelites, "You shall not
enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you; for they will surely
incline your heart to follow their gods"; Solomon clung to these in love. 3
Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines; and
his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned
away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not true to the LORD his God,
as was the heart of his father David. 5 For Solomon followed Astarte the goddess
of the Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did
what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not completely follow the LORD,
as his father David had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the
abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the
mountain east of Jerusalem. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who
offered incense and sacrificed to their gods. 9 Then the LORD was angry with
Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who
had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this matter, that
he should not follow other gods; but he did not observe what the LORD commanded.
11 Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this has been your mind and you
have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will
surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. 12 Yet for the
sake of your father David I will not do it in your lifetime; I will tear it out
of the hand of your son. 13 I will not, however, tear away the entire kingdom; I
will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of my servant David and for the
sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen." 14 Then the LORD raised up an adversary
against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal house in Edom. 15 For
when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the
dead, he killed every male in Edom 16 (for Joab and all Israel remained there
six months, until he had eliminated every male in Edom); 17 but Hadad fled to
Egypt with some Edomites who were servants of his father. He was a young boy at
that time. 18 They set out from Midian and came to Paran; they took people with
them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a
house, assigned him an allowance of food, and gave him land. 19 Hadad found
great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him his sister-in-law for a
wife, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. 20 The sister of Tahpenes gave birth by him
to his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house; Genubath was in
Pharaoh's house among the children of Pharaoh. 21 When Hadad heard in Egypt that
David slept with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was dead,
Hadad said to Pharaoh, "Let me depart, that I may go to my own country." 22 But
Pharaoh said to him, "What do you lack with me that you now seek to go to your
own country?" And he said, "No, do let me go." 23 God raised up another
adversary against Solomon, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master,
King Hadadezer of Zobah. 24 He gathered followers around him and became leader
of a marauding band, after the slaughter by David; they went to Damascus,
settled there, and made him king in Damascus. 25 He was an adversary of Israel
all the days of Solomon, making trouble as Hadad did; he despised Israel and
reigned over Aram. 26 Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant
of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, rebelled against the king.
27 The following was the reason he rebelled against the king. Solomon built the
Millo, and closed up the gap in the wall of the city of his father David. 28 The
man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was
industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.
29 About that time, when Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the
Shilonite found him on the road. Ahijah had clothed himself with a new garment.
The two of them were alone in the open country 30 when Ahijah laid hold of the
new garment he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 He then said to
Jeroboam: Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the LORD, the God of
Israel, "See, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and will
give you ten tribes. 32 One tribe will remain his, for the sake of my servant
David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the
tribes of Israel. 33 This is because he has forsaken me, worshiped Astarte the
goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the
Ammonites, and has not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and
keeping my statutes and my ordinances, as his father David did. 34 Nevertheless
I will not take the whole kingdom away from him but will make him ruler all the
days of his life, for the sake of my servant David whom I chose and who did keep
my commandments and my statutes; 35 but I will take the kingdom away from his
son and give it to you--that is, the ten tribes. 36 Yet to his son I will give
one tribe, so that my servant David may always have a lamp before me in
Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. 37 I will take you, and
you shall reign over all that your soul desires; you shall be king over Israel.
38 If you will listen to all that I command you, walk in my ways, and do what is
right in my sight by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my
servant did, I will be with you, and will build you an enduring house, as I
built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 For this reason I will punish
the descendants of David, but not forever." 40 Solomon sought therefore to kill
Jeroboam; but Jeroboam promptly fled to Egypt, to King Shishak of Egypt, and
remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon. 41 Now the rest of the acts of
Solomon, all that he did as well as his wisdom, are they not written in the Book
of the Acts of Solomon? 42 The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all
Israel was forty years. 43 Solomon slept with his ancestors and was buried in
the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam succeeded him.
Return to Top
Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to
make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of it (for he was still in
Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt.
3 And they sent and called him; and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came
and said to Rehoboam, 4 "Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten
the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke that he placed on us, and we
will serve you." 5 He said to them, "Go away for three days, then come again to
me." So the people went away. 6 Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the older
men who had attended his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, "How
do you advise me to answer this people?" 7 They answered him, "If you will be a
servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when
you answer them, then they will be your servants forever." 8 But he disregarded
the advice that the older men gave him, and consulted with the young men who had
grown up with him and now attended him. 9 He said to them, "What do you advise
that we answer this people who have said to me, 'Lighten the yoke that your
father put on us'?" 10 The young men who had grown up with him said to him,
"Thus you should say to this people who spoke to you, 'Your father made our yoke
heavy, but you must lighten it for us'; thus you should say to them, 'My little
finger is thicker than my father's loins. 11 Now, whereas my father laid on you
a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but
I will discipline you with scorpions.'" 12 So Jeroboam and all the people came
to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had said, "Come to me again the third
day." 13 The king answered the people harshly. He disregarded the advice that
the older men had given him 14 and spoke to them according to the advice of the
young men, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my
father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions." 15
So the king did not listen to the people, because it was a turn of affairs
brought about by the LORD that he might fulfill his word, which the LORD had
spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat. 16 When all Israel saw
that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king, "What
share do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your
tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David." So Israel went away to
their tents. 17 But Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites who were living in the
towns of Judah. 18 When King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the
forced labor, all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam then hurriedly
mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion
against the house of David to this day. 20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam
had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over
all Israel. There was no one who followed the house of David, except the tribe
of Judah alone. 21 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house
of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen troops to
fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of
Solomon. 22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: 23 Say to King
Rehoboam of Judah, son of Solomon, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin,
and to the rest of the people, 24 "Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or
fight against your kindred the people of Israel. Let everyone go home, for this
thing is from me." So they heeded the word of the LORD and went home again,
according to the word of the LORD. 25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill
country of Ephraim, and resided there; he went out from there and built Penuel.
26 Then Jeroboam said to himself, "Now the kingdom may well revert to the house
of David. 27 If this people continues to go up to offer sacrifices in the house
of the LORD at Jerusalem, the heart of this people will turn again to their
master, King Rehoboam of Judah; they will kill me and return to King Rehoboam of
Judah." 28 So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. He said to the
people, "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, Oisrael,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." 29 He set one in Bethel, and the
other he put in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin, for the people went to
worship before the one at Bethel and before the other as far as Dan. 31 He also
made houses on high places, and appointed priests from among all the people, who
were not Levites. 32 Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the
eighth month like the festival that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on
the altar; so he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And
he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. 33 He went
up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth
month, in the month that he alone had devised; he appointed a festival for the
people of Israel, and he went up to the altar to offer incense.
Return to Top
While Jeroboam was standing by the altar to offer incense, a man
of God came out of Judah by the word of the LORD to Bethel 2 and proclaimed
against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar, thus says
the LORD: 'A son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and he
shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer incense on you,
and human bones shall be burned on you.'" 3 He gave a sign the same day, saying,
"This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: 'The altar shall be torn down, and
the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.'" 4 When the king heard what the
man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his
hand from the altar, saying, "Seize him!" But the hand that he stretched out
against him withered so that he could not draw it back to himself. 5 The altar
also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the
sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6 The king said to
the man of God, "Entreat now the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, so
that my hand may be restored to me." So the man of God entreated the LORD; and
the king's hand was restored to him, and became as it was before. 7 Then the
king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and dine, and I will give you a
gift." 8 But the man of God said to the king, "If you give me half your kingdom,
I will not go in with you; nor will I eat food or drink water in this place. 9
For thus I was commanded by the word of the LORD: You shall not eat food, or
drink water, or return by the way that you came." 10 So he went another way, and
did not return by the way that he had come to Bethel. 11 Now there lived an old
prophet in Bethel. One of his sons came and told him all that the man of God had
done that day in Bethel; the words also that he had spoken to the king, they
told to their father. 12 Their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" And
his sons showed him the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone. 13
Then he said to his sons, "Saddle a donkey for me." So they saddled a donkey for
him, and he mounted it. 14 He went after the man of God, and found him sitting
under an oak tree. He said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?"
He answered, "I am." 15 Then he said to him, "Come home with me and eat some
food." 16 But he said, "I cannot return with you, or go in with you; nor will I
eat food or drink water with you in this place; 17 for it was said to me by the
word of the LORD: You shall not eat food or drink water there, or return by the
way that you came." 18 Then the other said to him, "I also am a prophet as you
are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD: Bring him back with you
into your house so that he may eat food and drink water." But he was deceiving
him. 19 Then the man of God went back with him, and ate food and drank water in
his house. 20 As they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to
the prophet who had brought him back; 21 and he proclaimed to the man of God who
came from Judah, "Thus says the LORD: Because you have disobeyed the word of the
LORD, and have not kept the commandment that the LORD your God commanded you, 22
but have come back and have eaten food and drunk water in the place of which he
said to you, 'Eat no food, and drink no water,' your body shall not come to your
ancestral tomb." 23 After the man of God had eaten food and had drunk, they
saddled for him a donkey belonging to the prophet who had brought him back. 24
Then as he went away, a lion met him on the road and killed him. His body was
thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside
the body. 25 People passed by and saw the body thrown in the road, with the lion
standing by the body. And they came and told it in the town where the old
prophet lived. 26 When the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard
of it, he said, "It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of the LORD;
therefore the LORD has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him
according to the word that the LORD spoke to him." 27 Then he said to his sons,
"Saddle a donkey for me." So they saddled one, 28 and he went and found the body
thrown in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside the body. The
lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. 29 The prophet took up the
body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to the city,
to mourn and to bury him. 30 He laid the body in his own grave; and they mourned
over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!" 31 After he had buried him, he said to his
sons, "When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay
my bones beside his bones. 32 For the saying that he proclaimed by the word of
the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high
places that are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass." 33 Even
after this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for
the high places again from among all the people; any who wanted to be priests he
consecrated for the high places. 34 This matter became sin to the house of
Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.
Return to Top
At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam fell sick. 2 Jeroboam said
to his wife, "Go, disguise yourself, so that it will not be known that you are
the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh; for the prophet Ahijah is there, who
said of me that I should be king over this people. 3 Take with you ten loaves,
some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him; he will tell you what shall
happen to the child." 4 Jeroboam's wife did so; she set out and went to Shiloh,
and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim
because of his age. 5 But the LORD said to Ahijah, "The wife of Jeroboam is
coming to inquire of you concerning her son; for he is sick. Thus and thus you
shall say to her." When she came, she pretended to be another woman. 6 But when
Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, "Come
in, wife of Jeroboam; why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with
heavy tidings for you. 7 Go, tell Jeroboam, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of
Israel: Because I exalted you from among the people, made you leader over my
people Israel, 8 and tore the kingdom away from the house of David to give it to
you; yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and
followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my sight, 9
but you have done evil above all those who were before you and have gone and
made for yourself other gods, and cast images, provoking me to anger, and have
thrust me behind your back; 10 therefore, I will bring evil upon the house of
Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel,
and will consume the house of Jeroboam, just as one burns up dung until it is
all gone. 11 Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city, the dogs shall
eat; and anyone who dies in the open country, the birds of the air shall eat;
for the LORD has spoken.' 12 Therefore set out, go to your house. When your feet
enter the city, the child shall die. 13 All Israel shall mourn for him and bury
him; for he alone of Jeroboam's family shall come to the grave, because in him
there is found something pleasing to the LORD, the God of Israel, in the house
of Jeroboam. 14 Moreover the LORD will raise up for himself a king over Israel,
who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today, even right now! 15 "The LORD will
strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; he will root up Israel out of
this good land that he gave to their ancestors, and scatter them beyond the
Euphrates, because they have made their sacred poles, provoking the LORD to
anger. 16 He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he
sinned and which he caused Israel to commit." 17 Then Jeroboam's wife got up and
went away, and she came to Tirzah. As she came to the threshold of the house,
the child died. 18 All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the
word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant the prophet Ahijah. 19 Now the
rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred and how he reigned, are written in
the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 20 The time that Jeroboam reigned
was twenty-two years; then he slept with his ancestors, and his son Nadab
succeeded him. 21 Now Rehoboam son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was
forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in
Jerusalem, the city that the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to
put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. 22 Judah did what
was evil in the sight of the LORD; they provoked him to jealousy with their sins
that they committed, more than all that their ancestors had done. 23 For they
also built for themselves high places, pillars, and sacred poles on every high
hill and under every green tree; 24 there were also male temple prostitutes in
the land. They committed all the abominations of the nations that the LORD drove
out before the people of Israel. 25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King
Shishak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; 26 he took away the treasures of the
house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house; he took everything. He
also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made; 27 so King
Rehoboam made shields of bronze instead, and committed them to the hands of the
officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. 28 As often as the
king went into the house of the LORD, the guard carried them and brought them
back to the guardroom. 29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he
did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? 30
There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 31 Rehoboam slept with
his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His
mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. His son Abijam succeeded him.
Return to Top
Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam
began to reign over Judah. 2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His
mother's name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. 3 He committed all the sins that
his father did before him; his heart was not true to the LORD his God, like the
heart of his father David. 4 Nevertheless for David's sake the LORD his God gave
him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing
Jerusalem; 5 because David did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and did
not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life,
except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 6 The war begun between Rehoboam and
Jeroboam continued all the days of his life. 7 The rest of the acts of Abijam,
and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings
of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 Abijam slept with his
ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David. Then his son Asa succeeded
him. 9 In the twentieth year of King Jeroboam of Israel, Asa began to reign over
Judah; 10 he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah
daughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did what was right in the sight of the LORD, as
his father David had done. 12 He put away the male temple prostitutes out of the
land, and removed all the idols that his ancestors had made. 13 He also removed
his mother Maacah from being queen mother, because she had made an abominable
image for Asherah; Asa cut down her image and burned it at the Wadi Kidron. 14
But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was true
to the LORD all his days. 15 He brought into the house of the LORD the votive
gifts of his father and his own votive gifts--silver, gold, and utensils. 16
There was war between Asa and King Baasha of Israel all their days. 17 King
Baasha of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, to prevent anyone from
going out or coming in to King Asa of Judah. 18 Then Asa took all the silver and
the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD and the
treasures of the king's house, and gave them into the hands of his servants.
King Asa sent them to King Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon son of Hezion of Aram, who
resided in Damascus, saying, 19 "Let there be an alliance between me and you,
like that between my father and your father: I am sending you a present of
silver and gold; go, break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel, so that he
may withdraw from me." 20 Ben-hadad listened to King Asa, and sent the
commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan,
Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. 21 When
Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and lived in Tirzah. 22 Then King
Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, none was exempt: they carried away the
stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building; with them
King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah. 23 Now the rest of all the acts of
Asa, all his power, all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not
written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? But in his old age he
was diseased in his feet. 24 Then Asa slept with his ancestors, and was buried
with his ancestors in the city of his father David; his son Jehoshaphat
succeeded him. 25 Nadab son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second
year of King Asa of Judah; he reigned over Israel two years. 26 He did what was
evil in the sight of the LORD, walking in the way of his ancestor and in the sin
that he caused Israel to commit. 27 Baasha son of Ahijah, of the house of
Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which
belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to
Gibbethon. 28 So Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of King Asa of Judah, and
succeeded him. 29 As soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam;
he left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed
it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the
Shilonite-- 30 because of the sins of Jeroboam that he committed and that he
caused Israel to commit, and because of the anger to which he provoked the LORD,
the God of Israel. 31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did,
are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? 32 There
was war between Asa and King Baasha of Israel all their days. 33 In the third
year of King Asa of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel
at Tirzah; he reigned twenty-four years. 34 He did what was evil in the sight of
the LORD, walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin that he caused Israel to
commit.
Return to Top
The word of the LORD came to Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha,
saying, 2 "Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my
people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have caused my
people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, 3 therefore, I will
consume Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of
Jeroboam son of Nebat. 4 Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the
dogs shall eat; and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the air
shall eat." 5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his power,
are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? 6 Baasha
slept with his ancestors, and was buried at Tirzah; and his son Elah succeeded
him. 7 Moreover the word of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu son of Hanani
against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the
sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being
like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he destroyed it. 8 In the
twenty-sixth year of King Asa of Judah, Elah son of Baasha began to reign over
Israel in Tirzah; he reigned two years. 9 But his servant Zimri, commander of
half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking
himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the palace at Tirzah,
10 Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year
of King Asa of Judah, and succeeded him. 11 When he began to reign, as soon as
he had seated himself on his throne, he killed all the house of Baasha; he did
not leave him a single male of his kindred or his friends. 12 Thus Zimri
destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which he
spoke against Baasha by the prophet Jehu-- 13 because of all the sins of Baasha
and the sins of his son Elah that they committed, and that they caused Israel to
commit, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols. 14 Now the
rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book
of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? 15 In the twenty-seventh year of King Asa
of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped
against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, 16 and the troops who were
encamped heard it said, "Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king";
therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that
day in the camp. 17 So Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and
they besieged Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into
the citadel of the king's house; he burned down the king's house over himself
with fire, and died-- 19 because of the sins that he committed, doing evil in
the sight of the LORD, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and for the sin that he
committed, causing Israel to sin. 20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the
conspiracy that he made, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the
Kings of Israel? 21 Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts; half
of the people followed Tibni son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed
Omri. 22 But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni
son of Ginath; so Tibni died, and Omri became king. 23 In the thirty-first year
of King Asa of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel; he reigned for twelve
years, six of them in Tirzah. 24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for
two talents of silver; he fortified the hill, and called the city that he built,
Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill. 25 Omri did what was
evil in the sight of the LORD; he did more evil than all who were before him. 26
For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and in the sins that he
caused Israel to commit, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by
their idols. 27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and the power that
he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of
Israel? 28 Omri slept with his ancestors, and was buried in Samaria; his son
Ahab succeeded him. 29 In the thirty-eighth year of King Asa of Judah, Ahab son
of Omri began to reign over Israel; Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in
Samaria twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD
more than all who were before him. 31 And as if it had been a light thing for
him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he took as his wife Jezebel
daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and
worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he
built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made a sacred pole. Ahab did more to provoke the
anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than had all the kings of Israel who were
before him. 34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho; he laid its foundation
at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his
youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua
son of Nun.
Return to Top
Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As
the LORD the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither
dew nor rain these years, except by my word." 2 The word of the LORD came to
him, saying, 3 "Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi
Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the wadi, and I
have commanded the ravens to feed you there." 5 So he went and did according to
the word of the LORD; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of
the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread
and meat in the evening; and he drank from the wadi. 7 But after a while the
wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the
LORD came to him, saying, 9 "Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and
live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you." 10 So he set out
and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there
gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a
vessel, so that I may drink." 11 As she was going to bring it, he called to her
and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." 12 But she said, "As the
LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and
a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go
home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." 13
Elijah said to her, "Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first
make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something
for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD the God of Israel: The jar
of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that
the LORD sends rain on the earth." 15 She went and did as Elijah said, so that
she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of meal was
not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD
that he spoke by Elijah. 17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the
house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in
him. 18 She then said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You
have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my
son!" 19 But he said to her, "Give me your son." He took him from her bosom,
carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his
own bed. 20 He cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought calamity
even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?" 21 Then he
stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the LORD, "O LORD
my God, let this child's life come into him again." 22 The LORD listened to the
voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23
Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house,
and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, "See, your son is alive." 24 So
the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the
word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."
Return to Top
After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the
third year of the drought, saying, "Go, present yourself to Ahab; I will send
rain on the earth." 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was
severe in Samaria. 3 Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace.
(Now Obadiah revered the LORD greatly; 4 when Jezebel was killing off the
prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, hid them fifty to a cave,
and provided them with bread and water.) 5 Then Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go
through the land to all the springs of water and to all the wadis; perhaps we
may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the
animals." 6 So they divided the land between them to pass through it; Ahab went
in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself. 7
As Obadiah was on the way, Elijah met him; Obadiah recognized him, fell on his
face, and said, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?" 8 He answered him, "It is I. Go,
tell your lord that Elijah is here." 9 And he said, "How have I sinned, that you
would hand your servant over to Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the LORD your God lives,
there is no nation or kingdom to which my lord has not sent to seek you; and
when they would say, 'He is not here,' he would require an oath of the kingdom
or nation, that they had not found you. 11 But now you say, 'Go, tell your lord
that Elijah is here.' 12 As soon as I have gone from you, the spirit of the LORD
will carry you I know not where; so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot
find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have revered the LORD from my
youth. 13 Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the
prophets of the LORD, how I hid a hundred of the Lord's prophets fifty to a
cave, and provided them with bread and water? 14 Yet now you say, 'Go, tell your
lord that Elijah is here'; he will surely kill me." 15 Elijah said, "As the LORD
of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today." 16
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17
When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?" 18
He answered, "I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father's house,
because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals.
19 Now therefore have all Israel assemble for me at Mount Carmel, with the four
hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat
at Jezebel's table." 20 So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the
prophets at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah then came near to all the people, and said,
"How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God,
follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." The people did not answer him a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the
LORD; but Baal's prophets number four hundred fifty. 23 Let two bulls be given
to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on
the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the
wood, but put no fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god and I will
call on the name of the LORD; the god who answers by fire is indeed God." All
the people answered, "Well spoken!" 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal,
"Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then
call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it." 26 So they took the bull
that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning
until noon, crying, "O Baal, answer us!" But there was no voice, and no answer.
They limped about the altar that they had made. 27 At noon Elijah mocked them,
saying, "Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has
wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be
awakened." 28 Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut
themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. 29 As
midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but
there was no voice, no answer, and no response. 30 Then Elijah said to all the
people, "Come closer to me"; and all the people came closer to him. First he
repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down; 31 Elijah took twelve
stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the
word of the LORD came, saying, "Israel shall be your name"; 32 with the stones
he built an altar in the name of the LORD. Then he made a trench around the
altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. 33 Next he put the wood in
order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars
with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." 34 Then he said,
"Do it a second time"; and they did it a second time. Again he said, "Do it a
third time"; and they did it a third time, 35 so that the water ran all around
the altar, and filled the trench also with water. 36 At the time of the offering
of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, "O LORD, God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I
am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. 37
Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O LORD, are
God, and that you have turned their hearts back." 38 Then the fire of the LORD
fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and
even licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it,
they fell on their faces and said, "The LORD indeed is God; the LORD indeed is
God." 40 Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of
them escape." Then they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi
Kishon, and killed them there. 41 Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink;
for there is a sound of rushing rain." 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink.
Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; there he bowed himself down upon the earth
and put his face between his knees. 43 He said to his servant, "Go up now, look
toward the sea." He went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." Then he
said, "Go again seven times." 44 At the seventh time he said, "Look, a little
cloud no bigger than a person's hand is rising out of the sea." Then he said,
"Go say to Ahab, 'Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'"
45 In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind; there was a
heavy rain. Ahab rode off and went to Jezreel. 46 But the hand of the LORD was
on Elijah; he girded up his loins and ran in front of Ahab to the entrance of
Jezreel.
Return to Top
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had
killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to
Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your
life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." 3 Then he was afraid;
he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah;
he left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day's journey into the
wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he
might die: "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better
than my ancestors." 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep.
Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat." 6 He looked,
and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate
and drank, and lay down again. 7 The angel of the LORD came a second time,
touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much
for you." 8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that
food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 9 At that place he
came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to
him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 10 He answered, "I have been
very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken
your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword.
I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." 11 He said, "Go
out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass
by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and
breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and
after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and
after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the
fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in
his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a
voice to him that said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 14 He answered, "I
have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have
forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with
the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." 15
Then the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of
Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 Also
you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint
Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17 Whoever
escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the
sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel,
all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed
him." 19 So he set out from there, and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was
plowing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the
twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. 20 He left the
oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then
I will follow you." Then Elijah said to him, "Go back again; for what have I
done to you?" 21 He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and
slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and
gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and
became his servant.
Return to Top
King Ben-hadad of Aram gathered all his army together;
thirty-two kings were with him, along with horses and chariots. He marched
against Samaria, laid siege to it, and attacked it. 2 Then he sent messengers
into the city to King Ahab of Israel, and said to him: "Thus says Ben-hadad: 3
Your silver and gold are mine; your fairest wives and children also are mine." 4
The king of Israel answered, "As you say, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all
that I have." 5 The messengers came again and said: "Thus says Ben-hadad: I sent
to you, saying, 'Deliver to me your silver and gold, your wives and children'; 6
nevertheless I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they
shall search your house and the houses of your servants, and lay hands on
whatever pleases them, and take it away." 7 Then the king of Israel called all
the elders of the land, and said, "Look now! See how this man is seeking
trouble; for he sent to me for my wives, my children, 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 listen or consent." 9 So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, "Tell
my lord the king: All that you first demanded of your servant I will do; but
this thing I cannot do." The messengers left and brought him word again. 10
Ben-hadad sent to him and said, "The gods do so to me, and more also, if the
dust of Samaria will provide a handful for each of the people who follow me." 11
The king of Israel answered, "Tell him: One who puts on armor should not brag
like one who takes it off." 12 When Ben-hadad heard this message--now he had
been drinking with the kings in the booths--he said to his men, "Take your
positions!" And they took their positions against the city. 13 Then a certain
prophet came up to King Ahab of Israel and said, "Thus says the LORD, Have you
seen all this great multitude? Look, I will give it into your hand today; and
you shall know that I am the LORD." 14 Ahab said, "By whom?" He said, "Thus says
the LORD, By the young men who serve the district governors." Then he said, "Who
shall begin the battle?" He answered, "You." 15 Then he mustered the young men
who serve the district governors, two hundred thirty-two; after them he mustered
all the people of Israel, seven thousand. 16 They went out at noon, while
Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the thirty-two kings
allied with him. 17 The young men who serve the district governors went out
first. Ben-hadad had sent out scouts, and they reported to him, "Men have come
out from Samaria." 18 He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them
alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive." 19 But these had already
come out of the city: the young men who serve the district governors, and the
army that followed them. 20 Each killed his man; the Arameans fled and Israel
pursued them, but King Ben-hadad of Aram escaped on a horse with the cavalry. 21
The king of Israel went out, attacked the horses and chariots, and defeated the
Arameans with a great slaughter. 22 Then the prophet approached the king of
Israel and said to him, "Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you
have to do; for in the spring the king of Aram will come up against you." 23 The
servants of the king of Aram said to him, "Their gods are gods of the hills, and
so they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and
surely we shall be stronger than they. 24 Also do this: remove the kings, each
from his post, and put commanders in place of them; 25 and muster an army like
the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot; then we
will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than
they." He heeded their voice, and did so. 26 In the spring Ben-hadad mustered
the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27 After the
Israelites had been mustered and provisioned, they went out to engage them; the
people of Israel encamped opposite them like two little flocks of goats, while
the Arameans filled the country. 28 A man of God approached and said to the king
of Israel, "Thus says the LORD: Because the Arameans have said, 'The LORD is a
god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,' therefore I will give all
this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD." 29
They encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the
battle began; the Israelites killed one hundred thousand Aramean foot soldiers
in one day. 30 The rest fled into the city of Aphek; and the wall fell on
twenty-seven thousand men that were left. Ben-hadad also fled, and entered the
city to hide. 31 His servants said to him, "Look, we have heard that the kings
of the house of Israel are merciful kings; let us put sackcloth around our
waists and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will
spare your life." 32 So they tied sackcloth around their waists, put ropes on
their heads, went to the king of Israel, and said, "Your servant Ben-hadad says,
'Please let me live.'" And he said, "Is he still alive? He is my brother." 33
Now the men were watching for an omen; they quickly took it up from him and
said, "Yes, Ben-hadad is your brother." Then he said, "Go and bring him." So
Ben-hadad came out to him; and he had him come up into the chariot. 34 Ben-hadad
said to him, "I will restore the towns that my father took from your father; and
you may establish bazaars for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in
Samaria." The king of Israel responded, "I will let you go on those terms." So
he made a treaty with him and let him go. 35 At the command of the LORD a
certain member of a company of prophets said to another, "Strike me!" But the
man refused to strike him. 36 Then he said to him, "Because you have not obeyed
the voice of the LORD, as soon as you have left me, a lion will kill you." And
when he had left him, a lion met him and killed him. 37 Then he found another
man and said, "Strike me!" So the man hit him, striking and wounding him. 38
Then the prophet departed, and waited for the king along the road, disguising
himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39 As the king passed by, he cried to the
king and said, "Your servant went out into the thick of the battle; then a
soldier turned and brought a man to me, and said, 'Guard this man; if he is
missing, your life shall be given for his life, or else you shall pay a talent
of silver.' 40 While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone." The
king of Israel said to him, "So shall your judgment be; you yourself have
decided it." 41 Then he quickly took the bandage away from his eyes. The king of
Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42 Then he said to him, "Thus says
the LORD, 'Because you have let the man go whom I had devoted to destruction,
therefore your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.'" 43
The king of Israel set out toward home, resentful and sullen, and came to
Samaria.
Return to Top
Later the following events took place: Naboth the Jezreelite had
a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. 2 And Ahab
said to Naboth, "Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable
garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it;
or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money." 3 But Naboth
said to Ahab, "The LORD forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance."
4 Ahab went home resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had
said to him; for he had said, "I will not give you my ancestral inheritance." He
lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat. 5 His wife Jezebel
came to him and said, "Why are you so depressed that you will not eat?" 6 He
said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me
your vineyard for money; or else, if you prefer, I will give you another
vineyard for it'; but he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'" 7 His
wife Jezebel said to him, "Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and
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; she sent the letters
to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. 9 She wrote in
the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly; 10
seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them bring a charge against him,
saying, 'You have cursed God and the king.' Then take him out, and stone him to
death." 11 The men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city,
did as Jezebel had sent word to them. Just as it was written in the letters that
she had sent to them, 12 they proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of
the assembly. 13 The two scoundrels came in and sat opposite him; and the
scoundrels brought a charge against Naboth, in the presence of the people,
saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." So they took him outside the city, and
stoned him to death. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been
stoned; he is dead." 15 As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and
was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, "Go, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth
the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive,
but dead." 16 As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab set out to go
down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. 17 Then
the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: 18 Go down to meet
King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria; he is now in the vineyard of Naboth,
where he has gone to take possession. 19 You shall say to him, "Thus says the
LORD: Have you killed, and also taken possession?" You shall say to him, "Thus
says the LORD: In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will
also lick up your blood." 20 Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my
enemy?" He answered, "I have found you. Because you have sold yourself to do
what is evil in the sight of the LORD, 21 I will bring disaster on you; I will
consume you, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel; 22
and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the
house of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have
caused Israel to sin. 23 Also concerning Jezebel the LORD said, 'The dogs shall
eat Jezebel within the bounds of Jezreel.' 24 Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies
in the city the dogs shall eat; and anyone of his who dies in the open country
the birds of the air shall eat." 25 (Indeed, there was no one like Ahab, who
sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD, urged on by his wife
Jezebel. 26 He acted most abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had
done, whom the LORD drove out before the Israelites.) 27 When Ahab heard those
words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth over his bare flesh; he fasted, lay
in the sackcloth, and went about dejectedly. 28 Then the word of the LORD came
to Elijah the Tishbite: 29 "Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before
me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in
his days; but in his son's days I will bring the disaster on his house."
Return to Top
For three years Aram and Israel continued without war. 2 But in
the third year King Jehoshaphat of Judah came down to the king of Israel. 3 The
king of Israel said to his servants, "Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to
us, yet we are doing nothing to take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?" 4
He said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?"
Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, "I am as you are; my people are your
people, my horses are your horses." 5 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of
Israel, "Inquire first for the word of the LORD." 6 Then the king of Israel
gathered the prophets together, about four hundred of them, and said to them,
"Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?" They said, "Go
up; for the LORD will give it into the hand of the king." 7 But Jehoshaphat
said, "Is there no other prophet of the LORD here of whom we may inquire?" 8 The
king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one other by whom we may
inquire of the LORD, Micaiah son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never
prophesies anything favorable about me, but only disaster." Jehoshaphat said,
"Let the king not say such a thing." 9 Then the king of Israel summoned an
officer and said, "Bring quickly Micaiah son of Imlah." 10 Now the king of
Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in
their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and
all the prophets were prophesying before them. 11 Zedekiah son of Chenaanah made
for himself horns of iron, and he said, "Thus says the LORD: With these you
shall gore the Arameans until they are destroyed." 12 All the prophets were
prophesying the same and saying, "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the LORD
will give it into the hand of the king." 13 The messenger who had gone to summon
Micaiah said to him, "Look, the words of the prophets with one accord are
favorable to the king; let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak
favorably." 14 But Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, whatever the LORD says to
me, that I will speak." 15 When he had come to the king, the king said to him,
"Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?" He
answered him, "Go up and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the
king." 16 But the king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear to
tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?" 17 Then Micaiah said, "I
saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep that have no shepherd; and
the LORD said, 'These have no master; let each one go home in peace.'" 18 The
king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you that he would not
prophesy anything favorable about me, but only disaster?" 19 Then Micaiah said,
"Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, with
all the host of heaven standing beside him to the right and to the left of him.
20 And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab, so that he may go up and fall at
Ramoth-gilead?' Then one said one thing, and another said another, 21 until a
spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, 'I will entice him.' 22
'How?' the LORD asked him. He replied, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in
the mouth of all his prophets.' Then the LORD said, 'You are to entice him, and
you shall succeed; go out and do it.' 23 So you see, the LORD has put a lying
spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the LORD has decreed disaster
for you." 24 Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah came up to Micaiah, slapped him on
the cheek, and said, "Which way did the spirit of the LORD pass from me to speak
to you?" 25 Micaiah replied, "You will find out on that day when you go in to
hide in an inner chamber." 26 The king of Israel then ordered, "Take Micaiah,
and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son, 27
and say, 'Thus says the king: Put this fellow in prison, and feed him on reduced
rations of bread and water until I come in peace.'" 28 Micaiah said, "If you
return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me." And he said, "Hear, you
peoples, all of you!" 29 So the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah
went up to Ramoth-gilead. 30 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will
disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes." So the king of
Israel disguised himself and went into battle. 31 Now the king of Aram had
commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, "Fight with no one small or
great, but only with the king of Israel." 32 When the captains of the chariots
saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "It is surely the king of Israel." So they turned to
fight against him; and Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 When the captains of the
chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing
him. 34 But a certain man drew his bow and unknowingly struck the king of Israel
between the scale armor and the breastplate; so he said to the driver of his
chariot, "Turn around, and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded." 35 The
battle grew hot that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the
Arameans, until at evening he died; the blood from the wound had flowed into the
bottom of the chariot. 36 Then about sunset a shout went through the army,
"Every man to his city, and every man to his country!" 37 So the king died, and
was brought to Samaria; they buried the king in Samaria. 38 They washed the
chariot by the pool of Samaria; the dogs licked up his blood, and the
prostitutes washed themselves in it, according to the word of the LORD that he
had spoken. 39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the
ivory house that he built, and all the cities that he built, are they not
written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? 40 So Ahab slept with
his ancestors; and his son Ahaziah succeeded him. 41 Jehoshaphat son of Asa
began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of King Ahab of Israel. 42
Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.
43 He walked in all the way of his father Asa; he did not turn aside from it,
doing what was right in the sight of the LORD; yet the high places were not
taken away, and the people still sacrificed and offered incense on the high
places. 44 Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel. 45 Now the rest
of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his power that he showed, and how he waged war,
are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? 46 The
remnant of the male temple prostitutes who were still in the land in the days of
his father Asa, he exterminated. 47 There was no king in Edom; a deputy was
king. 48 Jehoshaphat made ships of the Tarshish type to go to Ophir for gold;
but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber. 49 Then Ahaziah
son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants go with your servants in the
ships," but Jehoshaphat was not willing. 50 Jehoshaphat slept with his ancestors
and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his father David; his son
Jehoram succeeded him. 51 Ahaziah son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in
Samaria in the seventeenth year of King Jehoshaphat of Judah; he reigned two
years over Israel. 52 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked
in the way of his father and mother, and in the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat,
who caused Israel to sin. 53 He served Baal and worshiped him; he provoked the
LORD, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.
BACK TO TOP
BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS