Jubilee2000 - I Kings

Chapter 1

1:1  Now king David was old [and] stricken in years, and they covered him with clothes, but he did not become warm.

1:2  Therefore, his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin, and let her stand before the king and let her warm him and let her lie in thy bosom, and she shall warm my lord the king.

1:3  So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the borders of Israel and found Abishag, a Shunammite and brought her to the king.

1:4  And the damsel [was] very fair and warmed the king and ministered to him, but the king knew her not.

1:5  Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, exalted himself, saying, I will reign, and he prepared chariots and horsemen for himself and fifty men to run before him.

1:6  And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was very handsome; and he had begotten him after Absalom.

1:7  And he conferred with Joab, the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar, the priest who helped Adonijah.

1:8  But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan, the prophet, and Shimei and Rei and the mighty men of David did not follow Adonijah.

1:9  And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which [is] by Enrogel, and called all his brethren, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants;

1:10  but he did not invite Nathan, the prophet, nor Benaiah nor the mighty men nor Solomon his brother.

1:11  And Nathan spoke unto Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, reigns without David our lord knowing of it?

1:12  Now, therefore, come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel that thou may deliver thine own life and the life of thy son Solomon.

1:13  Go and enter in unto King David and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? Why then does Adonijah reign?

1:14  And while thou art yet speaking there with the king, I also will come in after thee and finish thy words.

1:15  And Bathsheba went in unto the king into the chamber; and the king was very old; and Abishag, the Shunammite, ministered unto the king.

1:16  And Bathsheba bowed and worshipped the king. And the king said, What dost thou desire?

1:17  And she said unto him, My lord, thou didst sware by the LORD thy God unto thy handmaid, [saying], Assuredly Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne;

1:18  and now, behold, Adonijah reigns; and now, my lord the king, thou dost not know [it].

1:19  He has slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance and has called all the sons of the king and Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the captain of the host; but he has not invited Solomon, thy servant.

1:20  And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel [are] upon thee that thou should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

1:21  Otherwise, it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers that I and my son Solomon shall be counted as sinners.

1:22  And while she yet spoke with the king, Nathan, the prophet, also came in.

1:23  And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan, the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.

1:24  And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?

1:25  For today he has gone down and has slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance and has called all the king's sons and the captains of the host and Abiathar, the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him and say, [Long] live King Adonijah.

1:26  But he did not invite me, thy servant, nor Zadok, the priest, nor Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, nor thy servant Solomon.

1:27  Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not declared unto thy servant who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

1:28  Then King David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba. And she came into the king's presence and stood before the king.

1:29  And the king swore and said, As the LORD lives, who has ransomed my soul out of all distress,

1:30  even as I swore unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day.

1:31  Then Bathsheba bowed with [her] face to the earth and did reverence to the king and said, Let my lord King David live for ever.

1:32  And King David said, Call me Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. And they entered into the presence of the king.

1:33  And the king said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord and cause Solomon my son to ride upon my own mule and bring him down to Gihon.

1:34  And let Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, anoint him there king over Israel; and ye shall blow the shofar and say, [Long] live king Solomon.

1:35  [Afterward] ye shall come up after him that he may come and sit upon my throne, for he shall reign in my stead, for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.

1:36  Then Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, answered the king and said, Amen. Let the LORD God of my lord the king say so [too].

1:37  As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so let him be with Solomon and let him make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.

1:38  So Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and caused Solomon to ride upon King David's mule and brought him to Gihon.

1:39  And Zadok, the priest, took the horn of the oil of the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the shofar, and all the people said, [Long] live king Solomon.

1:40  [Afterward] all the people came up following him, and the people sang with flutes and rejoiced with great joy so [that it seemed] the earth rent with the sound of them.

1:41  And Adonijah and all the guests that [were] with him heard [it] when they had finished eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the shofar, he said, Why [is this] noise of the city being in an uproar?

1:42  And while he yet spoke, behold, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, the priest, came; and Adonijah said unto him, Come in, for thou [art] a valiant man and bringest good tidings.

1:43  And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord King David has made Solomon king.

1:44  And the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule;

1:45  and Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, have anointed him king in Gihon; and they are come up from there rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This [is] the noise that ye have heard.

1:46  And also Solomon has been seated on the throne of the kingdom.

1:47  And moreover, the king's servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king worshipped upon the bed.

1:48  And also thus said the king, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel, who has given [one] to sit on my throne today, mine eyes even seeing [it].

1:49  And all the guests that [were] with Adonijah were afraid and rose up and went each one his way.

1:50  And Adonijah, fearing the presence of Solomon, arose and went and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

1:51  And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon, for he has caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let King Solomon swear unto me today that he will not slay his servant with the sword.

1:52  And Solomon said, If he will show himself virtuous, there shall not one hair of him fall to the ground, but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die.

1:53  So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to King Solomon. And Solomon said unto him, Go to thy house.:

Chapter 2

2:1  Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Solomon, his son, saying,

2:2  I go the way of all the earth; be thou strong therefore and show thyself a man.

2:3  Keep the charge of the LORD thy God, walking in his ways, keeping his statutes and his commandments and his rights and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou may have understanding in all that thou doest and in everything that thou dost undertake,

2:4  that the LORD may confirm the word which he spoke concerning me, saying, If thy sons take heed to their way, walking before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

2:5  Moreover thou knowest also what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me [and] what he did to the two captains of the host of Israel, unto Abner, the son of Ner and unto Amasa, the son of Jether, whom he slew, shedding the blood of war in peace and putting the blood of war upon his girdle that [was] about his loins and in his shoes that [were] on his feet.

2:6  Do, therefore, according to thy wisdom and let not his hoar head go down to Sheol in peace.

2:7  But show mercy unto the sons of Barzillai, the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table, for they came thus unto me when I fled because of Absalom, thy brother.

2:8  And, behold, [thou hast] with thee Shimei, the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.

2:9  Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for thou [art] a wise man and knowest what thou should do with him, but thou shalt bring his hoar head down to Sheol with blood.

2:10  And David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.

2:11  The days that David reigned over Israel [were] forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

2:12  Then Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was established greatly.

2:13  Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.

2:14  He said moreover, I have a word to say unto thee. And she said, Say on.

2:15  And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine and [that] all Israel had set their faces on me that I should reign, but the kingdom is turned about and is become my brother's, for by the LORD it was his.

2:16  And now I ask one petition of thee, do not deny me. And she said unto him, Say on.

2:17  Then he said, Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king (for he will not deny thee) that he give me Abishag, the Shunammite to wife.

2:18  And Bathsheba said, Well, I will speak for thee unto the king.

2:19  Bathsheba, therefore, went unto King Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and bowed himself unto her and sat down on his throne and caused a seat to be set for the king's mother, and she sat on his right hand.

2:20  Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; [I pray thee], do not deny me. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother, for I will not deny thee.

2:21  And she said, Let Abishag, the Shunammite, be given to Adonijah, thy brother, to wife.

2:22  And King Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag, the Shunammite, for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he [is] my elder brother and he also has Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the son of Zeruiah.

2:23  Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life.

2:24  Now, therefore, [as] the LORD lives, who has confirmed me, and set me on the throne of David, my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today.

2:25  Then King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.

2:26  And unto Abiathar, the priest, the king said, Go to Anathoth, unto thine own inheritance, for thou [art] worthy of death; but I will not put thee to death today because thou didst bare the ark of the Lord GOD before David, my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.

2:27  So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD that he might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

2:28  And the news came to Joab, for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he had not turned after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

2:29  And it was told King Solomon that Joab had fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD and that he was by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.

2:30  And Benaiah entered into the tabernacle of the LORD and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, No, but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.

2:31  And the king said unto him, Do as he has said and fall upon him and bury him that thou may take away from me and from the house of my father the blood which Joab shed without a cause.

2:32  And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and slew them with the sword without my father David knowing of it: Abner, the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.

2:33  Their blood shall, therefore, return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever; but upon David and upon his seed and upon his house and upon his throne shall there be peace for ever from the LORD.

2:34  So Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, went up and fell upon him and slew him, and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

2:35  And the king put Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, in his place over the host; and Zadok, the priest, the king put in the place of Abiathar.

2:36  [Afterward] the king sent and called for Shimei and said unto him, Build thee a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go forth from there anywhere.

2:37  For it shall be [that] on the day thou goest out and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die; thy blood shall be upon thine own head.

2:38  And Shimei said unto the king, The word [is] good as my lord the king has said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

2:39  But it came to pass at the end of three years that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish, son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants [are] in Gath.

2:40  And Shimei arose and saddled his ass and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. Shimei went, therefore, and brought his servants from Gath.

2:41  And it was told Solomon how Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had come again.

2:42  Then the king sent and called for Shimei and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear by the LORD and protested unto thee, saying, Know for certain, on the day thou goest out and walkest abroad anywhere that thou shalt surely die? And thou didst say unto me, The word [that] I have heard [is] good.

2:43  Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD and the commandment that I have charged thee with?

2:44  The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thy heart knoweth well that thou didst to David my father; therefore, the LORD has turned thy wickedness upon thine own head;

2:45  and King Solomon [shall be] blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever.

2:46  Then the king commanded Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, who went out and fell upon him that he died. And the kingdom was confirmed in the hand of Solomon.:

Chapter 3

3:1  And Solomon became a relative of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, for he took Pharaoh's daughter [to wife] and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the LORD and the wall of Jerusalem round about.

3:2  Until then the people sacrificed in high places because there was [still] no house built unto the name of the LORD until those days.

3:3  And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David, his father; only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.

3:4  And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that [was] the great high place; a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

3:5  In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what [you wish that] I shall give thee.

3:6  And Solomon said, Thou hast shown unto thy servant David, my father, great mercy, according to the way he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great mercy that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as [it is] this day.

3:7  And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father; and I am but a tender young man; I do not know [how] to go out or come in.

3:8  And thy servant [is] in the midst of thy people whom thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

3:9  Give, therefore, thy servant a hearing heart to judge thy people that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this thy so great a people?

3:10  And the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.

3:11  And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked for thyself long life neither hast asked riches for thyself nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to hear judgment,

3:12  behold, I have done according to thy words: behold, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

3:13  And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and glory so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee in all thy days.

3:14  And if thou wilt walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments as thy father David walked, then I will lengthen thy days.

3:15  And when Solomon awoke, he beheld [it was] a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace [offerings] and made a banquet for all his servants.

3:16  In that season two women, [that were] harlots, came unto the king and stood before him.

3:17  And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.

3:18  And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered that this woman was delivered also and we [were] together; [there was] no stranger with us in the house, except the two of us in the house.

3:19  And this woman's child died in the night because she lay on top of him.

3:20  And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom and laid her dead child in my bosom.

3:21  And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead; but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I had given birth to.

3:22  And the other woman said, No, but my son is alive, and thy son is dead. And this one said, No, but thy son is dead, and my son is alive. Thus they spoke before the king.

3:23  Then said the king, The one saith, This [is] my son that is alive, and thy son [is] dead. And the other saith, No; but thy son [is] dead, and my son [is] alive.

3:24  And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

3:25  And the king said, Divide the living child in two and give half to the one and half to the other.

3:26  Then the woman, of whom the living child [was], spoke unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide [it].

3:27  Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it, for she [is] its mother.

3:28  And all Israel heard of that judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God]was] in him, to judge.:

Chapter 4

4:1  So king Solomon was king over all Israel.

4:2  And these [were] the princes which he had: Azariah, the son of Zadok, the priest,

4:3  Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes, Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, writer of the chronicles;

4:4  Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, [was] over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar [were] the priests;

4:5  Azariah, the son of Nathan, [was] over the officers; and Zabud, the son of Nathan, [was] the priest [and] special companion of the king;

4:6  and Ahishar [was] over the household; and Adoniram, the son of Abda, [was] over the tribute.

4:7  And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who maintained the king and his household. Each one of them made provision for one month in the year.

4:8  And these [are] their names: The son of Hur, in Mount Ephraim;

4:9  the son of Dekar, in Makaz and in Shaalbim and in Bethshemesh and in Elon and in Bethhanan;

4:10  the son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him [pertained] Sochoh and all the land of Hepher.

4:11  The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor, who had Taphath, the daughter of Solomon, to wife;

4:12  Baana, the son of Ahilud; [to him pertained] Taanach and Megiddo and all Bethshean, which [is] by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, [even] unto [the place that is] beyond Jokneam;

4:13  the son of Geber, in Ramothgilead; to him [pertained] the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which [were] in Gilead; to him [also pertained] the region of Argob, which [is] in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and brasen bars;

4:14  Ahinadab, the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;

4:15  Ahimaaz [was] in Naphtali; he also took Basmath, the daughter of Solomon, to wife.

4:16  Baanah, the son of Hushai, [was] in Asher and in Aloth;

4:17  Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah, in Issachar;

4:18  Shimei, the son of Elah, in Benjamin;

4:19  Geber, the son of Uri, [was] in the land of Gilead, [in] the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan; and [in addition to these there was] an officer over all the land.

4:20  Judah and Israel [were] many, as the sand which [is] by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

4:21  And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines and unto the border of Egypt, and they brought presents and served Solomon all the days of his life.

4:22  And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour and sixty measures of meal,

4:23  ten fat oxen and twenty oxen out of the pastures and one hundred sheep beside harts and roebucks and fallowdeer and fatted fowl.

4:24  For he had dominion over all [the region] on the other side of the river [and] from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on the other side the river, and he had peace on all sides round about him.

4:25  And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

4:26  And Solomon had forty thousand horses in his stables for his chariots and twelve thousand horsemen.

4:27  And these officers maintained King Solomon and all that came unto king Solomon's table, each one in his month; they made [sure] nothing was lacking.

4:28  They also brought barley and straw for the horses and beasts of burden unto the place where he was, each one according to his charge.

4:29  And God gave Solomon exceedingly great wisdom and intelligence and magnanimity of heart, even as the sand that [is] on the sea shore.

4:30  And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of the Egyptians.

4:31  For he was wiser than all men, than Ethan, the Ezrahite, and Heman and Chalcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and he was named in all nations round about.

4:32  And he spoke three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.

4:33  And he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree that [is] in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springs out of the wall. He also spoke of animals and of fowl and of serpents and of fishes.

4:34  And they came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.:

Chapter 5

5:1  Hiram, king of Tyre, also sent his servants unto Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in the place of his father; for Hiram had always loved David.

5:2  Then Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,

5:3  Thou knowest how David, my father, could not build a house unto the name of the LORD his God, for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put [his enemies] under the soles of his feet.

5:4  Now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side [so that there is] neither adversary nor evil encounter.

5:5  And, therefore, I have determined to build a house unto the name of the LORD my God as the LORD spoke unto David, my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy place, he shall build a house unto my name.

5:6  Command, therefore, now that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon, and my servants shall be with thy servants, and I will give thee for thy servants the hire that thou shalt appoint, for thou knowest that [there is] no one among us with the skill to hew timber like the Sidonians.

5:7  And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said, Blessed [be] the LORD this day, who has given unto David a wise son over this great people.

5:8  And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard that which thou didst send [to tell] me, [and] I will do all thy desire concerning the timber of cedar and concerning the timber of fir.

5:9  My servants shall bring [them] down from Lebanon unto the sea, and I will convey them by sea in rafts unto the place that thou shalt appoint me and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive [them]; and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.

5:10  So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees [according to] all his desire.

5:11  And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat [for] food to his household and twenty [thousand] measures of pure oil; this gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.

5:12  And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two made a covenant together.

5:13  And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel, and the levy was thirty thousand men,

5:14  whom he sent to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; they were a month in Lebanon [and] two months at home; and Adoniram [was] over the levy.

5:15  And Solomon had seventy thousand that bore burdens and eighty thousand hewers in the mountains;

5:16  besides Solomon's chief officers who [were] over the work, there were three thousand three hundred who ruled over the people that did the work.

5:17  And the king commanded that they bring great stones, costly stones, for the foundation of the house, [and] hewed stones.

5:18  And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders hewed [them], and the stonesquarers; so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.:

Chapter 6

6:1  And it came to pass in the year four hundred and eighty after the sons of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the beginning of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which [is] the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.

6:2  And the house which King Solomon built for the LORD, was sixty cubits long and twenty [cubits] wide and thirty cubits high.

6:3  And the porch before the temple of the house was twenty cubits long, according to the width of the house; [and] and its width was ten cubits before the house.

6:4  And for the house he made windows broad within and narrow without.

6:5  And against the wall of the house, he built wings round about, [against] the walls of the house round about, [both] of the temple and of the oracle; and he made chambers round about.

6:6  The lower wing [was] five cubits wide, and the middle [was] six cubits wide, and the third [was] seven cubits wide, for without [in the wall] of the house, he had made narrowed rests round about, that [the beams] should not be fastened in the walls of the house.

6:7  And the house, when it was built, was put together of perfect stones [made ready] before they were brought there; so that there was no hammer nor axe [nor] any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was being built.

6:8  The door for the middle wing [was] in the right side of the house; and they went up with winding stairs into the middle [wing] and out of the middle into the third.

6:9  So he built the house and finished it and covered the house with work of cedar placed in order.

6:10  And [then] he built the wing against all the house, five cubits high; and they rested on the house [with] timber of cedar.

6:11  And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,

6:12  [Concerning] this house which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes and execute my rights and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then I will perform my word with thee, which I spoke unto David thy father;

6:13  and I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.

6:14  So Solomon built the house and finished it.

6:15  And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house and the walls of the ceiling; [and] he covered [them] on the inside with wood and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.

6:16  And he built twenty cubits on the end of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar; and he built an oracle in the house, which is the holy of holies.

6:17  And the house, that [is], the temple before it, was forty cubits [long].

6:18  And the cedar of the house within [was] carved with wild gourds and open flowers. All [was] cedar; no stone was seen.

6:19  And he prepared the oracle in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

6:20  And the oracle in the forepart [was] twenty cubits in length and twenty cubits wide and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold and likewise covered the altar [which was of] cedar.

6:21  So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold, and he closed the door the oracle with chains of gold, and he overlaid it with gold.

6:22  And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house; also the whole altar that [was] in front of the oracle he overlaid with gold.

6:23  And within the oracle he made two cherubims [of] olive wood, [each] ten cubits high.

6:24  And one wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits; from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other [were] ten cubits.

6:25  Likewise, the other cherub [was] ten cubits, for both the cherubims [were] of one measure and one size.

6:26  The height of one cherub [was] ten cubits, and so [was] the other cherub.

6:27  And he set the cherubims within the inner house, and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the [one] wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.

6:28  And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.

6:29  And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.

6:30  And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.

6:31  And at the entrance of the oracle he made doors [of] olive wood; the lintel [and] side posts had five sides.

6:32  The two doors [were of] olive wood, and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers and overlaid [them] with gold and covered the cherubims and the palm trees with gold.

6:33  In the same manner he made posts [of] olive wood at the entrance of the temple with four sides.

6:34  The two doors [were of] fir; the two sides of the one door [were] rounded, and the two leaves of the other door [were] rounded.

6:35  And he carved [thereon] cherubims and palm trees and open flowers and covered [them] with gold fitted upon the carved work.

6:36  And he built the inner court with three orders of hewed stone and an order of cedar beams.

6:37  In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month Zif.

6:38  And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which [is] the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and with everything necessary. So he was seven years in building it.:

Chapter 7

7:1  But Solomon built his own house in thirteen years, and he finished all his house.

7:2  He also built the house of the forest of Lebanon, which was one hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.

7:3  And [it was] covered with cedar above upon the beams that [lay] on forty-five pillars, fifteen [in] a row.

7:4  And [there were] windows [in] three orders, one against another in three orders.

7:5  And all the doors and posts [were] square, with some windows opposite the other windows in three orders.

7:6  And he made a porch of pillars, which was fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, and the porch [was] before those others, with its corresponding pillars and thick beams.

7:7  Then he made a porch for the throne where he was to judge, [even] the porch of judgment; and [it was] covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.

7:8  And his house where he dwelt [had] another court within the porch, [which] was of like work. Solomon also made a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken [to wife], like unto this porch.

7:9  All these [works were of] costly stones, cut and sawed with saws according to the measurements, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and [so] on the outside unto the great court.

7:10  And the foundation [was of] costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits.

7:11  And above [were also] costly stones, hewed according to their measurements, and work of cedar.

7:12  And the great court round about had three orders of hewed stones and an order of cedar beams, and [likewise] the inner court of the house of the LORD and the porch of the house.

7:13  And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram out of Tyre,

7:14  who was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father had been of Tyre. A worker in brass, full of wisdom and intelligence and knowledge in all work of brass. And he came to King Solomon and did all his work.

7:15  He made two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece, and a line of twelve cubits did compass each of them about.

7:16  And he made two chapiters [of] molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars; the height of the one chapiter [was] five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter [was] five cubits.

7:17  [And] nets of checker work and wreaths of chain work for the chapiters which [were to be placed] upon the top of the pillars, seven for the one chapiter and seven for the other chapiter.

7:18  And when he had made the pillars, he also made two orders [of pomegranates] round about upon the network to cover the chapiters that [were] upon the heads [of the pillars] with the pomegranates, and so did he for the other chapiter.

7:19  And the chapiters that [were] upon the top of the pillars were in the form of lilies [like those seen] in the porch, for four cubits.

7:20  And the chapiters upon the two pillars had two hundred pomegranates in two orders round about in each chapiter, on top of the belly of the chapiter, this belly being in front of the network.

7:21  And he stood up the pillars in the porch of the temple. And when he had set up the right pillar, he called the name of it Jachin; and in standing up the left pillar, he called its name Boaz.

7:22  And upon the top of the pillars [was] lily work, and so the work of the pillars was finished.

7:23  Likewise, he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other; [it was] perfectly round, and its height [was] five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

7:24  And under the brim of it round about [there were] knops like gourds compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about in two orders, which were made when it was cast.

7:25  It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north and three looking toward the west and three looking toward the Negev and three looking toward the east; and upon them the sea rested, and all their hinder parts [were] inward.

7:26  And it [was] a hand breadth thick, and its lip was made like the lip of a cup, with flowers of lilies; it contained two thousand baths.

7:27  He also made ten bases of brass; four cubits [was] the length of each base and four cubits the width and three cubits the height.

7:28  And the work of the bases was like this: they had borders, and the borders [were] between mouldings;

7:29  and upon the borders that [were] between the mouldings [were] lions, oxen, and cherubim; and upon the mouldings of the base, above and beneath the lions and oxen [were] certain additions made of bevelled work.

7:30  And each base had four brasen wheels and cardinals of brass, and in its four corners it had shoulderpieces, which were molten at the side of each addition, to be under the laver.

7:31  Its mouth entered into the chapiter ([in the joint that came out of the base]) one cubit above, and its mouth was rounded like the workmanship ([of the same joint]) in the base, of a cubit and a half. There were also engravings upon the mouth of it with their borders, which were square, not round.

7:32  And under the borders [were] the four wheels, and the axletrees of the wheels [came forth] from the same base. The height of each wheel [was] one and a half cubits.

7:33  And the workmanship of the wheels [was] like the workmanship of a chariot wheel, their axletrees and their rims and their spokes and their hubs [were] all molten.

7:34  Likewise, the four shoulderpieces to the four corners of each base, [and] the shoulderpieces [were] of the very base itself.

7:35  And in the top of the base [there was] a rounded compass of half a cubit high and on the top of the base, its mouldings and borders [which were] part of it.

7:36  For on the tables of the mouldings and on the borders thereof, he made cherubim, lions, and palm trees, in front of the additions of each one round about.

7:37  After this [manner] he made ten bases cast in the same manner, of the same size and of the same shape.

7:38  Then he also made ten lavers of brass; each laver contained forty baths, [and] each laver measured four cubits; [and he set] a laver upon each one of the ten bases.

7:39  And he put five bases on the right side of the house and five on the left side of the house, and he set the sea on the right side of the house to the east towards the Negev.

7:40  Hiram made the lavers and the shovels and the basins likewise. So Hiram finished all the work that he made King Solomon for the house of the LORD:

7:41  [That is], the two pillars and the [two] bowls of the chapiters that [were] on the top of the two pillars and the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which [were] upon the head of the pillars,

7:42  and four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, [even] two orders of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that [were] upon the heads of the pillars,

7:43  and the ten bases and ten lavers upon the bases,

7:44  and one sea and twelve oxen under the sea,

7:45  and the pots and the shovels and the basins and all the [other] vessels, which Hiram made to King Solomon for the house of the LORD of bright brass.

7:46  And the king caused them all to be cast in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.

7:47  And Solomon did not inquire the weight of the brass of all the vessels because they were exceeding many.

7:48  And Solomon made all the vessels that [pertained] unto the house of the LORD: an altar of gold, and a table upon which the showbread [was], also of gold,

7:49  and the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right hand, and five on the left, in front of the oracle, with the flowers and the lamps and the tongs [of] gold,

7:50  likewise the bowls and the snuffers and the basins and the spoons and the censers [of] pure gold, also 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.

7:51  So all the work that King Solomon made for the house of the LORD was complete. And Solomon brought in the things which David, his father, had dedicated, [even] the silver and the gold and the vessels, and he kept it [all] in the treasury of the house of the LORD.:

Chapter 8

8:1  Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the families of the sons of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which [is] Zion.

8:2  And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto King Solomon in the month Ethanim, which [is] the seventh month, on the solemn day.

8:3  And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

8:4  And they brought up the ark of the LORD and the tabernacle of the testimony and all the holy vessels that [were] in the tabernacle, which the priests and the Levites carried.

8:5  And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him [were] with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude.

8:6  And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, in the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubim.

8:7  For the cherubim had their wings extended over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its staves from above.

8:8  And they drew out the staves so that the ends of the staves could be seen out in the holy [place] in front of the oracle, but they could not be seen from outside, and thus they remained until today.

8:9  [There was] nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD cut a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

8:10  And when the priests came out of the holy [place], the cloud filled the house of the LORD.

8:11  And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.

8:12  Then Solomon said, The LORD has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

8:13  I have surely built thee a house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.

8:14  And the king turned his face about and blessed all the congregation of Israel, and all the congregation of Israel were standing.

8:15  And he said, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth unto David my father, and with his hand has fulfilled [it], saying,

8:16  Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, but I chose David to be over my people Israel.

8:17  And it was in the heart of David, my father, to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

8:18  But the LORD said unto David, my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart;

8:19  nevertheless, thou shalt not build the house, but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build [a] house unto my name.

8:20  And the LORD has established his word that he spoke, and I have risen up in the place of David, my father, and sit on the throne of Israel as the LORD had said and have built a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

8:21  And I have set there a place for the ark, in which [is] the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

8:22  And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and extending his hands toward heaven,

8:23  he said, LORD God of Israel, [there is] no God like thee, in the heavens above or on earth beneath, who keeps the covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart,

8:24  who hast kept unto thy servant David, my father, what thou didst declare unto him; thou didst say it with thy mouth and hast fulfilled [it] with thy hand, as [we see] this day.

8:25  Therefore, now, LORD God of Israel, fulfill unto thy servant David, my father, what thou didst promise him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if thy sons keep their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.

8:26  And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be made firm, which thou didst speak unto thy servant David, my father.

8:27  But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens, the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built?

8:28  Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prays before thee today,

8:29  that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, [even] toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there that thou may hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make in this place.

8:30  Therefore, thou shalt hearken unto the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel when they shall pray in this place and hear in thy dwelling place, from the heavens; please hear and forgive.

8:31  When anyone shall have sinned against his neighbour, and an oath is laid upon him to cause him to swear and the oath comes before thy altar in this house,

8:32  thou shalt hear from heaven and do and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

8:33  When thy people Israel are smitten down before the enemy because they have sinned against thee and shall turn again to thee and confess thy name and pray and make supplication with humility unto thee in this house,

8:34  then thou shalt hear in the heavens and forgive the sin of thy people Israel and bring them again unto the land which thou didst give unto their fathers.

8:35  When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, if they pray in this place and confess thy name and turn from their sin when thou hast afflicted them,

8:36  then thou shalt hear in the heavens and forgive the sin of thy servants and of thy people Israel, teaching them the good way in which they should walk and shalt give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

8:37  When there is famine in the land or pestilence or blasting or mildew or locusts or caterpillars, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness [there is],

8:38  every prayer and every supplication made by any man or by all thy people Israel, when anyone knows the plague of his own heart and spreads forth his hands toward this house,

8:39  then thou shalt hear in the heavens, in the habitation of thy dwelling place, and forgive and do and give to each one according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest (for thou, [even] thou only, knowest the hearts of all the sons of men),

8:40  that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou didst give unto our fathers.

8:41  Likewise concerning a stranger, that [is] not of thy people Israel, but comes out of a far country for thy name's sake

8:42  (for they shall have heard of thy great name and of thy strong hand and of thy stretched out arm), when he shall come to pray in this house,

8:43  thou shalt hear in the heavens, in the habitation of thy dwelling place, and do according to all that for which the stranger shall have called unto thee, that all peoples of the earth may know thy name and fear thee as [do] thy people Israel and that they may know that thy name is invoked upon this house, which I have built.

8:44  If thy people go out to battle against their enemies by the way which thou shalt send them and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen and [toward] the house that I have built for thy name,

8:45  thou shalt hear in the heavens their prayer and their supplication and do their judgment.

8:46  If they have sinned against thee (for [there is] no man that does not sin) and thou should be angry with them and deliver them to the enemy so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near,

8:47  and they return unto their heart in the land where they were carried captives and return and make supplication unto thee in the land of those that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned and have done iniquity, we have committed wickedness;

8:48  and [so] convert themselves unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who led them away captive and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou didst give unto their fathers, [toward] the city which thou hast chosen and the house which I have built for thy name,

8:49  thou shalt hear in the heavens, in the habitation of thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplication and do what is right unto them

8:50  and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee and all their rebellions by which they have rebelled against thee and cause those who carried them captive to have mercy on them,

8:51  for they [are] thy people and thy inheritance, which thou didst bring forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace.

8:52  Let thine eyes be open unto the supplication of thy servant and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.

8:53  For thou didst separate them from among all the peoples of the earth, [to be] thy inheritance, as thou didst speak by the hand of Moses, thy servant, when thou didst bring our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.

8:54  And it was [so], that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands extended toward heaven.

8:55  And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

8:56  Blessed [be] the LORD that has given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he had said; not one word has failed of all his good word, which he spoke by the hand of Moses, his servant.

8:57  The LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; let him not leave us nor forsake us

8:58  that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his rights, which he commanded our fathers.

8:59  And let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be near unto the LORD our God day and night that he maintain the judgment of his servant and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require;

8:60  that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD [is] God, [and that there is] no other.

8:61  Let your heart, therefore, be perfect with the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.

8:62  Then the king and all Israel with him, offered sacrifices before the LORD.

8:63  And Solomon offered sacrifices of peace, which he offered unto the LORD, [which were] twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.

8:64  That same day the king sanctified the middle of the court that [was] before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offerings and the presents and the fat of the peace [offerings] because the brasen altar that [was] before the LORD [was] too small to receive the burnt offerings and the presents and the fat of the peace [offerings].

8:65  And at that time Solomon held a feast and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, for seven days and another seven days, [even] fourteen days.

8:66  On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they, blessing the king, went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done unto David, his servant, and unto Israel his people.:

Chapter 9

9:1  And when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD and the king's house and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do,

9:2  the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.

9:3  And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made in my presence. I have sanctified this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever, and my eyes and my heart shall be there all the days.

9:4  And if thou wilt walk before me as David, thy father, walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, keeping my statutes and my rights,

9:5  then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever as I spoke unto David, thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

9:6  [But] if ye shall obstinately turn from following me, ye or your sons, and will not keep my commandments [and] my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,

9:7  I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them, and this house, which I have sanctified unto my name, I will cast out of my sight, and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples;

9:8  and at this house, [which] was high, any one that passes by it shall be astonished and shall hiss, and they shall say, Why has the LORD done thus unto this land and to this house?

9:9  And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt and have taken hold upon other gods and have worshipped them and served them; for this the LORD has brought upon them all this evil.

9:10  And it came to pass at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD and the king's house

9:11  (for which Hiram, the king of Tyre, had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees and with gold, according to all his desire), that then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

9:12  And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him.

9:13  And he said, What cities [are] these which thou hast given me, my brother? And they called them the land of Cabul unto this day.

9:14  And Hiram had sent the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.

9:15  And this [is] the account of the levy which King Solomon raised to build the house of the LORD and his own house and Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer.

9:16  [For] Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had gone up and taken Gezer and burnt it with fire and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city and given it [for] a gift unto his daughter, Solomon's wife.

9:17  And Solomon built Gezer and Bethhoron, the lower,

9:18  and Baalath and Tadmor in the land of the wilderness,

9:19  likewise all the cities of store that Solomon had and cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land of his dominion.

9:20  [And] all the peoples [that were] left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which [were] not of the sons of Israel,

9:21  their children that were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, upon those Solomon levied a tribute of bondservice unto this day.

9:22  But of the sons of Israel, Solomon did not impose service, but they [were] men of war, or his servants or his princes or his captains or rulers of his chariots or his horsemen.

9:23  And those that Solomon had made princes and officers over Solomon's work [were] five hundred and fifty, who bore rule over the people that wrought in the work.

9:24  But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which [Solomon] had built for her; then he built Millo.

9:25  And three times in a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace [offerings] upon the altar which he built unto the LORD, and he burnt incense upon the altar that [was] before the LORD, after the house was finished.

9:26  And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which [is] beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

9:27  And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

9:28  And they went to Ophir and brought gold from there, four hundred and twenty talents and brought [it] to king Solomon.:

Chapter 10

10:1  And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with enigmas.

10:2  And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bore spices and very much gold and precious stones; and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

10:3  And Solomon told her all her questions; there was not [any] thing hid from the king, which he did not tell her.

10:4  And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom and the house that he had built,

10:5  likewise the food of his table and the sitting of his servants and the attendance of his ministers and their apparel, and his butlers and his burnt offering which he sacrificed in the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her.

10:6  And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in my own land of thy words and of thy wisdom.

10:7  But I did not believe it until I came, and my eyes have seen that not even the half was told me. Thy wisdom and good exceeds the fame which I heard.

10:8  Blessed [are] thy men, blessed [are] these thy servants, who stand continually before thee [and] that hear thy wisdom.

10:9  Blessed be the LORD thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel; because the LORD has always loved Israel, therefore he made thee king, to do justice and righteousness.

10:10  And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great store of spices and precious stones; never [again] did there come such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

10:11  And the navy of Hiram, that had brought the gold from Ophir, also brought in from Ophir a great plenty of brazil wood and precious stones.

10:12  And the king made of the brazil wood banisters for the house of the LORD and for the king's houses, harps also and psalteries for the singers; there never had been such brazil wood, nor was it seen [again] unto this day.

10:13  And King Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, beside [that] which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

10:14  Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,

10:15  besides [what he had] from the merchantmen and from the trade of the spice merchants and from all the kings of Arabia and from the princes of the land.

10:16  And King Solomon made two hundred shields [of] beaten gold; six hundred [shekels] of gold went into each shield.

10:17  Likewise [he made] three hundred shields [of] beaten gold; three pounds of gold went into each shield; and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

10:18  The king also made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the purest gold.

10:19  The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne [was] round behind, and [there were] stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays.

10:20  And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps; there was not the like made in any other kingdom.

10:21  And all King Solomon's drinking vessels [were of] gold, and likewise all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; [there was] no silver, for in the days of Solomon it was not esteemed.

10:22  For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram; once every three years the navy of Tarshish came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

10:23  So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.

10:24  And all the earth sought to see the face of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

10:25  And they each one brought his presents each year, vessels of gold and vessels of silver and garments and arms and spices, horses, and mules.

10:26  And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen, and he had a thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he put in the cities of the chariots and with the king at Jerusalem.

10:27  And the king made silver [to be] in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars [to be] as the sycamore trees that [are] in the vale, for abundance.

10:28  And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt and linen yarn, for the king's merchants bought the horses and yarn.

10:29  And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred [shekels] of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty, and so by their hand they supplied all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.:

Chapter 11

11:1  But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, [and] Hittites,

11:2  of the Gentiles [concerning] which the LORD had said unto the sons of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you, [for] surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. Solomon clave unto these in love.

11:3  And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

11:4  For it came to pass when Solomon was old, [that] his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as [was] the heart of David, his father.

11:5  For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites.

11:6  And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD and went not fully after the LORD, as [did] David his father.

11:7  Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the mount that [is] before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the sons of Ammon.

11:8  And he did likewise for all his strange wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

11:9  And the LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart was turned aside from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice,

11:10  and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep that which the LORD had commanded him.

11:11  Therefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Because this has been in thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee and will give it to thy servant.

11:12  But I will not do it in thy days for David, thy father's sake, [but] I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.

11:13  However, I will not rend away all the kingdom, [but] will give one tribe to thy son for David, my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.

11:14  And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad, the Edomite; he [was] of the king's seed in Edom.

11:15  For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab, the captain of the host, had gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom

11:16  (for Joab dwelt there six months with all Israel until he had cut off every male in Edom),

11:17  that Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt, Hadad [being] yet a little child.

11:18  And they arose out of Midian and came to Paran; and taking men with them out of Paran, they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who gave him a house and appointed him food and gave him land.

11:19  And Hadad found great grace in the sight of Pharaoh so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Queen Tahpenes.

11:20  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.

11:21  And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab, the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart that I may go to my own land.

11:22  Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me that, behold, thou seekest to go to thy own land? And he answered, Nothing; however, let me go anyway.

11:23  And God stirred him up [another] adversary, Rezon, the son of Eliadah, who fled from his lord Hadadezer, king of Zobah.

11:24  And he gathered men unto him and became captain over a band, when David slew those [of Zobah]; and they went to Damascus and dwelt there, and they made him king in Damascus.

11:25  And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, besides the evil that Hadad [did], and he abhorred Israel and reigned over Syria.

11:26  Likewise Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name [was] Zeruah, a widow woman, lifted up his hand against the king.

11:27  And this [was] why he lifted up [his] hand against the king: Solomon in building Millo, closed the breach of the city of David, his father.

11:28  And the man Jeroboam [was] a mighty man of valour, and Solomon, seeing that the young man was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.

11:29  And it came to pass at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah, the Shilonite, found him in the way; and he [was] covered with a new garment; and the two [were] alone in the field.

11:30  And Ahijah caught the new garment that [was] on him and rent it [in] twelve pieces;

11:31  and he said to Jeroboam, Take ten pieces for thyself, for thus hath said the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to thee;

11:32  and he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel

11:33  because they have forsaken me and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Milcom, the god of the sons of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do [that which is] right in my eyes and [to keep] my statutes and my rights, as [did] David his father.

11:34  But I will not take any of his kingdom out of his hand, for I will make him prince all the days of his life for David, my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes:

11:35  But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it unto thee, [even] ten tribes.

11:36  And unto his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name in her.

11:37  And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desires and shalt be king over Israel.

11:38  And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee and wilt walk in my ways and do [that which is] right in my sight, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David, my servant, did, that I will be with thee and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.

11:39  And I will afflict the seed of David because of this, but not for ever.

11:40  Solomon sought, therefore, to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt unto Shishak, king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

11:41  And the rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did and his wisdom, [are] they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

11:42  And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel [was] forty years.

11:43  And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, his father; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.:

Chapter 12

12:1  And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

12:2  And it came to pass, when Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard [of it] (for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt),

12:3  that they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spoke unto Rehoboam, saying,

12:4  Thy father made our yoke grievous; now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.

12:5  And he said unto them, Depart, and in three days come again to me. And the people departed.

12:6  Then King Rehoboam consulted with the old men that had stood before Solomon, his father, while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?

12:7  And they spoke unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day and wilt serve them and answer them by speaking good words unto them, then they will be thy servants for ever.

12:8  But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him [and] who stood before him.

12:9  And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father put upon us lighter?

12:10  And the young men that were grown up with him spoke unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spoke unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou [it] lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them: My little [finger] is thicker than my father's loins.

12:11  And now whereas my father ladened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father has chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

12:12  So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.

12:13  And the king answered the people roughly and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him

12:14  and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke; my father [also] chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

12:15  Therefore, the king did not hearken unto the people, for the cause was from the LORD, to confirm his word, which the LORD spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.

12:16  So when all Israel saw that the king did not hearken unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? There is no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.

12:17  But Rehoboam reigned over the sons of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.

12:18  Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who [was] over the tribute, but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Then king Rehoboam made speed to get into his chariot and flee to Jerusalem.

12:19  So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.

12:20  And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation and made him king over all Israel; there were none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

12:21  And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen [men] of war, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.

12:22  But the word of God came unto Shemaiah, the man of God, saying,

12:23  Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the remnant of the people, saying,

12:24  Thus hath the LORD said, Ye shall not go up nor fight against your brethren, the sons of Israel; return each one to his house, for this thing is from me. They hearkened, therefore, to the word of the LORD and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.

12:25  And Jeroboam rebuilt Shechem in Mount Ephraim and dwelt therein, and going out from there, rebuilt Penuel.

12:26  And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David

12:27  if this people go up to sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem; for the heart of this people shall turn again unto their lord, [even] unto Rehoboam, king of Judah, and they shall kill me and go again to Rehoboam, king of Judah.

12:28  And having [taken] counsel, the king made two calves of gold and said unto [the people], It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

12:29  And he set the one in Bethel and the other he put in Dan.

12:30  And this became an [occasion for] sin, for the people went [to worship] before the one, [even] unto Dan.

12:31  And he made a house of high places and made priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

12:32  [Then] Jeroboam ordained a solemnity in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the solemnity that [was celebrated] in Judah; and he sacrificed upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made. He also ordered in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

12:33  So he sacrificed upon the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the month which he had devised of his own heart, and made a feast unto the sons of Israel; and he climbed up on the altar to burn incense.:

Chapter 13

13:1  And, behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel; and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

13:2  And he cried against the altar by the word of the LORD and said, O altar, altar, thus hath the LORD said: Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.

13:3  And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This [is] the sign which the LORD has spoken: Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the [ashes with the burnt] fat that [are] upon it shall be poured out.

13:4  And when King Jeroboam heard the word of the man of God, who had cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

13:5  The altar also was rent, and the [ashes with the burnt] fat were poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.

13:6  Then the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again and became as [it was] before.

13:7  And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a gift.

13:8  But the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thy house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place,

13:9  for so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread nor drink water nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.

13:10  So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.

13:11  Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel, and his sons came and told 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 unto the king.

13:12  And their father said unto them, What way did he go? And his sons showed him the way the man of God had gone, who had come from Judah.

13:13  And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass, and he rode thereon

13:14  and went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak; and he said unto him, [Art] thou the man of God that didst come from Judah? And he said, I [am].

13:15  Then he said unto him, Come home with me and eat bread.

13:16  And he said, I may not return with thee nor go in with thee; neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place,

13:17  for it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.

13:18  And the [other] said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou [art], and an angel spoke unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. [But] he lied unto him.

13:19  So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.

13:20  And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back,

13:21  and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus hath the LORD said, Forasmuch as thou hast rebelled against the mouth of the LORD and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,

13:22  but didst come back and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of which [the LORD] did say to thee, Eat no bread and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

13:23  And when he had eaten of the bread and after he had drunk, the prophet that had brought him back saddled an ass for him,

13:24  and as he went, a lion met him by the way and slew him, and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, and the lion also stood by the carcase.

13:25  And, behold, men passed by and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase; and they came and told [it] in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

13:26  And when the prophet that had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, It [is] the man of God, who rebelled against the word of the LORD; therefore, the LORD has delivered him unto the lion, who has torn him and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke unto him.

13:27  And he spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle me an ass. And they saddled it for him.

13:28  And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase; the lion had not eaten the carcase nor torn the ass.

13:29  And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God and laid it upon the ass and brought it back. And the old prophet came to the city to mourn and to bury him.

13:30  And he laid his carcase in his own grave, and they mourned over him, [saying], Alas, my brother!

13:31  And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre in which the man of God [is] buried; lay my bones beside his bones.

13:32  For that which he proclaimed by the word of the LORD 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.

13:33  After this thing Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places; whoever would, he consecrated him, and he became [one] of the priests of the high places.

13:34  And this became the cause of sin unto the house of Jeroboam for which it was cut off and destroyed from off the face of the earth.:

Chapter 14

14:1  At that time Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, fell sick.

14:2  And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou not be known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh, for Ahijah the prophet [is] there, who told me that [I should be] king over this people.

14:3  And take with thee ten loaves and cracknels and a cruse of honey and go to him, that he shall tell thee what shall become of this child.

14:4  And Jeroboam's wife did so and arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were set by reason of his age.

14:5  But the LORD had said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam shall come to consult thee regarding her son, who [is] sick; thus and thus shalt thou say unto her, for it shall be, when she comes, that she shall come in disguise.

14:6  And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, wife of Jeroboam; why art thou in disguise? For I [am] sent to thee [with] heavy [tidings].

14:7  Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus hath the LORD God of Israel said, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people and made thee prince over my people Israel,

14:8  and rent the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it thee, and [yet] thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments and who followed me with all his heart, to doing only that [which was] right in my eyes,

14:9  but hast done evil above all that were before thee, for thou hast gone and made thee other gods and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back;

14:10  therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam [everyone] that pisses against the wall, the one that is shut up along with the one that is left in Israel, and will burn away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns away dung until it is all gone.

14:11  The one that dies of [those of] Jeroboam in the city, the dogs shall eat, and the one that dies in the field, the fowls of the air shall eat; for the LORD has spoken [it].

14:12  Arise thou, therefore, go to thy own house, [and] when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.

14:13  And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of those of Jeroboam shall enter into [the] grave because in him there is found [some] good thing of the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

14:14  And the LORD shall raise up a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam in this day, but what [if] even now?

14:15  For the LORD shall smite Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he had given to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.

14:16  And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who has made Israel sin.

14:17  Then Jeroboam's wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah; [and] as she entered by the threshold of the house, the child died.

14:18  And they buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he had spoken by the hand of his servant Ahijah, the prophet.

14:19  And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they [are] written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

14:20  And the days which Jeroboam reigned [were] twenty-two years, and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab, his son, reigned in his stead.

14:21  And Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, reigned in Judah. Rehoboam [was] forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD chose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name [was] Naamah, an Ammonitess.

14:22  And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to anger more than all that their fathers had done in their sins which they committed.

14:23  For they also built themselves high places and statues, and groves on every high hill and under every green tree.

14:24  And there were also male [cult] prostitutes in the land, [and] they did according to all the abominations of the Gentiles which the LORD had cast out before the sons of Israel.

14:25  And it came to pass in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, [that] Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem.

14:26  And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house; he took it all away, and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

14:27  And King Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields and committed [them] unto the hands of the chief of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.

14:28  And when the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard bore them and brought them back [afterward] into the guard chamber.

14:29  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?

14:30  And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all [their] days.

14:31  And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name [was] Naamah, an Ammonitess. And Abijam, his son, reigned in his stead.:

Chapter 15

15:1  Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah.

15:2  He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name [was] Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

15:3  And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.

15:4  Nevertheless for David's sake, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem.

15:5  Because David had done [that which was] right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from any [thing] that he had commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah, the Hittite.

15:6  And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.

15:7  Now 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.

15:8  And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Asa, his son, reigned in his stead.

15:9  In the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah.

15:10  And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name [was] Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

15:11  And Asa did [that which was] right in the eyes of the LORD, as [did] David his father.

15:12  For he took away the male [cult] prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

15:13  And he also removed Maachah, his mother, from [being] queen because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol and burnt [it] by the brook Kidron.

15:14  But the high places were not removed; nevertheless, Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.

15:15  And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated and the things which he himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver and gold and vessels.

15:16  And there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.

15:17  And Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might not allow any to go out or come in to Asa, king of Judah.

15:18  Then Asa took all the silver and the gold [that were] left in the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house and delivered them into the hand of his servants, and King Asa sent them to Benhadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,

15:19  [There is] a covenant between me and thee [and] between my father and thy father; behold, I have sent unto thee a bribe of silver and gold; come and break thy covenant with Baasha, king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

15:20  So Benhadad hearkened unto King Asa and sent the princes of the hosts, which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon and Dan and Abelbethmaachah and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.

15:21  And when Baasha heard this, he left off building of Ramah and dwelt in Tirzah.

15:22  Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; no one [was] exempted; and they took away the stones and timber of Ramah, with which Baasha had been building; and King Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.

15:23  The rest of all the acts of Asa and all his might and 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? Nevertheless, in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.

15:24  And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, his father; and Jehoshaphat, his son, reigned in his stead.

15:25  And Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.

15:26  And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in his sins with which he made Israel sin.

15:27  And Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which [belonged] to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel had laid siege to Gibbethon.

15:28  Even in the third year of Asa, king of Judah, did Baasha slay him and reigned in his stead.

15:29  And when he came into the kingdom, he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not a [living] soul [of those] of Jeroboam, until he had destroyed him, according unto the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah, the Shilonite,

15:30  because of the sins of Jeroboam with which he sinned and with which he made Israel sin and because of his provocation with which he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.

15:31  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?

15:32  And there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.

15:33  In the third year of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha, the son of Ahijah, began to reign over all Israel in Tirzah; [and he reigned] twenty-four years.

15:34  And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin with which he caused Israel to sin.:

Chapter 16

16:1  Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying,

16:2  Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust and made thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam and hast made my people Israel sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins;

16:3  behold, I will burn up the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.

16:4  He that dies of Baasha in the city, the dogs shall eat; and he that dies of his in the fields, the fowls of the air shall eat.

16:5  Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his might, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

16:6  So Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah, his son, reigned in his stead.

16:7  And likewise by the hand of the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, had come [the] word of the LORD upon Baasha and upon his house and upon all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, so that he was made like the house of Jeroboam and because of having smitten him.

16:8  In the year twenty-six of Asa, king of Judah, Elah, the son of Baasha, began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, [and he reigned] two years.

16:9  And his servant Zimri, captain 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.

16:10  And Zimri went in and smote him and killed him, in the year twenty-seven of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.

16:11  And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, [that] he smote all the house of Baasha; he left him not one that pisses against a wall, neither of his kinsfolk, nor of his friends.

16:12  Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu, the prophet,

16:13  for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah, his son, by which they sinned and by which they made Israel sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.

16:14  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?

16:15  In the year twenty-seven of Asa, king of Judah, Zimri began to reign in Tirzah, [and he reigned] seven days. And the people [were] encamped against Gibbethon, which [belonged] to the Philistines.

16:16  And the people [that were] in the camp heard it said, Zimri has conspired and has killed the king. Therefore, all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp.

16:17  And Omri went up from Gibbethon and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah.

16:18  And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died,

16:19  for his sins which he committed in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he did, making Israel sin.

16:20  Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and his treason that he wrought, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

16:21  Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni, the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omri.

16:22  But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni, the son of Ginath; so Tibni died, and Omri reigned.

16:23  In the year thirty-one of Asa, king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned twelve years; he reigned six years in Tirzah.

16:24  And he bought the mountain of Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver and built on the mount and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, lord of the hill, Samaria.

16:25  And Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD and did worse than all that [were] before him.

16:26  For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and in his sin with which he made Israel sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.

16:27  Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did and his might that he showed, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

16:28  So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab, his son, reigned in his stead.

16:29  And in the year thirty-eight of Asa, king of Judah, Ahab, the son of Omri, began to reign over Israel. And Ahab the son of Omri, reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.

16:30  And Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that [were] before him,

16:31  for it was as a light thing unto him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal and worshipped him.

16:32  And he raised up an altar to Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

16:33  Ahab also made groves, and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

16:34  In his time Hiel, the Bethelite, rebuilt Jericho. He laid the foundation thereof in Abiram, his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest [son] Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he had spoken by Joshua the son of Nun.:

Chapter 17

17:1  Then Elijah, the Tishbite, [who was] of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

17:2  And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

17:3  Leave this place and turn to the east and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that [is] before the Jordan,

17:4  and thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

17:5  So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD; for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that [is] before the Jordan.

17:6  And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

17:7  And it came to pass after a while that the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

17:8  And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

17:9  Arise, go to Zarephath of Zidon, and thou shalt dwell there; behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

17:10  So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman [was] there gathering of sticks; and he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

17:11  And as she was going to fetch [it], he called to her again and said, Bring me also, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand.

17:12  And she said, As the LORD thy God lives, I have no baked bread, but only a handful of meal in a pitcher and a little oil in a cruse; and now I [was] gathering two sticks that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.

17:13  And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; [go and] do as thou hast said; but first make me a little cake of bread baked under the ashes and bring [it] unto me, and afterwards thou shalt make for thee and for thy son.

17:14  For thus hath said the LORD God of Israel, The pitcher of meal shall not be consumed, neither shall the cruse of oil fail until the that day when the LORD shall send rain upon the earth.

17:15  And she went and did as Elijah told her; and he and she and her house ate [for many] days.

17:16  [And] the pitcher of meal was not consumed, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD which he spoke by Elijah.

17:17  And it came to pass after these things [that] the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

17:18  And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? Art thou come unto me to call my iniquity to remembrance and to cause my son to die?

17:19  And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom and carried him up into the chamber where he abode and laid him upon his own bed.

17:20  And he cried unto the LORD and said, O LORD my God, hast thou even brought evil upon the widow, with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?

17:21  And he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried unto the LORD and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.

17:22  And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

17:23  And Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the chamber into the house and delivered him unto his mother, and Elijah said, See, thy son lives.

17:24  Then the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou [art] a man of God [and] that the word of the LORD [is] true in thy mouth.:

Chapter 18

18:1  And it came to pass [after] many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.

18:2  And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And [there was] a severe famine in Samaria.

18:3  And Ahab called Obadiah, who [was] the governor of [his] house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly,

18:4  for when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took one hundred prophets and hid them in groups of fifty in caves and sustained them with bread and water.)

18:5  And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go through the land to all the fountains of water and to all the brooks; peradventure we may find herbage to save the horses and mules alive that we not lose all the beasts.

18:6  So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

18:7  And as Obadiah was in the way, Elijah met him; and when he recognized him, he fell on his face, and said, [Art] thou not my lord Elijah?

18:8  And he answered him, I [am]; go, tell thy lord, [Behold] Elijah.

18:9  And he said, In what have I sinned that thou should deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, for [him] to slay me?

18:10  [As] the LORD thy God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek thee; and when they [all] said, [He is] not [here]; he has caused kingdoms and nations to swear an oath if they have found thee [or] not.

18:11  And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold Elijah.

18:12  And it shall come to pass [as soon as] I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee where I know not; and [so] when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me; but I, thy servant, fear the LORD from my youth.

18:13  Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid one hundred men of the LORD'S prophets in groups of fifty in caves and sustained them with bread and water?

18:14  And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, [Behold] Elijah; and he shall slay me.

18:15  And Elijah said unto him, As the LORD of the hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him today.

18:16  Then Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab came to meet Elijah.

18:17  And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, [Art] thou he that troubles Israel?

18:18  And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.

18:19  Now therefore send [and] gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of the groves, who eat at Jezebel's table.

18:20  Then Ahab sent unto all the sons of Israel and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel.

18:21  And Elijah came near unto all the people and said, How long shall ye halt between two opinions? If the LORD [is] God, follow him; but if Baal, [then] follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.

18:22  Then Elijah spoke again unto the people, I, [even] I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets [are] four hundred and fifty men.

18:23  Give us, therefore, two bullocks, and let them choose one bullock for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay [it] on wood and put no fire [under it]; and I will dress the other bullock and lay [it] on wood and put no fire [under it].

18:24  And invoke ye in the name of your gods, and I will invoke in the name of the LORD; and it shall be that the God that answers by fire is God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

18:25  So Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves and dress [it] first, for ye [are] many, and invoke in the name of your gods, but put no fire [under it].

18:26  And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed [it] and invoked in the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us. But [there was] no voice nor anyone that answered. And they jumped up and down near the altar which they had made.

18:27  And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for he [is] a god; peradventure he is talking or he had to go to the latrine, or he is on a journey, [or] he sleeps and will awake.

18:28  And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets until the blood gushed out upon them.

18:29  And when midday was past, [even] so they prophesied until the [time] of the offering of the [evening] sacrifice, and [there was] neither voice nor anyone that answered nor anyone that heard.

18:30  Then Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD [that was] broken down.

18:31  And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name;

18:32  and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD; then he made a trench round about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

18:33  And he put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces and laid [it] on the wood and said, Fill four pitchers with water and pour [it] on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.

18:34  And he said, Do [it] the second time, and they did [it] the second time. And he said, Do [it] the third time, and they did [it] the third time.

18:35  So that the water ran round about the altar, and he had filled the trench also with water.

18:36  And it came to pass at [the time of] the offering of the [evening] sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, LORD God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou [art] God in Israel and [that I am] thy servant and [that] I have done all these things at thy word.

18:37  Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that thou [art] the LORD God and [that] thou shalt convert their heart back again [to thee].

18:38  Then fire of the LORD fell, which consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that [was] in the trench.

18:39  And seeing it, all the people fell on their faces, and they said, The LORD, he [is] the God; the LORD, he [is] the God.

18:40  And Elijah said unto them, Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they seized them; and Elijah took them down to the brook Kishon and slew them there.

18:41  Then Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink; for [there is] a sound of abundance of rain.

18:42  So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, and he cast himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees

18:43  and said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, [There is] nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

18:44  And the seventh time he said, Behold, a little cloud like the palm of a man's [hand] arises out of the sea. And he said, Go and say to Ahab, Prepare [thy chariot] and descend that the rain not stop thee.

18:45  And it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heavens became black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.

18:46  And the hand of the LORD was upon Elijah, who girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.:

Chapter 19

19:1  And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and of how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.

19:2  Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do [to me], and more also, if by tomorrow at this time I have not made thy person as one of them.

19:3  And when he saw [that], he arose and departed [to save] his life and came to Beersheba, which [is] in Judah, and left his servant there.

19:4  But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper [tree]; and desiring to die, he said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I [am] not better than my fathers.

19:5  And as he lay and slept under a juniper [tree], behold, then an angel touched him and said unto him, Arise [and] eat.

19:6  Then he looked and behold, [there was] a cake baked on the coals and a cruse of water at his head. And he ate and drank and went back to sleep.

19:7  And the angel of the LORD came again the second time and touched him and said, Arise [and] eat, for there is a great journey before thee.

19:8  And he arose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights unto Horeb, the mount of God.

19:9  And there he went into a cave, where he lodged; and the word of the LORD [came] to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

19:10  And he replied, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of the hosts, for the sons of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, [even] I only, am left, and they seek me to take my life.

19:11  And he said, Go forth and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, [but] the LORD [was] not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, [but] the LORD [was] not in the earthquake.

19:12  And after the earthquake a fire, [but] the LORD [was] not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small voice,

19:13  Which when Elijah heard [it], he covered his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the door of the cave. And, behold, [there came] a voice unto him, saying, What doest thou here, Elijah?

19:14  And he replied, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of the hosts because the sons of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, [even] I only, am left, and they seek me to take my life.

19:15  And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way by the wilderness of Damascus; and thou shalt arrive [there] and anoint Hazael [to be] king over Syria;

19:16  and Jehu, the son of Nimshi, thou shalt anoint [to be] king over Israel; and Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah, thou shalt anoint [to be] prophet in thy place.

19:17  And it shall be [that] he that escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall slay; and he that escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall slay.

19:18  And I will cause seven thousand to remain in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him.

19:19  So he departed from there and found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who [was] plowing [with] twelve yoke [of oxen] before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him.

19:20  So he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and [then] I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again, for what have I done to thee?

19:21  And he returned back from him and took a yoke of oxen and slew them and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen and gave unto the people and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and served him.:

Chapter 20

20:1  Then Benhadad, the king of Syria, gathered all his host together; and [there were] thirty-two kings with him and horses and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria and warred against it.

20:2  And he sent messengers to Ahab, king of Israel, into the city and said unto him, Thus hath Benhadad said,

20:3  Thy silver and thy gold [is] mine; thy wives also and thy children, [even] the goodliest, [are] mine.

20:4  And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy word, I [am] thine and all that I have.

20:5  And the messengers came again and said, Thus hath Benhadad said, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver and thy gold and thy wives and thy children,

20:6  yet I will send my servants unto thee tomorrow about this time, and they shall search thy house and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be [that] whatever is precious in thine eyes, they shall put [it] in their hand and take [it] away.

20:7  Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Understand, I pray you, and see how this man seeks only evil, for he sent unto me for my wives and for my children and for my silver and for my gold, and I denied him not.

20:8  And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not [unto him], nor consent.

20:9  So he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do, but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed and brought him word again.

20:10  And Benhadad sent unto him again and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, that the dust of Samaria shall not be enough for the [open] hands of all the people that follow me.

20:11  And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell [him], Let not him that girds on [his harness] boast as he that puts it off.

20:12  And when he heard this word, as he [was] drinking with the kings in the pavilions, he said unto his servants, Set [yourselves in array]. And they set [themselves in array] against the city.

20:13  And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab, king of Israel, saying, Thus hath the LORD said, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into thy hand today, that thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD.

20:14  And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus hath the LORD said, [Even] by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he answered, Thou.

20:15  Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two: and after them he numbered all the people, [even] all the sons of Israel, [being] seven thousand.

20:16  And they went out at noon. But Benhadad [was] drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings that helped him.

20:17  And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first. And Benhadad had sent out men who warned him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.

20:18  Then he said, If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive.

20:19  So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army followed after them.

20:20  And each one smote the man that came against him; and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them. And Benhadad, the king of Syria, escaped on a horse with some of the horsemen.

20:21  And the king of Israel went out and smote the horsemen and the chariots and smote the Syrians with a great slaughter.

20:22  And the prophet came to the king of Israel and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and consider, and see what thou must do, for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.

20:23  And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods [are] gods of the mountains; therefore, they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

20:24  Therefore, do this: Remove the kings from their positions and put captains in their place.

20:25  And prepare another army like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot; then we will fight against them in the plain, [and] surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.

20:26  And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.

20:27  And the sons of Israel were numbered and took provisions and went against them; and the sons of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the land.

20:28  [Then] the man of God came and spoke unto the king of Israel and said, Thus hath the LORD said, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD [is] God of the mountains, but he [is] not God of the valleys, therefore, I will deliver all this great multitude into thy hand that ye may know that I [am] the LORD.

20:29  And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And [so] it was that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the sons of Israel slew of the Syrians one hundred thousand footmen in one day.

20:30  But the rest fled to Aphek into the city, and the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand of the men [that were] left. And Benhadad also fled and came into the city, into an inner chamber.

20:31  Then his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel [are] merciful kings; let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins and ropes upon our heads and go out to the king of Israel; peradventure he will give thee thy life.

20:32  So they girded sackcloth on their loins and [put] ropes on their heads and came to the king of Israel and said, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he replied, If he is yet alive, he [is] my brother.

20:33  Now these men took this as a good omen and quickly took this word from his mouth, and they said, Thy brother Benhadad! And he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him, and he caused him to come up into the chariot.

20:34  And [Benhadad] said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make plazas for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria, and I will leave here confederated with thee. So he made a covenant with him and sent him away.

20:35  Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour by the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.

20:36  Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall smite thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him and smote him.

20:37  Then he found another man and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him and wounded him.

20:38  So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way and disguised himself with a veil over his eyes.

20:39  And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king, and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside and brought a man unto me and said, Guard this man; if by any means he should get away, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.

20:40  And when thy servant was busy here and there, he disappeared. Then the king of Israel said unto him, So [shall] thy sentence [be]; thou thyself hast decided [it].

20:41  Then he quickly took the veil away from his face; and the king of Israel recognized that he [was] of the prophets.

20:42  And he said unto him, Thus hath the LORD said, Because thou hast let go out of [thy] hand the man of my anathema, therefore, thy life shall go for his life and thy people for his people.

20:43  And the king of Israel went to his house, sad and angry, and came to Samaria.:

Chapter 21

21:1  And it came to pass after these things [that] Naboth of Jezreel had a vineyard, which [was] in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.

21:2  And Ahab spoke unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard that I may have it for a garden of herbs because it [is] next to my house, and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; [or] if it seems good unto thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

21:3  And Naboth replied unto Ahab, The LORD keep me from giving thee the inheritance of my fathers.

21:4  And Ahab came into his house, sad and angry, because of the word which Naboth of Jezreel had spoken to him, for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he lay down upon his bed and turned away his face and would eat no bread.

21:5  And Jezebel, his wife, came to him and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad that thou dost eat no bread?

21:6  And he said unto her, Because I spoke with Naboth of Jezreel and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee [another] vineyard for it; and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.

21:7  And Jezebel, his wife, said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise [and] eat bread and let thy heart be merry; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel.

21:8  So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed [them] with his seal and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that [were] in his city dwelling with Naboth.

21:9  And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people

21:10  and set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And [then] carry him out and stone him that he may die.

21:11  And the men of his city, [even] the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them [and] as it [was] written in the letters which she had sent unto them.

21:12  They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people.

21:13  Then the two men, sons of Belial, came in and sat before him; and those men of Belial witnessed against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth blasphemed God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones that he died.

21:14  Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned and is dead.

21:15  And it came to pass when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead that she said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel which he refused to give thee for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead.

21:16  And it came to pass when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel, to take possession of it.

21:17  Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah, the Tishbite, saying,

21:18  Arise, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who [is] in Samaria; behold, [he is] in the vineyard of Naboth, where he is gone down to possess it.

21:19  And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus hath the LORD said, Hast thou murdered and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him again, saying, Thus hath the LORD said, In the same place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall the dogs also lick thy blood, even thine.

21:20  And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O my enemy? And he answered, I have found [thee] because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.

21:21  Behold, I will bring evil upon thee and will burn away thy posterity and will cut off from Ahab him that pisses against the wall and he that is kept and he that is left in Israel.

21:22  And I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah, for the provocation with which thou hast provoked [me] to anger and made Israel to sin.

21:23  And of Jezebel, the LORD has also spoken, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel.

21:24  Him that dies of Ahab in the city, the dogs shall eat, and him that dies in the field, shall the fowls of the air eat.

21:25  (Truly there was none like unto Ahab, who sold himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife incited him.

21:26  He was very abominable, following idols, according to all the [things] that the Amorites did, whom the LORD cast out before the sons of Israel.)

21:27  And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh and fasted and slept in sackcloth and went softly.

21:28  Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah, the Tishbite, saying,

21:29  Seest thou how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days, [but] in his son's days I will bring the evil upon his house.:

Chapter 22

22:1  And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.

22:2  And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, came down to the king of Israel.

22:3  And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead [is] ours, and we are late in not taking it out of the hand of the king of Syria?

22:4  And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I [am] as thou [art], my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.

22:5  And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD today.

22:6  Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, for the Lord shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king.

22:7  And Jehoshaphat said, Is there even yet a prophet of the LORD here that we might enquire of him?

22:8  And the king of Israel replied unto Jehoshaphat, [There is] yet one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD; but I hate him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

22:9  Then the king of Israel called a eunuch and said, Bring Micaiah, the son of Imlah, here quickly.

22:10  And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in the plaza at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them.

22:11  And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron, and he said, Thus hath the LORD said, With these shalt thou push the Syrians until thou have consumed them.

22:12  And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead and be prospered, for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the king's hand.

22:13  And the messenger that had gone to call Micaiah spoke unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets [declare] good unto the king with one mouth; now let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them and speak [that which is] good.

22:14  And Micaiah said, As the LORD lives, all that the LORD says unto me, that will I speak.

22:15  So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go and be prospered, for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king.

22:16  And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but [that which is] true in the name of the LORD?

22:17  Then he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains as sheep without a shepherd; and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return each man to his house in peace.

22:18  And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?

22:19  Then he said, Hear thou, therefore, the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne and all the host of the heavens standing by him on his right hand and on his left.

22:20  And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said in this manner and another said in that manner.

22:21  And there came forth a spirit and stood before the LORD and said, I will persuade him.

22:22  And the LORD said unto him, In what manner? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade [him], and prevail also; go forth and do so.

22:23  Now, therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD has decreed evil concerning thee.

22:24  Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, went near and smote Micaiah on the cheek and said, Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak unto thee?

22:25  And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.

22:26  Then the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and carry him back unto Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king's son

22:27  and say, Thus hath the king said, Put this [fellow] in the prison and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace.

22:28  And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me. Then he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.

22:29  So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramothgilead.

22:30  And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and enter into the battle, but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.

22:31  But the king of Syria commanded his thirty-two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.

22:32  And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, Surely this [is] the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him, but Jehoshaphat cried out.

22:33  And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it [was] not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.

22:34  But a [certain] man, shooting his bow in perfection, smote the king of Israel between the joints of [his] coat of mail; therefore, he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thy hand and carry me out of the host, for I am wounded.

22:35  And the battle had increased that day, and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians and died in the evening, and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.

22:36  And at the going down of the sun there went a proclamation throughout the camp, saying, Every man to his city and every man to his own land.

22:37  So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria.

22:38  And they washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, and they also washed his armour; and the dogs licked up his blood, according unto the word of the LORD which he had spoken.

22:39  Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made and all the cities that he built, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

22:40  So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah, his son, reigned in his stead.

22:41  And Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa, began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab, king of Israel.

22:42  Jehoshaphat [was] thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name [was] Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

22:43  And he walked in all the ways of Asa, his father; he turned not aside from it, doing [that which was] right in the eyes of the LORD. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, [for] the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.

22:44  And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

22:45  Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat and his might that he showed and how he warred, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

22:46  And the remnant of the male [cult] prostitutes, which had remained from the days of his father Asa, he consumed out of the land.

22:47  [There was] then no king in Edom; [there was] a president [instead of a] king.

22:48  Jehoshaphat had made ships in Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.

22:49  Then Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, said unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.

22:50  And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, his father, and Jehoram, his son, reigned in his stead.

22:51  Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the year seventeen of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.

22:52  And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin,

22:53  for he served Baal and worshipped him and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.: