Another example of Intelligent Design or Divine Design in the scriptures.
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CHAPTERS
1 KINGS 1
1 NOW king David was old and stricken in years;
And they covered him with
clothes,
But he gat no heat.
2 Wherefore his servants said unto him,
Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin;
And let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him,
And
let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.
3 So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel,
And
found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
4 And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king,
And ministered to him;
but the king knew her not.
5 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying,
I will be king;
and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
6 And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou
done so?
And he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after
Absalom.
7 And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah,
And with Abiathar the priest;
and they following Adonijah helped him.
8 But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet,
And Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.
9 And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth,
Which is by Enrogel, and called all his brethren the king's sons,
And all the men of Judah the king's servants;
10 But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah,
And the mighty men, and Solomon his
brother, he called not.
11 Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying,
Hast
thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign,
And David our lord
knoweth it not? Now therefore come,
Let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel,
That thou mayest
save thine own life,
And the life of thy son Solomon.
13 Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him,
Didst not thou, my
lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying,
Assuredly Solomon thy son shall
reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?
Why then doth Adonijah reign? Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king,
I also will come in after
thee, and confirm thy words.
15 And Bathsheba went in unto the king,
And the king was very
old;
And Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king.
16 And Bathsheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king.
And the king said, What
wouldest thou?
17 And she said unto him,
My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine
handmaid, saying,
Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall
sit upon my throne.
18 And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest
it not;
19 And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance,
And hath called
all the sons of the king,
And Abiathar the priest,
And Joab the captain of the
host;
But Solomon thy servant hath he not called.
20 And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee,
That thou
shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
21 Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his
fathers,
That I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.
22 And, lo, while she yet talked with the king,
Nathan the prophet also came in.
23 And they told the king, saying,
Behold Nathan the prophet.
And when he was
come in before the king,
He bowed himself before the king with his face to the
ground.
24 And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said,
Adonijah shall reign after
me, and he shall sit upon my throne?
25 For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in
abundance,
And hath called all the king's sons, and the captains of the host,
and Abiathar the priest;
And, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say,
God save king Adonijah.
26 But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest,
And Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada,
And thy servant Solomon,
Hath he not called.
27 Is this thing done by my lord the king,
And thou hast not showed it unto
thy servant,
Who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?
28 Then king David answered and said, Call unto me Bathsheba.
And she came into the
king's presence, and stood before the king.
29 And the king sware, and said, As the LORD liveth,
That hath redeemed my
soul out of all distress,
30 Even as I swore unto thee by the LORD God of Israel,
Saying, Assuredly
Solomon thy son shall reign after me,
And he shall sit upon my throne in my
stead; even so will I certainly do this day.
31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the
king,
And said, Let my lord king David live forever. And king David said,
Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet,
And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king.
33 The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord,
And
cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon;
34 And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over
Israel;
And blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon.
35 Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne;
For
he shall be king in my stead; and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel
and over Judah.
36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king,
And said, Amen; the LORD
God of my lord the king say so too.
37 As the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon,
And
make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.
38 So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet,
And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada,
And the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down,
And caused Solomon to ride
upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon.
39 And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed
Solomon.
And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king
Solomon.
40 And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes,
And
rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.
41 And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had
made an end of eating.
And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said,
Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar?
42 And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came;
And Adonijah said unto him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest
good tidings.
43 And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath
made Solomon king.
44 And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest,
And Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites,
And the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the
king's mule;
45 And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon;
And they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again.
This is the noise that ye have heard.
46 And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom.
47 And moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying,
God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater
than thy throne.
And the king bowed himself upon the bed.
48 And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel,
Which hath
given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it.
49 And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and
went every man his way.
50 And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold
on the horns of the altar.
51 And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold,Adonijah feareth king Solomon;
For,
lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying,
Let king Solomon
swear unto me today that he will not slay his servant with the sword.
52 And Solomon said, If he will show himself a worthy man, there shall not an
hair of him fall to The earth;
But if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall
die.
53 So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar.
And he came
and bowed himself to king Solomon; and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.
1 KINGS 2
1 NOW the days of David drew nigh that he should die;
And he charged Solomon
his son, saying,
2 I go the way of all the earth;
Be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a
man;
3 And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways,
To keep his
statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies,
As it is
written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest,
And whithersoever thou turnest thyself;
4 That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying,
If
thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their
heart,
And with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the
throne of Israel.
5 Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me,
And what
he also did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel,
Unto Abner the son of Ner,
and unto Amasa the son of Jether,
Whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in
peace,
And put the blood of war upon his girdle,
That was about his loins, and
in his shoes that were on his feet.
6 Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the
grave in peace.
7 But show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite,
And let them be of
those that eat at thy table;
For so they came to me when I fled because of
Absalom thy brother.
8 And, behold, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of
Bahurim,
Which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim;
But he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the LORD,
Saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.
9 Now therefore hold him not guiltless;
For thou art a wise man,
And knowest
what thou oughtest to do unto him;
But his hoar head bring thou down to the
grave with blood.
10 So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
11 And the number of days that David reigned over Israel were forty years;
Seven years
reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
12 Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was
established greatly.
13 And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon.
And
she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably.
14 He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she said, Say on.
15 And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel
set their faces on me,
That I should reign; howbeit the kingdom is turned about,
and is become my brother's;
For it was his from the LORD. And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not.
And she said unto him, Say
on. And he said,
Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king,
(for he will not say
thee nay,)
That he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife.
18 And Bathsheba said, Well; I will speak for thee unto the king.
19 Bathsheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah.
And the king rose up and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on
his throne,
And caused a seat to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on
his right hand.
20 Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; I pray thee, say me not
nay.
And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother; for I will not say
unto thee nay.
21 And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to
wife.
22 And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother,
And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah?
Ask for him the kingdom also; for he is
mine elder brother;
Even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the
son of Zeruiah.
23 Then king Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also,
If Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life.
24 Now therefore, as the LORD liveth, which hath established me,
And set me on
the throne of David my father,
And who hath made me an house, as he promised,
Adonijah shall be put to death this day.
25 And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada;
And he fell
upon him that he died. And unto Abiathar the priest said the king,
Get thee to Anathoth, unto
thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death;
But I will not at this time
put thee to death,
Because thou barest the ark of the Lord GOD before David my
father,
And because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was
afflicted.
27 So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD;
That he might fulfill the word of the LORD which he spake,
Concerning the house of Eli in
Shiloh.
28 Then tidings came to Joab;
For Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he
turned not after Absalom.
And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and
caught hold on the horns of the altar.
29 And it was told king Solomon that Joab, was fled unto the tabernacle of the
LORD;
And, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah,
The son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.
30 And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said unto him,
Thus saith
the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here.
And Benaiah brought
the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
31 And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury
him;
That thou mayest take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed,
From me,
and from the house of my father.
32 And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head,
Who fell upon two men
more righteous and better than he,
And slew them with the sword, my father David
not knowing thereof,
To wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of
Israel,
And Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.
33 Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab,
And upon the head
of his seed forever;
But upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house,
And
upon his throne, shall there be peace forever from the LORD.
34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him,
And slew him; and
he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
35 And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host;
And Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.
36 And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him,
Build thee an
house in Jerusalem, and dwell there,
And go not forth thence any whither.
37 For it shall be,
That on the day thou goest out,
And passest over the brook
Kidron,
Thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die;
And that thy blood shall
be upon thine own head.
38 And Shimei said unto the king, The saying is good;
As my lord the king hath
said, so will thy servant do.
And so Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem for many days.
39 And it came to pass at the end of three years,
That two of the servants of Shimei ran away,
Unto Achish son of Maachah king of Gath.
And they told Shimei,
saying,
Behold, thy servants be in Gath.
40 And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath
To Achish to seek his
servants; and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.
41 And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was
come again.
42 And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him,
Did I not make
thee to swear by the LORD, and protested unto thee, saying,
Know for a certain,
on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad any whither,
That thou shalt
surely die? and thou saidst unto me, The word that I have heard is good.
43 Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I
have charged thee with?
44 The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine
heart is privy to,
That thou didst to David my father; therefore the LORD shall
return thy wickedness upon thine own head;
45 And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be
established before the LORD forever.
46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; which went out, and fell
upon him,
That he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of
Solomon.
1 KINGS 3
1 AND Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's
daughter,
And brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of
building his own house,
And the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem
round about.
2 Only the people sacrificed in high places,
Because there was no house built
unto the name of the LORD, until those days.
3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father;
Only
he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.
4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there;
For that was the great high
place;
A thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said,
Ask what I shall give thee.
6 And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great
mercy,
According as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness,
And in
uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness,
That thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
7 And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my
father;
And I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or come in.
8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen,
A
great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people,
That I
may discern between good and bad; for who is able to judge this thy so great a
people?
10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing,
And hast not asked
for thyself long life;
Neither hast asked riches for thyself,
Nor hast asked the
life of thine enemies;
But hast asked for thyself understanding to discern
judgment;
12 Behold, I have done according to thy words; lo, I have given thee a wise and
an understanding heart;
So that there was none like thee before thee, neither
after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and
honor;
So that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy
days.
14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments,
As
thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream.
And he came to Jerusalem,
and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD,
And offered up burnt
offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.
16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood
before him.
17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house;
And I was delivered of a child with her living in the house.
18 And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered,
That this woman
was delivered also; and we were alone together;
There was no stranger with us in
the house, save we two in the house.
19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me,
While thine
handmaid slept,
And laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead;
But when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I
did bear.
22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is
thy son.
And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my
son.
Thus they spake before the king. Then said the king,
The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead;
And the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the
king.
25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one,
and half to the other.
26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king,
For her
bowels yearned upon her son, and she said,
O my lord, give her the living child,
And in no wise slay it.
But the other said,
Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.
27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child,
And in no wise
slay it; because she must be the mother thereof.
28 And all Israel heard of the wise judgment which the king had judged;
And they
feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do
judgment.
1 KINGS 4
1 SO king Solomon was king over all Israel.
2 And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the
priest,
3 Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes;
Jehoshaphat the son of
Ahilud, the recorder.
4 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada,
Was over the host;
And Zadok and Abiathar were
the priests;
5 And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers;
And Zabud the son of
Nathan was principal officer, and the king's friend;
6 And Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over
the tribute.
7 And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for
the king and his household;
Each man his month in a year made provision.
8 And these are their names; The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim;
9 The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh, and
Elonbethhanan;
10 The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh, and all the land of
Hepher;
11 The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter
of Solomon to wife;
12 Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all
Bethshean,
Which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Bethshean to
Abelmeholah,
Even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam;
13 The son of Geber, in Ramothgilead;
To him pertained the towns of Jair the
son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead;
To him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan,
Threescore great cities with walls and brazen
bars;
14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim;
15 Ahimaaz was in Naphtali;
He also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to
wife;
16 Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth;
17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;
18 Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin;
19 Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead,
In the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan;
And he was the only
officer which was in the land.
20 Judah and Israel were many, as the sand,
Which is by the sea in
multitude,
Eating and drinking, and making merry.
21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river,
Unto the land of the
Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt;
They brought presents, and served
Solomon all the days of his life.
22 And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour,
And
threescore measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures,
And an hundred sheep,
beside harts, and roe-bucks, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowl.
24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah,
Over all the kings on this side the river; and he had
peace on all sides round about him.
25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig
tree,
From Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve
thousand horsemen.
27 And those officers provided victual for king Solomon,
And for all that came
unto king Solomon's table,
Every man in his month; they lacked nothing.
28 Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries,
Brought they unto the
place where the officers were,
Every man according to his charge.
29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much,
And largeness
of heart, even as much as the sand that is on the sea shore.
30 And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east
country,
And all the wisdom of Egypt; for he was wiser than all men;
Than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and
Chalcol,
And Darda, the sons of Mahol;
And his fame was in all nations round
about.
32 And he spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five.
33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the
hyssop,
That springeth out of the wall; he spake also of beasts, and of fowl,
And
of creeping things, and of fishes.
34 And there came to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
From all kings of
the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.
1 KINGS 5
1 AND Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon;
For he had heard that
they had anointed him king in the room of his father;
For Hiram was ever a lover
of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,
3 Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house,
Unto the name
of the LORD his God for the wars,
Which were about him on every side,
Until the
LORD put them under the soles of his feet.
4 But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side,
So that there is
neither adversary nor evil occurring anywhere.
5 And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God,
As
the LORD spake unto David my father, saying unto him,
Thy son, whom I will set upon thy
throne in thy room,
He shall build an house unto my name.
6 Now therefore command thou
That they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon;
And my
servants shall be with thy servants;
And unto thee will I give hire for thy
servants,
According to all that thou shalt appoint; for thou knowest,
That there
is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.
7 And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced
greatly, and said,
Blessed be the LORD this day, which hath given unto David a
wise son over this great people.
8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for;
And I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar,
and concerning timber of fir.
9 My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea;
And I will
convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me,
And will
cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them;
And thou shalt
accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.
10 So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his
desire.
11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his
household,
And twenty measures of pure oil; thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by
year.
12 And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him;
And there was peace
between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.
13 And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty
thousand men.
14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses;
A month they
were in Lebanon, and two months at home;
And Adoniram was over the levy.
15 And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand,
That bare burdens, and fourscore
thousand hewers in the mountains;
16 Beside the chief of Solomon's officers which were ruling over the work,
Three
thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the
work.
17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones,
And
hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
18 And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them,
And the stones quarers; so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
1 KINGS 6
1 AND it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year,
After the
children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt,
In the fourth year of
Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif,
Which is the second month, that
he began to build the house of the LORD.
2 And the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was
threescore cubits,
And the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height
thereof thirty cubits.
3 And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length
thereof,
According to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the
breadth thereof,
Before the house. And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.
5 And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about,
Against the
walls of the house round about,
Both of the temple and of the oracle;
And he
made chambers round about;
6 The nethermost chamber was five cubits broad,
And the middle was six
cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad;
For without in the wall
of the house he made narrowed rests round about,
That the beams should not be
fastened in the walls of the house.
7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone,
Made ready before
it was brought thither;
So that there was neither hammer nor axe,
Nor any tool
of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
8 The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house;
And they
went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber,
And out of the middle
into the third.
9 So he built the house, and finished it;
And covered the house with beams and
boards of cedar.
10 And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high;
And
they rested on the house with timbers of cedar.
11 And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,
12 Concerning this house which thou art now in building,
If thou wilt walk in my
statutes, and execute my judgments,
And keep all my commandments to walk in
them;
Then will I perform my word with thee,
Which I spake unto David thy
father;
13 And I will dwell among Israel,
And will not forsake my people
Israel.
14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar,
Both the
floor of the house, and the walls of the ceiling;
And he covered them on the
inside with wood,
And covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.
16 And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house,
Both the floor and the
walls with boards of cedar;
He even built them for it within,
Even for the
oracle, even for the most holy place.
17 And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long.
18 And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers;
All was cedar; there was no stone seen.
And the oracle he prepared in the house within,
To set there the ark of the
covenant of the LORD.
20 And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length,
And twenty
cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof;
And he overlaid it
with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar.
21 So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold;
And he made a partition
by the chains of gold, before the oracle; and overlaid it with gold.
22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the
house;
Also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold.
23 And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive trees, each ten
cubits high.
24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other
wing of the cherub;
From the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost
part of the other were ten cubits.
25 And the other cherub was ten cubits; both the cherubims were of one
measure and one size.
26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other
cherub.
27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house;
And they stretched forth the
wings of the cherubims,
So that the wing of the one touched the one wall,
And
the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall;
And their wings touched one
another in the midst of the house.
28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.
29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about,
With carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.
31 And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree;
The lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall.
32 The two doors also were of olive tree;
And he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers,
And overlaid them with gold, and
spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees.
33 So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth
part of the wall.
34 And the two doors were of fir tree; the two leaves of the one door were
folding,
And the two leaves of the other door were folding.
35 And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees,
And open flowers; and
covered them with gold, fitted upon the carved work.
36 And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of
cedar beams.
37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the
month Zif;
38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month,
Was
the house finished throughout all the parts thereof,
And according to all the
fashion of it.
So was he seven years in building it.
1 KINGS 7
1 BUT Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all
his house.
2 He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an
hundred cubits,
And the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof
thirty cubits,
Upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the
pillars.
3 And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams,
That lay on forty-five
pillars, fifteen in a row.
4 And there were windows in three rows,
And light was against light in
three ranks.
5 And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows;
And light was
against light in three ranks.
6 And he made a porch of pillars;
The length thereof was fifty cubits,
And the
breadth thereof thirty cubits;
And the porch was before them;
And the other
pillars and the thick beam were before them.
7 Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of
judgment;
And it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the
other.
8 And his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch,
Which was
of the like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh's daughter,
Whom he had
taken to wife, like unto this porch.
9 All these were of costly stones,
According to the measures of hewed stones,
sawed with saws, within and without,
Even from the foundation unto the coping,
and so on the outside toward the great court.
10 And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones,
Stones of ten
cubits, and stones of eight cubits.
11 And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and
cedars.
12 And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a
row of cedar beams,
Both for the inner court of the house of the LORD, and for
the porch of the house.
13 And king Solomon sent servants and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.
14 He was a son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali,
And his father was of Tyre, a worker in brass;
And he was filled with wisdom and understanding,
And cunning to work all works in brass.
And he came to king Solomon, and wrought
all his work.
15 For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece;
And a line
of twelve cubits did compass either of them round about.
16 And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the
pillars;
The height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the
other chapiter was five cubits;
17 And nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work,
For the chapiters
which were upon the top of the pillars;
Seven for the one chapiter, and seven
for the other chapiter.
18 And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network,
To
cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with pomegranates;
And so did he
for the other chapiter. And the chapiters,
That were upon the top of the pillars,
Were of lily work
in the porch, four cubits.
20 And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates,
Also above, over
against the belly which was by the network;
And the pomegranates were two
hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.
21 And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple; and he set up the right
pillar,
And called the name thereof Jachin; and he set up the left pillar, and
called the name thereof Boaz.
22 And upon the top of the pillars was lily work; so was the work of the
pillars finished.
23 And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other;
It was
round all about, and his height was five cubits;
And a line of thirty cubits
did compass it round about.
24 And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it,
Ten in
a cubit, compassing the sea round about; the knops were cast in two rows, when
it was cast.
25 It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking
toward the west,
And three looking toward the south, and three looking toward
the east;
And the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.
26 And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the
brim of a cup,
With flowers of lilies all about the brim; it contained two thousand baths.
27 And he made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base,
And
four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it.
28 And the work of the bases was on this manner; they had borders,
And the
borders were between the ledges; And on the borders,
Between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims;
And upon the ledges there was a base above;
And beneath the lions
and oxen were certain additions made of thin work.
30 And every base had four brazen wheels, and plates of brass;
And the four
corners thereof had under setters;
Under the laver were under setters molten,
At
the side of every addition.
31 And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit;
But the
mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and an half;
And
also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their borders, foursquare, not
round.
32 And under the borders were four wheels; and the axletrees of the wheels were joined to the base;
And the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a
cubit.
33 And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel;
Their
axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes, were all
molten.
34 And there were four under setters to the four corners of one base;
And the under setters were of the very base itself.
35 And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high;
And on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof were of
the same.
36 For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof,
He
graved cherubims, and lions, and palm trees,
According to the proportion of every
one,
And additions round about.
37 After this manner he made the ten bases;
All of them had one casting, one
measure, and one size.
38 Then made he ten lavers of brass; one laver contained forty baths;
And every
laver was four cubits; and upon every one of the ten bases one laver.
39 And he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left
side of the house;
And he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward
over against the south.
40 And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins.
So Hiram made an
end of doing all the work,
That he made king Solomon for the house of the LORD;
41 The two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top
of the two pillars;
And the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters,
Which were mounted upon the top of the two pillars;
42 And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks,
Even two rows of
pomegranates for one network,
To cover the two bowls of the chapiters,
That
were upon the pillars;
43 And the ten bases,
And ten lavers on the bases;
44 And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;
45 And the pots, and the shovels, and the basins; and all these vessels,
Which
Hiram made to king Solomon, for the house of the LORD, were of bright brass.
46 In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between
Succoth and Zarthan.
47 And Solomon left all the vessels un-weighed, because they were exceeding
many;
Neither was the weight of the brass found out.
48 And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the
LORD;
The altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the showbread was
placed,
49 And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the
left,
Before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of
gold,
50 And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons,
And the
censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold,
Both for the doors of the
inner house,
The most holy place,
And for the doors of the house, to wit, of
the temple.
51 So was ended the work king Solomon made for the house of the LORD.
And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated
for the temple;
Even
the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the
house of the LORD.
1 KINGS 8
1 THEN Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the
tribes,
The chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in
Jerusalem,
That they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of
the city of David, which is Zion.
2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon,
At the feast
in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3 And all the elders of Israel came,
And the priests took up the ark.
4 And they brought up the ark of the LORD,
And the tabernacle of the
congregation,
And all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle,
Even those
did the priests and the Levites bring up.
5 And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel,
That were assembled unto
him, were with him before the ark,
Sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not
be told nor numbered for multitude.
6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place,
Into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of
the cherubims.
7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark,
And the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
8 And they drew out the staves, that the staves were seen,
Out in the
holy place before the oracle,
And they were not seen without;
And there they
are unto this day.
9 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone,
Which Moses put
there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel,
When they came out of the land of Egypt. And it came to pass,
When the priests were come out of the holy place,
That
the cloud filled the house of the LORD,
11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud;
For the
glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.
12 Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick
darkness.
13 I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to
abide in for ever.
14 And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of
Israel;
(and all the congregation of Israel stood;)
15 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel,
Which spake with his mouth
unto David my father,
And hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,
16 Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt,
I chose no
city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house,
That my name might be
therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.
17 And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of
the LORD God of Israel.
18 And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to
build an house unto my name,
Thou didst well that it was in thine heart. Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house;
But thy son that shall come
forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.
20 And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the
room of David my father,
And sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised,
And have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
21 And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the
LORD,
Which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of
Egypt.
22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD,
In the presence of all the
congregation of Israel,
And spread forth his hands toward heaven; and he said, LORD God of Israel,
There is no God like thee, in heaven above,
or on earth beneath,
Who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants,
That walk
before thee with all their heart;
24 Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him;
Thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is
this day.
25 Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that
thou promisedst him,
Saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit
on the throne of Israel;
So that thy children take heed to their way, that they
walk before me as thou hast walked before me.
26 And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified,
Which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
27 But will God indeed dwell upon the earth?
Behold, the heaven and heaven of
heavens,
Cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built?
28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his
supplication,
O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which
thy servant prayeth before thee today;
29 That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day,
Even toward
the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there;
That thou mayest
hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.
30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people
Israel,
When they shall pray toward this place; and hear thou in heaven thy
dwelling place;
And when thou hearest, forgive.
31 If any man trespass against his neighbor,
And an oath be laid upon him to
cause him to swear,
And the oath come before thine altar in this house;
32 Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants,
Condemning the
wicked, to bring his wicked way upon his own head;
And justifying the righteous, to give
him according to his righteousness.
33 When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy,
Because they have
sinned against thee,
And shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name,
And
pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house;
34 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel,
And bring
them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.
35 When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned
against thee;
If they pray toward this place, and confess thy name,
And turn
from their sin, when thou afflictest them;
36 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants,
And of thy
people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk,
And
give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.
37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew,
locust,
Or if there be caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in their cities;
Whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;
38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man,
Or by all thy people
Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart,
And spread forth
his hands toward this house; then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place,
And forgive, and do, and give to
every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest;
(for thou, even
thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)
40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live,
In the land which thou
gavest unto our fathers.
41 Moreover concerning a stranger,
That is not of thy people Israel,
But
cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake;
42 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand,
And of thy
stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;
43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the
stranger calleth to thee for;
That all people of the earth may know thy name, to
fear thee, as do thy people Israel;
And that they may know that this house,
which I have built, is called by thy name.
44 If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou
send them,
And shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen,
And toward the house that I have built for thy name;
45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer,
And their supplication, and maintain
their cause.
46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,)
And thou
be angry with them, and deliver them up to their enemy,
So that they carry them away
captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried
captives, and repent,
And make supplication unto thee in the land of them that
carried them captives, saying,
We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have
committed wickedness;
48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul,
In the
land of their enemies, which led them away captive,
And pray unto thee toward
their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers,
The city which thou hast
chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;
49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven, thy dwelling
place,
And maintain their cause, and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee,
And all their
transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee,
And give them
compassion before them who carried them away captive,
That they may have compassion
on them; for they be thy people, and thine inheritance,
Which thou broughtest forth
out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron;
52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant,
And unto
the supplication of thy people Israel,
to hearken unto them in all that they
call for unto thee.
53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth,
to be
thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant,
when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.
54 And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end,
of praying all this
prayer and supplication,
unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the
LORD,
from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.
55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice,
saying,
56 Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according
to all that he promised;
there hath not failed one word of all his good promises,
which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.
57 The LORD our God be with us,
as he was with our fathers;
let him not leave
us, nor forsake us;
58 That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways,
and to keep
his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our
fathers.
59 And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD,
be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his
servant,
and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall
require;
60 That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God,
and that
there is none else.
61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God,
to walk in his
statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
62 And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.
63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the
LORD,
two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep.
So
the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.
64 The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before
the house of the LORD;
for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings,
and the fat of the peace offerings;
because the brasen altar that was before
the LORD was too little,
to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings,
and the fat of the peace offerings.
65 And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great
congregation,
from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the
LORD our God,
seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.
66 On the eighth day he sent the people away;
and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful,
and glad of heart for all the goodness, that the LORD had done,
for David his servant, and for Israel his people.
1 KINGS 9
1 AND it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of
the LORD,
And the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to
do,
2 That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time,
As he had appeared unto him
at Gibeon.
3 And the LORD said unto him,
I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication,
That
thou hast made before me; I have hallowed this house,
Which thou hast built, to
put my name there forever;
And mine eyes and mine heart shall be there
perpetually.
4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked,
In integrity of
heart, and in uprightness,
To do according to all that I have commanded thee,
And wilt keep my statutes and my judgments;
5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom,
Upon Israel forever, as I
promised to David thy father,
Saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the
throne of Israel.
6 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children,
And will
not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you,
But go and
serve other gods, and worship them;
7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them;
And this
house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight;
And
Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people;
8 And at this house, which is high,
Every one that passeth by it shall be
astonished, and shall hiss;
And they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto
this land, and to this house?
9 And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God,
Who brought
forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt,
And have taken hold upon other
gods, and have worshipped them,
And served them; therefore hath the LORD brought
upon them all this evil.
10 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the
two houses,
The house of the LORD, and the king's house, (Now Hiram the king of Tyre,
Had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir
trees,
And with gold, according to all his desire,)
That then king Solomon gave
Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him;
And they pleased him not. And he said,
What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother?
And he called them the land of Cabul even unto this day.
14 And Hiram sent to the king six-score talents of gold.
15 And this is the reason of the levy,
Which king Solomon raised;
For to
build the house of the LORD, and his own house,
And Millo, and the wall of
Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.
16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with
fire,
And slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a
present,
Unto his daughter, Solomon's wife.
17 And Solomon built Gezer, and Bethhoron the nether,
18 And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land,
19 And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots,
And cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in
Jerusalem,
And in Lebanon, and in all the remainder of the land of his dominion.
20 And all the people that were left, of the Amorites,
Hittites, Perizzites,
Hivites, and Jebusites,
Which were not of the children of Israel,
21 Their children that were left after them in the land,
Whom the children of
Israel also were not able utterly to destroy,
Upon those did Solomon levy a
tribute of bond-service even unto this day.
22 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen; but they were
men of war,
And his servants, and his princes, and his captains,
And rulers of
his chariots, and his horsemen.
23 These were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon's work,
Five
hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.
24 But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David,
Unto her house which
Solomon had built for her;
Then did he build Millo.
25 And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings,
And peace
offerings upon the altar which he built unto the LORD,
And he burnt incense upon
the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the house.
26 And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth,
On the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.
27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants,
Shipmen that had knowledge of the
sea, with the servants of Solomon.
28 And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty
talents,
And brought it to king Solomon.
1 KINGS 10
1 AND when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon,
Concerning the name
of the LORD,
She came to prove him with hard questions.
2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train,
With camels that bare
spices, and very much gold, and precious stones;
And when she was come to
Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
3 And Solomon told her all her questions; there was not anything hid from the
king, which he told her not.
4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that
he had built,
5 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance
of his ministers,
And their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which
he went up unto the house of the LORD;
There was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king,
It was a true report that I heard in mine own land
of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it;
And, behold, the half of it was not told me;
Thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the
fame which I heard.
8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants,
Which stand continually
before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.
9 Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the
throne of Israel;
Because the LORD loved Israel forever, therefore made he thee
king, to do judgment and justice.
10 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices
very great store,
And precious stones; there came no more such abundance of
spices as these,
Which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
11 And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir,
Brought in from
Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.
12 And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the LORD, and
for the king's house,
Harps also and psalteries for singers; there came no such almug trees,
Nor were seen unto this day.
13 And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire,
Whatsoever she
asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty.
So she turned
and went to her own country, she and her servants.
14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year,
Was six hundred
threescore and six talents of gold,
15 Beside that he had of the merchantmen,
And of the traffic of the spice
merchants,
And of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.
16 And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold:
Six hundred shekels of gold went to one target.
17 And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold:
Three pound of gold
went to one shield;
And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
18 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best
gold.
19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind;
And there were stays on either side on the place of the seat,
And two lions stood
beside the stays.
20 And twelve lions stood there on the one side,
And on the other upon the six
steps;
There was not the like made in any kingdom.
21 And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold,
And all the vessels
of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold;
None were of
silver; it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
22 For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram;
Once in
three years came the navy of Tharshish,
Bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and
apes, and peacocks.
23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for
wisdom.
24 And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in
his heart.
25 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of
gold, and garments,
And armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by
year.
26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen;
And he had a thousand
and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen,
Whom he bestowed in the
cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.
27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones,
And cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees,
That are in the vale, for abundance.
28 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt,
And linen yarn; the king's
merchants received the linen yarn at a price.
29 And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of
silver,
And an horse for an hundred and fifty; and so for all the kings of the
Hittites,
And for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.
1 BUT king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of
Pharaoh,
Which were women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel,
Ye
shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you;
For surely
they will turn away your heart after their gods;
Solomon clave unto these in
love.
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses,
And three hundred concubines; and
his wives turned away his heart.
4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his
heart after other gods;
And his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, and it became
as the heart of David his father.
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians,
And after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD,
And went not fully after the
LORD,
As did David his father.
7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh,
The abomination of Moab, in
the hill that is before Jerusalem,
And for Molech, the abomination of the
children of Ammon.
8 And likewise did he the same for all his strange wives,
Which burnt incense and
sacrificed unto their gods.
9 And the LORD was angry with Solomon,
Because his heart was turned from the
LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after
other gods;
But he kept not that which the LORD commanded.
11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee,
And
thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee,
I
will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake;
But I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom;
But will give one tribe to
thy son,
For David my servant's sake,
And for Jerusalem's sake which I have
chosen.
14 And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite;
He was of the king's seed in Edom. For it came to pass, when David was in Edom,
And Joab the captain of the host
was gone up to bury the slain,
After he had smitten every male in Edom;
16 (For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel,
Until he had cut off
every male in Edom;) that Hadad fled,
He and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him,
to go into Egypt;
Hadad being yet a little child. And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran;
And they took men with them
out of Paran, and they came to Egypt,
Unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave him
an house,
And appointed him victuals, and gave him land.
19 And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh,
So that he gave him to
wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.
20 And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in
Pharaoh's house;
And Genubath was in Pharaoh's household among the sons of
Pharaoh.
21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers,
And that Joab the captain of the host was dead,
Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart,
that I may go to mine own country.
22 Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me,
That, behold,
thou seekest to go back to thine own country?
And he answered, Nothing; howbeit let
me go in anywise.
23 And God stirred him up another adversary,
Rezon the son of Eliadah, which
fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah;
24 And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew
them of Zobah;
And they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in
Damascus.
25 And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon,
Beside the
mischief that Hadad did;
and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.
26 And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant,
Whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand
against the king.
27 And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king;
Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his
father.
28 And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon seeing the
young man,
That he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the
house of Joseph.
29 And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem,
That
the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way;
And he had clad himself
with a new garment;
And they two were alone in the field;
30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve
pieces;
31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces; for thus saith the LORD, the
God of Israel,
Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and
will give ten tribes to thee;
32 (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's
sake,
The city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel;)
33 Because that they have forsaken me,
And have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess
of the Zidonians,
Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the
children of Ammon,
And have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right
in mine eyes, and my statutes, and my judgments,
And his heart is become as David his father; and he repenteth not
as did David, that I may forgive him.
34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand;
But I will make
him prince all the days of his life,
For David my servant's sake, whom I chose,
Because he kept my commandments and my statutes in that day;
35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand,
And will give it unto
thee, even ten tribes.
36 And unto his son will I give one tribe,
That David my servant may have a
light before me in Jerusalem,
The city which I have chosen me to put my
name there.
37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign,
According to all that thy soul
desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee,
And wilt
walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight,
To keep my statutes and my
commandments,
As David my servant did,
In the days that I blessed him;
I will be with thee, and build thee
a sure house,
As I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.
39 And for the transgression of David, and also for the people,
I have rent the kingdom, and for this I will afflict the seed of David, but not forever.
40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam thereafter.
And Jeroboam arose, and fled into
Egypt,
Unto Shishak king of Egypt,
And was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
41 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did,
And his wisdom,
are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?
42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty
years.
43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his
father;
And Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
1 KINGS 12
1 AND Rehoboam went to Shechem; for all Israel were come to Shechem to make
him king.
2 And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt,
heard of it,
(for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam
dwelt in Egypt;)
3 That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel
came,
And spake unto Rehoboam, saying, Thy father made our yoke grievous;
Now therefore make thou the grievous
service of thy father,
And his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we
will serve thee.
5 And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And
the people departed.
6 And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his
father while he yet lived,
And said, How do ye advise that I may answer this
people?
7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people
this day,
And wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them,
Then they will be thy servants forever.
8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him,
And
consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before
him;
9 And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people,
Who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us
lighter?
10 And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying,
Thus
shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying,
Thy father made
our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us;
Thus shalt thou say unto
them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.
11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your
yoke;
My father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with
scorpions.
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day,
As the king had appointed, saying, Come again the third day.
13 And the king answered the people roughly,
And forsook the old men's counsel
that they gave him;
14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying,
My father made
your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke;
My father also chastised you
with whips,
But I will chastise you with scorpions.
15 Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people;
For the cause was from the
LORD, that he might perform his saying,
Which the LORD spake by Ahijah the
Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16 So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them,
The people
answered the king, saying,
What portion have we in David?
Neither have we
inheritance in the son of Jesse;
To your tents, O Israel; now see to thine own
house, David.
So Israel departed unto their tents. But as for the children of Israel,
Which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
18 Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute;
And all Israel
stoned him with stones, that he died.
Therefore king Rehoboam made speed,
To get
him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
19 So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
20 And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again,
That
they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all
Israel;
There was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah
only.
21 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah,
With the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men,
Which
were mighty warriors, to fight against the house of Israel,
To bring the kingdom again
to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
22 But the word came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
23 Speak unto Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah,
And unto all the
house of Judah and Benjamin,
And to the remnant of the people, saying,
24 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up,
Nor fight against your brethren the
children of Israel;
Return every man to his house; for this thing is from me.
They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD,
And returned to depart,
according to the word of the LORD.
25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein;
And went
out from thence, and built Penuel.
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart,
Now shall the kingdom return to the house of
David;
27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem,
Then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord,
Even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me,
And go again to Rehoboam king of
Judah.
28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold,
And said unto
them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem;
Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
30 And this thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the
people,
Which were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month,
On the fifteenth day of
the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah,
And he offered upon the
altar. So did he in Bethel,
Sacrificing unto the calves that he had made;
And he
placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of
the eighth month,
Even in the month which he had devised of his own heart;
And
ordained a feast unto the children of Israel;
And he offered upon the altar, and
burnt incense.
1 KINGS 13
1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah,
By the word of the LORD
unto Bethel;
And Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD,
And said, O altar,
altar, thus saith the LORD;
Behold, a child shall be born,
Unto the house of
David, Josiah shall be his name;
And upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high
places,
That burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.
3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD
hath spoken;
Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it
shall be poured out.
4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God,
Which had cried against the altar in Bethel,
That he put forth his hand from the
altar, saying, Lay hold on him.
And his hand, which he put forth against him,
dried up,
So that he could not pull it in again to him.
5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar,
According to
the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.
6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God,
Entreat now the face of
the LORD thy God, and pray for me,
That my hand may be restored to me again. And
the man of God besought the LORD,
And the king's hand was restored him again,
and became as it was before.
7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me,
And refresh thyself,
and I will give thee a reward.
8 And then the man of God said unto the king,
If thou wilt give me half thine house,
I will not go in with thee,
Neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this
place;
9 For so was it charged unto me by the word of the LORD, saying,
Eat no bread, nor
drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.
10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.
11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came,
And told him
all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel;
The words which
he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.
12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen,
What
way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass.
So they saddled him the ass;
and he rode thereon,
14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak;
And he
said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah?
And he said, I
am. Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in thine home with thee;
Neither will I
eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place;
17 For it was said to me by the word of the LORD,
Thou shalt eat no bread nor
drink water there,
Nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art;
And an angel spake
unto me by the word of the LORD, saying,
Bring him back with thee into thine
house, that he may eat bread and drink water,
That I may prove him; and he lied not unto him. So he went back with him,
And did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table,
That the word of the LORD,
Came
unto the prophet that brought him back;
21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying,
Thus saith the
LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD,
And hast not kept
the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,
22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place,
Of the
which the LORD did say to thee,
Eat no bread, and drink no water;
Thy carcass
shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy fathers.
23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk,
That
he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him;
And his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it,
The lion also stood by the carcass. And, behold, men passed by,
And saw the carcass cast in the way, and the lion
standing by the carcass;
And they came and told it in the city where the old
prophet dwelt.
26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof,
He
said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD;
Therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him,
And
slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him.
27 And he spake to his sons, saying,
Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.
28 And he went and found his carcass cast in the way,
And the ass and the lion
standing by the carcass;
The lion had not eaten the carcass, nor torn the ass.
29 And the prophet took up the carcass of the man of God,
And laid it upon the
ass, and brought it back;
And the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to
bury him.
30 And he laid his carcass in his own grave; and they mourned over him,
saying, Alas, my brother!
31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons,
saying,
When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulcher wherein the man of God
is buried;
Lay my bones beside his bones; for the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD,
Against the altar in
Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places,
Which are in the cities
of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.
33 After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way,
But made again of
the lowest of the people priests of the high places;
Whosoever would, he
consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.
34 And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off,
And to destroy it from off the face of the earth.
1 KINGS 14
1 AT that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself,
That
thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh;
Behold,
there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this
people.
3 And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to
him;
He shall tell thee what shall become of the child.
4 And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose,
And went to Shiloh, and came to the
house of Ahijah.
But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of
his age.
5 And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh,
To ask a
thing of thee for her son; for he is sick;
Thus and thus shalt thou say unto
her;
For it shall be, when she cometh in,
That she shall feign herself to be
another woman.
6 And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet,
As she came in at
the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam;
Why feignest thou
thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.
7 Go, and tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel,
Forasmuch as I exalted
thee from among the people,
And made thee prince over my people Israel,
8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee;
And yet
thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments,
And who
followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine
eyes;
9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee; for thou hast gone and
made thee other gods,
And molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast
me behind thy back;
10 Therefore, behold, I will bring evil down upon the house of Jeroboam,
And will cut
off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall,
And him that is shut up
and left in Israel,
And will take away the remnant,
Of the house of Jeroboam,
As
a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.
11 Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat;
And him that dieth
in the field shall the fowls of the air eat; for the LORD hath spoken it.
12 Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house;
And when thy feet enter
into the city,
The child shall die.
13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him;
For he only of Jeroboam
shall come to the grave, because in him,
There is found some good thing toward
the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.
14 Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel,
Who shall cut off
the house of Jeroboam that day;
But what? even now. For the LORD shall smite Israel,
As a reed is shaken in the water, and he
shall root up Israel out of this good land,
Which he gave to their fathers, and
shall scatter them beyond the river,
Because they have made their groves,
provoking the LORD to anger.
16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam,
Who did sin, and
who made Israel to sin.
17 And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah;
And when she
came to the threshold of the door, the child died;
18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him,
According to the word of
the LORD,
Which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.
19 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned,
Behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years;
And he slept
with his fathers,
And Nadab his son reigned in his stead.
21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah.
Rehoboam was forty and
one years old when he began to reign,
And he reigned seventeen years in
Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose,
Out of all the tribes of Israel,
to put his name there.
And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
22 And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD,
And they provoked him to
jealousy,
With their sins which they committed,
Above all that which their fathers
had done.
23 For they also built them high places, and images,
And groves, on every high
hill, and under every green tree.
24 And there were also sodomites in the land; and they did,
According to all
the abominations of the nations,
Which the LORD cast out before the children of
Israel.
25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam,
That Shishak king of
Egypt came up against Jerusalem;
26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD,
And the treasures of
the king's house; he even took away all;
And he took away all the shields of
gold which Solomon had made.
27 And king Rehoboam made in their stead brazen shields,
And committed them
unto the hands of the chief,
Of the guard, which kept the door of the king's
house.
28 And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD,
That the
guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.
29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did as king of Judah,
Are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers,
And was buried with his fathers in the
city of David.
And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
And Abijam his
son reigned in his stead.
1 KINGS 15
1 NOW in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam
over Judah.
2 Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the
daughter of Abishalom.
3 And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him;
And
his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God,
As the Lord commanded David his
father.
4 Nevertheless for David's sake,
Did the LORD his God give him a lamp in
Jerusalem,
To set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem;
5 Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD,
And turned
not aside from anything,
That he commanded him all the days of his life,
Save
only in the matter of the wife of Uriah the Hittite.
6 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam,
All the days of his life.
7 Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did,
Are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
And there was war
between Abijam and Jeroboam. And Abijam slept with his fathers;
And they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
9 And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.
10 And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem.
And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
11 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as he commanded David
his father.
12 And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols
that his fathers had made.
13 And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being the queen,
Because
she had made an idol in a grove;
And Asa destroyed her idol,
And burnt it by
the brook Kidron.
14 But the high places were not removed;
Nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect
with the LORD all his days.
15 And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated,
And the things
which himself had dedicated,
Into the house of the LORD, silver, and gold, and
vessels.
16 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
17 And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah,
That he
might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
18 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures
of the house of the LORD,
And the treasures of the king's house, and delivered
them into the hand of his servants;
And king Asa sent them to Benhadad, the son
of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion,
King of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,
19 There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy
father;
Behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold;
Come and
break thy league with Baasha king of Israel,
That he may depart from me.
20 So Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa,
And sent the captains of the hosts which
he had against the cities of Israel,
And smote Ijon, and Dan, and
Abelbethmaachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
21 And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof,
That he left off building
of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.
22 Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted;
And they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha
had builded;
And king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
23 The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might,
And all that he did, and all
the cities which he had built,
Are they not written in the book of the chronicles
of the kings of Judah?
Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased
in his feet.
24 And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers,
In the city
of David his father;
And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead.
25 And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel,
In the second year
of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.
26 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his
father,
And in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
27 And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar,
Conspired against
him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon,
which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon.
28 Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned
in his stead.
29 And it came to pass, when he reigned that he smote all the house of
Jeroboam;
He left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him,
According unto the saying of the LORD,
Which he spake by his servant Ahijah the
Shilonite;
30 Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel
sin,
By his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.
31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did,
Are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
32 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah,
To
reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.
34 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD,
And walked in the way of Jeroboam,
And in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
1 KINGS 16
1 THEN the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha,
saying,
2 Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my
people Israel;
And thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my
people Israel to sin,
To provoke me to anger with their sins;
3 Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his
house;
And will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
4 Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat;
And him that dieth in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat.
5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might,
Are they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
6 So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah;
And Elah his son
reigned in his stead.
7 And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani,
Came the word of
the LORD against Baasha, and against his house,
Even for all the evil that he
did in the sight of the LORD,
In provoking him to anger with the work of his
hands,
In being like the house of Jeroboam; and because he killed him.
8 In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha,
To reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years.
9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots,
Conspired against him,
as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk,
In the house of Arza steward of
his house in Tirzah.
10 And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him,
In the twenty and seventh
year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.
11 And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he had sat on his throne,
That he slew all the house of Baasha; he left him not one that pisseth against
a wall,
Neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends.
12 Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha,
According to the word of the
LORD,
Which he spake against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,
13 For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son,
By which they
sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin,
In provoking the LORD God of
Israel to anger with their vanities.
14 Now the rest of the wicked acts of Elah, and all the sins that he did,
Are they not written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
15 In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven
days in Tirzah.
And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which
belonged to the Philistines.
16 And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath
also slain the king;
Wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host,
king over Israel that day in the camp.
17 And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged
Tirzah.
18 And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken,
That he went
into the palace of the king's house,
And burnt the king's house over him with
fire, and died,
19 For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD,
In
walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to
sin.
20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he wrought against
God,
Are
they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
21 Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts;
Half of the people
followed Tibni the son of Ginath,
To make him king; and half followed Omri.
22 But the people that followed Omri,
Prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath;
So Tibni died, and Omri reigned.
23 In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah,
Began Omri to reign over Israel twelve years; six years reigned he in Tirzah.
24 And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver,
And built
on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built,
After the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria.
25 But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD,
And did worse than all that
were before him.
26 For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam,
The son of Nebat, and in his sin
wherewith he made Israel to sin,
To provoke the LORD God of Israel into anger with
their many vanities.
27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he showed,
Are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
28 So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria;
And Ahab his son
reigned in his stead.
29 And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah,
Began Ahab the son
of Omri to reign over Israel;
And Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in
Samaria twenty and two years.
30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that
were before him.
31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the
sins of Jeroboam,
The son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of
Ethbaal king of the Zidonians,
And went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built
in Samaria.
33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel,
To
anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
34 In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho;
He laid the foundation
thereof in Abiram his firstborn,
And set up the gates thereof in his youngest
son Segub,
According to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua the son
of Nun.
1 KINGS 17
1 AND Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto
Ahab,
As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand,
There shall not
be dew nor rain these years,
But according to my word.
2 And the word of the LORD came unto him,
Saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward,
And hide thyself by the brook Cherith,
that is before Jordan.
4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook;
And I have commanded
the ravens to feed thee there.
5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD;
For he went and dwelt
by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh to eat in the morning,
And bread and flesh
in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up,
Because there had
been no rain in the land.
8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon,
And dwell there; behold, I commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city,
Behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks; and he called to her,
and said,
Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said,
Bring me, I
pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake,
But an handful
of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse;
And, behold, I am gathering
two sticks, that I may go in and dress it,
For me and my son, that we may eat it,
and die.
13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not;
Go and do as thou hast said;
But make
me thereof a little cake first,
And bring it unto me, and after make for thee
and for thy son.
14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste,
Neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain
upon the earth.
15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah;
And she, and he, and
her house, did eat many days.
16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail,
According to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman,
The
mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore,
That there was
no breath left in him.
18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God?
Art
thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom,
And
carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God,
Hast thou also brought
evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD,
and said,
O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.
22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah;
And the soul of the child came into
him again, and he revived.
23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the
house,
And delivered him unto his mother; and Elijah said to her, See, thy son liveth.
24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of
God,
And that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
1 KINGS 18
1 AND it came to pass after many days,
That the word of the LORD came to
Elijah in the third year,
Saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send
rain upon the earth.
2 And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in
Samaria.
3 And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house.
(Now Obadiah
feared the LORD greatly; for it was so,
When Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD,
That Obadiah
took an hundred prophets,
And hid them by fifty in a cave,
And fed them with
bread and water.)
5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land,
Unto all fountains of water, and
unto all brooks;
Peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules
alive,
That we lose not all the beasts. So they divided the land between them,
To pass throughout it; Ahab went one way
by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him; and he knew him,
And
fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?
8 And he answered him, I am; go, tell thy lord,
Behold, Elijah is here.
9 And he said, What have I sinned,
That thou wouldest deliver thy servant into
the hand of Ahab, to slay me?
10 As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord
hath not sent to seek thee;
And when they said, He is not there; he took an
oath of the kingdom and nation,
That they found thee not. And now thou sayest,
Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.
12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee,
That the Spirit
of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not;
And so when I come and tell
Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me;
But I thy servant fear the LORD
from my youth.
13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the
LORD,
How I hid an hundred men of the LORD'S prophets by fifty in a cave,
And
fed them with bread and water?
14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord,
Behold, Elijah is here; and he
shall slay me.
15 And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand,
I will
surely show myself unto him today.
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him;
And Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah,
That Ahab said unto him, Art
thou he that troubleth Israel?
18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's
house,
In that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD,
And thou hast
followed Baalim.
19 Now therefore send,
And gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel,
And the
prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty,
And the prophets of the groves four
hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.
20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets
together unto mount Carmel.
21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two
opinions?
If the LORD be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.
And
the people answered him not a word.
22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the
LORD;
But Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks;
And let them choose one bullock for
themselves,
And cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under;
And I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under;
24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the
LORD;
And the God that answereth by fire, let him be God.
And all the people
answered and said, It is well spoken.
25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for
yourselves,
And dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of
your gods,
But put no fire under.
26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and dressed it,
And
called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying,
O Baal, hear
us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered.
And they leaped upon the
altar which was made.
27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said,
Cry aloud;
for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing,
Or he is in a
journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and
lancets,
Till the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to pass, when midday was past,
And they prophesied until the
time of the offering of the evening sacrifice,
That there was neither
voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me.
And all the people
came near unto him.
And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken
down.
31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the
sons of Jacob,
Unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy
name;
32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD;
And he made a
trench about the altar,
As great as would contain two measures of seed.
33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces,
And laid him
on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water,
And pour it on the burnt
sacrifice, and on the wood.
34 And he said, Do it the second time.
And they did it the second time.
And
he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.
35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with
water.
36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice,
That Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac,
And of
Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel,
And that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD
God,
And that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell,
And consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the
wood, and the stones,
And the dust, and licked up the water that was in the
trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said,
The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. And Elijah said unto them,
Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them
escape. And they took them;
And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon,
And slew them there.
41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up,
Eat and drink; for there is a
sound of an abundance of rain.
42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel;
And he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,
43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea.
And he went up, and
looked, and said,
There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.
44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said,
Behold, there ariseth
a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand.
And he said, Go up, say unto
Ahab, Prepare thy chariot,
And get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
45 And it came to pass in the mean while,
That the heaven was black with clouds
and wind,
And there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
46 And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins,
And ran
before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
1 KINGS 19
1 AND Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done,
And withal how he had slain
all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me,
And more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow
about this time.
3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to
Beersheba,
Which belongeth 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 juniper tree;
And he requested for himself that he might die; and said,
It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my
fathers.
5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched
him,
And said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold,
There was a cake baked on the coals,
And a cruse
of water at his head.
And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
7 And the angel of the LORD came unto him again the second time,
And touched him, and
said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.
8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat,
Forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there;
And, behold, the word of
the LORD came to him,
And he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts;
For the
children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars,
And
slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left;
And they seek
my life, to take it away.
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD.
And, behold,
the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains,
And brake in
pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind;
And
after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake;
12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire;
And
after the fire a still small voice.
13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it,
That he wrapped his face in his
mantle,
And went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave.
And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts;
Because the
children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant,
Thrown down thine altars, and
slain thy prophets with the sword;
And I, even I only, am left; and they seek
my life, to take it away.
15 And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of
Damascus;
And when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria;
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel;
And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in
thy room.
17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall
Jehu slay;
And him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel,
All the knees which have not
bowed unto Baal,
And every mouth which hath not kissed him.
19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat,
Who was
plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth;
And
Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah,
And said, Let me, I pray thee,
Kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee.
And he said unto
him, Go back again; for what have I done to thee?
21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them,
And
boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen,
And gave unto the people,
and they did eat.
Then he arose, and went after Elijah,
And ministered unto him.
1 KINGS 20
1 AND Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together;
And there
were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots;
And he went up
and besieged Samaria, and warred mightily against it.
2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city,
And said unto
him, Thus saith Benhadad,
3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine;
Thy wives also and thy children, even the
goodliest, are mine.
4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king,
According to thy
saying, I am thine, and all that I have.
5 And the messengers came again, and said,
Thus speaketh Benhadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying,
Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and
thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
6 Yet I will send my servants unto thee tomorrow about this time, and they
shall search thine house,
And the houses of thy servants; and it shall be,
that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes,
They shall put it in their hand,
and take it away.
7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said,
Mark, I
pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief; for he sent unto me,
For my
wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him
not.
8 And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him,
nor consent.
9 Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the king,
All
that thou didst send for thy servant to do at the first I will do;
But this thing I
may not do.
And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.
10 And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also,
If the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow
me.
11 And the king of Israel answered him, and said, Tell him,
Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself.
As he that putteth it off. And it came to pass,
When Benhadad heard this message, as he was
drinking,
He and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants,
Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.
13 And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying,
Thus
saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude?
Behold, I will deliver
it into thine hand this day;
And thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
14 And Ahab said, By whom?
And he said, Thus saith the LORD,
Even by the young
men of the princes of the provinces.
Then he said, Who shall order the battle?
And he answered, Thou.
15 Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces,
And they were numbered two hundred and thirty two;
And after them he numbered all the people,
Even
all the children of Israel,
Being seven thousand. And they went out at noon.
But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the
pavilions,
He and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
17 And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first;
And Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.
18 And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive;
Or whether
they be come out for war, take them alive.
19 So these young men of the princes of the provinces,
Came out of the city, and
the army which followed them.
20 And they slew every one his man; and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued
them;
And Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen.
21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots,
And slew
the Syrians with a great slaughter.
22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said,
Go,
strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest;
For at the return of the
year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
23 And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of
the hills;
Therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them
in the plain,
And surely we shall be stronger than they.
24 And do this thing, Take the kings away,
Every man out of his place, and put
captains in their rooms;
25 And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse,
And chariot for chariot; and we will fight against them in the plain,
And
surely we shall be stronger than they.
And he hearkened unto their voice, and
did so.
26 And it came to pass at the return of the year,
That Benhadad numbered the
Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
27 And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went
against them;
And the children of Israel pitched before them like two little
flocks of kids;
But the Syrians filled the country.
28 And there came a man of God,
And spake unto the king of Israel, and said,
Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said,
The LORD is God of the
hills, but he is not God of the valleys;
Therefore will I deliver all this
great multitude into thine hand,
And ye shall know that I am the LORD.
29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days.
And so it was, that
in the seventh day the battle was joined;
And the children of Israel slew of the
Syrians,
An hundred thousand footmen in one day.
30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city;
And there a wall fell upon
twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left.
And Benhadad fled, and
came into the city, into an inner chamber.
31 And his servants said unto him, Behold now,
We have heard that the kings of
the house of Israel are merciful kings;
Let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on
our loins, and ropes upon our heads,
And go out to the king of Israel;
peradventure he will save thy life.
32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads,
And
came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad saith,
I pray thee,
let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
33 Now the men did diligently observe whether anything would come from him,
And did hastily catch it; and they said,
Thy brother Benhadad. Then he said,
Go ye, bring him.
Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up
into the chariot.
34 And Benhadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy
father, I will restore;
And thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my
father made in Samaria.
Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this
covenant.
So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.
35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbor,
In the
word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.
36 Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD,
Behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee.
And as
soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
37 Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee.
And the man smote
him, so that in smiting he wounded him.
38 So the prophet departed,
And waited for the king by the way,
And disguised
himself with ashes upon his face.
39 And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king;
And he said, Thy servant
went out into the midst of the battle;
And, behold, a man turned aside, and
brought a man unto me, and said,
Keep this man; if by any means he be missing,
then shall thy life be for his life,
Or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
40 And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone.
And the king of
Israel said unto him,
So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.
41 And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face;
And the king of Israel
discerned him that he was of the prophets.
42 And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD,
Because thou hast let go out of
thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction,
Therefore thy life shall
go for his life, and thy people for his people.
43 And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased,
And came to
Samaria.
1 KINGS 21
1 AND it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a
vineyard,
Which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
2 And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard,
That I may have it
for a garden of herbs,
Because it is near unto my house;
And I will give thee
for it,
A better vineyard than it;
Or, if it seem good to thee,
I will give
thee the worth of it in money.
3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me,
That I should give the
inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
4 And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word,
Which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said,
I will not give thee
the inheritance of my fathers.
And he laid him down upon his bed,
And turned
away his face, and would eat no bread.
5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him,
Why is thy spirit so
sad, that thou eatest no bread?
6 And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite,
And said
unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else,
If it please thee, I will
give thee another vineyard for it;
And he answered, I will not give thee my
vineyard.
7 And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of
Israel?
Arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry; I will give thee
the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal,
And sent
the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling
with Naboth.
9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high
among the people;
10 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him,
saying,
Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out,
And
stone him, that he may die.
11 And the men of his city,
Even the elders and the nobles who were the
inhabitants in his city,
Did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was
written in the letters,
Which she had sent unto them.
12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him;
And the
men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth,
In the presence of
the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king.
Then they carried him
forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.
14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.
15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead,
That Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the
Jezreelite,
Which he refused to give thee for money; for Naboth is not alive,
but dead.
16 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead,
That Ahab rose up
to go down to the vineyard,
Of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
17 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria;
Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.
19 And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed,
and also taken possession?
And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the
LORD,
In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth,
Shall dogs lick thy
blood, even thine.
20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered,
I
have found thee; because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of
the LORD.
21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity,
And
will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall,
And him that is shut
up and left in Israel,
22 And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
And
like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith
Thou
hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.
23 And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying,
The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the
wall of Jezreel.
24 Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat;
And him that dieth in
the field shall the fowls of the air eat.
25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness,
In the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
26 And he did very abominably in following idols,
According to all things as
did the Amorites,
Whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes,
And put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went
softly.
28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me?
Because he humbleth himself
before me,
I will not bring the evil in his days;
But in his son's days will I
bring the evil upon his house.
1 KINGS 22
1 AND they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.
2 And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat,
The king of Judah came
down to the king of Israel.
3 And the king of Israel said unto his servants,
Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead
is ours, and we be still,
And take it not out of the hand of the king of
Syria?
4 And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramothgilead?
And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art,
My people as
thy people, my horses as thy horses.
5 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel,
Enquire, I pray thee, at the
word of the LORD today.
6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together,
About four hundred
men, and said unto them,
Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I
forbear?
And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of
the king.
7 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that
we might enquire of him?
8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah
the son of Imlah,
By whom we may enquire of the LORD; but I hate him;
For he
doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.
And Jehoshaphat said, Let not
the king say so.
9 Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said,
Hasten hither Micaiah
the son of Imlah.
10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his
throne,
Having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate
of Samaria;
And all the prophets prophesied before them.
11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron;
And he said, Thus
saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians,
Until thou have consumed
them. And all the prophets prophesied so, saying,
Go up to Ramothgilead, and
prosper; for the LORD shall deliver it into the king's hand.
13 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying,
Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one
mouth;
Let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.
14 And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that
will I speak.
15 So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah,
Shall we go
against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear?
And he answered him, Go,
and prosper; for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
16 And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee,
That thou tell
me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD?
17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have
not a shepherd;
And the LORD said, These have no master; let them return every
man to his house in peace.
18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee,
That he
would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
19 And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD;
I saw the LORD sitting
on his throne,
And all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and
on his left.
20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at
Ramothgilead?
And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will
persuade him.
22 And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth,
And I
will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.
And he said, Thou shalt
persuade him, and prevail also; go forth, and do so.
23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all
these thy prophets,
And the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
24 But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek,
and said,
Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee?
25 And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day,
When thou shalt go into
an inner chamber to hide thyself.
26 And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon,
The
governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son;
27 And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison,
And feed him
with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.
28 And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by
me.
And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.
29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to
Ramothgilead.
30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and
enter into the battle;
But put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel
disguised himself, and went into the battle.
31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule
over his chariots,
Saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with
the king of Israel.
32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat,
That
they said, Surely it is the king of Israel.
And they turned aside to fight
against him; and Jehoshaphat cried out.
33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived,
That it
was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
34 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel,
Between the joints of the harness; wherefore he said unto the driver of his
chariot,
Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host of war; for I am wounded.
35 And the battle increased that day; and the king was stayed up,
In his chariot
against the Syrians, and died at even;
And the blood ran out of the wound into
the midst of the chariot.
36 And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the
sun,
Saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.
37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria;
And they buried the king in
Samaria.
38 And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up
his blood;
And they washed his armor; according unto the word of the LORD which
he spake.
39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did,
And the ivory house
which he made, and all the cities that he built,
Are they not written in the
book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
40 So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
41 And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah,
In the fourth year
of Ahab king of Israel.
42 Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old,
When he began to reign;
And he
reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem.
And his mother's name was Azubah
the daughter of Shilhi.
43 And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it,
Doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD;
Nevertheless the high
places were not taken away;
For the people offered and burnt incense yet in
the high places.
44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed,
And
how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
of Judah?
46 And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father
Asa,
He took out of the land. There was then no king in Edom; a deputy was king.
48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold;
But they went
not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber.
49 Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat,
Let my servants go with
thy servants in the ships.
But Jehoshaphat would not. And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers,
And was buried with his fathers, in
the city of David his father;
And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.
51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria,
The seventeenth
year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.
52 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his
father,
And in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
Who made Israel to sin; for he served Baal, and worshipped him,
And provoked to anger the LORD God of
Israel,
According to all that his father had done.