1 Kings

Chapter 1

¹ When King David was old and advanced in years, they covered him with blankets, but he could not keep warm. ² So his servants said to him, "Let us look for a young virgin for our master the king. Let her serve the king and take care of him. Let her lie in his arms so that our master the king may keep warm." ³ So they searched for a beautiful girl within all the borders of Israel. They found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. ⁴ The girl was very beautiful. She served the king and took care of him, but the king did not have sexual relations with her.

⁵ At that time, Adonijah son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king." So he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen with fifty men to run ahead of him. ⁶ His father had never troubled him, saying, "Why have you done this or that?" Adonijah was also a very handsome man, born next after Absalom. ⁷ He conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest. They followed Adonijah and helped him. ⁸ But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David did not follow Adonijah. ⁹ Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened calves by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants. ¹⁰ But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, or his brother Solomon.

¹¹ Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, "Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king, and David our master does not know it? ¹² Now therefore let me give you advice, so that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³ Go to King David; say to him, 'My master the king, did you not swear to your servant, saying, "Surely Solomon your son will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne?" Why then is Adonijah reigning?' ¹⁴ While you are there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words."

¹⁵ So Bathsheba went into the king's room. The king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king. ¹⁶ Bathsheba bowed and prostrated herself before the king. Then the king said, "What do you desire?" ¹⁷ She said to him, "My master, you swore to your servant by Yahweh your God, saying, 'Surely Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.' ¹⁸ Now, see, Adonijah is king, and you, my master the king, do not know it. ¹⁹ He has sacrificed oxen, fatted calves, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant. ²⁰ As for you, my master the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, waiting for you to tell them who will sit on the throne after you, my master. ²¹ Otherwise it will happen, when my master the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be regarded as criminals."

²² While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. ²³ The servants told the king, "Nathan the prophet is here." When he came in before the king, he prostrated himself before the king with his face to the ground. ²⁴ Nathan said, "My master the king, have you said, 'Adonijah will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne?' ²⁵ For he has gone down today and sacrificed oxen, fatted calves, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, the captains of the army, and Abiathar the priest. They are eating and drinking before him, and saying, 'Long live King Adonijah!' ²⁶ But as for me, your servant, Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon, he has not invited us. ²⁷ Has my master the king done this without telling us, your servants, who should sit on the throne after him?"

²⁸ Then King David answered and said, "Call Bathsheba back to me." She came into the king's presence and stood before the king. ²⁹ The king made an oath and said, "As Yahweh lives, who has redeemed me out of all trouble, ³⁰ as I vowed to you by Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying, 'Solomon your son will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place,' I will do this today." ³¹ Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and prostrated herself before the king and said, "May my master King David live forever!"

³² King David said, "Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada." So they came before the king. ³³ The king said to them, "Take with you the servants of your master, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule and take him down to Gihon. ³⁴ Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel and blow the trumpet and say, 'Long live King Solomon!' ³⁵ Then you will come up after him, and he will come and sit on my throne; for he will be king in my place. I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah." ³⁶ Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, "So let it be! May Yahweh, the God of my master the king, confirm it. ³⁷ As Yahweh has been with my master the king, so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my master King David."

³⁸ So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Kerethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride upon King David's mule; they brought him to Gihon. ³⁹ Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, "Long live King Solomon!" ⁴⁰ Then all the people went up after him, and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth shook with their sound.

⁴¹ Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, "Why is there an uproar in the city?" ⁴² While he was still speaking, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest came. Adonijah said, "Come in, for you are a worthy man and bring good news." ⁴³ Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, "Our master King David has made Solomon the king, ⁴⁴ and the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Kerethites and the Pelethites. They have had Solomon ride on the king's mule. ⁴⁵ Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon, and have come up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard. ⁴⁶ Also, Solomon is sitting on the throne of the kingdom. ⁴⁷ Moreover, the king's servants came to bless our master King David, saying, 'May your God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and make his throne greater than your throne.' Then the king bowed down on the bed. ⁴⁸ The king also said, 'Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who has given a person to sit on my throne this day, and that my own eyes should see it.'"

⁴⁹ Then all the guests of Adonijah were terrified. They stood up and each man went his way. ⁵⁰ Adonijah was afraid of Solomon and rose up, went, and took hold of the horns of the altar. ⁵¹ Then it was told Solomon, saying, "See, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, for he has laid hold on the horns of the altar, saying, 'Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not kill his servant with the sword.'" ⁵² Solomon said, "If he will show himself a worthy man, not a hair of his will fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he will die." ⁵³ So King Solomon sent men, who brought Adonijah down from the altar. He came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, "Go to your house."

Chapter 2

¹ As the day of David's death approached, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, ² "I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. ³ Keep the commands of Yahweh your God to walk in his ways, to obey his statutes, his commandments, his decisions, and his covenant decrees, being careful to do what is written in the law of Moses, so you may prosper in all you do, wherever you go, ⁴ so that Yahweh may fulfill his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons carefully watch their conduct, to walk before me faithfully with all their heart and with all their soul, you will never cease to have a man on the throne of Israel.' ⁵ You know also what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner son of Ner, and to Amasa son of Jether, whom he killed. He shed the blood of war in peace and put the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the shoes on his feet. ⁶ Deal with Joab by the wisdom you have learned, but do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace. ⁷ However, show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother. ⁸ Look, there is with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite of Bahurim, who cursed me with a violent curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. Shimei came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Yahweh, saying, 'I will not put you to death with the sword.' ⁹ Now therefore do not let him go free from punishment. You are a wise man, and you will know what you ought to do to him. You will bring his gray head down to the grave with blood."

¹⁰ Then David slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David. ¹¹ The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years. He had reigned for seven years in Hebron and for thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ¹² Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.

¹³ Then Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. She said, "Do you come peacefully?" He replied, "Peacefully." ¹⁴ Then he said, "I have something to say to you." So she replied, "Speak." ¹⁵ Adonijah said, "You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel expected me to be king. But things changed, and the kingdom was given to my brother, for it was his from Yahweh. ¹⁶ Now I have one request of you, and do not turn away from my face." Bathsheba said to him, "Speak." ¹⁷ He said, "Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not turn away from your face, so that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife." ¹⁸ Bathsheba said, "Very well, I will speak to the king."

¹⁹ Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. The king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat down on his throne and had a throne brought for the king's mother. She sat at his right hand. ²⁰ Then she said, "I wish to ask one small request of you, for you will not turn away from my face." The king answered her, "Ask, my mother, for I will not turn away from your face." ²¹ She said, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as his wife." ²² King Solomon answered and said to his mother, "Why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Why do you not ask the kingdom for him also, for he is my elder brother—for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah?" ²³ Then King Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, "May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life. ²⁴ Now therefore as Yahweh lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house as he promised, surely Adonijah will be put to death today." ²⁵ So King Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and Benaiah found Adonijah and put him to death.

²⁶ Then to Abiathar the priest the king said, "Go to Anathoth, to your own fields. You are worthy of death, but I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord Yahweh before David my father and suffered in every way my father suffered." ^{[ 1 ] 27} So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to Yahweh, that he might fulfill the word of Yahweh, which he had spoken concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.

²⁸ The news came to Joab, for Joab had supported Adonijah, though he had not supported Absalom. So Joab fled to the tent of Yahweh and took hold of the horns of the altar. ²⁹ It was told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of Yahweh and was now beside the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, execute him." ³⁰ So Benaiah came to the tent of Yahweh and said to him, "The king says, 'Come out.'" Joab replied, "No, I will die here." So Benaiah returned to the king, saying, "Joab said he wanted to die at the altar." ³¹ The king said to him, "Do as he has said. Kill him and bury him so that you may take away from me and from my father's house the blood that Joab shed without cause. ³² May Yahweh return his blood on his own head, because he attacked two men more righteous and better than himself and killed them with the sword, Abner son of Ner, the captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, the captain of the army of Judah, without my father David knowing it. ³³ So may their blood return on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But to David and his descendants, and to his house, and to his throne, may there be peace forever from Yahweh." ³⁴ Then Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and attacked Joab and killed him. He was buried in his own house in the wilderness. ³⁵ The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and he put Zadok the priest in Abiathar's place.

³⁶ Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and do not go out from there to any other place. ³⁷ For on the day you go out, and pass over the Kidron Valley, know you for certain that you will surely die. Your blood will be on your own head." ³⁸ So Shimei said to the king, "What you say is good. As my master the king has said, so your servant will do." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for many days.

³⁹ But at the end of three years, two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish son of Maacah, the king of Gath. So they told Shimei, saying, "See, your servants are in Gath." ⁴⁰ Then Shimei arose, saddled his donkey and went to Achish in Gath to seek his servants. He went and brought his servants back from Gath. ⁴¹ When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, ⁴² the king sent and called for Shimei and said to him, "Did I not make you swear by Yahweh and testify to you, saying, 'Know for certain that on the day you go out and go to any other place, you will surely die'? Then you said to me, 'What you say is good.' ⁴³ Why then have you not kept your oath to Yahweh and the command that I gave you?" ⁴⁴ The king also said to Shimei, "You know in your heart all the wickedness that you did to my father David. Therefore Yahweh will return your wickedness on your own head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon will be blessed and the throne of David will be established before Yahweh forever." ⁴⁶ Then the king gave a command to Benaiah son of Jehoiada. He went out and put Shimei to death.

So the rule was well established in Solomon's hand.

Chapter 3

¹ Solomon allied himself by marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house, the house of Yahweh, and the wall around Jerusalem. ² The people were sacrificing at the high places, because no house had yet been built for the name of Yahweh. ³ Solomon showed his love for Yahweh by walking in the statutes of David his father, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.

⁴ The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place there. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ⁵ Yahweh appeared at Gibeon to Solomon in a dream by night; he said, "Ask! What should I give you?" ⁶ So Solomon said, "You have shown great covenant faithfulness to your servant, David my father, because he walked before you in trustworthiness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart. You have kept for him this great covenant faithfulness and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. ⁷ Now Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king in the place of David my father, though I am only a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. ⁸ Your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. ⁹ So give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, so that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?"

¹⁰ This request of Solomon pleased the Lord. ¹¹ So God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice. ¹² See, now I will do all you asked of me when you gave me your request. I give you a wise and an understanding heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, and no one like you will rise up after you. ¹³ I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. ¹⁴ If you will walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days." ¹⁵ Then Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. He came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. He offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

¹⁶ Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ One woman said, "Oh, my master, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child with her in the house. ¹⁸ It happened on the third day after I gave birth that this woman also gave birth. We were together. There was no one else with us in the house, but only the two of us in the house. ¹⁹ Then this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on him. ²⁰ So she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. ²¹ When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, he was dead. But when I had looked at him carefully in the morning, he was not my son, whom I had borne." ²² Then the other woman said, "No, the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son." The first woman said, "No, the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son." This is how they spoke before the king.

²³ Then the king said, "One of you says, 'This is my son who is alive, and your son is dead,' and the other says, 'No, your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.'" ²⁴ The king said, "Bring me a sword." So they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ Then the king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to this woman and half to the other." ²⁶ Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king, for her heart was full of compassion for her son, and she said, "Oh, my master, give her the living child, and by no means kill him." But the other woman said, "He shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide him." ²⁷ Then the king answered and said, "Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother." ²⁸ When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered, they feared the king, because they saw that the wisdom of God was in him for giving judgments.

Chapter 4

¹ King Solomon was king over all Israel. ² These were his officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest. ³ Elihoreph and Ahijah sons of Shisha, were secretaries. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder. ⁴ Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the army. Zadok and Abiathar were priests. ^{[ 1 ]} as a later addition to the text. ⁵ Azariah son of Nathan was over the officers. Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and the king's friend. ⁶ Ahishar was over the household. Adoniram son of Abda was over the men who were subjected to forced labor.

⁷ Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year. ⁸ These were their names: Ben-Hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; ⁹ Ben-Deker in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan; ¹⁰ Ben-Hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Sokoh and all the land of Hepher); ¹¹ Ben-Abinadab, in all Naphoth Dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); ¹² Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth Shan that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah as far as the other side of Jokmeam; ¹³ Ben-Geber, in Ramoth Gilead (to him belonged the towns of Jair son of Manasseh, that are in Gilead, and the region of Argob belonged to him, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze gate bars); ¹⁴ Ahinadab son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ¹⁵ Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); ¹⁶ Baana son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar; ¹⁸ Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin; ¹⁹ and Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan, and he was the only official who was in the land.

²⁰ Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea. They were eating and drinking and were happy. ²¹ Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. ²² Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, ²³ ten fat oxen, twenty oxen out of the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. ²⁴ For he had dominion over all the region on this side of the River, from Tiphsah as far as to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River, and he had peace on all sides around him. ²⁵ Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. ²⁶ Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷ Those officials provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon's table, every man in his month. They let nothing be lacking. ²⁸ They also brought to the proper place barley and straw for the chariot horses and riding horses, each one bringing in what he was able.

²⁹ God gave Solomon great wisdom and understanding, and wideness of understanding like the sand on the seashore. ³⁰ Solomon's wisdom exceeded the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ He was wiser than all men—than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Kalkol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol—and his fame reached all the surrounding nations. ³² He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs were one thousand and five in number. ³³ He described the plants, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He explained also about beasts, birds, creeping things, and fish. ³⁴ People came from all the nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon. They came from all kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Chapter 5

¹ Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon for he had heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father; for Hiram had always loved David. ² Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, ³ "You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of Yahweh his God because of the wars that surrounded him, for during his lifetime Yahweh was putting his enemies under the soles of his feet. ⁴ But now, Yahweh my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor disaster. ⁵ So I intend to build a temple for the name of Yahweh my God, as Yahweh spoke to David my father, saying, 'Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, will build the temple for my name.' ⁶ Now therefore command that they cut cedars from Lebanon for me. My servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants so that you are paid fairly for everything you agreed to do. For you know there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians."

⁷ When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, "May Yahweh be blessed today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people." ⁸ Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, "I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I will provide all the wood of cedar and cypress that you desire. ⁹ My servants will bring the trees down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place that you direct me. I will have them broken up there, and you will take them away. You will do what I desire by giving food for my household." ¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon all the timber of cedar and fir that he desired. ¹¹ Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household and twenty measures of pure oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. ¹² Yahweh gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a covenant.

¹³ King Solomon conscripted labor out of all Israel. The forced laborers numbered thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts. One month they were in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was over the men who were subjected to forced labor. ¹⁵ Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens and eighty thousand who were stonecutters in the mountains, ¹⁶ besides Solomon's 3,300 chief officers who were over the work and who supervised the workers. ¹⁷ At the king's command they quarried large stones of high quality with which to lay the foundation of the temple. ¹⁸ So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stones to build the temple.

Chapter 6

¹ So Solomon began to build the temple of Yahweh. This happened in the 480th year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month. ² The temple that King Solomon built for Yahweh was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. ³ The portico in front of the temple's main hall was twenty cubits in length, equal to the width of the temple, and ten cubits deep in front of the temple. ⁴ For the house he made windows with frames that made them more narrow at the outside than on the inside. ⁵ Against the walls of the main chamber he built rooms around it, around both the outer room and the inner room. He built rooms all around the sides. ⁶ The lowest story was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide. For on the outside he made offsets in the wall of the house all around so that the beams would not be inserted in the walls of the house. ⁷ The house was built of stones prepared at the quarry. No hammer, ax, or any iron tool was heard in the house while it was being built. ⁸ On the south side of the temple there was an entrance at the ground level, then one went up by stairs to the middle level, and from the middle to the third level. ⁹ So Solomon built the temple and finished it; he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar. ¹⁰ He built the side rooms against the inner chambers of the temple, each side five cubits high; they were joined to the house with timbers of cedar.

¹¹ The word of Yahweh came to Solomon, saying, ¹² "Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in my statutes and do justice, keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will confirm my promise with you that I had made to David your father. ¹³ I will live among the people of Israel and will not forsake them."

¹⁴ So Solomon built the house and finished it. ¹⁵ Then he built the interior walls of the house with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with cypress boards. ¹⁶ He built twenty cubits onto the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the ceiling. He built this room to be the inner room, the most holy place. ¹⁷ The main hall, that is, the holy place that was in front of the most holy place, was forty cubits long. ¹⁸ There was cedar inside the house, carved in the shape of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar inside. No stonework was visible on the inside. ¹⁹ Solomon prepared the inner room inside the house in order to place the ark of the covenant of Yahweh there. ²⁰ The inner room was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height. Solomon overlaid the walls with pure gold and covered the altar with cedar wood. ²¹ Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he placed chains of gold across the front of the inner room, and overlaid the front with gold. ²² He overlaid the entire interior with gold until all the temple was finished. He also overlaid with gold the whole altar that belonged to the inner room.

²³ Solomon made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high, for the inner room. ²⁴ One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long and its other wing was also five cubits long. So from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other there was a distance of ten cubits. ²⁵ The other cherub also had a wingspan ten cubits. Both the cherubim were of the same dimensions and shape. ²⁶ The height of one cherub was ten cubits and the other cherub was the same. ²⁷ Solomon placed the cherubim in the innermost room. The wings of the cherubim were stretched out so that the wing of one touched one wall and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. Their wings touched one another in the middle of the most holy place. ²⁸ Solomon overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ He carved all the walls of the house around about with figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, in the outer and inner rooms. ³⁰ Solomon overlaid the floor of the house with gold, in both the outer and inner rooms. ³¹ Solomon made doors of olivewood for the entrance to the inner room. The lintel and doorposts had five indented sections. ³² So he made two doors of olivewood, and he made on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold and he spread the gold on the cherubim and palm trees. ³³ In this way, Solomon also made for the temple entrance doorposts of olive wood having four indented sections ³⁴ and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding and the two leaves of the other door were folding. ³⁵ He carved on them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and he evenly overlaid gold on the carved work. ³⁶ He built the inner courtyard with three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams.

³⁷ The foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts and conforming to all its specifications. Solomon took seven years to build the temple.

Chapter 7

¹ Solomon took thirteen years to build his own palace. ² He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was one hundred cubits, its width was fifty cubits, and its height was thirty cubits. The palace was built with four rows of cedar pillars with cedar beams on the pillars. ³ The house was roofed with cedar that rested on beams. Those beams were supported by pillars. There were forty-five beams, fifteen in a row. ⁴ There were beams in three rows, and each window was opposite another window in three sets. ⁵ All the doors and posts were made square with beams, and window was opposite window in three sets. ⁶ There was a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, with a portico in front and pillars and a roof. ⁷ Solomon built the hall of the throne where he was to judge, the hall of justice. It was covered with cedar from floor to floor. ^{[ 1 ] 8} Solomon's house in which he was to live, in another courtyard within the palace grounds, was similarly designed. He also built a house like this for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken as a wife.

⁹ These buildings were adorned with costly hewn stones, precisely measured and cut with a saw and smoothed on all sides. These stones were used from the foundation to the stones on top, and also on the outside to the great court. ¹⁰ The foundation was constructed with very large, costly stones of eight and ten cubits in length. ¹¹ Above were costly hewn stones precisely cut to size, and cedar beams. ¹² The great courtyard surrounding the palace had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams like the courtyard of the temple of Yahweh and the temple portico.

¹³ King Solomon sent for Huram and brought him from Tyre. ¹⁴ Huram was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali; his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Huram was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill to do great work with bronze. He came to King Solomon to work with bronze for the king. ¹⁵ Huram fashioned the two pillars of bronze, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. ¹⁶ He made two capitals of polished bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of each capital was five cubits. ¹⁷ Checker latticework and wreaths of chain work for the capitals decorated the top of the pillars, seven for each capital. ¹⁸ So Huram made two rows of pomegranates around the top of each pillar to decorate their capitals. ¹⁹ The capitals on the tops of the portico pillars were decorated with lilies, four cubits high. ²⁰ The capitals on these two pillars also included, close to their very top, two hundred pomegranates in rows all around. ²¹ He raised up the pillars at the temple portico. The pillar on the right was named Jakin, and the pillar on the left was named Boaz. ²² On the top of the pillars were decorations like lilies. The fashioning of the pillars was done in this way.

²³ Huram made the round sea of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim. Its height was five cubits, and the sea was thirty cubits in circumference. ²⁴ Under the brim encircling the sea were gourds, ten in each cubit, cast in one piece with "The Sea," when that basin was cast. ²⁵ "The Sea" stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east. "The Sea" was set on top of them, and all their hindquarters were toward the inside. ²⁶ The sea was as thick as the width of a hand, and its brim was forged like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. The sea held two thousand baths of water.

²⁷ Huram made the ten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long and four cubits wide, and the height was three cubits. ²⁸ The work of the stands was like this. They had panels that stood between frames, ²⁹ and on the panels and on the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. Above and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of hammered work. ³⁰ Every stand had four bronze wheels and axles, and its four corners had supports beneath for the basin. The supports were cast with wreaths on the side of each one. ³¹ The opening was round like a pedestal, a cubit and a half wide, and was within a crown that rose up a cubit. On the opening were engravings, and their panels were square, not round. ³² The four wheels were underneath the panels, and the axles of the wheels and their housings were in the stand. The height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. ³³ The wheels were forged like chariot wheels. Their housings, rims, spokes, and hubs were all cast metal. ³⁴ There were four handles at the four corners of each stand, forged into the stand itself. ³⁵ In the top of the stands there was a round band half a cubit deep, and on the top of the stand its supports and panels were attached. ³⁶ On the surfaces of the supports and on the panels Huram engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees that covered the space available, and they were surrounded by wreaths. ³⁷ He made the ten stands in this manner. All of them were cast in the same molds, and they had one size, and the same shape.

³⁸ Huram made ten basins of bronze. One basin could hold forty baths of water. Each basin was four cubits across and there was one basin on each of ten stands. ³⁹ He made five stands on the south-facing side of the temple and five on the north-facing side of the temple. He set "The Sea" on the east corner, facing toward the south of the temple.

⁴⁰ Huram made the basins and the shovels and the sprinkling bowls. Then he finished all the work that he did for King Solomon in the temple of Yahweh: ⁴¹ the two pillars, and the bowl-like capitals that were on top of the two pillars, and the two sets of decorative latticework to cover the two bowl like capitals that were on top of the pillars. ⁴² He made the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of decorative latticework (two rows of pomegranates for each set of latticework to cover the two bowl-like capitals that were on the pillars); ⁴³ the ten stands, and the ten basins on the stands. ⁴⁴ He made the large basin called "The Sea" with its twelve oxen under it; ⁴⁵ also the pots, shovels, basins, and all the other implements. Huram made them out of polished bronze, for King Solomon, for the temple of Yahweh. ⁴⁶ The king had cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon did not weigh all the utensils because there were too many to weigh, because the weight of the bronze could not be measured.

⁴⁸ Solomon had made all the furnishings that were in the temple of Yahweh out of gold: the golden altar and the table on which the bread of the presence was to be placed; ⁴⁹ the lampstands, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the inner room, were of pure gold, and the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs were of gold. ⁵⁰ Solomon also had made the cups, lamp trimmers, basins, spoons, and incense burners, all of which were made of pure gold; he had sockets of gold made for the doors of the inner room (which was the most holy place), and for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

⁵¹ In this way, all the work that King Solomon directed for the house of Yahweh was finished. So Solomon brought in the things that were set apart by David, his father, and the silver, the gold, and the furnishings, and put them into the storerooms of the house of Yahweh.

Chapter 8

¹ Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the families of the people of Israel, before himself in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, that is, Zion. ² All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the feast, in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ All the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. ⁴ They brought up the ark of Yahweh, the tent of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought these things up. ⁵ King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel came together before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted. ⁶ The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, into the inner room of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread out their wings to the place of the ark, and they covered the ark and the poles by which it was carried. ⁸ The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place in front of the inner room, but they could not be seen from outside. They are there to this day. ⁹ There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses had put there at Horeb, when Yahweh made a covenant with the people of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ It came about that when the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the temple of Yahweh. ¹¹ The priests could not stand to serve because of the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled his house.

¹² Then Solomon said,

"Yahweh has said that

he would live in thick darkness,

¹³ But I have built you

a lofty residence,

a place for you to live in forever." ¹⁴ Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ¹⁵ He said, "May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised, who spoke to David my father, and has fulfilled it with his own hands, saying, ¹⁶ 'Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, in order for my name to be there. However, I chose David to rule over my people Israel.' ¹⁷ Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But Yahweh said to David my father, 'In that it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well for it to be in your heart. ¹⁹ Nevertheless you will not build the house; instead, your son, one who will be born from your loins, will build the house for my name.' ²⁰ Yahweh has carried out the word that he had said, for I have arisen in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised. I have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ²¹ I have made a place for the ark there, in which is Yahweh's covenant, which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt."

²² Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh, before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward the heavens. ²³ He said, "Yahweh, God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens above or on the earth below, who keeps his covenant faithfulness with your servants who walk before you with all their heart; ²⁴ you who have kept with your servant David my father, what you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today. ²⁵ Now then, Yahweh, God of Israel, carry out what you have promised to your servant David my father, when you said, 'You will not fail to have a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful to walk before me, as you have walked before me.' ²⁶ Now then, God of Israel, I pray that the promise you made to your servant David my father, will come true.

²⁷ But will God actually live on the earth? Look, the entire universe and heaven itself cannot contain you—how much less can this temple that I have built! ²⁸ Yet please respect this prayer of your servant and his request, Yahweh my God; listen to the cry and prayer that your servant prays before you today. ²⁹ May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, to the place about which you have said, 'My name and my presence will be there'—in order to listen to the prayers that your servant will pray toward this place. ³⁰ So listen to the request of your servant and of your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, listen from the place where you live, from the heavens; and when you listen, forgive.

³¹ If a man sins against his neighbor and is required to swear an oath, and if he comes and swears an oath before your altar in this house, ³² listen from the heavens and act. Judge your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing what he has done upon his own head. Declare the innocent not guilty and give to him according to his righteousness.

³³ When your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, if they turn back to you, confess your name, pray, and request forgiveness from you in this temple— ³⁴ then please listen in the heavens and forgive the sin of your people Israel; bring them back to the land that you gave to their ancestors.

³⁵ When the skies are shut up and there is no rain because the people have sinned against you—if they pray toward this place, confess your name, and turn from their sin when you have afflicted them— ³⁶ then listen in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk. Send rain on your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

³⁷ Suppose there is famine in the land, or suppose that there is disease, blight or mildew, locusts or caterpillars; or suppose that an enemy attacks the city gates in their land, or that there is any plague or sickness— ³⁸ and suppose then that prayers and requests are made by a person or by all your people Israel—each knowing the plague in his own heart as he spreads out his hands toward this temple. ³⁹ Then listen from heaven, the place where you live, forgive and act, and reward every person for all he does; you know his heart, because you and you only know the hearts of all human beings. ⁴⁰ Do this so that they may fear you all the days that they live on the land that you gave to our ancestors.

⁴¹ In addition, concerning the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel: When he comes from a distant country because of your name— ⁴² for they will hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your raised arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple, ⁴³ then please listen from heaven, the place where you live, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you. Do this so that all the peoples on earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel. Do this so they might know that this house I have built is called by your name.

⁴⁴ Suppose that your people go out to battle against an enemy, by whatever way you may send them, and suppose that they pray to you, Yahweh, toward the city that you have chosen, and toward the house that I have built for your name. ⁴⁵ Then listen in the heavens to their prayer and their request, and help their cause.

⁴⁶ Suppose that they sin against you, since there is no one who does not sin, and suppose that you are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, so that the enemy takes them away captive to their land, whether distant or near. ⁴⁷ Then suppose that they realize they are in the land where they have been exiled, and suppose that they repent and seek favor from you from the land of their captors. Suppose that they say, 'We have acted perversely and sinned. We have behaved wickedly.' ⁴⁸ Suppose that they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who captured them, and suppose that they pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their ancestors, and toward the city that you chose, and toward the house that I have built for your name. ⁴⁹ Then from heaven, the place where you live, listen to their prayer and their request for help, and you will make matters right for them. ⁵⁰ Forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and make them objects of compassion before their conquerors, and cause their conquerors to have compassion on them. ⁵¹ They are your people whom you have chosen, whom you rescued out of Egypt as if from the middle of a furnace where iron is forged. ⁵² I pray that your eyes may be open to the request of your servant and to the requests of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you. ⁵³ For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to belong to you and receive your promises, just as you explained by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord Yahweh."

⁵⁴ So it was that when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and request to Yahweh, he arose from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward the heavens. ⁵⁵ He stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying, ⁵⁶ "May Yahweh be praised, who has given rest to his people Israel, keeping all his promises. Not one word has failed out of all Yahweh's good promises that he made with Moses his servant. ⁵⁷ May Yahweh our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or forsake us, ⁵⁸ that he may incline our hearts to him, to live in all his ways and keep his commandments and his regulations and his statutes, which he commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ Let these words I have spoken, by which I have made request before Yahweh, be near Yahweh our God day and night, so that he may help the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as every day will require; ⁶⁰ that all the peoples of the earth may know that Yahweh, he is God, and there is no other God! ⁶¹ Therefore let your heart be true to Yahweh our God, to walk in his statutes and keep his commandments, as on this day."

⁶² So the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices to Yahweh. ⁶³ Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to Yahweh: twenty-two thousand oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of Yahweh. ⁶⁴ The same day the king set apart the middle of the courtyard in front of the temple of Yahweh, for there he offered the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too small to receive the burnt offering, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings. ⁶⁵ So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before Yahweh our God for seven days and also for another seven days, a total of fourteen days. ⁶⁶ On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes with joyful and glad hearts for all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David, his servant, and to Israel, his people.

Chapter 9

¹ After Solomon had finished building the house of Yahweh and the king's palace, and after he had accomplished all that he wanted to do, ² Yahweh appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ Then Yahweh said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your request that you have made before me. I have set apart this house, which you have built, to myself, to put my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. ⁴ As for you, if you walk before me as David your father walked in integrity of heart and in uprightness, obeying all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my decrees, ⁵ then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, 'A descendant of yours will never fail to be on the throne of Israel.' ⁶ But if you turn away, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have placed before you, and if you go and worship other gods and bow down to them, ⁷ then will I cut off Israel from off the ground that I have given them; and this house that I have set apart to my name, I will cast it out of my sight, and Israel will become an example to be mocked and an object of ridicule among all peoples. ⁸ This temple will become a heap of ruins, and everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss. They will ask, 'Why has Yahweh done this to this land and to this house?' ⁹ Others will answer, 'Because they forsook Yahweh, their God, who had brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt, and they laid hold of other gods and bowed down to them and worshiped them. That is why Yahweh has brought all this disaster on them.'" ¹⁰ It came about at the end of twenty years that Solomon had finished building the two buildings, the temple of Yahweh and the king's palace. ¹¹ Now Hiram, the king of Tyre, had furnished Solomon with cedar and cypress trees, and with gold—all that Solomon desired—so King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. ¹² Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, but they did not please him. ¹³ So Hiram said, "What cities are these which you have given me, my brother?" Hiram called them the Land of Kabul, which they are still called today. ¹⁴ Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents of gold.

¹⁵ This is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon imposed to build the temple of Yahweh and his own palace, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. ¹⁶ Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer. He burned it and killed the Canaanites in the city. Then Pharaoh gave the city to his daughter, Solomon's wife, as a wedding gift. ¹⁷ So Solomon rebuilt Gezer and Beth Horon the Lower, ¹⁸ Baalath and Tamar ^{[ 1 ]} in the wilderness in the land of Judah, ¹⁹ and all the store cities that he possessed, and the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever he wished to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the lands under his rule. ²⁰ As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel, ²¹ their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel were not able to totally destroy—Solomon made them into forced laborers, which they are to this day. ²² However, Solomon made no forced laborers of the people of Israel. Instead, they became his soldiers and his servants, his officials, and his officers and commanders of his chariot forces and his horse riders.

²³ These were also the chief officers managing the supervisors who were over Solomon's works, 550 of them, who supervised the people who did the work.

²⁴ Pharaoh's daughter moved from the city of David to the house that Solomon had built for her. Later, Solomon built the Millo.

²⁵ Three times each year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built for Yahweh, burning incense with them on the altar that was before Yahweh. So he completed the temple and was now using it.

²⁶ King Solomon built a fleet of ships in Ezion Geber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. ²⁷ Hiram sent servants to Solomon's fleet, sailors who were familiar with the sea, with Solomon's own servants. ²⁸ They went to Ophir with servants of Solomon. From there they brought back 420 talents of gold for King Solomon.

Chapter 10

¹ When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame concerning the name of Yahweh, she came to test him with hard questions. ² She came to Jerusalem with a very long caravan, with camels loaded with spices, much gold, and many precious gemstones. When she arrived, she told Solomon all that was in her heart. ³ Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing she asked that the king did not answer. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba saw all Solomon's wisdom, the palace that he had built, ⁵ the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the work of his servants and their clothing, also his cupbearers, and the manner in which he offered burnt offerings in the house of Yahweh, there was no more breath in her. ⁶ She said to the king, "It is true, the report that I heard in my own land of your words and your wisdom. ⁷ I did not believe what I heard until I came here, and now my eyes have seen it. Not half was told me about your wisdom and wealth! You have exceeded the fame that I heard about. ⁸ How blessed are your wives, and how blessed are your servants who constantly stand before you, because they hear your wisdom. ^{[ 1 ]} Important ancient translations, however, have Many think it is probable that was misread as , because the Hebrew words are very similar. ⁹ May Yahweh your God be praised, who has taken pleasure in you, who placed you on the throne of Israel. Because Yahweh loved Israel forever, he has made you king, for you to do justice and righteousness!" ¹⁰ She gave the king 120 talents of gold and a large amount of spices and precious stones. No greater amount of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon was ever given to him again.

¹¹ The fleet of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a large amount of almug wood and precious stones. ¹² The king made almug wood pillars for the temple of Yahweh and for the king's palace, and harps and lyres for the singers. No such quantity of almug wood has ever come or been seen again to this day.

¹³ King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba everything she wished for, whatever she asked, in addition to what Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she returned to her own land with her servants.

¹⁴ Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, ¹⁵ besides the gold that the traders and merchants brought. All the kings of Arabia and the governors in the country also brought gold and silver to Solomon. ¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold. Six hundred shekels of gold went into each one. ¹⁷ He also made three hundred shields of beaten gold. Three minas of gold went into each shield; the king put them into the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁸ Then the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the finest gold. ¹⁹ There were six steps to the throne, and the back of it had a rounded top. There were armrests on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests. ²⁰ Twelve lions stood on the steps, one on each side of each of the six steps. There was no throne like it in any other kingdom. ²¹ All King Solomon's drinking cups were gold, and all the drinking cups in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were silver, because silver was not considered valuable in Solomon's days. ²² The king had at sea a fleet of oceangoing ships, along with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet brought gold, silver, and ivory, as well as apes and baboons.

²³ So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the world in riches and in wisdom. ²⁴ All the earth sought the presence of Solomon in order to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. ²⁵ Those who visited brought tribute, vessels of silver and of gold, and clothes, armor, and spices, as well as horses and mules, year after year.

²⁶ Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and twelve thousand horsemen that he stationed in the chariot cities and with himself in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king had silver in Jerusalem, as much as the stones on the ground. He made cedar wood to be as abundant as the sycamore fig trees that are in the lowlands. ²⁸ The horses that belonged to Solomon were imported from Egypt, and Kue and the king's merchants purchased them from Kue. ²⁹ Chariots were purchased out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver each, and horses for 150 shekels each. Many of these were then sold to all the kings of the Hittites and Aram.

Chapter 11

¹ Now King Solomon loved many foreign women including the daughter of Pharaoh—women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. ² They were from the nations about which Yahweh said to the people of Israel, "You will not go among them to marry, neither will they come among you, for they will certainly turn your heart to their gods." In spite of this command, Solomon was affectionate toward these women in love. ³ Solomon had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines. His wives turned his heart away. ⁴ For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; his heart was not fully surrendered to Yahweh his God, as was the heart of David his father. ⁵ For Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and he followed Molech, the disgusting idol of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh; he did not fully follow Yahweh as David his father had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the disgusting idol of Moab, on a hill east of Jerusalem, and also for Molech, the disgusting idol of the people of Ammon. ⁸ He also built high places for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods at them.

⁹ Yahweh was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from him, the God of Israel, even though he had appeared to him twice ¹⁰ and commanded him about this very thing, that he should not go after other gods. But Solomon did not obey what Yahweh commanded. ¹¹ Therefore Yahweh said to Solomon, "Because you have done this and have not kept the covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant. ¹² However, for David your father's sake, I will not do it in your lifetime, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ Yet I will not tear away all the kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for David my servant's sake, and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."

¹⁴ Then Yahweh raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was from the royal family of Edom. ¹⁵ When David was in Edom, Joab the captain of the army had gone up to bury the dead, every man who had been killed in Edom. ¹⁶ Joab and all Israel remained there six months until he had killed every male in Edom. ¹⁷ But Hadad was taken with other Edomites by his father's servants into Egypt, since Hadad was still a little child. ¹⁸ They left Midian and came to Paran, from where they took men with them to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and land and food. ¹⁹ Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that Pharaoh gave him a wife, his own wife's sister, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. ²⁰ The sister of Tahpenes gave birth to Hadad's son. They named him Genubath. Tahpenes raised him in Pharaoh's palace. So Genubath lived in Pharaoh's palace among the children of Pharaoh. ²¹ While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David had lain down with his ancestors and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, "Let me depart, so I may go to my own country." ²² Then Pharaoh said to him, "But what have you lacked with me, that you now seek to go to your own country?" Hadad answered, "Nothing. Please let me go."

²³ God also raised up another adversary to Solomon, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴ Rezon gathered men to himself and became captain over a small force, when David defeated the men of Zobah. Rezon's men went to Damascus and lived there, and Rezon controlled Damascus. ²⁵ He was an enemy of Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the trouble that Hadad caused. Rezon abhorred Israel and reigned over Aram.

²⁶ Then Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, an official of Solomon, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king. ²⁷ He lifted up his hand against the king because Solomon had built up the place located at Millo and repaired the opening in the city wall of David his father. ²⁸ Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor. Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, so he gave him command over all the labor of the house of Joseph. ²⁹ At that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed in a new garment and the two men were alone in the field. ³⁰ Then Ahijah grabbed hold of the new garment that was on him and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ He said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, 'Look, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and I will give ten tribes to you ³² (but Solomon will have one tribe, for my servant David's sake and for Jerusalem's sake—the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), ³³ because they have forsaken me and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Molech the god of the people of Ammon. They have not walked in my ways, to do what is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my decrees, as did David his father. ³⁴ However, I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon's hand. Instead, I have made him ruler all the days of his life, for David my servant's sake whom I chose, the one who kept my commandments and my statutes. ³⁵ But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and I will give it to you, ten tribes. ³⁶ I will give one tribe to Solomon's son, so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city in which I have chosen to put my name. ³⁷ I will take you, and you will rule to fulfill all that you desire, and you will be king over Israel. ³⁸ If you listen to all that I command you, and if you walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, then I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. ³⁹ I will punish the descendants of David, but not forever.'" ⁴⁰ So Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam got up and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and he remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

⁴¹ As for the other matters concerning Solomon, all that he did and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the events of Solomon? ⁴² Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. ⁴³ He slept with his ancestors and he was buried in the city of David his father. Rehoboam his son became king in his place.

Chapter 12

¹ Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel was coming to Shechem to make him king. ² It happened that Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of this (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), for Jeroboam had settled down in Egypt. ^{[ 1 ] 3} So they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, ⁴ "Your father made our yoke heavy. Now make lighter the hard work of your father and make lighter the heavy yoke that he put on us, and we will serve you." ⁵ Rehoboam said to them, "Go away for three days, then come back to me." So the people went away.

⁶ King Rehoboam consulted with the old men who had stood before Solomon his father while he was alive, and he said, "How do you advise me to answer this people?" ⁷ They spoke to him and said, "If you will be a servant today to these people and serve them, and answer them by saying good words to them, then they will always be your servants." ⁸ But Rehoboam ignored the advice that the old men had given him and he consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. ⁹ He said to them, "What advice do you give me that we may answer the people who spoke to me and said, 'Lighten the yoke that your father put on us'?" ¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with Rehoboam spoke to him, saying, "Speak to these people who told you that your father Solomon made their yoke heavy but that you must make it lighter. You should say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. ¹¹ So now, although my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.'"

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had instructed when he said, "Come back to me on the third day." ¹³ The king answered the people roughly and ignored the advice of the old men that they had given him. ¹⁴ He spoke to them following the advice of the young men; he said, "My father burdened you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions." ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of events brought about by Yahweh, that he might carry out his word that he had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered him and said,

"What share do we have in David?

We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse!

Go to your tents, Israel.

Now see to your own house, David."

So Israel went back to their tents. ¹⁷ But as for the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam became king over them. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was over the forced laborers, but all Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam fled quickly in his chariot to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. ²⁰ It happened that when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to their assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was no one who followed the family of David, except only the tribe of Judah.

²¹ When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin; there were 180,000 chosen men who were soldiers, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon. ²² But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God; it said, ²³ "Speak to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people; say, ²⁴ 'Yahweh says this: You must not attack or fight against your brothers the people of Israel. Each man must return to his home, for this thing has been made to happen by me.'" So they listened to the word of Yahweh and turned back and went their way, and they obeyed his word.

²⁵ Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there. He went out from there and built Peniel. ²⁶ Jeroboam thought in his heart, "Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. ²⁷ If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of Yahweh at Jerusalem, then the heart of these people will turn again to their master, to Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah." ²⁸ So King Jeroboam sought advice and made two calves of gold; he said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look, these are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." ²⁹ He set up one in Bethel and the other in Dan. ³⁰ So this act became a sin. The people went to one or the other, all the way to Dan. ³¹ Jeroboam made houses on high places and he also made priests from among all the people, who were not among the sons of Levi. ³² Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar. He did so at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made, and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places he had made. ³³ Jeroboam went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month he had planned in his own mind; he ordained a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense.

Chapter 13

¹ A man of God came out of Judah by the word of Yahweh to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. ² He cried against the altar by the word of Yahweh: "Altar, altar! This is what Yahweh says, 'See, a son named Josiah will be born to the family of David, and on you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now burn incense on you. On you they will burn human bones.'" ³ Then the man of God gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign that Yahweh has spoken: 'Look, the altar will be split apart, and the ashes on it will be poured out.'" ⁴ When the king heard what the man of God said, that he had cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam reached out with his hand from the altar, saying, "Seize him." Then the hand with which he had reached out against the man dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. ⁵ (The altar was also split apart and the ashes poured out from the altar, as described by the sign that the man of God had given by the word of Yahweh.) ⁶ King Jeroboam answered and said to the man of God, "Plead for the favor of Yahweh your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me again." So the man of God prayed to Yahweh, and the king's hand was restored to him again, and it became as it was before. ⁷ The king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward." ⁸ The man of God said to the king, "Even if you give me half your possessions, I will not go with you, nor will I eat food or drink water in this place, ⁹ because Yahweh commanded me by his word, 'You will eat no bread nor drink water, nor return by the way that you came.'" ¹⁰ So the man of God left another way and did not return to his home by the way that he had come to Bethel.

¹¹ Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel, and one of his sons came and told him all the things that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. His sons also told him the words that the man of God had spoken to the king. ¹² Their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" Now his sons had seen the way the man of God from Judah had gone. ¹³ So he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey and he rode off on it. ¹⁴ The old prophet went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree; and he said to him, "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?" He answered, "I am." ¹⁵ Then the old prophet said to him, "Come home with me and eat food." ¹⁶ The man of God answered, "I may not return with you nor go in with you, neither will I eat food nor drink water with you in this place, ¹⁷ because it was commanded to me by the word of Yahweh, 'You will eat no food nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.'" ¹⁸ So the old prophet said to him, "I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of Yahweh, saying, 'Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat food and drink water.'" But he was lying to the man of God. ¹⁹ So the man of God went back with the old prophet and ate food in his house and drank water.

²⁰ As they sat at the table, the word of Yahweh came to the prophet who had brought him back, ²¹ and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, "Yahweh says, 'Because you have been disobedient to the word of Yahweh and have not kept the command that Yahweh your God gave you, ²² but came back and have eaten food and drunk water in the place about which Yahweh told you to eat no food and drink no water, your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.'" ²³ After he had eaten food and after he had drunk, the prophet saddled the donkey of the man of God, the man who had come back with him. ²⁴ When the man of God was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left on the road. Then the donkey stood by it, and the lion also stood by the body. ²⁵ When men passed by and saw the body left on the road, and the lion standing by the body, they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.

²⁶ When the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, "It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of Yahweh. Therefore Yahweh gave him to the lion, which tore him to pieces and killed him, just as the word of Yahweh warned him." ²⁷ So the old prophet spoke to his sons, saying, "Saddle my donkey," and they saddled it. ²⁸ He went and found the body left in the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body, nor attacked the donkey. ²⁹ The prophet took up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. He came to his own city to mourn and to bury him. ³⁰ He laid the body in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, "Woe, my brother!" ³¹ Then after he had buried him, the old prophet spoke to his sons, saying, "When I am dead, bury me in the tomb in which the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones. ³² For the message he declared by the word of Yahweh, against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses on the high places in the cities of Samaria, will certainly happen."

³³ After this Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but continued to appoint common priests for the high places from among all sorts of people. Any who would serve he consecrated as a priest. ³⁴ This matter became sin to the family of Jeroboam and caused his family to be destroyed and to be exterminated from the face of the earth.

Chapter 14

¹ At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became very sick. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, "Please arise and disguise yourself, so you will not be recognized as my wife, and go to Shiloh, because Ahijah the prophet is there; he is the one who spoke about me, saying that I would become king over these people. ³ Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to Ahijah. He will tell you what will happen to the child." ⁴ Jeroboam's wife did so; she left and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see; he lost his sight because of old age. ⁵ Yahweh said to Ahijah, "Look, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to seek advice from you regarding her son, for he is sick. Say such and such to her, because when she comes, she will act as if she were some other woman."

⁶ When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be someone you are not? I have been sent to you with bad news. ⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam that Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, 'I raised you from among the people to make you the leader over my people Israel. ⁸ I tore the kingdom away from the family of David and gave it to you, yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, to do only what was right in my eyes. ⁹ Instead, you have done evil, more than all who were before you. You have made other gods, and you have cast metal images to provoke me to anger, and have thrust me behind your back. ¹⁰ Therefore, look, I will bring disaster on your family; I will cut off from you every male child in Israel, whether slave or free, and will completely remove your family, like someone who burns up dung until it is gone. ¹¹ Anyone who belongs to your family who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds of the heavens, for I, Yahweh, have said it.' ¹² So arise, wife of Jeroboam, and go back to your home; when your feet enter the city, the child Abijah will die. ¹³ All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one from Jeroboam's family who will go into a grave, because only in him, out of Jeroboam's house, was anything good found in the sight of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ¹⁴ Also, Yahweh will raise up a king of Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam on that day. Today is that day, right now. ¹⁵ For Yahweh will attack Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and he will root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their ancestors. He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they have made their Asherah poles and provoked Yahweh to anger. ¹⁶ He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, the sins that he has committed, and through which he has led Israel to sin."

¹⁷ So Jeroboam's wife arose and left, and came to Tirzah. As she came to the threshold of her house, the child died. ¹⁸ All Israel buried him and mourned for him, just as it was told to them by the word of Yahweh which he had spoken by his servant Ahijah the prophet.

¹⁹ As for the other matters concerning Jeroboam, how he waged war and how he reigned, see, they are written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel. ²⁰ Jeroboam reigned twenty-two years and then slept with his ancestors, and Nadab his son became king in his place.

²¹ Now Rehoboam son of Solomon was reigning in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that Yahweh had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his name. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite woman. ²² Judah did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh; they provoked him to jealousy with the sins that they committed, more than everything that their fathers had done. ²³ For they also built for themselves high places, stone pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. ²⁴ There were also cultic prostitutes in the land. They did the same despicable practices as the nations that Yahweh had driven out before the people of Israel.

²⁵ It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. ²⁶ He took away the treasures in the house of Yahweh, and the treasures in the king's house. He took everything away; he also took all the shields of gold that Solomon had made. ²⁷ King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and entrusted them into the hands of the commanders of the guard, who guarded the doors to the king's house. ²⁸ It happened that whenever the king entered the house of Yahweh, the guards would carry them; then they would bring them back into the guardhouse.

²⁹ As for the other matters concerning Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Judah? ³⁰ There was constant warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ³¹ So Rehoboam slept with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite woman. Abijah his son became king in his place.

Chapter 15

¹ In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah began to reign over Judah. ² He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah. She was the daughter of Abishalom. ³ He walked in all the sins that his father had committed before his time; his heart was not devoted to Yahweh his God as the heart of David, his ancestor, had been. ⁴ Nevertheless, for David's sake, Yahweh his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up his son after him in order to strengthen Jerusalem. ⁵ God did this because David had done what was right in his eyes; for all the days of his life, he had not turned away from anything that he commanded him, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ⁶ Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of Abijah's life.

⁷ As for the other matters of Abijah, all that he did, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ⁸ Abijah slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David. Asa his son became king in his place.

⁹ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah. ¹⁰ He ruled forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother's name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹ Asa did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, as David, his ancestor, had done. ¹² He expelled the cultic prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his ancestors had made. ¹³ He also removed Maacah, his grandmother, from being queen, because she had made a disgusting figure out of an Asherah pole. Asa cut down the disgusting figure and burned it at the Kidron Valley. ¹⁴ But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, Asa's heart was completely devoted to Yahweh all his days. ¹⁵ He brought into the house of Yahweh the things that were set apart by his father, and his own things that had been set apart that were made of silver and gold, and vessels.

¹⁶ There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel, all their days. ¹⁷ Baasha king of Israel, acted aggressively against Judah and built up Ramah, so that he might not allow anyone to leave or enter into the land of Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ Then Asa took all the silver and gold left in the storerooms in the house of Yahweh, and the storerooms of the king's palace. He put it into the hands of his servants and sent it to Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who lived in Damascus. He said, ¹⁹ "Let there be a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Look, I have sent to you a gift of silver and gold. Break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, so that he may leave me alone." ²⁰ Ben Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies, and they attacked the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel of Beth Maacah, and all Kinnereth, together with all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ It came about that when Baasha heard this, he stopped building up Ramah and went back to Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah. No one was exempted. They carried away the stones and timbers of Ramah with which Baasha had been building up the city. Then King Asa used that building material to build up Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

²³ As for the other matters of Asa, all his might, all that he did, and the cities he built, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Judah? But during his old age he was diseased in his feet. ²⁴ Then Asa slept with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David his father. Jehoshaphat his son became king in his place.

²⁵ Nadab son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah; he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh and walked in the way of his father, and in his own sin, by which he led Israel to sin. ²⁷ Baasha son of Ahijah, of the family of Issachar, conspired against Nadab; Baasha killed him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. ²⁸ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha killed Nadab and became king in his place. ²⁹ As soon as he was king, Baasha killed all the family of Jeroboam. He left none of Jeroboam's descendants breathing; in this way he destroyed his royal line, just as Yahweh had spoken by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ³⁰ for the sins of Jeroboam which he committed and by which he led Israel to sin, because he provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger.

³¹ As for the other matters concerning Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel? ³² There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel in Tirzah and he reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin by which he led Israel to sin.

Chapter 16

¹ The word of Yahweh came to Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, ² "Although I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, so as to provoke me to anger with their sins. ³ See, I will completely sweep away Baasha and his family and I will make your family like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat. ⁴ The dogs will eat anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat anyone who dies in the fields."

⁵ As for the other matters concerning Baasha, what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel? ⁶ Baasha slept with his ancestors and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son became king in his place. ⁷ So by the prophet Jehu son of Hanani the word of Yahweh came against Baasha and his family, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of Yahweh, so as to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, like the family of Jeroboam, and also because he had killed all of Jeroboam's family.

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah; he reigned two years. ⁹ His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now Elah was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah. ¹⁰ Zimri went in, attacked him and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and became king in his place. ¹¹ When Zimri began to reign and was seated on his throne, he killed all the family of Baasha. He did not leave alive a single male belonging to Baasha's relatives or friends. ¹² So Zimri destroyed all the family of Baasha, according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, ¹³ for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son that they committed, and by which they had led Israel to sin, so that they provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger with their idols. ¹⁴ As for the other matters concerning Elah, all that he did, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel?

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned only for seven days in Tirzah. Now the army was camped by Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶ The army camped there heard it said, "Zimri has plotted and has killed the king." So that day in the camp, all Israel declared Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel. ¹⁷ Omri went up from Gibbethon and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ So when Zimri saw that the city had been taken, he went into the fortress attached to the king's palace and set fire to the building over him; in this way he died in the flames. ¹⁹ This was for the sins that he had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, by walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin that he had committed, so as to lead Israel to sin. ²⁰ As for the other matters concerning Zimri, and the treason that he carried out, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel?

²¹ Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. ²² But the people who followed Omri were stronger than the people who followed Tibni son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king. ²³ Omri began to reign over Israel in the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years. He reigned from Tirzah for six years. ²⁴ He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver. He built a city on the hill and called the name of the city Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the past owner of the hill. ²⁵ Omri did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh and acted more wickedly than all who had been before him. ²⁶ For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sins by which he led Israel to sin, to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to be angry with their worthless idols. ²⁷ As for the other matters concerning Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel? ²⁸ So Omri slept with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria and Ahab his son became king in his place.

²⁹ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri began to reign over Israel. Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰ Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, more than all those who were before him. ³¹ It was to Ahab a trivial thing to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, so he took as his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; he went and worshiped Baal and bowed down to him. ³² He built an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab made an Asherah pole. Ahab did even more to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who had been before him. ³⁴ During Ahab's rule, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. Hiel laid the foundation of the city at the cost of the life of Abiram, his firstborn son; and Segub, his youngest son, lost his life while he was building the gates of the city, in keeping with the word of Yahweh which he spoke by Joshua son of Nun.

Chapter 17

¹ Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As Yahweh, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there will not be dew or rain these years unless I say so." ² The word of Yahweh came to Elijah, saying, ³ "Leave from here and go eastward; hide yourself by the brook Kerith, east of the Jordan. ⁴ It will happen that you will drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." ⁵ So Elijah went and did as the word of Yahweh commanded. He went to live by the brook Kerith, east of the Jordan. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. ⁷ But after a while the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land.

⁸ The word of Yahweh came to him, saying, ⁹ "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there. Look, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." ¹⁰ So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city a widow was there gathering sticks. So he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a jar so that I may drink." ¹¹ As she was going to get water he called to her, and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand." ¹² She replied, "As Yahweh your God lives, I do not have any bread, but only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug. See, I am gathering two sticks so I may go in and cook it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die." ¹³ Elijah said to her, "Do not fear. Go and do as you have said, but make me a little bread first and bring it out to me. Then afterward make some for you and for your son. ¹⁴ For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, 'The jar of meal will not empty, neither will the jug of oil stop flowing, until the day that Yahweh sends rain on the earth." ¹⁵ So she did as Elijah had told her. She and Elijah, along with her household, ate for many days. ¹⁶ The jar of meal did not empty, neither did the jug of oil stop flowing, just as the word of Yahweh had said, as he had spoken by Elijah.

¹⁷ After these things the woman's son, the woman who owned the house, fell sick. His sickness was so severe that there was no more breath left in him. ¹⁸ So his mother said to Elijah, "What do you have against me, man of God? Have you come to me to remind me of my sin and to kill my son?" ¹⁹ Then Elijah replied to her, "Give me your son." He took the boy from her arms and carried him up into the room where he was staying, and he laid the boy on his own bed. ²⁰ He cried to Yahweh and said, "Yahweh my God, have you also brought disaster on the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?" ²¹ Then Elijah stretched himself on the child three times; he cried out to Yahweh and said, "Yahweh my God, I beg you, please let this child's life return to him." ²² Yahweh listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child returned to him, and he revived. ²³ Elijah took the child and brought him out of his room down into the house; he handed the boy to his mother and said, "See, your son is alive." ²⁴ The woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of Yahweh in your mouth is true."

Chapter 18

¹ So after many days the word of Yahweh came to Elijah, in the third year of the drought, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab and I will send rain on the land." ² Elijah went to show himself to Ahab; now the famine was severe in Samaria. ³ Ahab called Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. Now Obadiah honored Yahweh very much, ⁴ for when Jezebel was killing the prophets of Yahweh, Obadiah took one hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water. ⁵ Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the water springs and brooks. Perhaps we will find grass and save the horses and mules alive, so that we will not lose all the animals." ⁶ So they divided the land between them to pass through it and look for water. Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah went another way.

⁷ As Obadiah was on the road, Elijah unexpectedly met him. Obadiah recognized him and lay facedown on the ground. He said, "Is it you, my master Elijah?" ⁸ Elijah answered him, "It is I. Go tell your master, 'Look, Elijah is here.'" ⁹ Obadiah replied, "How have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, for him to kill me? ¹⁰ As Yahweh your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent men to find you. Whenever a nation or kingdom says, 'Elijah is not here,' Ahab makes them take an oath swearing that they could not find you. ¹¹ Yet now you say, 'Go, tell your master that Elijah is here.' ¹² As soon as I am gone from you, the Spirit of Yahweh will carry you some place I do not know. Then when I go and tell Ahab, and when he cannot find you, he will kill me. Yet I, your servant, have worshiped Yahweh from my youth. ¹³ Has it not been told to you, my master, what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of Yahweh, how I hid one hundred of Yahweh's prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water? ¹⁴ Now you say to me, 'Go and tell your master that Elijah is here,' so that he will kill me." ¹⁵ Then Elijah responded, "As Yahweh of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to Ahab today."

¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him what Elijah said. Then the king went to meet Elijah. ¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is it you? You are the one who brings trouble to Israel!" ¹⁸ Elijah answered, "I have not brought trouble to Israel, but you and your father's family are the ones who have caused trouble by abandoning the commandments of Yahweh and by following the Baals. ¹⁹ Now then, send word and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table."

²⁰ So Ahab sent word to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you keep changing your mind? If Yahweh is God, follow him. But if Baal is God, then follow him." Yet the people did not answer him a word. ²² Then Elijah said to the people, "I, I alone, am left as a prophet of Yahweh, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. ²³ So let them give us two bulls. Let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. Then I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it. ²⁴ Then you will call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh, and the God who answers by fire, then let him be God." So all the people answered and said, "This is good."

²⁵ So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many people. Then call on the name of your god, but put no fire under the bull." ²⁶ They took the bull that was given to them and prepared it, and they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "Baal, hear us." But there was no voice, nor anyone who answered. They danced around the altar they had made. ²⁷ At noon Elijah mocked them and said, "Shout out loudly! He is a god! Perhaps he is thinking, or is relieving himself, or he is traveling on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened." ²⁸ So they shouted more loudly, and they cut themselves, as they usually did, with swords and spears, until their blood flowed out over themselves. ²⁹ Midday passed, and they were still raving until the time of offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no voice or anyone to answer; there was no one who paid any attention to their pleadings.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me," and all the people came near to him. Then he repaired the altar of Yahweh that was lying in ruin. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, each stone representing one of the tribes of the sons of Jacob—it was Jacob to whom the word of Yahweh came, saying, "Israel will be your name." ³² With the stones he built an altar in the name of Yahweh and he dug a trench around the altar large enough to contain two seahs of seeds. ³³ He arranged the wood for a fire, cut the bull in pieces, and laid the pieces of the bull on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." ³⁴ Then he said, "Do it a second time," and they did it a second time. Once more he said, "Do it a third time," and they did it a third time. ³⁵ The water ran around the altar and filled the trench. ³⁶ It happened at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. ³⁷ Hear me, Yahweh, hear me, that these people may know that you, Yahweh, are God, and that you have turned their heart back again to yourself." ³⁸ Then the fire of Yahweh fell and consumed the burnt offering, as well as the wood, the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ When all the people saw this, they lay facedown on the ground and said, "Yahweh, he is God! Yahweh, he is God!" ⁴⁰ So Elijah said to them, "Take the prophets of Baal. Do not let one of them escape." So they took them, and Elijah brought the prophets of Baal down to the Kishon River and killed them there.

⁴¹ Elijah said to Ahab, "Get up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of much rain." ⁴² So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Then Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. ⁴³ He said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." His servant went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." So Elijah said, "Go again, seven times." ⁴⁴ At the seventh time the servant said, "Look, there is a cloud going up from the sea, as small as a man's hand." Elijah replied, "Go up and say to Ahab, 'Make ready your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'" ⁴⁵ It happened that in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. Ahab rode and went to Jezreel, ⁴⁶ but the hand of Yahweh was on Elijah. He tucked his robe in his belt and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

Chapter 19

¹ Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ² Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of those dead prophets by tomorrow about this time." ³ When Elijah heard that, he arose and fled for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. ⁴ But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. He requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough, now, Yahweh; take away my life, for I am no better than my dead ancestors." ⁵ So he lay down and slept under a broom tree. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat." ⁶ Elijah looked, and near his head was bread that had been baked on coals and a jug of water. So he ate and drank and then lay down again. ⁷ The angel of Yahweh came again a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, because the journey will be too much for you." ⁸ So he arose and ate and drank, and he traveled in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.

⁹ He went to a cave there and stayed in it. Then the word of Yahweh came to him and said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" ¹⁰ Elijah replied, "I have been very zealous for Yahweh, God of hosts, for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, destroyed your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. Now I, only I, am left and they are also trying to take my life." ¹¹ Yahweh replied, "Go out and stand on the mountain before me." Then Yahweh passed by, and a very strong wind struck the mountains and broke rocks into pieces before Yahweh, but Yahweh was not in the wind. Then after the wind, an earthquake came, but Yahweh was not in the earthquake. ¹² Then after the earthquake a fire came, but Yahweh was not in the fire. Then after the fire, a still small voice came. ¹³ When Elijah heard the voice, he wrapped his face in his cloak, went out, and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice came to him that said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" ¹⁴ Elijah replied, "I have been very zealous for Yahweh, God of hosts, because the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, destroyed your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. Now I, only I, am left and they are also trying to take my life."

¹⁵ Then Yahweh said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you arrive you will anoint Hazael to be king over Aram, ¹⁶ and you will anoint Jehu son of Nimshi to be king over Israel, and you will anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah to be prophet in your place. ¹⁷ It will happen that Jehu will kill whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, and that Elisha will kill whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu. ¹⁸ But I will leave for myself seven thousand people in Israel, whose knees have not bent down to Baal, and whose mouths have not kissed him."

¹⁹ So Elijah left from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he himself was plowing with the twelfth yoke. Elijah walked over to Elisha and draped his cloak on him. ²⁰ Then Elisha left the oxen and ran after Elijah; he said, "Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you." Then Elijah said to him, "Go back, but think about what I have done to you." ²¹ So Elisha returned from Elijah and took the yoke of oxen, killed the animals, and cooked the meat with the wood from the ox yoke. Then he gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose, went after Elijah and served him.

Chapter 20

¹ Ben Hadad king of Aram gathered all his army together. There were thirty-two lesser kings with him, and horses and chariots. He went up, besieged Samaria and fought against it. ² He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, "Ben Hadad says this: ³ 'Your silver and your gold are mine. Also your wives and children, the best ones, are now mine.'" ⁴ The king of Israel answered and said, "It is as you say, my master, king. I and all that I have are yours." ⁵ The messengers came again and said, "Ben Hadad says this, 'I sent word to you saying that you must give me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children. ⁶ But I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they will search your house and your servants' houses. They will seize with their own hands and take away whatever pleases their eyes.'"

⁷ Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land together and said, "Please take note and see how this man seeks trouble. He has sent word to me in order to take my wives, children, and silver and gold, and I have not refused him." ⁸ All the elders and all the people said to Ahab, "Do not listen to him or consent to his demands." ⁹ So Ahab said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, "Tell my master the king, 'I agree to everything that you sent your servant to do the first time, but I cannot accept this second demand.'" So the messengers left and took this response to Ben Hadad. ¹⁰ Then Ben Hadad sent his reply to Ahab, and said, "May the gods do so to me and more also, if even the ashes of Samaria will be enough for all the people who follow me to have a handful each." ¹¹ The king of Israel answered and said, "Tell Ben Hadad, 'No one who is just putting on his armor, should boast as if he were taking it off.'" ¹² Ben Hadad heard this message as he was drinking, he and the kings under him who were in their tents. Ben Hadad commanded his men, "Line yourselves up in position for battle." So they prepared themselves in position of battle to attack the city.

¹³ Then behold, a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel and said, "Yahweh says, 'Have you seen this great army? Look, I will place it into your hand today, and you will know that I am Yahweh.'" ¹⁴ Ahab replied, "By whom?" Yahweh replied and said, "By the young officers who serve the governors of the districts." Then Ahab said, "Who will begin the battle?" Yahweh answered, "You." ¹⁵ Then Ahab mustered the young officers who served the governors of the districts. They numbered 232. After them he mustered all the soldiers, all the army of Israel; seven thousand in number.

¹⁶ They went out at noon. Ben Hadad had been drinking himself drunk in his tent, he and the thirty-two lesser kings who were supporting him. ¹⁷ The young officers who served the governors of the districts went forward first. Then Ben Hadad was informed by scouts that he had sent out, "Men are coming out from Samaria." ¹⁸ Ben Hadad said, "Whether they have come out for peace or war, take them alive." ¹⁹ So the young officers who served the governors of the districts went out of the city and the army followed them. ²⁰ Each man killed his opponent. The Arameans fled and Israel pursued them. Ben Hadad the king of Aram escaped on a horse along with some horsemen. ²¹ Then the king of Israel went out and attacked the horses and chariots, and killed the Arameans in a great slaughter.

²² So the prophet came to the king of Israel and said to him, "Go, strengthen yourself, and understand and plan what you are doing, because at the return of the year the king of Aram will come up against you again." ²³ The servants of the king of Aram said to him, "Their god is a god of the hills. That is why they were stronger than we were. But now let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they are. ²⁴ So you must do this: Remove all the kings from their positions of authority and replace them with military commanders. ²⁵ Raise up an army like the army you lost—horse for horse and chariot for chariot—so we can fight them in the plain. Then surely we will be stronger than they are." So Ben Hadad listened to their advice and did what they advised.

²⁶ After the beginning of the new year, Ben Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. ²⁷ The people of Israel were mustered and supplied to fight against them. The people of Israel camped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Arameans filled the countryside. ²⁸ Then a man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel and said, "Yahweh says: 'Because the Arameans have said that Yahweh is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys, I will place this great army into your hand, and you will know that I am Yahweh.'" ²⁹ So the armies camped opposite each other for seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle started. The people of Israel killed 100,000 Aramean footmen in one day. ³⁰ The rest fled to Aphek, into the city, and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled and went into the city, into an inner room.

³¹ Ben Hadad's servants said to him, "Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life." ³² So they put sackcloth on their waists and ropes around their heads and then went to the king of Israel and said, "Your servant Ben Hadad said, 'Please let me live.'" Ahab said, "Is he still alive? He is my brother." ³³ Now the men were listening for any sign from Ahab, so they quickly answered him, "Yes, your brother Ben Hadad is alive." Then Ahab said, "Go and bring him." Then Ben Hadad came to him, and Ahab had him come up into his chariot. ³⁴ Ben Hadad said to Ahab, "I will restore to you the cities that my father took from your father, and you may make markets for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." Ahab replied, "I will let you go with this covenant." So Ahab made a covenant with him and then let him go.

³⁵ A certain man, one of the sons of the prophets, said to one of his fellow prophets by the word of Yahweh, "Please hit me." But the man refused to hit him. ³⁶ Then the prophet said to his fellow prophet, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, as soon as you leave me, a lion will kill you." As soon as that man had left him, a lion came upon him and killed him. ³⁷ Then the prophet found another man and said, "Please hit me." So the man hit him and wounded him. ³⁸ Then the prophet left and waited for the king by the road; he had disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹ As the king passed by, the prophet cried out to the king and said, "Your servant went out into the heat of the battle, and a soldier stopped and brought a man to me and said, 'Watch this man. If by any means he goes missing, your life will be given for his life, or you must pay a talent of silver.' ⁴⁰ But because your servant was busy going here and there, the man escaped." Then the king of Israel said to him, "This is what your punishment will be—you yourself have decided it." ⁴¹ Then the prophet quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets. ⁴² The prophet said to the king, "Yahweh says, 'Because you have let go from your hand the man whom I had sentenced to death, your life will take the place of his life, and your people for his people.'" ⁴³ So the king of Israel went to his house resentful and angry, and arrived in Samaria.

Chapter 21

¹ Now some time later, Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, near the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. ² Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, "Give me your vineyard, so I can have it as a vegetable garden, because it is near my house. In exchange, I will give you a better vineyard, or, if you prefer, I will pay you its value in money." ³ Naboth replied to Ahab, "May Yahweh forbid that I should give the inheritance of my ancestors to you." ⁴ So Ahab went into his palace resentful and angry because of the answer Naboth the Jezreelite gave him when he said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors." He lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and refused to eat any food.

⁵ Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, "Why is your heart so sad, so that you eat no food?" ⁶ He replied to her, "I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money, or if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard to be yours.' Then he answered me, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'" ⁷ So Jezebel his wife replied to him, "Do you not still rule the kingdom of Israel? Get up and eat; let your heart be happy. I will obtain for you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." ⁸ So Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and to the wealthy who sat with him in meetings, and who lived near Naboth. ⁹ She wrote in the letters, saying, "Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth above the people. ¹⁰ Also place two dishonest men with him and let them testify against him, saying, 'You cursed God and the king.'" Then take him out and stone him to death.

¹¹ So the men of his city, the elders and the wealthy who lived in Naboth's city, did as Jezebel had described to them, as was written in the letters that she had sent to them. ¹² They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth above the people. ¹³ The two dishonest men came in and sat before Naboth; they testified against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth cursed both God and the king." Then they carried him out of the city and stoned him to death. ¹⁴ Then the elders sent word to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been stoned and is dead." ¹⁵ So when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, she said to Ahab, "Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, because Naboth is not alive, but dead." ¹⁶ When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite and take possession of it.

¹⁷ Then the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸ "Get up and go meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. He is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession of it. ¹⁹ You must speak to him and say that Yahweh says, 'Have you killed and also taken possession?' Then you will tell him that Yahweh says, 'In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick your blood, yes, your blood.'" ²⁰ Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, my enemy?" Elijah answered, "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of Yahweh. ²¹ Yahweh says this to you: 'See, I will bring disaster on you and will completely consume and cut off from you every male child and slave and free man in Israel. ²² I will make your family like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the family of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have led Israel to sin.' ²³ Yahweh has also spoken concerning Jezebel, saying, 'The dogs will eat Jezebel beside the wall of Jezreel.' ²⁴ Anyone who belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, the dogs will eat; and the birds of the sky will eat anyone who dies in the field." ²⁵ There was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, whom Jezebel his wife incited to sin. ²⁶ Ahab did disgusting deeds for the idols he followed, just as all that the Amorites had done, those whom Yahweh had removed before the people of Israel.

²⁷ When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body and fasted, and lay in sackcloth and became very sad. ²⁸ Then the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹ "Do you see how Ahab humbles himself before me? Because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the coming disaster in his days; it is in his son's day that I will bring disaster on his family."

Chapter 22

¹ Three years passed without war between Aram and Israel. ² Then it came about that in the third year, Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to the king of Israel. ³ Now the king of Israel had said to his servants, "Do you know that Ramoth Gilead is ours, but that we are doing nothing to take it from the hand of the king of Aram?" ⁴ So he said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to war at Ramoth Gilead?" Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, "I am like you, my people are like your people, and my horses are like your horses."

⁵ Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Please seek direction from the word of Yahweh for what you should do first." ⁶ Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, "Should I go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or should I not?" They said, "Attack, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king." ⁷ But Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not here yet another prophet of Yahweh from whom we might seek advice?" ⁸ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man by whom we may seek advice from Yahweh to help, Micaiah son of Imlah, but I hate him because he does not prophesy anything good about me, but only hardships." But Jehoshaphat said, "May the king not say that." ⁹ Then the king of Israel called an officer and commanded, "Bring Micaiah son of Imlah, right away." ¹⁰ Now Ahab the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each on a throne, clothed in their robes, in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹¹ Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made himself horns of iron and said, "Yahweh says this: 'With these you will push the Arameans until they are consumed.'" ¹² Then all the prophets prophesied the same, saying, "Attack Ramoth Gilead and win, for Yahweh has given it into the hand of the king."

¹³ The messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, "Now look, the words of the prophets declare good things to the king with one mouth. Please let your word be like one of them and say good things." ¹⁴ Micaiah replied, "As Yahweh lives, it is what Yahweh says to me that I will say." ¹⁵ When he came to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, should we go to Ramoth Gilead for battle, or not?" Micaiah answered him, "Attack and win. Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king." ¹⁶ Then the king said to him, "How many times must I require you to swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of Yahweh?" ¹⁷ So Micaiah said, "I saw all Israel scattered to the mountains, like sheep who have no shepherd, and Yahweh said, 'These have no shepherd. Let every man return to his house in peace.'" ¹⁸ So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but only disaster?" ¹⁹ Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of Yahweh: I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven were standing by him on his right hand and on his left. ²⁰ Yahweh said, 'Who will entice Ahab, so that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?' One of them said this and another one said that. ²¹ Then a spirit came forward, stood before Yahweh, and said, 'I will entice him.' Yahweh said to him, 'How?' ²² The spirit replied, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Yahweh replied, 'You will entice him, and you will also be successful. Go now and do so.' ²³ Now see, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and Yahweh has decreed disaster for you."

²⁴ Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah, came up, slapped Micaiah on the cheek, and said, "Which way did the Spirit of Yahweh take to go from me to speak to you?" ²⁵ Micaiah said, "Look, you will know that on that day, when you run into some inner room to hide." ²⁶ The king of Israel said to his servant, "Seize Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, my son. ²⁷ Say to him, 'The king says, Put this man in prison and feed him with only a little bread and only a little water, until I come safely.'" ²⁸ Then Micaiah said, "If you return safely, then Yahweh has not spoken by me." Then he added, "Listen to this, all you people."

²⁹ So Ahab, the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth Gilead. ³⁰ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your royal robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. ³¹ Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, "Do not attack unimportant or important soldiers. Instead, attack only the king of Israel." ³² It came about that when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat they said, "Surely that is the king of Israel." They turned to attack him, so Jehoshaphat cried out. ³³ It came about that when the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. ³⁴ But a certain man drew his bow at random and shot the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. Then Ahab said to the driver of his chariot, "Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am badly wounded." ³⁵ The battle grew worse that day and the king was held up in his chariot facing the Arameans. He died in the evening. The blood ran out from his wound into the bottom of the chariot. ³⁶ Then about the time the sun was going down, a cry went up throughout the army, saying, "Every man should go back to his city; and every man should go back to his region!"

³⁷ So King Ahab died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him in Samaria. ³⁸ They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (this was where the prostitutes bathed), just as the word of Yahweh had declared. ³⁹ As for the other matters concerning Ahab, all that he did, the ivory house that he built, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Israel? ⁴⁰ So Ahab slept with his ancestors, and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

⁴¹ Then Jehoshaphat son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. ⁴² Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. ⁴³ He walked in the ways of Asa, his father; he did not turn away from them; he did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh. Yet the high places were not taken away. The people were still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places. ⁴⁴ Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵ As for the other matters concerning Jehoshaphat, and the might that he showed, and how he waged war, are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Judah? ⁴⁶ He removed from the land the rest of the cultic prostitutes who had remained in the days of his father Asa. ⁴⁷ There was no king in Edom, but a deputy ruled there. ⁴⁸ Jehoshaphat built oceangoing ships; they were to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go because the ships were wrecked at Ezion Geber. ⁴⁹ Then Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants sail with your servants in the ships." But Jehoshaphat would not allow it. ⁵⁰ Jehoshaphat slept with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David, his ancestor; Jehoram his son became king in his place.

⁵¹ Ahaziah son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. ⁵² He did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh and walked in the way of his father, in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat, by which he led Israel to sin. ⁵³ He served Baal and worshiped him and so he provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.