5 All the work Solomon did on the Lord’s temple was finished. He brought the holy things that had belonged to his father David—the silver, gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the storerooms of God’s temple.

The Lord Comes to His Temple^(A)

² Then Solomon assembled the respected leaders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the Israelite families. They came to Jerusalem to take the ark of the Lord’s promise from the City of David (that is, Zion). ³ All the men of Israel gathered around the king at the Festival ⌞of Booths⌟ in the seventh month.

⁴ When all the leaders of Israel had arrived, the Levites picked up the ark. ⁵ They brought the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils in it ⌞to the temple⌟. The priests and the Levites carried them ⁶ while King Solomon and the whole assembly from Israel were offering countless sheep and cattle sacrifices in front of the ark. ⁷ The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s promise to its place in the inner room of the temple (the most holy place) under the wings of the angels.^[a]

⁸ The angels’ outstretched wings were over the place where the ark ⌞rested⌟ so that the angels became a covering above the ark and its poles. ⁹ The poles were so long that their ends could be seen in the holy place by anyone standing in front of the inner room,^[b] but they couldn’t be seen outside. (They are still there today.) ¹⁰ There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses placed there at Horeb, where the Lord made a promise to the Israelites after they left Egypt.

¹¹ All the priests who were present had performed the ceremonies to make themselves holy to God without regard to staying in their divisions. ¹² All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, their sons, and their relatives—were dressed in fine linen and stood east of the altar with cymbals, harps, and lyres. With the musicians were 120 priests blowing trumpets. When the priests left the holy place,^{[c] 13} the trumpeters and singers praised and thanked the Lord in unison. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments, they sang in praise to the Lord: “He is good; his mercy endures forever.” Then the Lord’s temple was filled with a cloud. ¹⁴ The priests couldn’t serve because of the cloud. The Lord’s glory filled God’s temple.

Solomon Addresses the People^(B)

6 Then Solomon said, “The Lord said he would live in a dark cloud. ² But I have built you a high temple, a home for you to live in permanently.”

³ Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly from Israel while they were standing. ⁴ “Thanks be to the Lord God of Israel. With his mouth he made a promise to my father David; with his hand he carried it out. He said, ⁵ ‘Ever since I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I didn’t choose any city from the tribes of Israel as a place to build a temple for my name. And I didn’t choose any man to be prince over my people Israel. ⁶ But now I’ve chosen Jerusalem to be a place for my name; I’ve chosen David to rule my people Israel.’

⁷ “My father David had his heart set on building a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ⁸ However, the Lord said to my father David, ‘Since you had your heart set on building a temple for my name, your intentions were good. ⁹ But you must not build the temple. Instead, your own son will build the temple for my name.’ ¹⁰ The Lord has kept the promise he made. I’ve taken my father David’s place, and I sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised. I’ve built the temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. ¹¹ I’ve put the ark which contains the Lord’s promise to Israel there.”

Solomon’s Prayer^(C)

¹² In the presence of the entire assembly of Israel, Solomon stood in front of the Lord’s altar. He stretched out his hands ⌞to pray⌟. ¹³ (Solomon had made a bronze platform 7½ feet long, 7½ feet wide, and 4½ feet high. He put it in the middle of the courtyard. He stood on the platform, knelt in front of the entire assembly, and stretched out his hands toward heaven.) ¹⁴ He said,

Solomon Offers Sacrifices^(D)

7 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices, and the Lord’s glory filled the temple. ² The priests couldn’t go into the Lord’s temple because the Lord’s glory had filled the Lord’s temple. ³ When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the Lord’s glory on the temple, they knelt down with their faces on the pavement. They worshiped and praised the Lord, ⌞by saying,⌟ “He is good; his mercy endures forever.”

⁴ Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices to the Lord. ⁵ King Solomon offered 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep as sacrifices to the Lord. So the king and all the people dedicated God’s temple.

⁶ The priests were standing at their posts. So were the Levites who had the Lord’s musical instruments which King David made for praising the Lord with “his mercy endures forever” and which he used to offer praise. The priests were opposite the Levites blowing trumpets while all Israel was standing ⌞there⌟.

⁷ Solomon designated the courtyard in front of the Lord’s temple as a holy place. He sacrificed the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat because the bronze altar that he had made and that was in front of the Lord was not able to hold all of them.

⁸ At that time Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival ⌞of Booths⌟. A very large crowd had come from ⌞the territory between⌟ the border of Hamath and the River of Egypt. ⁹ On the eighth day there was an assembly. They had observed the dedication of the altar for seven days and celebrated the festival for ⌞another⌟ seven days. ¹⁰ On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon dismissed the people to their tents. They rejoiced with cheerful hearts for all the blessings the Lord had given David, Solomon, and his people Israel.

The Lord Answers Solomon’s Prayer^(E)

¹¹ Solomon finished the Lord’s temple and the royal palace and completed everything he had in mind for the Lord’s temple and his own palace. ¹² Then the Lord appeared to him at night. He said to Solomon,

Solomon Completes His Construction^(F)

8 It took Solomon 20 years to build the Lord’s house and his own house. ² He rebuilt the cities Huram gave him, and he had Israelites live in them.

³ Then Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and conquered it. ⁴ He rebuilt Tadmor in the desert and built all the storage cities in Hamath. ⁵ He rebuilt Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon into cities fortified with walls, double-door gates, and bars. ⁶ ⌞He also rebuilt⌟ Baalath and all the storage cities that he owned. He built all the cities for his chariots, all the cities for his war horses, and whatever ⌞else⌟ he wanted to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or the entire territory that he governed.

⁷ The Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites had been left ⌞in the land⌟ because the Israelites had not been able to destroy them.^[e] They were not Israelites, ⁸ but they had descendants who were still in the land. Solomon drafted them for slave labor. (They are still ⌞slaves⌟ today.) ⁹ But Solomon didn’t make any of the Israelites slaves for his projects. Instead, they were the soldiers, officers, generals, and commanders of his chariot and cavalry units.

¹⁰ These were the officers in charge of King Solomon’s projects: 250 foremen for the people who did the work.

¹¹ Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter from the City of David to a palace he had built for her. He said, “My wife will not live in the palace of King David of Israel because these places where the Lord’s ark has come are holy.”

¹² Then Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord on the Lord’s altar that he built in front of the entrance hall. ¹³ He sacrificed every day, on weekly days of rest—holy days, on the New Moon Festivals, and on the three annual festivals (the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths) as Moses had commanded. ¹⁴ As Solomon’s father David had directed, he set up the divisions of priests for their service and the ⌞divisions of⌟ Levites for their appointed places. ⌞The Levites⌟ were to lead in praising ⌞the Lord⌟ and to serve beside the priests by doing whatever needed to be done each day. Solomon also set up divisions of doorkeepers at every gate because this is what David, the man of God, had commanded. ¹⁵ No one neglected the king’s orders to the priests or the Levites in any matter, including the ⌞temple’s⌟ finances. ¹⁶ All of Solomon’s work was carried out from the day the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid until it was completed. The Lord’s temple was ⌞now⌟ finished.

¹⁷ Then Solomon went to the coast near Ezion Geber and Elath in Edom. ¹⁸ Huram sent his own servants and his experienced sailors with ships to Solomon. They went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, got 33,750 pounds of gold, and brought it to King Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon^(G)

9 The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation. So she came to Jerusalem to test him with riddles. She arrived with a large group of servants, with camels carrying spices, a large quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she talked to him about everything she had on her mind. ² Solomon answered all her questions. No question was too difficult for Solomon to answer.

³ When the queen of Sheba saw Solomon’s wisdom, the palace he built, ⁴ the food on his table, his officers’ seating arrangement, the organization of his officials and the uniforms they wore, his cupbearers ^[f] and their uniforms, and the burnt offerings that he sacrificed at the Lord’s temple, she was breathless. ⁵ She told the king, “What I heard in my country about your words and your wisdom is true! ⁶ But I didn’t believe the reports until I came and saw it with my own eyes. I wasn’t even told about half of the extent of your wisdom. You’ve surpassed the stories I’ve heard. ⁷ How blessed your men must be! How blessed these servants of yours must be because they are always stationed in front of you and listen to your wisdom! ⁸ Thank the Lord your God, who is pleased with you. He has put you on his throne to be king on behalf of the Lord your God. Because of your God’s love for the people of Israel, he has established them permanently and made you king over them so that you would maintain justice and righteousness.”

⁹ She gave the king 9,000 pounds of gold, a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never was there such a large quantity of spices ⌞in Israel⌟ as those that the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

¹⁰ Huram’s servants and Solomon’s servants who brought gold from Ophir also brought sandalwood and precious stones. ¹¹ With the sandalwood the king made gateways to the Lord’s temple and the royal palace, and lyres and harps for the singers. No one had ever seen anything like them in Judah.

¹² King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba anything she wanted, whatever she asked for, more than what she had brought him. Then she and her servants went back to her country.

Solomon’s Wealth^(H)

¹³ The gold that came to Solomon in one year weighed 49,950 pounds, ¹⁴ not counting ⌞the gold⌟ which the merchants and traders brought. All the Arab kings and governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.

¹⁵ King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold, using 15 pounds of gold on each shield. ¹⁶ He also made 300 small shields of hammered gold, using 7½ pounds of gold on each shield. The king put them in the hall ⌞named⌟ the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁷ The king also made a large ivory throne and covered it with pure gold. ¹⁸ Six steps led to the throne, which had a gold footstool attached to it. There were armrests on both sides of the seat. Two lions stood beside the armrests. ¹⁹ Twelve lions stood on six steps, one on each side. Nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.

²⁰ All King Solomon’s cups were gold, and all the utensils for the hall ⌞named⌟ the Forest of Lebanon were fine gold. (Silver wasn’t considered valuable in Solomon’s time.) ²¹ The king had ships going to Tarshish with Huram’s sailors. Once every three years the Tarshish ships would bring gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.

²² In wealth and wisdom King Solomon was greater than all the ⌞other⌟ kings of the world. ²³ All the kings of the world wanted to listen to the wisdom that God gave Solomon. ²⁴ So everyone who came brought him gifts: articles of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This happened year after year.

²⁵ Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 war horses. He stationed ⌞some⌟ in chariot cities and ⌞others⌟ with himself in Jerusalem. ²⁶ He ruled all the kings from the Euphrates River to the country of the Philistines and as far as the Egyptian border. ²⁷ The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as plentiful as fig trees in the foothills. ²⁸ Horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all other countries.

Solomon’s Death^(I)

²⁹ Aren’t the rest of Solomon’s acts from first to last written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah from Shiloh, and in Iddo the seer’s ^[g] visions about Jeroboam (son of Nebat)?

³⁰ Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years. ³¹ Solomon lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.

King Rehoboam Foolishly Rejects Israel’s Request^(J)

10 Rehoboam went to Shechem because all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. ² Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon. When he heard ⌞about Rehoboam⌟, he returned from Egypt. ³ ⌞Israel⌟ sent for Jeroboam and invited him back. Jeroboam and all Israel went to speak to Rehoboam. They said, ⁴ “Your father made us carry a heavy burden. Reduce the hard work and lighten the heavy burden he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵ He said to them, “Come back the day after tomorrow.” So the people left.

⁶ King Rehoboam sought advice from the older leaders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive. He asked, “What do you advise? How should I respond to these people?”

⁷ They told him, “If you are good to these people and try to please them by speaking gently to them, then they will always be your servants.”

⁸ But he ignored the advice the older leaders gave him. He sought advice from the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. ⁹ He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we respond to these people who are asking me to lighten the burden my father put on them?”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him answered, “This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is heavier than my father’s whole body. ¹¹ If my father put a heavy burden on you, I will add to it. If my father punished you with whips, I will punish you with scorpions.’ ”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam two days later, as the king had instructed them. ¹³ The king answered them harshly. He ignored the older leaders’ advice. ¹⁴ He spoke to them as the young men advised. He said, “If my father made your burden heavy, I will add to it. If my father punished you with whips, I will use scorpions.” ¹⁵ The king refused to listen to the people because the Lord was directing these events to carry out the promise he had made to Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) through Ahijah from Shiloh.

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king,

So all Israel went home to their own tents. ¹⁷ But Rehoboam ruled the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.

¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram to the Israelites. He was in charge of forced labor, but they stoned him to death. So King Rehoboam got on his chariot as fast as he could and fled to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Israel has rebelled against David’s dynasty to this day.

14 ^[a]Abijah lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Asa succeeded him as king. In Asa’s time the land had peace for ten years.

King Asa of Judah^(A)

² Asa did what the Lord his God considered good and right.

³ He got rid of the altars of foreign gods, broke down the sacred stones, and cut down the poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah. ⁴ He told the people of Judah to dedicate their lives to serving the Lord God of their ancestors and follow his teachings and commands. ⁵ He got rid of the illegal places of worship and the altars for incense in all the cities of Judah. The kingdom was at peace during his reign.

⁶ He built fortified cities in Judah because the land had peace. There was no war during those years because the Lord gave him a time of peace. ⁷ So Asa told Judah, “Let’s build these cities and make walls around them with towers and doors that can be barred. The country is still ours because we have dedicated our lives to serving the Lord our God. We have dedicated our lives to him, and he has surrounded us with peace.” So they built the cities, and everything went well.

⁸ Asa had an army of 300,000 Judeans who were armed with large shields and spears and 280,000 Benjaminites who were armed with small shields and bows. All of these men were good fighting men.

⁹ Then Zerah from Sudan came with 1,000,000 men and 300 chariots to attack Asa. Zerah got as far as Mareshah. ¹⁰ Asa went to confront him, and the two armies set up their battle lines in the Zephathah Valley at Mareshah.

¹¹ Asa called on the Lord his God. He said, “Lord, there is no one except you who can help those who are not strong so that they can fight against a large ⌞army⌟. Help us, Lord our God, because we are depending on you. In your name we go against this large crowd. You are the Lord our God. Don’t let anyone successfully oppose you.”

¹² The Lord attacked the Sudanese army in front of Asa and Judah. The Sudanese army fled. ¹³ Asa and his troops pursued them as far as Gerar. Many of the Sudanese died in battle. As a result, the Sudanese army couldn’t fight again. It was crushed in front of the Lord and his army. The Lord’s army captured a lot of goods. ¹⁴ It attacked all the cities around Gerar because the cities were afraid of the Lord. The army looted all the cities because there were many things to take. ¹⁵ It also attacked those who were letting their cattle graze and captured many sheep and camels. Then it returned to Jerusalem.

15 God’s Spirit came to Azariah, son of Oded. ² Azariah went to Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all you men from Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you will dedicate your lives to serving him, he will accept you. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you. ³ For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest who taught ⌞correctly⌟, and without Moses’ Teachings. ⁴ But when they were in trouble, they turned to the Lord God of Israel. When they searched for him, he let them find him. ⁵ At those times no one could come and go in peace, because everyone living in the land had a lot of turmoil. ⁶ One nation crushed another nation; one city crushed another. God had tormented them with every kind of trouble. ⁷ But you must remain strong and not become discouraged. Your actions will be rewarded.”

⁸ When Asa heard the prophet Oded’s words of prophecy, he was encouraged and put away the detestable idols from all of Judah, Benjamin, and the cities he had captured in the mountains of Ephraim. He also repaired the Lord’s altar in front of the Lord’s entrance hall.

⁹ Then Asa gathered all the people from Judah and Benjamin and the foreigners who had come from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon. (Many of them had come to him from Israel when they saw that Asa’s God, the Lord, was with him.) ¹⁰ In the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign, they gathered in Jerusalem. ¹¹ On that day they sacrificed to the Lord a part of the loot they had brought with them: 700 cattle and 7,000 sheep. ¹² They made an agreement with one another to dedicate their lives to serving the Lord God of their ancestors with all their heart and soul. ¹³ All people (young or old, male or female) who refused to dedicate their lives to the Lord God of Israel were to be killed. ¹⁴ Asa and the people swore their oath to the Lord with shouts, singing, and the blowing of trumpets and rams’ horns. ¹⁵ All the people of Judah were overjoyed because of the oath, since they took the oath wholeheartedly. They took great pleasure in looking for the Lord, and he let them find him. So the Lord surrounded them with peace.

¹⁶ King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from the position of queen mother because she made a statue of the repulsive goddess Asherah. Asa cut the statue down, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ Although the illegal worship sites in Israel were not taken down, Asa remained committed ⌞to the Lord⌟ his entire life. ¹⁸ He brought into God’s temple the silver, the gold, and the utensils he and his father had set apart as holy.

King Asa’s War with King Baasha^(B)

¹⁹ There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah to keep anyone from going to or coming from King Asa of Judah.

² Then Asa brought out all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He sent them to Damascus to Aram’s King Benhadad. ³ He said, “There’s a treaty between you and me ⌞as⌟ there was between your father and my father. I’m sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone.”

⁴ Benhadad did what King Asa requested. He sent his generals and their armies to attack the cities of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities in the territory of Naphtali. ⁵ When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying Ramah and abandoned his work on it.

⁶ Then King Asa took everyone in Judah ⌞to Ramah⌟. He made them carry the stones and lumber from Ramah. Baasha had been using those to fortify the city. Asa used the materials to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah.

⁷ At that time the seer ^[b] Hanani came to King Asa of Judah and said to him, “Because you depended on the king of Syria and did not depend on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped your grasp. ⁸ Weren’t the Sudanese and Libyans a large army with many chariots and drivers? But when you depended on the Lord, he handed them over to you. ⁹ The Lord’s eyes scan the whole world to find those whose hearts are committed to him and to strengthen them. You acted foolishly in this matter. So from now on, you will have to fight wars.”

¹⁰ Asa was furious at the seer. He was so angry with Hanani that he put Hanani in prison. Asa also oppressed some of the people at that time in his reign.

¹¹ Everything about Asa from first to last is written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa got a foot disease that became progressively worse. Instead of asking the Lord for help, he went to doctors.

¹³ Asa lay down in death with his ancestors. He died in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴ They buried him in the tomb that he had prepared for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bed full of spices and blended perfumes. And they burned a bonfire in his honor.