Bible in 90 Days
The Basins
38 He made ten bronze basins. Each basin contained two hundred forty gallons.[a] Each basin was six feet in diameter, and there was one basin for every one of the ten carts. 39 He placed five carts on the south side of the temple and five on the north side of the temple. He set the sea on the south side of the temple near the southeast corner.
40 Hiram made the basins, the shovels, and the sprinkling bowls.
Summary
So Hiram completed all the work that he had been assigned by King Solomon for the House of the Lord: 41 the two pillars, the two globe-shaped capitals on top of the pillars, the two latticeworks that covered the two globe-shaped capitals that were on top of the pillars, 42 the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks (two rows of pomegranates for each latticework to cover the globe-shaped capitals that were on top of the pillars), 43 the ten carts, the ten basins on the carts, 44 the one sea, the twelve cattle under the sea, 45 the pots, the shovels, and the sprinkling bowls. All these items, which Hiram made for King Solomon for the house of the Lord, were burnished bronze. 46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the ground, in the plain of the Jordan, between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon did not weigh all the vessels, because there were so many of them. The weight of the bronze was never determined.
The Furnishings for the House
48 Solomon made all the furnishings that were in the House of the Lord: the gold altar and the table for the Bread of the Presence, which was also gold. 49 The lampstands were placed in front of the inner room of the sanctuary, five on the south side, and five on the north. They also were made of pure gold,[b] as were the flowers, the lamps, and the gold tongs, 50 the basins, the snuffers, the sprinkling bowls, the small dishes, and the fire pans of pure gold, and the gold hinges,[c] both those for the doors of the inner sanctuary, that is, the Most Holy Place, and also those for the doors of the front room. 51 In this way all the work that King Solomon did for the House of the Lord was finished. Solomon brought the things which David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the House of the Lord.
Solomon Brings the Ark Into the Temple
8 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. 2 All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon in the month of Ethanim,[d] during the festival.[e] It was the seventh month. 3 Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests lifted up the ark. 4 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.
5 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.
6 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, 7 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. 8 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.
9 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,⎦[f] 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.[g] 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[h] 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. ⎣⎦[i] 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
9 When Solomon had finished building the house for the Lord and the house for the king, and he had done all that he desired, 2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, just as he had appeared to him in Gibeon. 3 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.
4 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, 5 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.”
6 But if any of you[j] 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, 7 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.
8 Though this house is now exalted,[k] all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss[l] and say, “Why did the Lord do this to this land and to this house?”
9 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,[m] a name they have to this day. 14 Hiram had sent the king one hundred twenty talents[n] 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,[o] 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[p] in the wilderness, 19 all of Solomon’s towns for storehouses, the towns for his chariots, the towns for charioteers,[q] 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[r] 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. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very great entourage[s]—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.
3 Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her.
4 The Queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he built, 5 and the food on his table. When she saw the council meeting of his officials, the careful attention of his ministers,[t] as well as their attire, his cupbearers, and the whole burnt offerings which he offered at the House of the Lord,[u] it took her breath away.
6 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your accomplishments[v] and your wisdom is true. 7 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. 8 Blessed are your men, blessed are your servants, who stand before you continually hearing your wisdom! 9 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[w] 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[x] wood and also precious stones. 12 The king made the almug wood into steps[y] 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,[z] 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[aa] of gold into each large shield. 17 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold. He put almost four pounds[ab] 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.[ac] 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.[ad] No silver was used, because it was considered of little value in Solomon’s days, 22 because Solomon’s merchant fleet[ae] was at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the fleet returned, carrying gold and silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.[af]
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,[ag] 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.[ah] 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue.[ai] 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. 2 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. 3 He had seven hundred wives who held the rank of princess and three hundred concubines. So they turned his heart away.
4 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. 5 Then Solomon followed Ashtarte, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not devote himself to the Lord as his father David had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, on the hill east of Jerusalem and for Molek,[aj] the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and making sacrifices to their gods.
9 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.[ak] 29 At that time, when Jeroboam left Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him on the road.[al] 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.
2 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.[am] 3 So the people sent for him.
Then Jeroboam and the entire assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, 4 “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.”
5 Rehoboam said to them, “Leave me for three days and then return to me.” So the people left.
6 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?”
7 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.”[an]
8 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. 9 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[ao] is thicker than my father’s waist.[ap] 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.’”[aq]
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.[ar]
17 Rehoboam continued to rule over the people of Israel who were living in the cities of Judah.
18 King Rehoboam sent out Adoram,[as] 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.[at]
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[au] on the high places,[av] 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[aw] 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.
The Prophet From Judah Testifies Against Jeroboam
13 At that moment, by the word of the Lord, a man of God came from Judah to Bethel while Jeroboam was standing in front of the altar to send offerings up in smoke. 2 He cried out against the altar by the word of Lord, “Altar! Altar! This is what the Lord says. Listen! A son will be born to the house of David. Josiah will be his name. On you he will slaughter the priests of the high places, who are burning offerings on you, and human bones will be burned on you.”
3 On that day he gave them a sign: “This is the sign which the Lord announces: This very altar will be torn apart, and the ashes on it will be poured out.”
4 When King Jeroboam heard this message that the man of God had proclaimed against the altar at Bethel, he pointed at him from the altar and cried, “Seize him!” But the hand that the king pointed at the man withered, and he could not pull it back. 5 Then the altar was torn apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar in fulfillment of the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.
6 Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede before the Lord your God and pray on my behalf that my hand may be restored for me.” So the man of God interceded before the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored for him, so that it was like it had been before.
7 Then the king said to the man of God, “Come to the palace with me and eat something, and I will give you a gift.”
8 But the man of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half your wealth, I would not go with you, and I would not eat bread or drink water in this place. 9 For this is what I was commanded by the word of the Lord: Do not eat bread and do not drink water, and do not return by the way you came.” 10 So he left by a different road. He did not go back the same way he had come to Bethel.
The Prophets’ Sins
11 Another prophet, an old man, was living in Bethel. His sons[ax] came and told him everything that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also reported to their father the words he had spoken to the king.
12 Then their father said to them, “Which road did he take?” So his sons showed him the road[ay] which the man of God from Judah had taken.
13 He told his sons, “Saddle my donkey.” So they saddled his donkey, and he got on it. 14 He went after the man of God and found him sitting under a terebinth tree.
He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
He answered, “I am.”
15 The old prophet said to him, “Come with me to my house and have something to eat.”
16 But he said, “No, I cannot return with you, or go with you, or eat bread and drink water with you in this place. 17 For I was told by the word of the Lord, ‘Do not eat bread and do not drink water there, and do not return by the same road you came on.’”
18 But the old prophet said to him, “I also am a prophet, just like you, and an angel told me by the word of the Lord, ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he was lying to him. 19 Then the man of God returned with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.
20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought the man of God back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, saying, “This is what the Lord says. Because you have rebelled against the mouth of the Lord and have not obeyed the command which the Lord your God gave you, 22 but instead you came back and ate bread and drank water in the place about which he had told you, ‘Do not eat bread or drink water there,’ your corpse will not enter the tomb of your fathers.”
23 Then after he ate and drank, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 As the man of God went on his way, a lion attacked him and killed him. His corpse was left lying on the road, and his donkey remained standing next to it. The lion was also standing next to the corpse. 25 Then some men who were passing by saw the corpse lying on the road, and the lion was standing next to the corpse. They came and told the story in the city where the old prophet lived.
26 When the prophet who had brought the man of God back from his journey heard this, he said, “This is the man of God who rebelled against the mouth of the Lord. Now the Lord has given him to the lion. It mauled him and killed him according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him.”
27 He said to his sons, “Saddle my donkey.” So they saddled it. 28 Then he went and found the corpse of the man of God lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor had it mauled the donkey.
29 The old prophet picked up the corpse of the man of God, placed it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn and to bury it. 30 He laid the corpse in his own tomb, and they mourned over him, “Oh, my brother!”
31 After he had buried him, the old prophet said to his sons, “When I die and you bury me, lay my bones to rest beside the bones of the man of God, in the same tomb where he is buried. 32 For the message which he proclaimed by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines of the high places in the cities of Samaria will certainly come true.”
33 Even after this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but he continued to appoint all kinds of people as priests for the high places. He ordained anyone who wanted to be a priest for the high places. 34 This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, which erased and exterminated it from the face of the earth.
God’s Judgment on Jeroboam
14 At that time, Jeroboam’s son Abijah became very sick. 2 So Jeroboam told his wife, “Go and disguise yourself so that you will not be recognized as Jeroboam’s wife. Then go to Shiloh. That is where the prophet Ahijah is. He is the one who told me that I would become king over this people. 3 Take with you ten loaves of bread, some baked goods, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”
4 So Jeroboam’s wife did as she was told. She went to Shiloh and came to Ahijah’s house. Now Ahijah was no longer able to see due to old age. His eyes stared straight ahead.[az]
5 The Lord had told Ahijah, “Be ready! Jeroboam’s wife is coming to inquire from you about her son because he is seriously ill. When she comes, you will say this and this to her. But when she comes, she will be disguised.”
6 When Ahijah heard her footsteps as she came to the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you disguised? I am a messenger with bad news for you. 7 Go and tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says.”
The Lord’s Message for Jeroboam
I raised you up from among the people, and I appointed you leader over my people Israel. 8 I tore the kingdom from the house of David and gave it to you. But you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart by doing only what was right in my eyes. 9 You have done more evil than all those who came before you, and you have made for yourself other gods and images of cast metal, provoking me to anger. You threw me behind your back.
10 Therefore, listen to this! I myself will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will exterminate everyone in Israel connected to Jeroboam, all those who urinate against the wall,[ba] both bound and free.[bb] I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as completely as manure is burned. 11 The dogs will eat those who belong to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds of the air will eat those who die in the country, because the Lord has spoken.
12 As for you, go home. As soon as your feet enter the city, the boy will die. 13 All Israel will mourn for him, and they will bury him. Indeed, from those who belong to Jeroboam he alone will be buried in a tomb, because in the house of Jeroboam some good is found in him before the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Then the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam. This is the day. Indeed, it begins right now.[bc]
15 The Lord will strike Israel until it sways like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and he will scatter them beyond the River,[bd] because they made their Asherah poles, provoking the Lord to anger. 16 Yes, he will give Israel up because of the sins which Jeroboam himself committed and which he caused Israel to commit.
17 So Jeroboam’s wife got up, set out, and traveled to Tirzah. When she crossed the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18 They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.
19 As for the rest of Jeroboam’s acts, the wars he fought and the way he ruled, you can find them written in the annals[be] of the kings of Israel. 20 Jeroboam was king for twenty-two years. He rested with his fathers. Then his son Nadab became king in his place.
Rehoboam’s Reign
21 Meanwhile, Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put his Name there. The name of Rehoboam’s mother was Na’amah the Ammonite.
22 Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and they provoked him to anger more than all their fathers had done with the sins that they committed. 23 They built for themselves high places, sacred memorial stones, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every leafy tree. 24 There were even male cult prostitutes in the land. They practiced all the abominations of the nations which the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel.
25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26 He took the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields that Solomon had made. 27 So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them, and he entrusted them to the captains of the guard who were keeping watch at the entrance of the king’s palace. 28 Whenever the king went to the House of the Lord, the guards would carry the shields. Then the guards would return them to the armory.
29 As for the rest of Rehoboam’s acts and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? 30 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. 31 Rehoboam rested with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the City of David. The name of his mother was Na’amah the Ammonite. Then his son Abijam became king in his place.
Abijam (Abijah) Son of Rehoboam, King of Judah
15 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam[bf] became king over Judah. 2 He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Ma’akah, granddaughter of Abishalom.[bg] 3 He walked in all the sins which his father had practiced before him, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord as the heart of his grandfather David had been. 4 But for the sake of David, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up his son after him and by making Jerusalem strong. 5 He did this because David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and he did not turn from all that the Lord commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
6 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. 7 As for the rest of Abijam’s acts and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 Abijam rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then his son Asa became king in his place.
Asa Son of Abijam, King of Judah
9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa king of Judah became king. 10 He ruled for forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother’s[bh] name was Ma’akah granddaughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as his father David had done. 12 He drove the male shrine prostitutes out of the land, and he removed all the filthy idols which his fathers had made. 13 In addition, he also removed his grandmother Ma’akah from being queen mother because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his days. 15 He brought silver and gold and vessels and utensils into the House of the Lord as dedicated offerings for himself and his father.
16 There was war between Asa and Ba’asha king of Israel throughout all their days. 17 Ba’asha king of Israel attacked Judah, and he fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. 18 So Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the House of the Lord and the treasuries of the king’s palace, and he gave them to his officials. Then King Asa sent them to Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion king of Aram, who was living in Damascus. 19 He said, “There should be a treaty between you and me as there was between my father and your father. Look, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Come, break your treaty with Ba’asha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
20 Ben Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his army against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Ma’akah, and all of Kinneret, as well as all the land of Naphtali. 21 When Ba’asha heard about this, he stopped fortifying Ramah, and he stayed in Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa summoned all Judah—no one was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timber with which Ba’asha had been building, and King Asa used them to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah.
(2 Chronicles 16:11–17:1)
23 As for all the rest of Asa’s acts and all his mighty deeds and everything else he did and the cities he built, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? But in his old age his feet became diseased. 24 Asa rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then his son Jehoshaphat became king in his place.
Nadab Son of Jeroboam, King of Israel
25 Nadab son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah. He ruled over Israel for two years. 26 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the ways of his father and in the sin which he had caused Israel to commit. 27 Ba’asha son of Ahijah from the house of Issachar conspired against him and struck him down in Gibbethon, which belongs to the Philistines. (Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.) 28 Ba’asha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and became king in his place.
Ba’asha Son of Ahijah, King of Israel
29 When Ba’asha became king, he struck down the whole house of Jeroboam, until it was exterminated according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken through his servant Ahijah from Shiloh. For Jeroboam’s house he did not spare anyone who breathed, 30 because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he caused Israel to commit when he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger.
31 As for the rest of Nadab’s acts and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? 32 There was war between Asa and Ba’asha king of Israel all their days. 33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Ba’asha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah and reigned for twenty-four years. 34 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.
God’s Judgment on Ba’asha
16 Then this word of the Lord came to Jehu son of Hanani against Ba’asha: 2 “I raised you up from the dust and appointed you leader over my people Israel, but you have walked in the ways of Jeroboam, and you have caused my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sin. 3 Look! I am about to burn up Ba’asha and his house. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 4 The dogs will eat those who belong to Ba’asha who die in the city, and the birds of the air will eat those who die in the country.”
5 As for the rest of Ba’asha’s acts and everything he did and his mighty deeds, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? 6 Ba’asha rested with his fathers, and he was buried in Tirzah. Then his son Elah became king in his place.
Elah Son of Ba’asha, King of Israel
7 The word of the Lord had come against Ba’asha and his house through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani, because of all the evil which he had done in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands by becoming like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he had struck down Jeroboam.
8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Ba’asha became king over Israel in Tirzah for two years. 9 But his officer Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him while Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk at the house of Arza, the palace administrator of Tirzah. 10 Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and he became king in his place.
11 When Zimri became king, as soon as he was seated on the throne, he struck down the entire house of Ba’asha. He did not leave for him anyone who urinates against the wall,[bi] neither relatives nor friends. 12 So Zimri exterminated the entire house of Ba’asha according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Ba’asha through the prophet Jehu. 13 He did this because of all the sins which Ba’asha and his son Elah committed and which they caused Israel to commit. They provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their useless idols. 14 As for the rest of Elah’s acts and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel?
Zimri King of Israel
15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned as king in Tirzah for seven days. The army was laying siege to Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 16 The army which was laying siege heard the report that Zimri had conspired against the king and had already struck him down. So in the camp on that day all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel. 17 Then Omri and all Israel went up from Gibbethon and laid siege to Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city had fallen, he went into the fortified part of the palace, and he burned it down on himself. So he died 19 because of the sin he committed by doing evil in the eyes of the Lord by walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in the sin which he had caused Israel to commit. 20 As for the rest of Zimri’s acts and the conspiracy he led, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel?
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.