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Solomon Brings the Ark Into the Temple

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of tribes, and the leading fathers of the people of Israel to appear before him in Jerusalem, in order to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the City of David, that is, from Zion. All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon in the month of Ethanim,[a] during the festival.[b] It was the seventh month. Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests lifted up the ark. They brought up the Ark of the Lord, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels which were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up.

King Solomon, along with the whole congregation of Israel who had gathered with him in front of the ark, was sacrificing sheep and cattle, too many to be counted.

The priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim, for the cherubim were spreading their wings over the place for the ark, so that the cherubim covered the ark and its poles with their wings. The poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. They are there to this day.

There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets, which Moses had placed there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.

10 When the priests came out from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the House of the Lord. 11 The priests were not able to take their positions to minister in the presence of the cloud, because the Glory of the Lord had filled the House of the Lord.

King Solomon’s Prayer

12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he dwells in thick darkness. 13 I have truly built a majestic house for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”

14 Then the king turned and blessed the whole congregation of Israel, while the whole congregation of Israel was standing there. 15 Then Solomon said:

Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel. What he said with his mouth to my father David, he has fulfilled with his hand.

The Lord said, 16 “From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I did not choose a city from all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house for my Name to be there, ⎣nor did I choose any man to be a leader over my people Israel; but now I have chosen Jerusalem for my Name to be there,⎦[c] and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.”

17 It was on my father David’s heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

18 However, the Lord said to my father David, “It was on your heart to build a house for my Name. That was a good thing to desire. 19 But you will not build the house. Your son, who will come from your own body, will build the house for my Name.”

20 So the Lord kept his word which he had spoken, and I arose in the place of my father David. I am seated on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord said. I have built this house for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 I have established a place there for the Ark, which contains the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

22 Then Solomon stood in front of the altar in the presence of the whole congregation of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.[d] 23 He said:

O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heavens above or on the earth below. You keep the covenant of mercy and faithfulness with your servants who walk before you with all their heart. 24 You have kept the word which you spoke to your servant, my father David. What you have said with your mouth you have fulfilled with your hand, as it is today.

25 Now, Lord God of Israel, guard for your servant, my father David, the promise you made to him when you said, “You will never fail to have a man sitting on the throne of Israel in my presence, if your sons guard their ways by walking in my law just as you have walked before me.”

26 Now, O God of Israel, let the words which you spoke to your servant, my father David, be confirmed.

27 But will God really dwell on the earth? In truth, the heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this house, which I have built! 28 But turn your face toward the prayer of your servant and toward his plea for mercy. O Lord my God, listen to the cry and the prayer which your servant offers before you today.

29 Let your eyes be open toward this house night and day, toward this place where you said, “My Name will be there,” to hear the prayer which your servant offers toward this place.

30 When you hear the plea for mercy of your servant and of your people Israel, which they pray toward this place, then hear in your dwelling place in heaven—hear and forgive.

The Petitions

31 When a man sins against his neighbor, and his neighbor places him under an oath, and the oath is presented before your altar in this house, 32 then hear from heaven and take action. Provide justice for your servants by declaring the wicked person guilty and bringing his ways down on his own head, and by declaring the righteous person innocent and dealing with him according to his righteousness.

33 When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they sinned against you, and when they return to you and praise your Name and pray and seek your favor in this house, 34 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land which you gave to their fathers.

35 When the heavens are shut up, and there is no rain because they sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place, and they praise your Name and turn from their sin because you have humbled them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Yes, teach them the good way in which they are to walk, and provide rain for the land which you gave to your people as an inheritance.

37 When there is famine in the land, when there is plague, when there is blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, when their enemies are in the land besieging their gates, in every disease, in every sickness, 38 hear every prayer and every plea for mercy which any individual presents or which your whole people Israel presents. When each one knows the affliction of his own heart, when he spreads out his hands toward this house, 39 hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive. Then act and give to each person according to all his ways, because you know his heart (yes, you alone know the heart of every human being), 40 so that they may fear you all the days they live on the soil which you gave to our fathers.

41 Also for the foreigner, who is not one of your people Israel, but who comes from a distant land because of your Name 42 (for they will hear about your great Name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm, and they will come and pray toward this house), 43 for that foreigner, hear in heaven, which is your dwelling place, and do everything for which that foreigner cries out to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your Name and fear you, just as your people Israel do, and because they know that your Name is proclaimed in this house which I have built.

44 When your people go out for battle against their enemy on whatever way you send them, and when they pray to the Lord facing toward the city which you have chosen and toward the house which I have built for your Name, 45 then from heaven hear their prayer and their plea for mercy, and provide justice for them.

46 When they sin against you (for there is no one who does not sin) and you become angry with them, and you give them up to their enemies, and their captors exile them to an enemy land, whether distant or near, 47 when they are in the land where they were exiled and they turn their hearts back, and they repent and pray to you in the land of their exile and say, “We have sinned and become guilty and done evil,” 48 when they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies where they were exiled, and they pray in the direction of their land, which you gave to their fathers, toward the city which you chose and toward the house which I have built for your Name, 49 then hear their prayers and their plea for mercy from heaven, your dwelling place, and provide justice for them. 50 Pardon your people who have sinned against you and all their rebellious deeds that they have committed against you. Have compassion by causing their enemies to show them compassion. 51 For they are your people and your possession, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron-smelting furnace.

52 Let your eyes be open to the plea for mercy from your servant and to the plea for mercy from your people Israel. Hear them whenever they cry out to you. 53 For you singled them out for yourself as your possession from all the peoples of the earth, just as you said through Moses your servant when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.

The Dedication of the Temple

54 When Solomon finished offering all these prayers and pleas for mercy to the Lord, he got up from the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 Then he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israel with a loud voice:

56 Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he said he would. Not one word has failed[e] from all his good words which he spoke through Moses his servant. 57 May the Lord our God be with us, just as he was with our fathers. May he never leave us or abandon us. 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to listen to his commands, regulations, and ordinances, which he commanded to our fathers. 59 May these words which I have prayed before the Lord be near the Lord our God day and night so that he provides justice for his servant and for his people Israel forever, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God. There is no other. 61 May your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, in order to walk in his regulations and to keep his commands, just as is the case today.

62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. 63 Solomon sacrificed fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the House of the Lord.

64 On that day the king consecrated the center of the courtyard which was in front of the House of the Lord, so that he could offer whole burnt offerings and grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings there, because the bronze altar which was before the Lord was too small to hold the whole burnt offerings and grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.

65 At that time Solomon kept the festival, and all Israel kept the festival with him. They were a great congregation that had come from throughout the land, from Lebo Hamath to the Stream of Egypt before the Lord our God. ⎣⎦[f] The festival lasted seven days, and then seven days more, fourteen days in all. 66 On the eighth day he sent them home, and they blessed the king. Then they went home, and their hearts were glad because of all the good which the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.

God Renews His Promises to Solomon

When Solomon had finished building the house for the Lord and the house for the king, and he had done all that he desired, the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, just as he had appeared to him in Gibeon. The Lord said to him:

I have heard your prayer and the plea for mercy that you offered before me. I have consecrated this house, which you built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.

As for you, if you walk before me in purity of heart and with integrity as your father David did, so that you carry out everything that I command you, and you keep all my statutes and my ordinances, then I will maintain your royal throne over Israel forever, just as I said to your father David, “You will not fail to have a man upon the throne of Israel.”

But if any of you[g] or your sons turn away from me and do not keep my commands and statutes, which I set before you, but you serve other gods and bow down to them, then I will cut off Israel from the face of the ground which I gave them. I will take my presence away from the house which I consecrated for my Name. Israel will become proverbial as an object of ridicule for all peoples.

Though this house is now exalted,[h] all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss[i] and say, “Why did the Lord do this to this land and to this house?”

They will reply, “Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and they embraced other gods and worshipped and served them. That is why the Lord brought all this evil on them.”

Solomon Completes His Projects

10 At the end of twenty years, when Solomon had completed these two buildings, the house of the Lord and the house of the king, 11 King Solomon gave Hiram twenty towns in the land of Galilee, because Hiram king of Tyre had been supplying Solomon with cedar and fir wood and with as much gold as he desired. 12 So Hiram left Tyre to see the towns which Solomon had given him, but he was not pleased.

13 He said, “What kind of towns are these towns which you have given me, my brother?” He called them the Land of Kabul,[j] a name they have to this day. 14 Hiram had sent the king one hundred twenty talents[k] of gold.

15 This is the account of the forced labor, which King Solomon raised to build the house for the Lord, his own house, the Millo,[l] and the walls of Jerusalem, as well as Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had come up and captured Gezer. He burned it and killed the Canaanites who were living in the city. Then he gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.) 17 So Solomon built Gezer, lower Beth Horon, 18 Baalath, Tadmor[m] in the wilderness, 19 all of Solomon’s towns for storehouses, the towns for his chariots, the towns for charioteers,[n] and everything Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land he ruled.

20 All the people who remained from the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not part of the people of Israel— 21 their descendants who remained in the land, whom the Israelites were not able to destroy completely—were drafted for forced labor by Solomon. They are serving right up to this day. 22 But Solomon did not press the people of Israel into service. Rather, they were his warriors, his government officials, his staff, his military officers, the commanders of his chariots, and his charioteers. 23 These were the officials who were overseeing Solomon’s work. Five hundred fifty officials were overseeing the people doing the work.

24 Pharaoh’s daughter moved up from the City of David to the house Solomon built for her. Then he built the Millo.

25 Three times a year Solomon offered whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar which he had built before the Lord, and he burned incense before the Lord. In this way he completed the temple.

26 King Solomon built a fleet at Ezion Geber, which is near Elat on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom. 27 Then, along with that fleet, Hiram sent his servants, men who worked on ships and who knew the sea, to serve with the servants of Solomon. 28 They went to Ophir, and they obtained four hundred twenty talents[o] of gold there and brought it to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon

10 The Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s fame, which was connected with the fame of the Lord, so she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great entourage[p]—with camels carrying spices and a large quantity of gold and precious stones. She came to Solomon and told him everything that was on her heart.

Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her.

The Queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he built, and the food on his table. When she saw the council meeting of his officials, the careful attention of his ministers,[q] as well as their attire, his cupbearers, and the whole burnt offerings which he offered at the House of the Lord,[r] it took her breath away.

She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your accomplishments[s] and your wisdom is true. I did not believe the report until I came and saw it with my own eyes. The truth is, not even half of it was told to me! Your wisdom and wealth surpass the report which I heard. Blessed are your men, blessed are your servants, who stand before you continually hearing your wisdom! May the Lord your God be blessed, who was pleased to put you on the throne of Israel. Because the Lord loves Israel forever, he made you king to administer justice and righteousness.”

10 Then she gave the king one hundred twenty talents[t] of gold and a great quantity of spices and many precious stones. There was never again anything comparable to the huge amount of spices and incense which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

11 In addition, Hiram’s fleet brought gold from Ophir and a great quantity of almug[u] wood and also precious stones. 12 The king made the almug wood into steps[v] for the Lord’s house and for the house of the king, as well as lyres and harps for his singers. So much fine almug wood has never been brought or seen to this present day.

13 King Solomon gave to the Queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked for, besides what he had given to her from his royal resources. Then she and her servants returned to her country.

Solomon’s Wealth and Glory

14 The weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents,[w] 15 not counting what he collected from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the land.

16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold. He put seven and a half pounds[x] of gold into each large shield. 17 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold. He put almost four pounds[y] of gold into each small shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

18 The king made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with fine gold.[z] 19 There were six steps to the throne. The throne had a rounded back and armrests on either side of the seat. Two lions were standing beside the armrests. 20 Twelve lions were standing on the steps, one on each end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any kingdom.

21 All of Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all of the utensils in the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.[aa] No silver was used, because it was considered of little value in Solomon’s days, 22 because Solomon’s merchant fleet[ab] was at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the fleet returned, carrying gold and silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.[ac]

23 King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. 24 The whole world sought an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom which God put in his heart. 25 They each brought gifts: articles of gold and silver, clothing, scents,[ad] spices, horses and mules, year after year.

26 Solomon accumulated chariots and charioteers until he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand charioteers. He stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as plentiful as stone in Jerusalem and cedar wood as abundant as sycamore trees in the Shephelah.[ae] 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue.[af] The king’s dealers bought them from Kue for the market price. 29 A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred silver shekels and a horse for one hundred fifty. In this same way they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

Solomon’s Sin and God’s Judgment

11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter, including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. They came from the nations about which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You must not enter into marriage with them, and they must not enter into marriage with you, or they will turn your hearts after other gods.” Solomon clung to them in love. He had seven hundred wives who held the rank of princess and three hundred concubines. So they turned his heart away.

When Solomon became old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, so that his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord as the heart of his father David had been. Then Solomon followed Ashtarte, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not devote himself to the Lord as his father David had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, on the hill east of Jerusalem and for Molek,[ag] the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and making sacrifices to their gods.

So the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 The Lord had given him the command not to follow other gods, but Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.

11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because this is your attitude, and because you did not keep my covenant and my statutes which I commanded you, I will surely rip the kingdom out of your hands and give it to your servant. 12 However, I will not do it during your lifetime because of your father David. I will rip it from your son’s hand. 13 But I will not rip away the whole kingdom. One tribe I will give to your son for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

God Raises Foreign Enemies to Oppose Solomon

14 Then the Lord raised up Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom, as an adversary for Solomon. 15 Earlier, while David was at war with Edom, when Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the dead, he struck down every male in Edom. 16 For six months Joab and all Israel stayed there until he exterminated every male in Edom. 17 But while Hadad was a young boy, he had fled with some Edomites from among his father’s servants to go to Egypt. 18 So they set out from Midian and went to Paran. They took some men with them from Paran and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. He gave Hadad a house and decreed an allowance of food for him and gave him land.

19 Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, so Pharaoh gave him the sister of his own wife, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, as his wife. 20 The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath. Tahpenes weaned him in the house of Pharaoh, so Genubath was in the house of Pharaoh with Pharaoh’s own sons.

21 Later Hadad heard that David rested with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead. So Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Send me back to my own country.”

22 Pharaoh said to him, “What are you lacking here with me, so that you want to go back to your own country?”

He said, “Nothing, but please let me go.”

23 God also raised up another adversary for Solomon, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 After David had destroyed Zobah’s army, Rezon gathered men around himself and was the commander of a band of raiders. They went to Damascus and lived there and ruled Damascus. 25 He was Israel’s adversary during all the days of Solomon, in addition to all the difficulties which Hadad caused. He was hostile to Israel, and he ruled over Aram.

God Chooses Jeroboam to Be King of Israel

26 Jeroboam son of Nebat was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His mother’s name was Zeruah. She was a widow. Jeroboam was Solomon’s official, but he rebelled against the king. 27 This is the account of how he rebelled against the king.

When Solomon was rebuilding the Millo and repairing the gap in the wall in the city of his father David, 28 Jeroboam showed that he was a very capable man. When Solomon saw that the young man was a capable worker, he appointed him over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.[ah] 29 At that time, when Jeroboam left Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him on the road.[ai] Ahijah was wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone in the field. 30 Ahijah took the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.

31 He told Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, because this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says.”

The Lord’s Message to Jeroboam

Look, I am tearing the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand, and I will give you ten tribes. 32 But one tribe will remain with him for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel. 33 This is because they have abandoned me and worshipped Ashtarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in my ways by doing what is upright in my eyes and keeping my commands and judgments as his father David did. 34 I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand because I appointed him leader for all the days of his life for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose and who kept my commands and statutes. 35 However, I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand, and I will give ten tribes to you. 36 To his son I will give one tribe in order that there may be a lamp for my servant David before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name.

37 But I will take you, and you will be king over all that your soul desires. You will be king over Israel. 38 If you listen to all that I command you, and if you walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes, keeping my decrees and my statutes, just as my servant David did, then I will be with you, and I will build an enduring house for you, just as I built for David. I will give Israel to you. 39 Now I will humble the seed of David because of this, but not forever.

40 As a result Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Shishak king of Egypt. He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.

The Death of King Solomon

41 As for the rest of Solomon’s acts, everything he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? 42 Solomon was king over all Israel in Jerusalem for forty years.

43 Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, his father. His son Rehoboam ruled as king in his place.

Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam

12 Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had gone there to make him king.

When Jeroboam son of Nebat was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon, he heard about this, and he returned from Egypt.[aj] So the people sent for him.

Then Jeroboam and the entire assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke he laid on us, and we will serve you.”

Rehoboam said to them, “Leave me for three days and then return to me.” So the people left.

Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was alive. He asked, “What answer do you advise me to give to these people?”

They said to him, “If today you become a servant to this people—if you serve them and answer them with kind words—then they will be your servants for all time.”[ak]

But he rejected the advice which the old men offered him. Instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. He said to them, “What answer do you advise that we should give to these people who said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father laid on us’?”

10 The young men who had grown up with him said, “This is what you should say to this people who said to you, ‘Your father laid a heavy yoke on us. Now lighten our yoke.’ Tell them this: ‘My little finger[al] is thicker than my father’s waist.[am] 11 My father imposed a heavy yoke on you. I will make your yoke heavier. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.’”[an]

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, because the king had said, “Come back to me on the third day.”

13 The king answered the people harshly, because he had rejected the advice which the old men had offered. 14 He spoke to them as the young men advised him: “My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke. My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.”

15 The king did not listen to the people, because this turn of events was from the Lord, in order to fulfill his word, which the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah from Shiloh.

16 All Israel saw that the king had not listened to them. So the people answered the king:

What share do we have in David?

No portion in the son of Jesse!

To your tents, Israel!

Now look after your own house, David!

So Israel went to their tents.[ao]

17 Rehoboam continued to rule over the people of Israel who were living in the cities of Judah.

18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoram,[ap] who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, was able to get in his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David until this day.

Jeroboam Becomes King of Israel

20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. No tribe was left which followed the house of David, except the tribe of Judah alone.

(2 Chronicles 11:1-4)

21 When Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, he assembled the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand specially chosen soldiers, to fight against the house of Israel and to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.

22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God: 23 “Say the following to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the rest of the people. 24 This is what the Lord says. Do not attack and do not fight against your brothers, the people of Israel. Go home, every one of you, for this turn of events is from me.”

So they listened to the word of the Lord, and they returned home, just as the Lord said. 25 But Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and he lived there. From there he also went out and fortified Penuel.[aq]

The Sin of Jeroboam Son of Nebat

26 But Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingship will go back to the house of David. 27 If this people goes up to offer sacrifices at the House of the Lord in Jerusalem, then the hearts of the people will return to their master, Rehoboam king of Judah. Then they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

28 After the king sought advice, he made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much trouble for you. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 29 He set up one in Bethel and the other one in Dan.

30 This sin took hold, and the people traveled as far as Dan to worship. 31 Jeroboam also made shrines[ar] on the high places,[as] and he appointed priests from all kinds of people, even though they were not Levites. 32 Jeroboam instituted a festival in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival[at] that is held in Judah. He offered sacrifices on the altar. He did this in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. He appointed priests in Bethel for the high places he had made. 33 He instituted sacrifices on the altar which he had made in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month which he chose on his own. He instituted a festival for the people of Israel. He went up to the altar to send offerings up in smoke.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 8:2 September/October
  2. 1 Kings 8:2 That is, the Festival of Shelters (traditionally Tabernacles)
  3. 1 Kings 8:16 The words in half-brackets do not appear in the Hebrew text, but they are present in the Greek Old Testament and in 2 Chronicles 6:5-6. The additional words fall between two occurrences of for my Name to be there.
  4. 1 Kings 8:22 At this point the parallel account in 2 Chronicles 6:12-13 has the additional words marked by half-brackets: and spread out his hands.13 Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the courtyard. It was seven and a half feet by seven and a half feet square, and four and a half feet tall. He stood on it. Then he knelt in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his handstoward heaven. These words fall between two occurrences of spread out his hands.
  5. 1 Kings 8:56 Literally fallen
  6. 1 Kings 8:65 The Greek Old Testament has the additional words between the half-brackets: before the Lord our Godin the house which he built, eating and drinking and rejoicing before the Lord our God.⎦ These words fall between occurrences of before the Lord our God.
  7. 1 Kings 9:6 You and your in this verse are plural.
  8. 1 Kings 9:8 The ancient versions read this house will become ruins.
  9. 1 Kings 9:8 Literally whistle, a derisive gesture
  10. 1 Kings 9:13 Kabul means worthless or good-for-nothing.
  11. 1 Kings 9:14 About nine thousand pounds
  12. 1 Kings 9:15 The word Millo appears to be derived from the Hebrew word for fill. Millo probably refers to the stone rampart that supported the palace area.
  13. 1 Kings 9:18 Some Hebrew manuscripts, the ancient versions, and 2 Chronicles 8:4 support the reading Tadmor. The main Hebrew text reads Tamar.
  14. 1 Kings 9:19 The word is sometimes translated horsemen, but it does not seem that cavalry was being used at this time.
  15. 1 Kings 9:28 More than thirty thousand pounds. The parallel text in 2 Chronicles 8:18 reads four hundred fifty talents.
  16. 1 Kings 10:2 Or a very impressive display of wealth
  17. 1 Kings 10:5 Literally the sitting of his servants and the standing of his ministers
  18. 1 Kings 10:5 Or the passageway by which he went up to the House of the Lord. Passageway is the main reading in the parallel text in 2 Chronicles 9:4. Whole burnt offerings is the reading of 1 Kings 10:5. The context seems to favor reference to something impressive about the palace.
  19. 1 Kings 10:6 Or words
  20. 1 Kings 10:10 About nine thousand pounds
  21. 1 Kings 10:11 Perhaps a type of sandalwood. The parallels in 2 Chronicles 2:8 and 9:10-11 reverse the consonants and read algum wood.
  22. 1 Kings 10:12 Or supports
  23. 1 Kings 10:14 Almost fifty thousand pounds
  24. 1 Kings 10:16 The Hebrew text gives only a number (six hundred), without a unit of measure. If the unit is bekas, then the amount in the text is a good approximation. If the measure is shekels, the weight would be about fifteen pounds.
  25. 1 Kings 10:17 Literally three minas
  26. 1 Kings 10:18 Or gold from Uphaz. The precise significance of this phrase is uncertain.
  27. 1 Kings 10:21 Literally closed gold. This may mean pure gold or solid gold, or gold plate.
  28. 1 Kings 10:22 Literally fleet of Tarshish
  29. 1 Kings 10:22 Or apes or baboons
  30. 1 Kings 10:25 Or tools and weapons
  31. 1 Kings 10:27 That is, the western foothills
  32. 1 Kings 10:28 Probably Cilicia, on the southeast coast of Turkey
  33. 1 Kings 11:7 The Hebrew text switches from Milcom in verse 5 to Molek in verse 7.
  34. 1 Kings 11:28 That is, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh
  35. 1 Kings 11:29 The Greek Old Testament has the additional words marked by the half-brackets: Ahijah from Shiloh met him on the roadand caused him to turn aside out of the road⎦. The additional words are found between two occcurrences of the road.
  36. 1 Kings 12:2 Some Greek manuscripts read he returned from Egypt, and add the words and he came straight to his own city in the land of Zererah in the hill country of Ephraim. Some Greek manuscripts do not have verse 2. The parallel in 2 Chronicles 10:2 supports the reading he returned from Egypt. The Hebrew text in 1 Kings 12:2 reads he remained in Egypt.
  37. 1 Kings 12:7 Literally all the days
  38. 1 Kings 12:10 Literally my little one
  39. 1 Kings 12:10 Or thighs
  40. 1 Kings 12:11 Possibly a name for a particularly painful kind of scourge, both here and in verse 14
  41. 1 Kings 12:16 Go to their tents is a common idiom for go home. It does not imply that they all lived in tents.
  42. 1 Kings 12:18 Also called Adoniram or Hadoram
  43. 1 Kings 12:25 Also called Peniel
  44. 1 Kings 12:31 Literally houses
  45. 1 Kings 12:31 A high place is a shrine smaller than a temple. High places were often open-air shrines, located near the city gate or on a nearby hill.
  46. 1 Kings 12:32 That is, the Festival of Shelters (traditionally Tabernacles)