1 Kings
Chapter:
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
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14
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1 Kings 1
1 Now King David was old, advanced in years; and they covered him with clothes, for he
could not get warm.
2 Therefore his servants said to him, Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord
the king, and let her stand before the king, and serve him; and let her lie in your bosom,
that our lord the king may be warm.
3 So they sought 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; and she served the king, and ministered to him; but the king
did not know her.
5 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king; and he
prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
6 (Now his father had not hurt him at any time by saying, Why have you done so? He was
also very good in appearance. And his mother had borne him after Absalom.)
7 And he spoke with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they went
after Adonijah and helped him.
8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and
the mighty men who belonged to David were not with Adonijah.
9 And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is
by En Rogel; he also invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the
king's servants.
10 But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, or Solomon his
brother.
11 So Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Have you not heard
that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it?
12 Come now, please let me counsel you with advice, that you may save your own life
and the life of your son Solomon.
13 Depart and go to King David and say to him, Have you not sworn to your maidservant,
my lord, O king, saying, Surely your son Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit on
my throne? Why then has Adonijah become king?
14 Then, while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and
confirm your words.
15 So Bathsheba came into the chamber to the king. (Now the king was very old, and
Abishag the Shunammite was ministering to the king.)
16 And Bathsheba bowed and did homage to the king. And the king said, What can I do
for you?
17 And she said to him, My lord, you have sworn by Jehovah your God to your
maidservant, saying, Surely Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my
throne.
18 So now, behold, Adonijah has become king; and now, my lord the king, you have not
known about it.
19 He has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the
sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army; but Solomon
your servant he has not invited.
20 And as for you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you, to tell them who
will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
21 Otherwise it will happen, when my lord the king lies down with his fathers, that I and
my son Solomon will be counted as offenders.
22 And behold, while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet also came
in.
23 And they reported to the king, saying, Behold, Nathan the prophet. And when he came
in before the king, he bowed down to the king with his face to the ground.
24 And Nathan said, My lord, O king, have you said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and
he shall sit on my throne?
25 For he has gone down today, and has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in
abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, and the commanders of the army, and
Abiathar the priest; and behold, they are eating and drinking before him; and they said,
Long live King Adonijah!
26 But he has not invited me; me your servant, nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son
of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon.
27 Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king, and you have not declared to
your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?
28 Then King David answered and said, Summon Bathsheba to me. So she came before
the king and stood before the king.
29 And the king swore and said, As Jehovah lives, who has redeemed my life from every
distress,
30 just as I have sworn to you by Jehovah the God of Israel, saying, Surely Solomon your
son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place, thus I shall do this
day.
31 And Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did homage to the king, and said,
Let my lord King David live forever!
32 And King David said, Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada. And they came in before the king.
33 And the king said to them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon
my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.
34 There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and
blow the shofar, and say, Long live King Solomon!
35 And when you have come up after him, he shall come and sit on my throne, and he
shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.
36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, Amen! Thus says
Jehovah the God of my lord the king.
37 As Jehovah has been with my lord the king, even so shall He be with Solomon, and
make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.
38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites,
and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule, and brought
him to Gihon.
39 And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. And they
blew the shofar, and all the people said, Long live King Solomon!
40 And all the people went up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced
with great joy, so that the earth was rent with their sound.
41 And Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they had finished
eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the shofar, he said, Why is the city in such a
commotion?
42 And while he was still speaking, behold Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest came
in. And Adonijah said to him, Come in, for you are a mighty man, and bring good news.
43 And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, No rather, our lord King David has
made Solomon king.
44 The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have made him ride on the king's
mule.
45 And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon; and
they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is all stirred up. This is the sound
that you have heard.
46 Also Solomon has sat down on the throne of the kingdom.
47 And moreover the king's servants have gone to bless our lord King David, saying,
May God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and may He make his throne
greater than your throne. And the king bowed himself on the bed.
48 Also the king has said, Blessed is Jehovah the God of Israel, who has given one to sit
on my throne this day, with my eyes seeing it!
49 So all the guests who were with Adonijah trembled, and rose up, and each one went
his way.
50 And Adonijah was afraid of Solomon; so he arose, and went and took hold of the
horns of the altar.
51 And it was reported to Solomon, saying, Behold Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon;
for behold, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, Let King Solomon swear to
me this day that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.
52 And Solomon said, If he is a son of worth, not one hair of him shall fall to the earth;
but if evil is found in him, he shall die.
53 So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and
prostrated himself to King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, Go to your house.
1 Kings 2
1 And the days drew near for David to die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying:
2 I am going the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and be a man.
3 And keep the charge of Jehovah your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes,
His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of
Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn;
4 that Jehovah may establish His word which He has spoken concerning me, saying, If
your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all
their soul, He said, there shall not fail to be a man on the throne of Israel.
5 Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the
two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and Amasa the son of
Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of
war on the belt around his waist, and on the sandals on his feet.
6 Therefore do according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the
grave in peace.
7 But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those
eating at your table, for they came to me when I fled before Absalom your brother.
8 And behold, with you is Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who
cursed me with grievous cursing in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But he came down
to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Jehovah, saying, I will not put you to
death with the sword.
9 Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you
ought to do to him; but bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood.
10 So David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David.
11 The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; seven years he reigned in
Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years.
12 And Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly
established.
13 And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she
said, Do you come in peace? And he said, In peace.
14 Moreover he said, I have something to say to you. And she said, Speak.
15 And he said, You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had set their faces
toward me, to reign. However, the kingdom has been turned around, and has become my
brother's; for it was his from Jehovah.
16 Now I ask one petition of you; do not turn away my face. And she said to him, Speak.
17 And he said, Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not turn away your face; that
he would give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.
18 And Bathsheba said, Very well, I will speak for you unto the king.
19 Bathsheba therefore came to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the
king rose up to meet her and bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a
throne set for the king's mother; and she sat at his right hand.
20 And she said, I am asking one small petition of you; do not turn away my face. And the
king said to her, Ask it, my mother, for I will not turn away your face.
21 So she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.
22 And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, Now why are you asking for
Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is my older
brother; for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.
23 And King Solomon swore by Jehovah, saying, May God do so to me, and more also, if
Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own soul!
24 Now therefore, as Jehovah lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of
David my father, and who has established a house for me, as He has promised, Adonijah
shall be put to death this day!
25 So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon
him and he died.
26 And to Abiathar the priest the king said, Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you
are a man deserving of death; but I will not put you to death this day, because you have
carried the ark of the Lord Jehovah before my father David, and because you were
afflicted in every thing in which my father was afflicted.
27 Thus Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest unto Jehovah, to fulfill the word of
Jehovah which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.
28 And the news came to Joab, for Joab had turned aside after Adonijah, though he had
not turned aside after Absalom. So Joab fled to the tent of Jehovah, and took hold of the
horns of the altar.
29 And it was reported to King Solomon, Joab has fled to the tent of Jehovah, and
behold, he is by the altar. So Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall
upon him.
30 So Benaiah went to the tent of Jehovah, and said to him, Thus says the king, Come
out! And he said, No, but I will die here. And Benaiah brought back word to the king,
saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
31 And the king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall upon him and bury him, that you
may turn aside from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab
has shed.
32 Thus Jehovah shall return his blood upon his own head, who has fallen upon two men
more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, without the knowledge
of my father David: Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and
Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah.
33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his seed
forever. But upon David and his seed, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace
forever from Jehovah.
34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him and killed him; and he was
buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35 And the king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and
the king appointed Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.
36 And the king sent and summoned Shimei, and said to him, Build yourself a house in
Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere.
37 For it shall be, on the day that you go out and have crossed over the Brook Kidron,
consider to understand that you shall be executed to death; your blood shall be on your
own head.
38 And Shimei said to the king, The word is good. As my lord the king has spoken, thus
your servant will do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
39 And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei fled to Achish
the son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they reported to Shimei, saying, Behold, your
slaves are at Gath!
40 So Shimei rose up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves.
And Shimei went and brought his slaves from Gath.
41 And it was reported to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and
had returned.
42 So the king sent and summoned Shimei, and said to him, Did I not make you swear by
Jehovah, and warn you, saying, Consider to understand that on the day you go out and
have gone anywhere, you shall be executed to death? And you said to me, The word I
have heard is good.
43 Why then have you not kept the oath of Jehovah and the commandment that I have
charged you with?
44 The king said moreover to Shimei, You know, as your heart acknowledges, all the evil
that you did to my father David; therefore Jehovah shall return your evil upon your own
head.
45 But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before
Jehovah forever.
46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and fell upon
him, and he died. Thus the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
1 Kings 3
1 And Solomon made himself son-in-law to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married
Pharaoh's daughter; and he brought her into the City of David until he had finished
building his own house, and the house of Jehovah, and the wall all around Jerusalem.
2 The people were sacrificing at the high places, because there was no house built for the
name of Jehovah until those days.
3 And Solomon loved Jehovah, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he
was sacrificing and burning incense at the high places.
4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place:
Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
5 At Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask;
what shall I give you?
6 And Solomon said: You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father,
because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with
You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son sitting
on his throne, as it is this day.
7 Now, O Jehovah my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father
David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.
8 And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a people too
numerous to be numbered or counted for multitude.
9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may
discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?
10 And the word was good in the eyes of Jehovah, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11 And God said to him: Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life
for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies,
but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice,
12 behold, I have done according to your words; behold, I have given you a wise and
understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any
like you arise after you.
13 And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that
there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.
14 So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your
father David has walked, then I will prolong your days.
15 And Solomon awoke; and behold it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood
before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace
offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.
16 Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and stood before him.
17 And one woman said, O my lord, this woman and I are dwelling in the same house;
and I gave birth while she was in the house.
18 Then it happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth.
And we were together; no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house.
19 And this woman's son died in the night, because she had lain on him.
20 So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your
maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21 And when I arose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead. But when I
had examined him in the morning, behold, he was not my son whom I had borne.
22 And the other woman said, No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your
son. And the first woman said, No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my
son. Thus they spoke before the king.
23 And the king said, The one says, This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead
one; and the other says, No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.
24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. So they brought a sword before the king.
25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the
other.
26 Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for her womb yearned for
her son; and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and do not put him to death!
But the other said, Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.
27 So the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and do not put him to death;
she is his mother.
28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered, and they feared his
presence; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to execute justice.
1 Kings 4
1 Thus King Solomon was king over all Israel.
2 And these were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest;
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the
recorder;
4 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, over the army; Zadok and Abiathar, the priests;
5 Azariah the son of Nathan, over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest and the
king's friend;
6 Ahishar, over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda, over the labor force.
7 And Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who provided food for the king and
his household; each one made provision for one month of the year.
8 These are their names: Ben-Hur, in the mountains of Ephraim;
9 Ben-Deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan;
10 Ben-Hesed, in Arubboth; to him belonged Sochoh and all the land of Hepher;
11 Ben-Abinadab, in all the regions of Dor; he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as
wife;
12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth Shean, which is beside
Zaretan below Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as the other side of
Jokneam;
13 Ben-Geber, in Ramoth Gilead; to him belonged the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh,
in Gilead; to him also belonged the region of Argob in Bashan; sixty large cities with walls
and bronze gate-bars;
14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;
15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife;
16 Baanah the son of Hushai, in Asher and Aloth;
17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;
18 Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin;
19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites,
and of Og king of Bashan. He was the only deputy who was in the land.
20 Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea in multitude, eating and
drinking and rejoicing.
21 And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the
Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the
days of his life.
22 And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty kors of fine flour, sixty kors of meal,
23 ten fatted oxen, twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides deer,
gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl.
24 For he was ruling over all the region on this side of the River from Tiphsah even to
Gaza, namely over all the kings on this side of the River; and he had peace on every side all
around him.
25 And Judah and Israel dwelt securely, every man under his vine and his fig tree, from
Dan as far as Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.
26 Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand
horsemen.
27 And these deputies, each man in his month, provided food for King Solomon and for
all who came to King Solomon's table. They left nothing lacking.
28 They also brought barley and straw to the assigned places, for the horses and
steeds, each man according to his charge.
29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and breadth of
heart like the sand on the seashore.
30 Thus Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the sons of the East and all the
wisdom of Egypt.
31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and
Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.
32 He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five.
33 He also spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs
out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish.
34 And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom,
came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.
1 Kings 5
1 And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had
anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had loved David all his days.
2 And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying:
3 You know how my father David could not build a house unto the name of Jehovah his
God because of the wars that were around him on every side, until Jehovah had put them
under the soles of his feet.
4 But now Jehovah my God has given me rest all around; there is neither adversary nor
evil occurrence.
5 And behold, I am intending to build a house unto the name of Jehovah my God, as
Jehovah has spoken to my father David, saying, Your son, whom I will set on your throne
in your place, he shall build the house unto My name.
6 Now therefore, command that they cut down cedars for me from Lebanon; and my
servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you wages for your servants according to
whatever you say. For you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut
timber like the Sidonians.
7 And so it was, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and
said, Blessed is Jehovah this day, for He has given David a wise son over this great people!
8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: I have agreed to the things which you have sent
me, and I will do all your desire concerning the cedar and cypress timber.
9 My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; I will float them in rafts by
sea to the place you direct me, and will have them broken apart there; then you can take
them away. And you shall fulfill my desire by giving food for my household.
10 And Hiram gave Solomon cedar and cypress timber according to all his desire.
11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat as food for his household,
and twenty kors of beaten oil. Thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.
12 Thus Jehovah gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him; and there was peace
between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made an alliance together.
13 And King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was
thirty thousand men.
14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in
Lebanon and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the labor force.
15 And Solomon had seventy thousand carrying burdens, and eighty thousand hewing
stone in the mountains,
16 besides three thousand three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon's deputies, who
ruled the people who did the work.
17 And the king commanded, and they quarried large stones, costly stones, and hewn
stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
18 Thus Solomon's builders, Hiram's builders, and the Giblites cut and prepared timber
and stones to build the house.
1 Kings 6
1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel
had come 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, that he began to build the house of Jehovah.
2 Now the house which King Solomon built for Jehovah, its length was sixty cubits, its
width twenty, and its height thirty cubits.
3 The porch in front of the sanctuary of the house was twenty cubits long across the width
of the house, and the width of the porch extended ten cubits from the front of the house.
4 And for the house he made window frames with shutters.
5 Against the wall of the house he built chambers all around, against the walls of the
house, all around the temple and the inner sanctuary. Thus he made chambers all around.
6 The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third
was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the house, so that
the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the house.
7 And the house, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or ax or any iron tool was heard in the house while it was being built.
8 The doorway for the middle level was on the right side of the house. They went up by a
winding staircase to the middle level, and from the middle to the third.
9 Thus he built the house and finished it, and he paneled the house with beams and planks
of cedar.
10 And he built chambers against the entire house, each five cubits high; they were
attached to the house with cedar beams.
11 And the Word of Jehovah came to Solomon, saying:
12 Concerning this house which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My
judgments, keep all My commandments to walk in them, then I will establish My word
with you, which I have spoken unto your father David.
13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.
14 Thus Solomon built the house and finished it.
15 And he built the walls of the house on the inside with cedar boards; from the walls of
the house to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the
house with planks of cypress.
16 And he built twenty-cubits at the rear of the house, from floor to the walls, with cedar
boards; he built it inside for the inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies.
17 And in front of the inner house the rest of the temple was forty cubits long.
18 And on the cedar inside the house were carvings of gourds and open flowers. All was
of cedar; no stone was seen.
19 And he prepared the inner sanctuary inside the house, to set the ark of the covenant of
Jehovah there.
20 The faces of the inner sanctuary were twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and
twenty cubits high. And he overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the altar with cedar.
21 And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold. He stretched gold chains
across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold.
22 The whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house; also he
overlaid with gold the entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary.
23 Inside the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.
24 One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits:
ten cubits from the end of one wing to the end of the other.
25 And the other cherub was ten cubits; both cherubim were of the same size and the
same shape.
26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub.
27 And he set the cherubim inside the inner house; and they stretched out the wings of the
cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub
touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the house.
28 He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 And he carved all the walls of the house all around, inside and out, with carved figures
of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, both inside and out.
31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and
doorposts were one-fifth.
32 The two doors were of olive wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm
trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he beat out the gold on the
cherubim and on the palm trees.
33 And for the door of the temple he also made doorposts of olive wood; one-fourth.
34 And the two doors were of cypress wood; two panels comprised one folding door, and
two panels comprised the other folding door.
35 And he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them
with gold smoothly fitted to the carved work.
36 And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid, in the month of
Ziv.
38 And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house
was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. Thus he was seven years in
building it.
1 Kings 7
1 And Solomon took thirteen years to build his own house; and he finished all his house.
2 He also built the house of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was one hundred cubits, its
width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, with four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar
beams on the pillars.
3 And it was paneled with cedar above the beams that were on forty-five pillars, fifteen to
a row.
4 There were windows with beveled frames in three rows, and window was opposite
window in three tiers.
5 And all the doorways and doorposts were squared; and window was opposite window in
three tiers.
6 He also made the porch of pillars: its length was fifty cubits, and its width thirty cubits;
and in front of them was a porch with pillars, and a threshold in front of them.
7 And he made a porch for the throne, the Porch of Judgment, where he judged; and it
was paneled with cedar from floor to floor.
8 And the house where he dwelt had another court inside the porch, of similar
workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this porch for Pharaoh's daughter, whom
he had taken as wife.
9 All these were of costly stones cut to size, sawn with saws, inside and out, from the
foundation to the coping, and also on the outside to the great court.
10 The foundation was of costly stones, large stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of
eight cubits.
11 And above were costly stones, hewn to size, and cedar.
12 The great court was of three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams. So were
the inner court of the house of Jehovah and the porch of the house.
13 Now King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre.
14 He was the son of a widow woman from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a
man of Tyre, engraving in bronze; he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill
to work in all workmanship in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and did all his work.
15 And he cast two pillars of bronze, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a
line of twelve cubits circled all the way around.
16 And he made two capitals of cast bronze, to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of
one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.
17 He made a lattice network, with braids of chainwork, for the capitals on top of the
pillars: seven for one capital and seven for the other capital.
18 And he made the pillars, and two rows of pomegranates above the network all around
to cover the capitals on top; and thus he did for the other capital.
19 The capitals which were on top of the pillars in the hall were made like lilies, four
cubits.
20 The capitals on the two pillars also had pomegranates above, by the belly which was
next to the network; and there were two hundred such pomegranates in rows on the other
capital all around.
21 And he set up the pillars by the porch of the temple; he set up the pillar on the right
and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name Boaz.
22 The tops of the pillars were made like lilies. Thus the work of the pillars was finished.
23 And he made the cast sea of ten cubits from brim to brim; it was round all around. Its
height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits made a circuit all the way around.
24 Below its brim round about were gourds all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around
the sea. The gourds were cast in two rows when it was cast.
25 It stood on twelve oxen: three turned toward the north, three turned toward the west,
three turned toward the south, and three turned toward the east; the sea was set on top of
them, and all their back parts were inward.
26 Its thickness was a handbreadth; and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a
lily blossom; and it could hold two thousand baths.
27 And he made ten carts of bronze; four cubits the length of the one cart, and four
cubits the breadth, and three cubits the height.
28 And this was the work of the cart: they had borders, and there were borders between
the stays.
29 And on the borders that were between the stays were lions, oxen, and cherubim. And a
pedestal was on the stays above. And below the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging
work.
30 And each cart had four wheels of bronze, and axles of bronze. And its four feet were
supports to them; under the basin were cast supports with wreaths at each side.
31 And its opening within and above the capital was a cubit; and its opening was round
like the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half. And also on its opening were carvings; and
their borders were square, not round.
32 And the four wheels were under the borders. And the axles of the wheels were
attached to the cart; and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.
33 The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel; their
axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast.
34 And there were four supports at the four corners of each cart; its supports were part of
the cart itself.
35 On the top of the cart was a round compass a half cubit in height. And on the top of
the cart, its stays and its supports were of the same casting.
36 On the plates of its stays and on its borders he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm
trees, wherever there was a clear space on each, with wreaths all around.
37 Thus he made the ten carts. All of them were of the same cast, one measure, and one
shape.
38 And he made ten basins of bronze; each basin could hold forty baths, and each basin
was four cubits. On each of the ten carts was a basin.
39 And he put five carts on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the
house. He set the sea on the right side of the house eastward toward the south.
40 Hiram made the basins, the shovels and the bowls. Thus Hiram finished doing all the
work that he did for King Solomon for the house of Jehovah:
41 the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two
networks covering the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars;
42 four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each
network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars);
43 the ten carts, and ten basins on the carts;
44 the one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;
45 the pots, the shovels, and the bowls. All these articles which Hiram made for King
Solomon for the house of Jehovah were of burnished bronze.
46 In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in the clay ground between Succoth and
Zaretan.
47 And Solomon did not weigh all the articles, because there were so very many; the
weight of the bronze was not determined.
48 Thus Solomon had all the articles made for the house of Jehovah: the altar of gold,
and the table of gold on which was the Bread of the Presence;
49 the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left in front of the
inner sanctuary, with the flowers and the lamps and the tongs of gold;
50 the basins, the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the
hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house (the Holy of Holies) and for the doors
of the house of the temple.
51 Thus all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of Jehovah was finished;
and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had consecrated: the silver and
the gold and the articles, and He put them in the treasuries of the house of Jehovah.
1 Kings 8
1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief
fathers of the children of Israel, unto King Solomon at Jerusalem, that they might bring up
the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the City of David, which is Zion.
2 Therefore all the men of Israel assembled unto King Solomon at the feast in the month
of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3 So all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
4 And they brought up the ark of Jehovah, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that
were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up.
5 And King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him,
were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or
numbered for multitude.
6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to its place, into the inner
sanctuary of the house, to the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim.
7 For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim
covered over the ark and its poles.
8 The poles extended so that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place, in
front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to
this day.
9 Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses had put there at
Horeb, when Jehovah had made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came
out of the land of Egypt.
10 And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled
the house of Jehovah,
11 such that the priests were not able to stand to minister before the cloud; for the glory
of Jehovah had filled the house of Jehovah.
12 Then Solomon spoke: Jehovah has said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.
13 I have built to establish for You an exalted house, a fixed place for You to abide
continually.
14 And the king turned his face around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all
the assembly of Israel was standing.
15 And he said: Blessed is Jehovah the God of Israel, who has spoke with His mouth to
my father David, and with His hand has fulfilled it, saying,
16 Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from
any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, for My name to be there; but I chose David to
be over My people Israel.
17 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of Jehovah the
God of Israel.
18 But Jehovah said to my father David, Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for
My name, you did well that it was in your heart.
19 Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who shall come from your
body, he shall build the house for My name.
20 Thus Jehovah has fulfilled His word which He has spoken; and I have risen up in place
of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah has promised; and I have
built a house for the name of Jehovah the God of Israel.
21 And there I have fixed a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Jehovah which
He had made with our fathers, when He brought them out from the land of Egypt.
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah in front of all the assembly of Israel,
and spread out his hands toward the heavens;
23 and he said: Jehovah the God of Israel, there is no god in the heavens above or on the
earth below like You, who keeps Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk
before You with all their hearts.
24 You have kept what You have promised Your servant David my father; You have both
spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.
25 Therefore, Jehovah the God of Israel, now keep what You have promised Your servant
David my father, saying, You shall not fail to have a man sitting before Me on the throne
of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me as you have walked
before Me.
26 And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed, which You have
spoken to Your servant David my father.
27 But will God truly dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the Heaven of heavens
cannot contain You. How much less this house which I have built!
28 Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Jehovah my God, and
listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today:
29 that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of
which You have said, My name shall be there, that You may hear the prayer which Your
servant prays toward this place.
30 And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when
they pray toward this place. Hear in Heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear,
forgive.
31 When anyone sins against his neighbor, and is required to take an oath, and has come
to swear an oath before Your altar in this house,
32 then hear in Heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, to condemn the wicked, to
bring his way upon his head, and to justify the righteous, giving him according to his
righteousness.
33 When Your people Israel are struck down before an enemy because they have sinned
against You, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make
supplication to You in this house,
34 then hear in Heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to
the land which You have given to their fathers.
35 When the heavens are restrained and there is no rain because they have sinned against
You; when they have prayed toward this place and confessed Your name, and turned from
their sin because You afflicted them,
36 then hear in Heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You
may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain upon Your land
which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
37 When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or
grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land in their cities; whatever plague
or whatever sickness there is;
38 whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people
Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward
this house:
39 then hear in Heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone
according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone have known the hearts of
all the sons of men),
40 that they may fear You all the days that they are alive on the face of the land which
You have given to our fathers.
41 Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come
from a distant land on account of Your name
42 (for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched
arm), when he has come and prayed toward this house,
43 hear in Heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner
calls upon You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name to fear You, as do Your
people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your
name.
44 When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You send them, and
when they pray to Jehovah toward the city which You have chosen and the house which I
have built for Your name,
45 then hear in Heaven their prayer and their supplication, and attend to their cause.
46 When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You have
become angry with them and delivered them to the enemy, and they have taken them
captive to the land of the enemy, far or near;
47 yet when they have returned in their minds in the land where they have been carried
captive, and have repented in their hearts, and made supplication to You in the land of
those holding them captive, saying, We have sinned and done perversely, we have
committed wickedness;
48 and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of
their enemies who have taken them captive, and have prayed to You toward their land
which You have given to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the house
which I have built for Your name:
49 then hear in Heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and attend
to their cause,
50 and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions
which they have transgressed against You; and grant them compassion before those who
took them captive, that they may have compassion on them
51 (for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You have brought out of
Egypt, out of the midst of the iron furnace),
52 that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of
Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call unto You.
53 For as You have spoken by the hand of Your servant Moses, You have separated them
from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, when You brought our
fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Jehovah.
54 And so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication
unto Jehovah, that he arose before the altar of Jehovah, from kneeling on his knees with
his hands spread up to the heavens.
55 And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:
56 Blessed is Jehovah, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He has
spoken. There has not failed one word of all His good word, which He has spoken by the
hand of His servant Moses.
57 Jehovah our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us nor
forsake us,
58 that He may incline our hearts unto Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His
commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He has commanded our
fathers.
59 And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before Jehovah,
be near Jehovah our God day and night, that He may attend to the cause of His servant
and the cause of His people Israel, each matter from day to day,
60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that Jehovah is God; there is no other.
61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with Jehovah our God, to walk in His statutes and
keep His commandments, as at this day.
62 And the king and all Israel with him were offering sacrifices before Jehovah.
63 And Solomon offered sacrifices of peace offerings, which he offered unto Jehovah,
twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. Thus the king and
all the children of Israel dedicated the house of Jehovah.
64 And for that day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the
house of Jehovah; for there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the
peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Jehovah was too small to receive
the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.
65 And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from
the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before Jehovah our God, seven days and
seven more days; fourteen days.
66 On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their
tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that Jehovah had done for His servant David,
and for Israel His people.
1 Kings 9
1 And it came to pass, when Solomon was finished building the house of Jehovah and
the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he had taken delight to do,
2 that Jehovah appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared to him at
Gibeon.
3 And Jehovah said to him: I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have
made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there
always; and My eyes and My heart will be there all the days.
4 Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in
uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes
and My judgments,
5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I have spoken to
David your father, saying, You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.
6 But if you or your sons go back to turn away from after Me, and do not keep My
commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods
and bow down to them,
7 then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I
have consecrated for My name I will send away from before My face; and Israel shall be a
proverb and a byword among all peoples.
8 And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and
shall hiss, and say, Why has Jehovah done thus to this land and to this house?
9 Then they will answer, Because they have forsaken Jehovah their God, who brought
their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken up with other gods, and bowed down
to them and served them; therefore Jehovah has brought all this evil upon them.
10 And it happened at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses,
the house of Jehovah and the king's house
11 (Hiram the king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress and gold, as
much as he desired), that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of
Galilee.
12 And Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, but they
were not pleasing to his eyes.
13 So he said, What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother? And
he called them the land of Cabul, to this day.
14 And Hiram sent the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.
15 And this is the reason for the labor force which King Solomon raised: to build the
house of Jehovah, his own house, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and
Gezer.
16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer and burned it with fire, had killed
the Canaanites who dwelt in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter,
Solomon's wife.)
17 And Solomon built Gezer, lower Beth Horon,
18 Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,
19 all the storage cities that Solomon had, cities for his chariots and cities for his
horsemen, 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, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites,
who were not of the children of Israel;
21 that is, their sons who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel had
not been able to destroy completely; from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this
day.
22 But of the children of Israel Solomon made no slaves, because they were men of war
and his servants: his officers, his captains, commanders of his chariots, and his horsemen.
23 Others were chiefs of the officers who were over Solomon's work: five hundred and
fifty, who ruled over the people who did the work.
24 When Pharaoh's daughter had come up from the City of David to her house which
Solomon had built for her, then he built the Millo.
25 Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the
altar which he had built unto Jehovah, and he burned incense on the altar that was before
Jehovah. Thus he finished the house.
26 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath on the
shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
27 And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, along with the
servants of Solomon.
28 And they came to Ophir, and carried away four hundred and twenty talents of gold
from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
1 Kings 10
1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of
Jehovah, she came to test him with hard questions.
2 She came to Jerusalem with a very great company, with camels bearing spices, very
much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him
about all that was on her heart.
3 And Solomon made known all her matters; there was nothing so difficult for the king
that he could not explain it to her.
4 And when the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,
5 the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Jehovah, it took her breath away.
6 Then she said to the king: It was a true word which I heard in my own land about your
words and your wisdom.
7 However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and
behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I
have heard.
8 Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before
you and hear your wisdom!
9 Blessed is Jehovah your God, who has delighted in you, setting you on the throne of
Israel! Because of Jehovah's eternal love for Israel, therefore He made you king, to execute
justice and righteousness.
10 And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity,
and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of
Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11 And the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, also brought great quantities
of almug wood and precious stones from Ophir.
12 And the king made pillars of the almug wood for the house of Jehovah and for the king's house, and harps and lutes for the singers. There never again came such almug wood, nor has the like been seen to this day.
13 And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked,
besides what Solomon had given to her according to the hand of the king. So she turned
and went to her own land, she and her servants.
14 The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six
talents of gold,
15 besides that from the traveling merchants, from the income of traders, from all the
kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the land.
16 And King Solomon made two hundred shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels
of gold went into each shield.
17 He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into
each shield. The king put them in the house of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.
19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round at the back; there were
armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests.
20 Twelve lions were standing there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this
had been made for any other kingdom.
21 All King Solomon's drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the house of the
Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in
the days of Solomon.
22 For the king had a fleet of ships at sea from Tarshish along with the fleet of Hiram; and
once every three years the ships from Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and
peacocks.
23 Thus King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
24 And all the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God
had put into his heart.
25 Each man was bringing his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices,
horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.
26 And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred
chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom 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 cedar trees as
abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.
28 Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Mikveh; the king's merchants got
them at Mikveh for a price.
29 Now a chariot that came up out from Egypt was six hundred shekels of silver, and a
horse one hundred and fifty; and thus, by their hand, they exported them to all the kings of
the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
1 Kings 11
1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh:
Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites;
2 from the nations of whom Jehovah had said to the children of Israel, You shall not go in
to them, nor they to you. Truly they will thrust aside your hearts after their gods. These,
Solomon clung to in love.
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his
wives thrust away his heart.
4 For so it was, when Solomon was old, that his wives thrust his heart aside after other
gods; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as was the heart of his father
David.
5 For Solomon departed after Ashtaroth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom
the abomination of the Ammonites.
6 Solomon did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and did not fully follow after Jehovah, like his
father David.
7 And Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that
is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon.
8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their
gods.
9 And Jehovah was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned aside from
Jehovah the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
10 and had charged him concerning this thing, that he should not depart after other gods;
but he had not kept what Jehovah had charged.
11 Therefore Jehovah said to Solomon, Because you have done this, and have not kept
My covenant and My statutes, which I have charged you, I will rend to tear the kingdom
away from you, and have given it to your servant.
12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I shall tear
it out of the hand of your son.
13 However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I shall give one tribe to your son for
the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.
14 And Jehovah raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of
the seed of the king in Edom.
15 For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had
gone up to bury the slain, after he had killed every male in Edom
16 (because for six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut down
every male in Edom),
17 that Hadad fled to go to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with
him. Hadad was still a little child.
18 And they rose up out of Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from
Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, apportioned
food for him, and gave him land.
19 And Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the
sister of his own wife, that is, the sister of Queen Tahpenes.
20 And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in
Pharaoh's house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh's household among the sons of Pharaoh.
21 So when Hadad heard in Egypt that David had rested with his fathers, and that Joab
the commander of the army had died, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go
to my own land.
22 And Pharaoh said to him, But what have you lacked with me, that behold you are
seeking to go to your own land? And he answered, Nothing, however send me away to let
me go.
23 And God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord, Hadadezer king of Zobah.
24 So he gathered men to him and became leader over a band of raiders, when David
killed those of Zobah. And they went to Damascus and dwelt there, and reigned in
Damascus.
25 He was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon (besides the evil that Hadad did);
and he loathed Israel, and reigned over Syria.
26 And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Solomon's servant, an Ephrathite from Zereda,
whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, also lifted up his hand against the
king.
27 And this was the matter for which he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon had
built the Millo and repaired the breaches to the City of David his father.
28 And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon saw that the young
man was industrious, and made him overseer over the burden bearers of the house of
Joseph.
29 And it happened at that time, when Jeroboam had gone out of Jerusalem, that the
prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he was clothed with a new garment,
and the two were alone in the field.
30 And Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve
pieces.
31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says Jehovah the God
of Israel: Behold, I am tearing the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and have given ten
tribes to you
32 (but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of
Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),
33 because they have forsaken Me, and bowed down to Ashtaroth the goddess of the
Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of
Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and to keep My
statutes and My judgments, as did his father David.
34 However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him
ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I have chosen
because he has kept My commandments and My statutes.
35 But I have taken the kingdom out of his son's hand and given it to you; ten tribes.
36 And to his son I will give one tribe, that My servant David may always have a lamp
before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there.
37 And I will take you, and you shall reign according to all your soul's desires, and you
shall be king over Israel.
38 And it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is
right in My eyes, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David has
done, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I have built for
David, and will give Israel to you.
39 And I will afflict the seed of David because of this, but not for all time.
40 Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to
Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
41 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not
written in the book of the Acts of Solomon.
42 And the days that Solomon had reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
43 And Solomon rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father.
And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
1 Kings 12
1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him
king.
2 So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in Egypt, for he
had fled from before King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt),
3 that they sent and called for him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came
and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
4 Your father had made our yoke severe; now therefore, lighten the hard service of your
father, and his heavy yoke which he had put on us, and we will serve you.
5 So he said to them, Go away for three days, then come back to me. And the people
departed.
6 And King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while
he still lived, and he said, How do you counsel me to answer these people?
7 And they spoke to him, saying, If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve
them, and answer them, and speak agreeable words to them, then they will be your
servants all your days.
8 But he rejected the counsel which the elders had given him, and consulted the young
men who had grown up with him, who were standing before him.
9 And he said to them, What counsel do you give? How should we answer this people
who have spoken to me, saying, Lighten the yoke which your father has put on us?
10 And the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, Thus you shall
speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy,
but you make it lighter on us; thus you shall say to them: My little finger has become fatter
than my father's loins!
11 And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my
father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions!
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had
spoken, saying, Come back to me the third day.
13 And the king answered the people harshly, and rejected the counsel which the elders
had given him;
14 and he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, My father
made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips,
but I will chastise you with scorpions!
15 Thus the king did not give heed to the people; for the turn of events was from Jehovah, to establish His word, which Jehovah had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16 And when all Israel saw that the king had not heeded them, the people answered the
king, saying: What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of
Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now, see to your own house, O David! And Israel departed
to their tents.
17 Thus Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.
18 And King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute, but all Israel stoned him
with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to
Jerusalem.
19 Thus Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
20 And it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, that they sent
for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was
no one who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
21 And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the
tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand choice men who were warriors, to
fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of
Solomon.
22 But the Word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
23 Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah
and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying,
24 Thus says Jehovah: You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of
Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing has come about from Me.
Therefore they obeyed the Word of Jehovah, and returned to go back, according to the
Word of Jehovah.
25 And Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he
went out from there and built Penuel.
26 And Jeroboam thought in his heart, Now the kingdom may return to the house of
David:
27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem, then the
heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill
me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.
28 Therefore the king took counsel, made two calves of gold, and said to them, It is too
much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold your gods, O Israel, which brought you up
from the land of Egypt!
29 And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
30 Now this thing became a sin, for the people went before the one, even as far as Dan.
31 He made houses on the high places, and made priests from among all the people, who
were not of the sons of Levi.
32 And Jeroboam instituted a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast
that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. Thus he did at Bethel, sacrificing to
the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which
he had made.
33 Thus he offered up on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of
the eighth month, in the month which he had contrived in his own heart. And he ordained
a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.
1 Kings 13
1 And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the Word of Jehovah, and
Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.
2 And he cried out against the altar by the Word of Jehovah, and said, O altar, altar! Thus
says Jehovah: Behold, a son, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on
you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's
bones shall be burned on you.
3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign that Jehovah has spoken this:
Behold, the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.
4 So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the utterance of the man of God, who
cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched forth his hand from the altar, saying,
Arrest him! And his hand, which he had stretched forth toward him, withered, so that he
could not pull it back to himself.
5 The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the
sign which the man of God had given by the Word of Jehovah.
6 And the king answered and said to the man of God, Please entreat the face of Jehovah
your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me. So the man of God
entreated Jehovah, and the king's hand was restored to him, and became as before.
7 And the king said to the man of God, Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I
will give you a reward.
8 But the man of God said to the king, If you were to give me half your house, I would
not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place.
9 For so it was commanded me by the Word of Jehovah, saying, You shall not eat bread,
nor drink water, nor return by the same way you have come.
10 So he went another way and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.
11 Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and recounted to him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.
12 And their father said to them, Which way did he go? For his sons had seen which way
the man of God had gone, who had come from Judah.
13 And he said to his sons, Saddle the donkey for me. So they saddled the donkey for
him; and he rode on it,
14 and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to
him, Are you the man of God who came from Judah? And he said, I am.
15 And he said to him, Come home with me and eat bread.
16 And he said, I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor
drink water with you in this place.
17 For I have been told by the Word of Jehovah, You shall not eat bread nor drink water
there, nor return by going the way you came.
18 And he said to him, I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel has spoken to me by
the Word of Jehovah, saying, Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat
bread and drink water. But he lied to him.
19 So he turned back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.
20 And it happened, as they sat at the table, that the Word of Jehovah came to the prophet
who had brought him back;
21 and he cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, saying, Thus says
Jehovah: Because you have disobeyed the Word of Jehovah, and have not kept the
commandment with which Jehovah your God has charged you,
22 but you turned back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which He said to you,
Eat no bread and drink no water, your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.
23 So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey
for him, the prophet whom he had brought back.
24 And when he left, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was
thrown on the road, and the donkey was standing by it. The lion also was standing by the
corpse.
25 And behold, men were passing by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion
standing by the corpse. And they came and spoke of it in the city where the old prophet
dwelt.
26 Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, It is
the man of God who had been rebellious against the mouth of Jehovah. Therefore Jehovah
has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the Word of
Jehovah which He had spoken to him.
27 And he spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle the donkey for me. So they saddled it.
28 And he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion
standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey.
29 And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and
brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn, and to bury him.
30 And he laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my
brother!
31 So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, When I am dead,
then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.
32 For the word which he has cried out by the Word of Jehovah against the altar in
Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall
surely come to pass.
33 After these events Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but he went back to
making priests from among all the people for the high places; whoever wished, he
confirmed his hand, and he became one of the priests of the high places.
34 And this matter was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to annihilate and destroy it
from the face of the earth.
1 Kings 14
1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam was sick.
2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Please arise, and disguise yourself, that they may not
recognize you as the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is
there, who told me that I would be king over this people.
3 Also take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him; he will tell
you what shall become of the child.
4 And Jeroboam's wife did so; she arose and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of
Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see, for his eyes had become fixed by reason of his age.
5 And Jehovah had said to Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to ask you
something about her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus you shall say to her; for it will be,
when she comes in, that she will pretend to be another woman.
6 And so it was, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in the door, that he
said, Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why do you pretend to be another person? For I am sent
to you with a difficult message.
7 Go, say to Jeroboam, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: Because I have exalted you
from among the people, and appointed you ruler over My people Israel,
8 and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you
have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who walked after
Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes;
9 but you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made
for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me
behind your back;
10 therefore behold, I am bringing calamity upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him who urinates against a wall, both bond and free in Israel; I will consume the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away the dung for burning until it is all gone.
11 The dogs shall eat whoever of Jeroboam dies in the city, and the birds of the heavens
shall eat whoever dies in the field; for Jehovah has spoken!
12 Arise therefore, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall
die.
13 And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one of Jeroboam
who shall come to the grave; because out of the whole house of Jeroboam, only in him
there is found something good toward Jehovah the God of Israel.
14 Moreover Jehovah shall raise up for Himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the
house of Jeroboam that day. What? Even straightaway!
15 For Jehovah shall strike Israel, as a reed flutters in the water. He will uproot Israel from
this good land which He has given to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River,
because they have made their groves, provoking Jehovah to anger.
16 And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who has sinned and has
made Israel sin.
17 And Jeroboam's wife arose and departed, and came to Tirzah. And as she was entering
the threshold of the house, the boy died.
18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the Word of Jehovah which He had spoken by the hand of His servant Ahijah the prophet.
19 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned, behold
they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.
20 The days that Jeroboam reigned were twenty-two years. And he rested with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.
21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years
old when he became king. He reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which
Jehovah had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother's
name was Naamah, an Ammonitess.
22 And Judah did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and they provoked Him to jealousy with
their sins which they sinned, more than all that their fathers had done.
23 For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and groves on every high
hill and under every green tree.
24 And there were also male temple prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the
abominations of the nations which Jehovah had cast out before the children of Israel.
25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt
came up against Jerusalem.
26 And he took away the treasures of the house of Jehovah and the treasures of the king's
house; he took away everything. He also took away all the gold shields which Solomon had
made.
27 And King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them to the
hands of the chief runners who guarded the door to the king's house.
28 And whenever the king went to the house of Jehovah, the runners carried them, then
brought them back into 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 Chronicles of the kings of Judah.
30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
31 So Rehoboam rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of
David. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in
his place.
1 Kings 15
1 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over
Judah.
2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maachah the daughter of
Abishalom.
3 And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; his heart was
not perfect toward Jehovah his God, as was the heart of his father David.
4 Nevertheless for David's sake Jehovah his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up
his son after him to establish Jerusalem;
5 because David had done what was right in the eyes of Jehovah, and had not turned aside
from anything that He had commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of
Uriah the Hittite.
6 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
7 And the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book
of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah. And there was war between Abijam and
Jeroboam.
8 And Abijam rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. And Asa
his son reigned in his place.
9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king over Judah.
10 And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maachah the
daughter of Abishalom.
11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah, as did his father David.
12 And he took away the male temple prostitutes from the land, and removed all the idols
that his fathers had made.
13 Also he removed Maachah his mother from being queen mother, because she had
made a horrible thing in a grove. And Asa cut down her horrible thing and burned it by the
Brook Kidron.
14 But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect toward
Jehovah all his days.
15 He also brought into the house of Jehovah the things which his father had set apart,
and the things which he himself had set apart: silver and gold and utensils.
16 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
17 And Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might let
no one go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
18 Then Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of
Jehovah and the treasuries of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his
servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of
Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying,
19 Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your
father. Behold, I have sent you a present of silver and gold. Come and break your treaty
with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.
20 So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the commanders of his forces against the cities of Israel. And he struck Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maachah, and all Chinnereth, with all the land of Naphtali.
21 Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah, and
remained in Tirzah.
22 Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; no one was exempted. And
they took away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and
with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
23 The rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, all that he did, and the cities which he
built, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah. But in the
time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
24 So Asa rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his
father. And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.
25 Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam had become king over Israel in the second year of
Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.
26 And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of his father, and in his
sin by which he had made Israel sin.
27 And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And
Baasha killed him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all
Israel was laying siege to Gibbethon.
28 Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.
29 And it was so, when he became king, that he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He did
not leave to Jeroboam anyone that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the
Word of Jehovah which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite,
30 because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel
sin, because of his provocation with which he had provoked Jehovah the God of Israel to
anger.
31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book
of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.
32 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all
Israel in Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years.
34 He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of Jeroboam, and in his sin
by which he had made Israel sin.
1 Kings 16
1 Then the Word of Jehovah came to Jehu the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying:
2 Inasmuch as I raised you up out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel,
and you have walked in the ways of Jeroboam, and have made My people Israel sin, to
provoke Me to anger with their sins,
3 behold, I will consume away after Baasha and after his house, and I will make your
house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
4 The dogs shall eat whoever dies of Baasha in the city, and the birds of the heavens shall
eat whoever dies in the fields.
5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his might, are they not written in
the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.
6 So Baasha rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah. And Elah his son reigned in
his place.
7 And also the Word of Jehovah came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against
Baasha and his house, because of all the evil that he had done in the eyes of Jehovah to
provoke Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam,
and because he killed them.
8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over
Israel, and reigned two years in Tirzah.
9 Now his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was
in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward of his house in Tirzah.
10 And Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa
king of Judah, and reigned in his place.
11 And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his throne,
that he killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave him one who urinates against a
wall, neither of his kinsmen nor of his friends.
12 Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the Word of Jehovah,
which He had spoken against Baasha by the hand of Jehu the prophet,
13 for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned and by
which they had made Israel sin, in provoking Jehovah the God of Israel to anger with their
vanities.
14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of
the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.
15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven
days. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.
16 And the people who were encamped heard it said, Zimri has conspired and also has
killed the king. So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that
day in the camp.
17 And Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah.
18 And it happened, when Zimri saw that the city had been taken, that he went into the
citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house down upon himself with fire, and
died,
19 because of the sins which he had sinned in doing evil in the eyes of Jehovah, in walking
in the ways of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had done to make Israel sin.
20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the treason he committed, are they not written in
the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.
21 Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed after
Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half after Omri.
22 But the people following after Omri prevailed over the people following after Tibni the
son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri reigned.
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel, and reigned
twelve years. Six years he reigned in Tirzah.
24 And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built
on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, Samaria, after the name of
Shemer, owner of the hill.
25 And Omri did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and did worse than all who were before him;
26 for he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he
had made Israel sin, to provoke Jehovah the God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they
not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.
28 So Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And Ahab his son reigned
in his place.
29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king
over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.
30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, more than all who were
before him.
31 And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of
the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and bowed down to him.
32 And he set up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
33 And Ahab made a grove. Ahab did more to provoke Jehovah the God of Israel to anger
than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his
firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the Word of
Jehovah, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.
1 Kings 17
1 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, As Jehovah the God
of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except
according to my word.
2 And the Word of Jehovah came to him, saying,
3 Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, that is before the
Jordan.
4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to
feed you there.
5 So he went and did according to the Word of Jehovah, for he went and stayed by the
Brook Cherith, which is before the Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the
evening; and he drank from the brook.
7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in
the land.
8 And the Word of Jehovah came to him, saying,
9 Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have
commanded a widow woman there to provide for you.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold
the widow woman was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, Please bring
me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, Please bring me a morsel of
bread in your hand.
12 And she said, As Jehovah your God lives, I do not have a cake, only a handful of flour
in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; and behold, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go
in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
13 And Elijah said to her, Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small
cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.
14 For thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: The jar of flour shall not be used up, nor shall
the jug of oil become empty, until the day that Jehovah sends rain upon the face of the
earth.
15 So she went and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her
household ate many days.
16 The jar of flour was not used up, nor did the jug of oil become empty, according to
the Word of Jehovah which He had spoken by the hand of Elijah.
17 Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the
house, became sick; and his sickness was very severe until there was no breath left in him.
18 So she said to Elijah, What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to
me to bring my iniquity to remembrance, and to kill my son?
19 And he said to her, Give me your son. So he took him out of her bosom and carried
him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.
20 And he cried out unto Jehovah and said, O Jehovah my God, have You also brought
tragedy upon the widow woman who is showing me hospitality, by killing her son?
21 And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out unto Jehovah and
said, O Jehovah my God, I pray, let this child's soul return into him.
22 And Jehovah heeded the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back into him,
and he revived.
23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house,
and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, See, your son lives!
24 Then the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and
that the Word of Jehovah in your mouth is truth.
1 Kings 18
1 And it came to pass after many days that the Word of Jehovah came to Elijah, in the
third year, saying, Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the face of the
earth.
2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and the famine was severe in Samaria.
3 And Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared
Jehovah greatly.
4 For so it was, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah had taken one
hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and
water.)
5 And Ahab said to Obadiah, Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the
brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will not
have to destroy any of the livestock.
6 So they divided the land between them, to pass through it; Ahab went one way by
himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
7 And as Obadiah was on his way, behold Elijah met him; and he recognized him, and fell
on his face, and said, Is that you, my lord Elijah?
8 And he answered him, It is I. Go, tell your master, Behold, Elijah is here.
9 And he said, How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of
Ahab, to kill me?
10 As Jehovah your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not
sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, He is not here, he took an oath from
the kingdom or nation that they did not find you.
11 And now you are saying, Go, tell your master, Behold Elijah is here!
12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of Jehovah
will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find
you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared Jehovah from my youth.
13 Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of Jehovah,
how I hid one hundred men of the prophets of Jehovah, fifty to a cave, and fed them with
bread and water?
14 And now you say, Go, tell your master, Behold Elijah is here. He will kill me!
15 And Elijah said, As Jehovah of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present
myself to him today.
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and reported to him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 And it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Is that you, O
troubler of Israel?
18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in
that you have forsaken the commandments of Jehovah and have gone after the Baals.
19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred
and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of the groves, who eat at
Jezebel's table.
20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on
Mount Carmel.
21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, How long will you be limping between
two divided opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow after him. But
the people answered him not a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, I alone am left a prophet of Jehovah; but Baal's
prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut
it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other
bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it.
24 Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call upon the name of Jehovah; and
the god who answers by fire, He is God. So all the people answered and said, The word is
good.
25 And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it
first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.
26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the
name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, O Baal, hear us! But there was no
voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.
27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for he is a god;
either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and
must be awakened.
28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances,
until the blood gushed out on them.
29 And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the
evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me. So all the people came near to
him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah that was broken down.
31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of
Jacob, to whom the Word of Jehovah had come, saying, Israel shall be your name.
32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah; and he made a trench
around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed.
33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said,
Fill four waterpots 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; and he said, Do it a
third time, and they did it a third time.
35 And the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.
36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the
prophet came near and said, Jehovah the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known
this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these
things at Your Word.
37 Testify, O Jehovah, testify, that this people may know that You are Jehovah God, and
that You have turned their hearts around back to You.
38 Then the fire of Jehovah fell and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood and the
stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, Jehovah, He is
God! Jehovah, He is God!
40 And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape! So
they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and slaughtered
them there.
41 And Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of
rain.
42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he
bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees,
43 and said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. So he went up and looked,
and said, There is nothing. And seven times he said, Go back.
44 And it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there is a cloud, as small as
a man's hand, rising out of the sea! So he said, Go up, say to Ahab, Prepare your chariot,
and go down before the rain stops you.
45 And it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and
there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.
46 And the hand of Jehovah came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead
of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
1 Kings 19
1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had killed all the prophets
with the sword.
2 And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also,
if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.
3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and came to Beer-sheba of Judah,
and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a
broom tree. And he requested for his soul that he might die, and said, It is enough! Now,
Jehovah, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!
5 And as he lay and slept under a broom tree, behold an angel touched him, and said to
him, Arise and eat.
6 And he looked, and behold, by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water.
So he ate and drank, and turned and lay down.
7 And the Angel of Jehovah came back the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise
and eat, because the journey is too great for you.
8 And he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and
forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.
9 And there he came into a cave, and spent the night there; and behold, the Word of
Jehovah came to him, and He said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah?
10 And he said, I have been very zealous for Jehovah the God of Hosts; for the children
of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets
with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek my soul, to take it away.
11 And He said, Go out, and stand on the mountain before Jehovah. And behold, Jehovah
passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in
pieces before Jehovah, but Jehovah was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake,
but Jehovah was not in the earthquake;
12 and after the earthquake a fire, but Jehovah was not in the fire; and after the fire a
whisper of a small voice.
13 And so it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went
out and stood in the entrance of the cave; and behold, a voice came to him, and said, What
are you doing here, Elijah?
14 And he said, I have been very zealous for Jehovah the God of Hosts; because the
children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your
prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek my soul, to take it away.
15 And Jehovah said to him: Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and
when you have come there, anoint Hazael as king over Syria.
16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of
Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.
17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever
escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill.
18 Yet I have left in Israel seven thousand, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and
every mouth that has not kissed him.
19 So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing
with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. And Elijah passed by
him and threw his mantle on him.
20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, Please let me kiss my father and my
mother, and then I will follow after you. And he said to him, Turn and go back, for what
have I done to you?
21 So Elisha turned back from after him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them
and boiled their flesh, using the oxen's implements, and gave it to the people, and they ate.
Then he arose and went after Elijah, and served him.
1 Kings 20
1 Now Ben-Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his forces together; thirty-two kings
were with him, with horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria, and made
war against it.
2 And he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, Thus says
Ben-Hadad:
3 Your silver and your gold are mine; your lovely wives and children are mine.
4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, just as you say, I and all that
I have are yours.
5 And the messengers came back and said, Thus says Ben-Hadad, saying, Indeed I have
sent to you, saying, You shall deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your
children;
6 but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your
house and the houses of your servants. And it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your
eyes, they shall put it in their hands and take it away.
7 So the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Notice, please, and see
how this man seeks evil, for he sent to me for my wives, my children, my silver, and my
gold; and I have not withheld from him.
8 And all the elders and all the people said to him, Do not listen or consent.
9 Therefore he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that you
sent for to your servant the first time I will do, but this thing I cannot do. And the
messengers departed and brought back word to him.
10 And Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if enough
dust is left of Samaria for a handful for each of the people who follow me.
11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not the one who puts on his
armor boast like the one who takes it off.
12 And it happened when Ben-Hadad heard this message, as he and the kings were
drinking at the booths, that he said to his servants, Get ready. And they stationed
themselves against the city.
13 And behold, a certain prophet approached Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus says
Jehovah: Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I am delivering it into your hand
today, and you shall know that I am Jehovah.
14 So Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus says Jehovah: By the young rulers of the
provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he answered, You.
15 Then he mustered the young rulers of the provinces, and there were two hundred and
thirty-two; and after them he mustered all the people, all the sons of Israel; seven thousand.
16 So they went out at noon. Meanwhile Ben-Hadad and the thirty-two kings helping him
were getting drunk in the booths.
17 And the young rulers of the provinces went out first. And Ben-Hadad sent out, and they reported to him, saying, Men have come out of Samaria!
18 And he said, If they have come out for peace, take them alive; and if they have come
out for war, take them alive.
19 And the young rulers of the provinces went out of the city with the army which
followed them.
20 And each one struck his man; so the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them; and Ben-Hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen.
21 And the king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and struck the
Syrians with a great slaughter.
22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself;
take note, and see what you should do, for at the return of the year the king of Syria will
come up against you.
23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are gods of the hills.
Therefore they were stronger than us; but if we fight against them in the plain, will we not
be stronger than them.
24 So do this thing: Remove the kings, each from his place, and put governors in their
places;
25 and you shall muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse and
chariot for chariot. Then we shall fight against them in the plain; surely we will be stronger
than them. And he heeded their voice and did so.
26 So it was, at the turn of the year, that Ben-Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to
Aphek to fight against Israel.
27 And the sons of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and they went against
them. Now the sons of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, while
the Syrians filled the land.
28 And a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, Thus says Jehovah:
Because the Syrians have said, Jehovah is God of the hills, but He is not God of the
valleys, therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know
that I am Jehovah.
29 And they encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was that on the seventh
day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand foot
soldiers of the Syrians in one day.
30 And the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; where a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of
the men who were left. And Ben-Hadad fled and came into the city, into an inner
chamber.
31 And his servants said to him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house
of Israel are merciful kings. Please, let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes around our
heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will preserve alive your soul.
32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins and put ropes around their heads, and came to
the king of Israel and said, Your servant Ben-Hadad says, Please preserve my soul alive.
And he said, Is he still alive? He is my brother.
33 Now the men observed carefully, and they quickly grasped at this word and said, Your
brother Ben-Hadad. And he said, Go, bring him. Then Ben-Hadad came out to him; and
he had him come up into the chariot.
34 And Ben-Hadad said to him, The cities which my father took from your father I will
restore; and you shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.
And Ahab said, I will send you away with this treaty. So he made a treaty with him and
sent him away.
35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor, By the Word of
Jehovah, Strike me, please. And the man refused to strike him.
36 And he said to him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah, behold, as
soon as you depart from me, a lion shall kill you. And as soon as he left him, a lion found
him and killed him.
37 And he found another man, and said, Strike me, please. So the man struck him, to
strike and wound him.
38 And the prophet departed and waited for the king by the road, and disguised himself
with a cover over his eyes.
39 And as the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, Your servant went out into
the midst of the battle; and there, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said,
Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, your soul shall be for his soul, or else you
shall pay a talent of silver.
40 And while your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel
said to him, So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it.
41 And he hastened to take the covering away from his eyes; and the king of Israel
recognized him as one of the prophets.
42 And he said to him, Thus says Jehovah: Because you have sent away out of your hand
a man whom I devoted to utter destruction, therefore your soul shall go for his soul, and
your people for his people.
43 So the king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.
1 Kings 21
1 And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which
was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
2 And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a
vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard
better than it. Or, if it is good in your eyes, I will give you its price in money.
3 But Naboth said to Ahab, Jehovah forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers
to you!
4 So Ahab went into his house sullen and angry because of the word which Naboth the
Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, I will not give you the inheritance of my
fathers. And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food.
5 And Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, Why is your spirit so sullen that
you are not eating food?
6 And he said to her, Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, Give me
your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.
And he answered, I will not give you my vineyard.
7 And Jezebel his wife said to him, Do you now rule over Israel? Arise, eat food, and let
your heart be joyful. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
8 And she wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to
the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth.
9 She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the
people;
10 and seat two men, sons of worthlessness, before him to bear witness against him,
saying, You have blasphemed God and the king. Then take him out, and stone him, that he
may die.
11 So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as
Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them.
12 They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth at the head of the people.
13 And two men, sons of worthlessness, came in and sat before him; and the men of
worthlessness testified against him, against Naboth, before the people, saying, Naboth has
blasphemed God and the king! Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with
stones, so that he died.
14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned and is dead.
15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead,
that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite,
which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but has died.
16 So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth had died, that Ahab got up and went down to
take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
17 And the Word of Jehovah came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. Behold, he is in the
vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it.
19 And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says Jehovah: Have you murdered and also
taken possession? And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says Jehovah: In the place
where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.
20 So Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, O my enemy? And he answered, I have
found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of Jehovah:
21 Behold, I shall bring evil upon you. I shall take away your posterity, and shall cut off from Ahab in Israel everyone who urinates against a wall, both bond and free.
22 I have delivered up your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like
the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have
provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.
23 And concerning Jezebel Jehovah also spoke, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the
wall of Jezreel.
24 The dogs shall eat whoever of Ahab dies in the city, and the birds of the heavens shall
eat whoever dies in the field.
25 Surely there had not been one like Ahab who had sold himself to do wickedness in the
eyes of Jehovah, which his wife Jezebel had instigated.
26 And he did exceedingly abominably to follow after the idols, according to all that the
Amorites had done, whom Jehovah had cast out before the children of Israel.
27 So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on
his flesh, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and walked about softly.
28 And the Word of Jehovah came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
29 Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled
himself before Me, I will not bring about the evil in his days; but in the days of his son I
will bring about the evil upon his house.
1 Kings 22
1 Now three years passed without war between Syria and Israel.
2 And it came to pass, in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to
visit the king of Israel.
3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, Have you known that Ramoth in Gilead is
ours, but we are being inactive to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?
4 And he said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth Gilead? And
Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my people as your people, my
horses as your horses.
5 Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Please inquire at the Word of Jehovah today.
6 So the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said
to them, Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain? And they said, Go up,
for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.
7 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not still a prophet of Jehovah here, that we may inquire
of Him?
8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of
Imlah, by whom we may inquire of Jehovah; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy
good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so!
9 Then the king of Israel summoned a certain official and said, Bring Micaiah the son of
Imlah quickly!
10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, having put on their robes, sat
each on his throne, at a vacant spot at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the
prophets were prophesying before them.
11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself; and he said, Thus
says Jehovah: With these you shall thrust at the Syrians to destroy them.
12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for
Jehovah will deliver it into the king's hand.
13 And the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Behold
now, the words of the prophets with one mouth are agreeable to the king. Please, let your
word be like the word of one of them, and speak pleasant things.
14 And Micaiah said, As Jehovah lives, whatever Jehovah says to me, that I will speak.
15 So he came to the king; and the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go to war against
Ramoth Gilead, or shall we refrain? And he answered him, Go and prosper, for Jehovah
will deliver it into the hand of the king!
16 And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure you to speak to me nothing
but the truth in the name of Jehovah?
17 Then he said, I have seen all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep having no
shepherd. And Jehovah said, These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.
18 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you he would not prophesy
good concerning me, but evil?
19 And Micaiah said, Therefore hear the Word of Jehovah: I saw Jehovah sitting on His
throne, and all the host of Heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left.
20 And Jehovah said, Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth
Gilead? So one said this, and another was saying that.
21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before Jehovah, and said, I will entice him.
22 And Jehovah said to him, In what way? And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of
falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets. And Jehovah said, You shall entice him, and
also prevail. Go out and do so.
23 Therefore now behold, Jehovah has put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all these
prophets of yours, and Jehovah has spoken calamity against you.
24 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and
said, Which way did the spirit from Jehovah go from me to speak to you?
25 And Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner
chamber to hide!
26 So the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the ruler 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 with bread of
affliction and water of affliction, until I come in peace.
28 And Micaiah said, If you return to come back in peace, Jehovah has not spoken by me.
And he said, All you people, pay attention!
29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.
30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and go into battle; but
you put on your robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.
31 Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two commanders of his chariots,
saying, Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel.
32 And so it was, when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said,
Surely it is the king of Israel! Therefore they turned aside to fight against him, and
Jehoshaphat cried out.
33 And it happened, when the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of
Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
34 Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the
joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, Turn your hand and take me out
of the battle, for I am wounded.
35 And the battle increased that day; and the king was propped up in his chariot, facing
the Syrians, and died at evening. And the blood ran out from the wound onto the floor of
the chariot.
36 And as the sun was going down, a shout went throughout the camp, saying, Every
man to his city, and every man to his own land!
37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria.
38 And someone washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria, and the dogs licked up his
blood; and they washed his armor; according to the Word of Jehovah which He had
spoken.
39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, the ivory house which he built
and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the
kings of Israel.
40 So Ahab rested with his fathers. And Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.
41 Jehoshaphat the son of Asa had become king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab
king of Israel.
42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five
years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
43 And he walked in all the ways of his father Asa. He did not turn aside from them,
doing what was right in the eyes of Jehovah. Nevertheless the high places were not taken
away, for the people offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
44 Also Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the might that he showed, and how he made
war, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah.
46 And the rest of the male temple prostitutes, who had remained in the days of his father
Asa, he removed out of the land.
47 There was then no king in Edom, only a deputy of the king.
48 Jehoshaphat had made merchant ships to go to Ophir for gold; but they did not go, for
the ships were wrecked at Ezion Geber.
49 Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with your
servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.
50 And Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of
David his father. And Jehoram his son reigned in his place.
51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of
Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.
52 And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of his father and in the
ways of his mother and in the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel
sin;
53 for he served Baal and bowed down to him, and provoked Jehovah the God of Israel to
anger, according to all that his father had done.
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