Bible in 90 Days

³⁸ Then he made ten basins of bronze: one basin held 220 gallons. Each basin was four cubits, and on each of the ten bases was one basin. ³⁹ Then he set up the laver stands, five on the right side of the House and five on the left side of the House, and set up the sea of cast metal on the right side of the House eastward, toward the south. ⁴⁰ Then Hiram made the basins, the shovels, and the sprinkling bowls.

So Hiram finished doing all the work that he performed for King Solomon on Adonai’s House: ⁴¹ the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars, the two nettings to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars, ⁴² the 400 pomegranates for the two nettings, two rows of pomegranates for each to cover the two bowls of the capitals on top of the pillars, ⁴³ the ten bases and the ten basins on the bases, ⁴⁴ the one sea and the 12 oxen under the sea, ⁴⁵ the pots, the shovels and the basins. All these vessels Hiram made for King Solomon in the House of Adonai were made of polished bronze. ⁴⁶ The king had them cast in the plain of the Jordan, with clay of the ground between Sukkot and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were too many—the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

⁴⁸ So Solomon made all the equipment that was to be in the House of Adonai: the golden altar, the table on which was the bread of the presence, of gold; ⁴⁹ the menorahs—five on the right side and five on the left in front of the inner Sanctuary—of pure gold; the flowers, the lamps and the tongs, of gold; ⁵⁰ the cups, the snuffers, the bowls, the wick trimmers and the fire pans, of pure gold; the hinges for the doors of the inner House, the Holy of Holies, and for the doors of the House, that is, of the Temple, of gold.

⁵¹ When all the work that King Solomon did in Adonai’s House was finished, Solomon brought in the things that his father David had dedicated—the silver, the gold and the vessels—and put them in the treasuries of the House of Adonai.

Dedicating the Temple

8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel—all the heads of the tribes and the ancestral chieftains of the children of Israel—to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring the ark of the covenant of Adonai up from the city of David, which is Zion. ² All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the Feast in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ Then all the elders of Israel came and the kohanim brought up the ark. ⁴ They brought up the ark of Adonai, the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent the kohanim and the Levites brought them up.

⁵ Now King Solomon—and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled to him—were with him before the ark sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be numbered or counted. ⁶ The kohanim brought the ark of the covenant of Adonai to its place, into the inner Sanctuary of the House, to the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cheruvim. ⁷ For the cheruvim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, and the cheruvim covered the ark and its poles from above. ⁸ But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner Sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; there they are to this day. ⁹ Nothing was in the ark except the two tables of stone that Moses put there at Horeb,^[a] when Adonai cut a covenant with the children of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ Now when the kohanim came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the House of Adonai, ¹¹ so that the kohanim could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Adonai filled the House of Adonai. ¹² Then Solomon spoke: “Adonai said that He would dwell in the thick cloud. ¹³ I have surely built You a magnificent House, a place for Your dwelling forever.”

¹⁴ Then the king turned his face about and blessed the whole congregation of Israel while the whole congregation of Israel was standing. ¹⁵ He said: “Blessed be Adonai, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and has fulfilled it by His hand, saying: ¹⁶ ‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out from Egypt, I have not chosen a city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a House where My Name would be there. But I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

¹⁷ “Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a House for the Name of Adonai, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But Adonai said to my father David: ‘Because it was in your heart to build a House for My Name, you did well that it was in your heart. ¹⁹ Nevertheless you will not build the House, but your son who will come out of your loins, he shall build the House for My Name.’ ²⁰ Now Adonai has fulfilled His word that He spoke, for I have risen in the place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as Adonai promised. Also I have built the House for the Name of Adonai, the God of Israel, ²¹ and have set there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Adonai, which He made with our fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

²² Then Solomon stood before the altar of Adonai in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, ²³ and said: “Adonai, God of Israel, there is no God like You, in heaven above or on earth below, keeping covenant and lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart.

²⁴ “You have kept what You promised with Your servant David my father. Yes, You spoke with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.

²⁵ “Now therefore, Adonai, God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father what You have promised him, saying: ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel, if only your children watch their way, walking before Me as you have walked before Me.’ ²⁶ Now therefore, God of Israel, please, let Your word be confirmed, which You spoke to Your servant my father David. ²⁷ So will God really dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You!^[b] How much less this House that I have built! ²⁸ Nevertheless, turn to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, Adonai my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You this day. ²⁹ Let Your eyes be open toward this House night and day, toward the place of which You have said: ‘My Name shall be there;’ listening to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.

³⁰ “So listen to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive! ³¹ If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, then comes and swears before Your altar in this House, ³² then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, giving him according to his righteousness.

³³ “When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, if they turn back to You and confess Your Name and pray and make supplication to You in this House, ³⁴ then hear from 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 skies are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, yet if they pray toward this place and confess Your Name and turn from their sin because You have afflicted them, ³⁶ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel. Teach them the good way in which they should walk, and send rain on Your land which You gave to Your people as an inheritance.

³⁷ “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there be blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar, if their enemy should besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague or sickness, ³⁸ when prayer or supplication is made by anyone or by all Your people Israel—each knowing the plague of his own heart—when one spreads his hands toward this House, ³⁹ then may you hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, forgive and act, and give to each man according to all his ways, as You know his heart to be. For You alone know the hearts of all the children of men. ^{[c] 40} Then they will fear You all the days that they live in the land that You gave to our fathers.

⁴¹ “Moreover concerning the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, when he comes from a distant country because of Your Name— ⁴² for they will hear of Your great Name, of Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm—when he comes to pray toward this House, ⁴³ then may you hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner asks of You. So all the peoples of the earth may know Your Name, to fear You as Your people Israel do, and know that this House that I have built is called by Your Name.

⁴⁴ “When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way You send them, and they pray to Adonai toward the city which You have chosen and toward the House which I have built for Your Name, ⁴⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. ⁴⁶ If they sin against You—for there is no man that does not sin^[d]—and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and their captors carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, ⁴⁷ yet if they take it to the heart in the land which they have been carried captive, and they repent and make supplication to You in the land of their captors, saying: ‘We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly,’ ⁴⁸ and they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who carried them into exile, and pray to You toward their land that You gave to their fathers, the city that You have chosen and the House which I have built for Your Name, ⁴⁹ then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Your dwelling place, maintain their cause, ⁵⁰ and forgive Your people who have sinned against You as well as all their transgressions they have transgressed against You, and grant them mercy before their captors, so they may have mercy on them. ⁵¹ For they are Your people and Your inheritance that You brought out of Egypt, out of the middle of the iron furnace.

⁵² “May Your eyes be open to the supplication of Your servant and to the supplication of Your people Israel, listening to them whenever they cry to You. ⁵³ For You have set them apart from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by the hand of Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, my Lord Adonai.”

⁵⁴ When Solomon finished praying this entire prayer and petition to Adonai, he arose from before the altar of Adonai, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward heaven. ⁵⁵ Then he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying: ⁵⁶ “Blessed be Adonai who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. Not a single word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant. ⁵⁷ May Adonai Eloheinu be with us as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us nor forsake us. ^{[e] 58} May He incline our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His mitzvot, His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ May these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before Adonai, be near Adonai Eloheinu day and night, so that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires. ⁶⁰ May all the peoples of the earth know that Adonai, He is God, there is no other! ⁶¹ Let your heart, therefore, be wholly devoted to Adonai Eloheinu, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as it is today.”

⁶² Now the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifice before Adonai. ⁶³ Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to Adonai: 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the House of Adonai. ⁶⁴ On that same day, the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the House of Adonai, for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Adonai was too small to accommodate the burnt offering, the grain offering and the fat of the fellowship offerings.

⁶⁵ So Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated the Festival at that time—a great congregation from the entrance of Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt—before Adonai Eloheinu, seven days and then seven more days—14 days in all. ⁶⁶ On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart over all the goodness that Adonai had shown to His servant David and to His people Israel.

Promise and Warning

9 Now it came to pass, when Solomon had finished building the House of Adonai, the royal palace and all that Solomon was pleased to do, ² that Adonai appeared to Solomon a second time, just as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ Adonai said to him: “I have heard your prayer and your petition that you made before Me. I have consecrated this House, which you have built, to put My Name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there every day.

⁴ “As for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked—in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing all I commanded you, keeping My statutes and My ordinances— ⁵ then I will establish the throne of your kingship over Israel forever, as I promised your father David saying: ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

⁶ “But if you or your sons will indeed turn away from following Me—not keeping My mitzvot and My statutes that I set before you—and go and serve other gods and worship them, ⁷ then will I cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and this House which I have consecrated for My Name, I will cast out of My sight. So Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ⁸ This House, now so exalted—everyone passing by it will gasp in shock and hiss, saying: ‘Why has Adonai done thus to this land and to this House?’ ⁹ They will be told: ‘Because they forsook Adonai their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, worshipped them and served them, therefore Adonai has brought all this evil on them.’”

Solomon’s Economic Achievements

¹⁰ Now at the end of 20 years during which Solomon had built the two houses—Adonai’s House and the royal palace— ¹¹ since King Hiram of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar and cypress logs and with gold for all his desire—in return King Solomon gave Hiram 20 cities in the land of Galilee. ¹² So Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, but he was not pleased with them. ¹³ He said, “What are these cities that you’ve given me, my brother?” So they have been called the land of Kabul^[f] to this day. ¹⁴ (Hiram had also sent to the king 120 talents^[g] of gold.)

¹⁵ Now this was the purpose of the forced labor that King Solomon had imposed to build Adonai’s House, his own house, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. ¹⁶ Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, captured Gezer, burned it with fire, killed the Canaanites who dwelt in the city, and given it as a dowry for his daughter, Solomon’s wife. ¹⁷ So Solomon rebuilt Gezer, lower Beth-horon, ¹⁸ Baalath and Tadmor in the wilderness in the land, ¹⁹ as well as all the storage cities, chariot cities and cavalry cities and that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

²⁰ As for all the people that were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel, ²¹ even their children who remained in the land after them whom the children of Israel were not able to destroy utterly, on them Solomon imposed forced labor until this day.

²² But Solomon did not make slaves of the children of Israel, for they were the men of war, his servants, his officials, his captains, his charioteers and his horsemen.

²³ These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work, 550 who supervised the people who did the work. ²⁴ As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter came up out of the city of David to her house built for her, he built the Millo.

²⁵ Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar that he built for Adonai, burning incense with them on the altar that was before Adonai. When he finished the House, ²⁶ King Solomon also built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Sea of Reeds in the land of Edom. ²⁷ Hiram sent his servants with the fleet—sailors who knew the sea—along with Solomon’s servants. ²⁸ So they went to Ophir and took from there 420 talents of gold, and brought it to King Solomon.

Queen of Sheba Marvels

10 Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon because of the Name of Adonai, she came to test him with hard questions. ^{[h] 2} So she came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels carrying spices and gold in great abundance, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him of all that was on her heart. ³ Solomon answered all her questions nothing was hidden from the king that he did not explain to her. ⁴ So when the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the palace that he had built, ⁵ the food at his table, the seating of his courtiers, the attendance of his servants and their attire, his cupbearers, and his burnt offering which he offered in the House of Adonai, she was left breathless.

⁶ Then she said to the king: “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your deeds and of your wisdom. ⁷ But I didn’t believe the reports until I came and my eyes saw it. Indeed, not even the half was told to me. You’re way past the report of wisdom and prosperity that I’d heard! ⁸ Blessed are your people, blessed are your courtiers who are standing continually before you, listening to your wisdom. ⁹ Blessed be Adonai your God, who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel. It is because of Adonai’s everlasting love for Israel that He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.”

¹⁰ Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did such abundance of spices come as what the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹ Also Hiram’s ships that brought gold from Ophir brought from Ophir a great quantity of sandalwood and precious stones. ¹² The king made from the sandalwood a railing for the House of Adonai and for the royal palace, and also lyres and harps for the singers. Never again did such quantity of sandalwood come in, nor have they been seen to this day.

¹³ So King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire—whatever she asked for—besides what King Solomon gave her out of his royal bounty. Then she and her servants left and returned to her own land.

Solomon’s Splendor

¹⁴ Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, ¹⁵ besides what was from the merchants from the traffic of the traders, and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the region. ¹⁶ King Solomon made 200 full body shields of beaten gold—600 shekels^[i] of gold on each shield— ¹⁷ and 300 small shields of beaten gold—three minas^[j] of gold on each shield. The king put them in the Forest House of Lebanon. ¹⁸ Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with refined gold. ¹⁹ There were six steps to the throne, and the throne had a back with a rounded top, and there were armrests on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms. ²⁰ Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps—six on each side—nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom.

²¹ All of King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the Forest House of Lebanon were of pure gold. (None was of silver—that did not count for anything in the days of Solomon.) ²² For the king had a Tarshish fleet at sea with Hiram’s fleet; once every three years the Tarshish fleet came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.^[k]

²³ So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in wealth as well as in wisdom. ²⁴ All the earth sought an audience with Solomon, to listen to his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. ²⁵ They brought, each man his gift—vessels of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses and mules—so much year by year. ²⁶ Solomon accumulated chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷ Also the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees in the foothills. ²⁸ Solomon’s horses were brought from Egypt and from Keveh. The king’s merchants would buy them from Keveh at a price ²⁹ They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150; and in turn they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

Decline of Solomon

11 Now King Solomon loved so many foreign women, besides the daughter of Pharaoh—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites— ² from the nations of whom Adonai had said to the children of Israel: “You shall not associate with them nor they associate with you, for surely they would turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon clung to them for love. ³ So he had 700 wives as princesses and 300 concubines—and his women led his heart astray. ⁴ For it came about, as Solomon grew old, that his wives led his heart away after other gods, so that his heart was no longer wholly devoted to Adonai his God, unlike the heart of his father David. ⁵ For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of Adonai and did not fully follow after Adonai, unlike his father David.

⁷ At that time Solomon also built a high place for Chemosh, the detested thing of Moab, on the mountain near Jerusalem, as well as for Molech the detested thing of the children of Ammon. ⁸ Thus he did for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.

⁹ So Adonai became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from Adonai, the God of Israel—who had appeared to him twice. ¹⁰ He had commanded him about this, that he should not go after other gods, yet he did not keep what Adonai had commanded. ¹¹ So Adonai said to Solomon: “Since you have done this and did not keep My covenant and My statutes that I commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. ¹² Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days for David your father’s sake; but I will tear it away from the hand of your son. ¹³ Yet I will not tear away the whole kingdom, but will give one tribe to your son for My servant David ‘s sake, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

¹⁴ Then Adonai raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite, of the royal line in Edom. ¹⁵ Earlier, when David was at war with Edom, Joab, commander of the army, went up to bury the slain, and had struck down every male in Edom. ¹⁶ Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom. ¹⁷ But Hadad and some Edomites, servants of his father, had fled to Egypt, while Hadad was a small boy. ¹⁸ Setting out from Midian they came to Paran and took men from Paran along with them, and went to Egypt—to Pharaoh king of Egypt—who gave him a house, allotted him food and gave him land. ¹⁹ Then Hadad found great favor in Pharaoh’s eyes, so that he gave him his own sister-in-law, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, as wife. ²⁰ The sister of Tahpenes gave birth to his son Genubath. Tahpenes weaned him in Pharaoh’s palace and Genubath remained in Pharaoh’s palace among Pharaoh’s sons.

²¹ Now when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh: “Let me leave so I may go to my own country.”

²² Then Pharaoh replied to him, “What do you lack with me, that all of a sudden, you seek to go back to your own country?”

“Nothing,” he answered. “Nevertheless let me go anyway.”

²³ Then God raised up another adversary against him, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord King Hadad-ezer of Zobah, ²⁴ when David killed them. He then gathered men to himself and became the leader of a marauding band that went to Damascus and dwelt there and gained control in Damascus. ²⁵ Rezon was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, adding to the trouble that was Hadad. He despised Israel, while he reigned over Aram.

Prophecy to Jeroboam

²⁶ Then there was Jeroboam son of Nebat (the name of his mother, a widow, was Zeruah), an Ephraimite of Zereda. Though he was Solomon’s servant, he also raised a hand against the king. ²⁷ Now the reason that he raised a hand against the king was this: Solomon built the Millo and closed the breach of the city of his father David. ²⁸ Now the man Jeroboam was mighty of strength, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he appointed him over the entire labor force of the house of Joseph.

²⁹ It was around that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had covered himself in a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the field. ³⁰ Then Ahijah seized the new cloak that was on him, tore it into twelve pieces, ³¹ and said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for thus says Adonai, God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and will give ten tribes to you. ³² But he will have one tribe, for My servant David’s sake, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.

³³ “‘For they have abandoned Me and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon. They have not walked in My ways, nor done what is right in My eyes, nor kept My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did. ³⁴ Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will keep him as a ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, because he kept My mitzvot and My statutes. ³⁵ Yet I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and I will give it to you—the ten tribes. ³⁶ To his son I will give one tribe so that My servant David may have a lamp every day before Me in Jerusalem, the city that I chose for Myself to put My Name there.

³⁷ “So I will take you and you will reign over all that your soul desires—you will be king over Israel. ³⁸ Then it will be, if you obey everything I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My eyes, keeping My statutes and My mitzvot as My servant David did, then I will be with you, and will establish for you a lasting dynasty, as I did for David—I will give Israel to you. ³⁹ So I will for this afflict David’s seed, but not for all days.”^[l]

⁴⁰ Therefore Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam got up and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt. He remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon. ⁴¹ Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom—are they not recorded in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? ⁴² So the days of Solomon’s kingship in Jerusalem over all Israel was 40 years. ⁴³ Then Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam was king in his place.

Rehoboam’s Foolishness

12 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² Now when Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about it, he was still in Egypt where he had fled from the face of King Solomon and settled in Egypt. ³ They summoned him, so Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam saying: ⁴ “Your father made our yoke burdensome. Now therefore lighten the harsh labor of your father and his heavy yoke which he laid on us and we will serve you.”

⁵ He said to them: “Go away for three more days and then come back to me.” So the people departed.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to respond to these people?”

⁷ They spoke to him, saying: “If you will be a servant to this people today, serving them, granting them their petition, and speaking favorably to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

⁸ But he rejected the counsel the elders had given him, instead consulting with the young men who grew up with him and stood before him. ⁹ So he asked them, “How do you advise me to respond to these people who have spoken to me saying: ‘Lighten the yoke that your father laid on us?’”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him saying: “Thus you should say to these people who spoke to you saying ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us!’ thus you should say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! ¹¹ So now, my father laid on you a heavy yoke, and as for me, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but as for me, I will chastise you with scorpions.’”

¹² Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king told them, saying, “Come back to me on the third day.” ¹³ The king answered the people harshly. He rejected the counsel the elders had given him, ¹⁴ and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”

Ten Tribes Revolt

¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people. For it was a turn of events from Adonai fulfilling His word, which Adonai spoke by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat. ¹⁶ But when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king saying:

“What share have we in David?

No inheritance in Jesse’s son!

To your tents, O Israel!

Now look at your own house, David!”

So the Israelites departed to their tents. ¹⁷ But as for the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram who was over the forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. Then King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Israel has rebelled against the house of David to this day.

²⁰ Now when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David. ²¹ When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah as well as the tribe of Benjamin—180,000 select soldiers, to fight against the house of Israel in order to restore the kingship back to Rehoboam son of Solomon.

²² But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying: ²³ “Speak to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the rest of the people saying, ²⁴ Thus says Adonai: you are not to go up or fight against your brothers, the children of Israel. Turn back every man to his own house, for this matter is from Me.”

So they heeded the word of Adonai. They turned and went back, according to the word of Adonai.

²⁵ Then Jeroboam rebuilt Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and resided there. From there he went out and built Penuel.^[m]

Jeroboam Resorts to Idolatry

²⁶ But Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David. ²⁷ If this people keep going up to offer sacrifices in the House of Adonai at Jerusalem, then the heart of these people will turn back to their lord—to King Rehoboam of Judah. Then they will kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.” ²⁸ So the king sought counsel and made two golden calves. He said to them, “You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough! Here are your gods O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” ²⁹ Then he set up one in Bethel and the other he put in Dan. ³⁰ Now this thing became a sin for the people went to worship before the one even up in Dan.

³¹ He also made shrines on the high places and appointed priests from among the people, who were not sons of Levi. ³² Then Jeroboam instituted a festival in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, imitating the Festival that is in Judah. He went up to the altar that he built in Bethel, to sacrifice to the calves that he had made. He installed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he made. ³³ Then he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month—in the month that he had made up from his own heart—and made up a festival for the children of Israel, and went up to the altar to burn incense.

Prophet Against Bethel

13 Unexpectedly, a man of God came from Judah to Bethel with the word of Adonai while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. ² He cried out against the altar with the word of Adonai and said: “O altar, altar, thus says Adonai, behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and upon you will he sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones will be burned upon you.’” ³ The same day he gave a sign, saying, “This is the sign that Adonai has spoken, the altar is about to be split apart and the fat ashes on it will be poured out.”

⁴ Now when the king heard the word of the man of God, which he proclaimed against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar saying: “Seize him!” But the hand which he stretched out against him withered—he could not even draw it back to himself. ⁵ The altar also was split apart and the fat ashes poured out from the altar, just as was the sign that the man of God gave with the word of Adonai.

⁶ So the king responded by saying to the man of God: “Please seek the face of Adonai your God, and pray for me, so my hand may be restored to me!” So the man of God sought the face of Adonai and the king’s hand was restored to him, becoming as it was before.

⁷ Then the king said to the man of God: “Come home with me and have something to eat, and then, I will give you a reward.”

⁸ But the man of God said to the king: “Even if you give me half your house, I will not go with you nor will I eat bread or drink water in this place. ⁹ For so I was charged by the word of Adonai, saying, ‘You are to eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way by which you came.’” ¹⁰ So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.

¹¹ Now one old prophet was living in Bethel. His son came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel and all the words that he had spoken to the king they related to their father. ¹² Then their father asked them: “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen which way the man of God that came from Judah went.

¹³ Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me!” So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it. ¹⁴ Then he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

“I am,” he said.

¹⁵ “Come home with me,” he said to him, “and eat bread!”

¹⁶ But he said: “I cannot return with you nor go with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ For it was said to me by the word of Adonai: You shall eat no bread nor drink water there, nor should you return back by the way by which you came.”

¹⁸ So he said to him: “I also am a prophet like you. An angel spoke to me with the word of Adonai saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (He lied to him.) ^{[n] 19} So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.

²⁰ Now while they were sitting at the table, the word of Adonai came to the prophet who had brought him back, ²¹ and he cried to the man of God that came from Judah saying, “Thus says Adonai: Because you rebelled against the word of Adonai, and did not keep the commandment which Adonai your God commanded you, ²² but turned back, ate bread and drank water in the place of which He said to you, ‘Eat no bread and drink no water,’ your carcass will not enter the tomb of your fathers.”

²³ So after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet he had brought back. ²⁴ But when he was gone, a lion met him along the way and killed him. So his carcass was thrown on the road with both the donkey and the lion standing beside the carcass. ²⁵ Then, men passed by and saw the carcass thrown on the road with the lion standing by the carcass. So they came and told it in the town where the old prophet lived. ²⁶ Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard it, he said: “It is the man of God who defied the word of Adonai; therefore Adonai gave him to the lion which mauled him and killed him, according to the word Adonai spoke to him.”

²⁷ Then he spoke to his sons saying: “Saddle the donkey for me!” So they saddled it. ²⁸ Then he went and found his carcass lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing by the carcass. The lion had not eaten the carcass nor mauled the donkey. ²⁹ Then the prophet picked up the carcass of the man of God, he laid it on the donkey and brought it back to the town of the old prophet to mourn and to bury him. ³⁰ He laid his carcass in his own tomb and they mourned over him saying, “Oy, my brother!” ³¹ After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. ³² For the message he declared by the word of Adonai against the altar in Bethel, and against all the shrines of the high places which are in the towns of Samaria, will surely come to pass.”

³³ Even after this, Jeroboam did not turn back from his evil way, but once again, he appointed priests for the high places from among all ranks of the people. Whoever wanted to be a priest, he consecrated him for the high places. ³⁴ So this matter became sin against the house of Jeroboam, in the end, wiping it out and destroying it from the face of the earth.

Curse on House of Jeroboam

14 At that time, Abijah, Jeroboam’s son fell sick. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please go disguise yourself, so they won’t recognize you as Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh. Look, the prophet Ahijah who told me that I would be king over these people is there. ³ Take with you ten loaves, biscuits and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

⁴ Jeroboam’s wife did so. She got up and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see for his eyes were dim because of his age. ⁵ Adonai had said to Ahijah, “Look! Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is sick. You are to say such and such to her, for she will be in disguise.”

⁶ As soon as Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came through the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this disguise? But I have been sent to you with a difficult message. ⁷ Go tell Jeroboam, thus says Adonai, God of Israel: ‘I raised you up from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel. ⁸ I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it you. Yet you have not been like My servant David who kept My commandments and followed Me with all his heart, doing only what was right in My eyes. ⁹ Instead you have done more evil than all who were before you, and have gone and made yourself other gods—molten images to vex Me—and have cast Me behind your back. ¹⁰ Therefore, I am about to bring evil on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off to Jeroboam even one man, bond and free, in Israel. I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns the dung until it is all gone. ¹¹ Anyone who belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and anyone who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat. For Adonai has spoken it.

¹² “As for you, arise and go to your house. As soon as you set foot in the town, the boy will die. ¹³ All Israel will lament over him and bury him, for it is only him of Jeroboam’s house who will be buried, because in him alone, of all Jeroboam’s house, something good was found toward Adonai, the God of Israel.

¹⁴ “Moreover Adonai will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam that day. So now, what else? ¹⁵ Adonai will strike Israel until it sways like a reed in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking Adonai. ¹⁶ So He will give up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam which he committed, and caused Israel to commit.”

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam’s wife got up, left and went to Tirzah. As soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the child died. ¹⁸ They buried him and all Israel lamented over him, just as was the word of Adonai that He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

¹⁹ As for the rest of the deeds of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ²⁰ The days that Jeroboam reigned were 22 years and then he slept with his fathers. His son Nadab reigned in his place.

Idolatry and Consequences

²¹ Meanwhile Rehoboam son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king, and he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem—the city where Adonai had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His Name. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

²² Judah did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes. They provoked Him to jealousy with more than all that their forefathers had done with the sins that they committed. ²³ They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every leafy tree; ²⁴ and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did the same abominations as those of the nations that Adonai had driven out before the children of Israel.

²⁵ Now it came to pass in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt marched against Jerusalem. ²⁶ He took away the treasures of the House of Adonai and the treasures of the royal palace. He took away everything—even taking all the golden shields that Solomon had made. ²⁷ So King Rehoboam made in their place bronze shields and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, watching over the doorway of the royal palace. ²⁸ Whenever the king went to the House of Adonai, the guard would carry them and bring them back into the guardroom.

²⁹ Now the rest of the deeds of Rehoboam and all that he did—are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ³⁰ There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. ³¹ Then Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. Then his son Abijam became king in his place.

15 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ³ He walked in all the sins of his father which he had done before him; and his heart was not wholly devoted to Adonai his God, like the heart of his father David. ⁴ Nevertheless, for David’s sake, Adonai his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, raising up his son after him and establishing Jerusalem. ⁵ For David did what was right in Adonai’s eyes and did not turn aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

⁶ As there had been war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life, ⁷ so there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. The rest of the deeds of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁸ Then Abijam slept with his fathers so they buried him in the city of David, and his son Asa became king in his place.

Asa Starts Out Right

⁹ In the twentieth year of King Jeroboam of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah. ¹⁰ He reigned 41 years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹ Now Asa did what was right in Adonai’s eyes, like his father David. ¹² He also expelled the male prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. ¹³ Also he deposed his mother Maacah from being queen mother, because she had made an abominable image as an Asherah pole. So Asa cut down her image and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁴ But they did not take away the high places.

Nevertheless Asa’s heart was wholly devoted to Adonai all his days. ¹⁵ He brought into the House of Adonai the consecrated things of his father as well as his own consecrated things of silver, gold, and utensils.

¹⁶ Now there was war between Asa and King Baasa of Israel all their days. ¹⁷ King Baasa of Israel marched against Judah, and he built up Ramah to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to King Asa of Judah. ¹⁸ Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasuries of Adonai’s House and the treasuries of the royal palace, and delivered them into the hand of his officials. King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad son of Tabrimmon, son of Hezion, king of Aram, who resided in Damascus, saying: ¹⁹ “Let there be a treaty between me and you, as it was between my father and your father. I have just sent you a present of silver and gold; go, break your treaty with King Baasa of Israel, so that he may withdraw from me.”

²⁰ So Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah and all Chinneroth, as well as all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ When Baasa heard it, he stopped fortifying Ramah and remained in Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah—none was exempted—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber which Baasa had built. Then King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah with them.

²³ Now the rest of all the deeds of Asa, all his might, all he did and the cities that he built—are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But in his old age he was diseased in his feet. ²⁴ And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoshaphat became king his place.

End of Jeroboam’s Line

²⁵ Nadab son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of King Asa of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ He also did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, walking in the way of his father and in his sins that he caused Israel to commit. ²⁷ Then Baasa son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasa struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon. ²⁸ So Baasa slew him, in the third year of King Asa of Judah, and became king in his place. ²⁹ As soon as he became king, he struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not spare Jeroboam anything with breath until he had destroyed him, just as was the word of Adonai that He spoke by the hand of His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ³⁰ because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and caused Israel to commit, by which he utterly provoked Adonai, God of Israel. ³¹ Now the rest of the deeds of Nadab and all he did—are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

³² So there was war between Asa and King Baasa of Israel all their days. ³³ In the third year of King Asa of Judah, Baasa son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, reigning 24 years. ³⁴ He did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, and followed the way of Jeroboam and the sin that he had made Israel commit.

Zimri Ends Baasa’s Line

16 Now the word of Adonai came to Jehu son of Hanani against Baasa, saying: ² “Since I raised you up from the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, yet you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have caused My people Israel to sin, vexing Me with their sins. ³ I am about to consume Baasa and his house. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat. ⁴ Anyone of Baasa who dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.”

⁵ Now the rest of the deeds of Baasa and what he did and his might, are they not written in Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁶ Then Baasa slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah became king in his place. ⁷ But the word of Adonai had already come by the hand of the prophet Jehu son of Hanani against Baasa and against his house, because of all the evil he had done in Adonai’s eyes, vexing Him with the work of his hands, becoming thus like the house of Jeroboam which He struck down.

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of King Asa of Judah, Elah son of Baasa became king over Israel in Tirzah, and reigned two years. ⁹ Then his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariotry, conspired against him while he was in Tirzah, making himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the palace in Tirzah. ¹⁰ Then Zimri went in, struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah, and became king in his place. ¹¹ It came about when he became king, as soon as he sat on the throne, he struck down all the household of Baasa, leaving him not even one man, nor his kinsmen nor his friend.

¹² So Zimri destroyed the entire house of Baasa, according to the word of Adonai which He spoke against Baasa by the prophet Jehu, ¹³ for all the sins of Baasa and the sins of his son Elah, which they committed and caused Israel to commit, vexing Adonai God of Israel with their useless idols. ¹⁴ Now the rest of the deeds of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Rise of Omri

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah, Zimri reigned for seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against Gibbethon of the Philistines. ¹⁶ When the people encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired and even struck down the king,” then all Israel proclaimed Omri—the commander of the army—king over Israel that very day in the camp. ¹⁷ Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he went into the citadel of the royal palace, and burned down the royal palace over him with fire. So he died too, ¹⁹ because of the sins which he committed, doing what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin which he had committed, making Israel sin. ²⁰ Now the rest of the deeds of Zimri and his treason that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?