3 REIGNS

(KAIGE)

1 And King Dauid was old, advanced in days, and they kept clothing him with clothes, and he was not being warmed. ²And his servants said, “Let them search for a young virgin for our lord the king, and she shall wait on the king, and she shall be keeping him warm and shall fall asleep with him, and our lord the king shall be warmed.” ³And they searched for a beautiful girl from every boundary of Israel and found Abisak the Somanite and brought her to the king. ⁴And the girl was beautiful, extremely so, and she was keeping the king warm and was ministering to him, but the king did not know^a her.

5 And Adonias son of Haggith was exalting himself, saying, “I will be king,” and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run along before him. ⁶And his father did not ever hinder him, saying, “For what reason did you act?” And indeed he was very youthful in appearance, and ^bhe begot^b him after Abessalom. ⁷And his conferences were with Ioab the son of Sarouia and with Abiathar the priest, and they were helping behind Adonias. ⁸And Sadok the priest and Banaias son of Iodae and Nathan the prophet and Semei and Rei and the powerful men of Dauid were not behind Adonias.

9 And Adonias offered sacrifices, sheep and calves and lambs, with stone of Zoeleth, which was next to the spring of Rogel, and he invited all his brothers and all the prominent men of Iouda, servants of the king, ¹⁰and Nathan the prophet and Banaias and the powerful men and Salomon his brother he did not invite.

11 And Nathan spoke to Bersabee mother of Salomon, saying, “Did you not hear that Adonias son of Haggith became king, and our lord Dauid did not know? ¹²And now come, I will indeed give you advice. And deliver your own life and the life of your son Salomon. ¹³Come on, go in to King Dauid, and you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Did you not, my lord O king, swear to your slave, saying: Salomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne? And why is it that Adonias became king?’ ¹⁴And behold, while you are still there speaking with the king, I too will go in after you and will fill out your words.”

15 And Bersabee went in to the king into the chamber. And the king was very old, and Abisak the Somanite was ministering to the king. ¹⁶And Bersabee bent down and did obeisance to the king, and the king said, “What is it with you?” ¹⁷And she said, “My lord O king, you swore by the Lord your God to your slave, saying: Salomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne. ¹⁸And now, behold, Adonias became king, and you, my lord O king, did not know. ¹⁹And he offered sacrifices, calves and lambs and sheep in great numbers, and invited all the sons of the king and Abiathar the priest and Ioab the commander of the force, but Salomon your slave he did not invite. ²⁰And you, my lord O king—the eyes of all Israel are towards you to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹And it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I myself and my son Salomon will be sinners.”

22 And behold, while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet also came. ²³And it was told the king, “Behold, Nathan the prophet.” And he entered in front of the king and did obeisance to the king, in front of him on the ground. ²⁴And Nathan said, “My lord O king, did you say, ‘Adonias shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? ²⁵For today he went down and offered sacrifices, calves and lambs and sheep in great numbers, and invited all the sons of the king and the commanders of the force and Abiathar the priest, and behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and they said, ‘Let King Adonias live!’ ²⁶But me myself your slave and Sadok the priest and Banaias son of Iodae and Salomon your slave he did not invite. ²⁷If this thing has been brought about by my lord the king, then you did not let your slave know who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.”

28 And Dauid answered and said, “Summon to me Bersabee.” And she came in before the king and stood before him. ²⁹And the king swore and said, “The Lord lives, who redeemed my life from every affliction, ³⁰that as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Salomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne instead of me,’ that so will I do this day.” ³¹And Bersabee bent down on her face on the ground and did obeisance to the king and said, “Let my lord King Dauid live forever!”

32 And King Dauid said, “Summon to me Sadok the priest and Nathan the prophet and Banaias son of Iodae.” And they came in before the king. ³³And the king said to them, “Take the slaves of your lord with you and mount my son Salomon on my own mule and bring him down to Gion.

³⁴And there let Sadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. And trumpet with a horn, and you shall say, ‘Let King Salomon live!’ ³⁵And he shall sit on my throne, and he shall be king instead of me, and I myself commanded that he be ruler over Israel and Iouda.” ³⁶And Banaias son of Iodae answered the king and said, “May it be! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so guarantee. ³⁷As the Lord was with my lord the king, so may he be with Salomon, and may he make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King Dauid.”

38 And Sadok the priest went down, and Nathan the prophet and Banaias son of Iodae and Chereththi and Pheleththi, and they seated Salomon on the mule of King Dauid and led him away to Gion. ³⁹And Sadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Salomon and trumpeted with the horn. And all the people said, “Let King Salomon live!” ⁴⁰And all the people went up after him, and they were dancing in choruses and rejoicing with great joy, and the earth burst at their sound.

41 And Adonias heard, and all his guests, and they finished eating. And Ioab heard the sound of the horn and said, “What, the sound of the city echoing?” ⁴²While he was still speaking, also behold, Ionathan son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonias said, “Come in, for you are a man of power. And bring good news.” ⁴³And Ionathan answered and said, “Actually, our lord King Dauid made Salomon king, ⁴⁴and the king sent with him Sadok the priest and Nathan the prophet and Banaias son of Iodae and Chereththi and Pheleththi, and they seated him on the mule of the king, ⁴⁵and Sadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king in Gion, and they went up from there rejoicing, and the city echoed. This is the sound that you heard. ⁴⁶And Salomon sat on the throne of the kingdom. ⁴⁷And the slaves of the king came in to bless our lord King Dauid, saying, ‘May God make the name of Salomon your son better than your name and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king did obeisance on his bed, ⁴⁸and indeed thus said the king, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who today gave from my offspring one sitting on my throne, and my eyes see it.’ ”

49 And all the guests of Adonias were astounded and rose, and they went away, a man on his way. ⁵⁰And Adonias was afraid from before Salomon and got up and went away and took hold of the horns of the altar. ⁵¹And it was told Salomon, saying, “Behold, Adonias was afraid of King Salomon, and he is holding fast to the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Salomon swear to me today, whether he will not put his slave to death with a sword.’ ” ⁵²And Salomon said, “If he should become a son of power, if one of his hairs shall fall on the ground …, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall be put to death.” ⁵³And King Salomon sent and brought him down from upon the altar. And he entered and did obeisance to King Salomon, and Salomon said to him, “Come on, to your house.”

2 And the days of Dauid drew near for him to die, and he commanded Salomon his son, saying: ²“I am—I am going by way of all the earth. And you shall be strong, and you shall become a man, ³and you shall keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his commandments and the statutes and the judgments which are written in the law of Moyses so that you may understand what you shall do in all things, whatever I command you ⁴so that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke, saying, ‘If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with their whole heart and with their whole soul—saying: There shall not be utterly destroyed for you a man from upon the throne of Israel.’

5 “And indeed you knew what Ioab son of Sarouia did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the forces of Israel, to Abenner son of Ner and to Amessai son of Iether, and he killed them and arrayed the blood of war in peace and put innocent blood on his belt that was on his waist and on his sandal that was on his foot. ⁶And you shall act according to your wisdom, and you shall not bring his gray hair down in peace to Hades. ⁷And you shall do mercy to the sons of Berzelli the Galaadite, and they shall be among those who eat your table, for thus they drew near to me when I ran away from before Abessalom your brother. ⁸And behold, there is with you Semei son of Gera son of the Iemeni from Baourim, and he cursed me with a painful curse on the day when I went to Camps, and he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘If I will put you to death with a sword, . . . !’ ⁹And you shall not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man, and you will know what you shall do to him, and you shall bring his gray hair down with blood to Hades.”

10 And Dauid slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of Dauid. ¹¹And the days that Dauid reigned over Israel were forty years; in Chebron he reigned seven years and in Ierousalem thirty-three years.

(OLD GREEK)

2 ¹²And Salomon sat on the throne of his father Dauid, a son of twelve years, and his kingdom was well prepared.

13 And Adonias son of Haggith came in to Bersabee, Salomon’s mother, and did obeisance to her. But she asked, “Is your visit peace?” And he said, “Peace; ¹⁴a word for me with you.” And she said to him, “Speak.” ¹⁵And he said to her, “You know that the kingdom was mine and all Israel set its face on me to be king, and the kingdom was turned about and became my brother’s, for it was his from the Lord. ¹⁶And now I request one request from you; do not turn away your face.” And Bersabee said to him, “Speak on.” ¹⁷And he said to her, “Speak now to King Salomon—for he will not turn his face from you—and he will give me Abisak the Somanite for a wife.” ¹⁸And Bersabee said, “Very well; I will speak to the king on your behalf.”

19 And Bersabee went in to King Salomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonias. And the king rose to meet her and kissed her, and he sat on his throne, and a throne was placed for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right. ²⁰And she said to him, “I request one small request from you; do not turn your face away.” And the king said to her, “Make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you.” ²¹And she said, “Let now Abisak the Somanite be given to your brother Adonias as a wife.” ²²And King Salomon answered and said to his mother, “And why do you request Abisak for Adonias? And request for him the kingdom! For he is my brother, the great one beyond me, and he has the priest Abiathar, and he has Ioab the son of Sarouia the commander-in-chief for a companion!” ²³And King Salomon swore by the Lord, saying, “This is what God may do to me, and this may he add, for Adonias spoke this word at the risk of his life! ²⁴And now the Lord lives, who prepared me and placed me on the throne of my father Dauid, and he made me a house, as the Lord spoke, for today Adonias shall be put to death.” ²⁵And King Salomon sent by the hand of Banaiou son of Iodae and did away with him, and Adonias died on that day.

26 And the king said to the priest Abiathar, “Depart quickly to Anathoth, to your field, for you are a man of death on this day, and I will not put you to death, because you carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord before my father and because you were afflicted with all the hardships with which my father was afflicted.” ²⁷And Salomon banished Abiathar from being a priest of the Lord, to fulfill the word of the Lord that he spoke regarding the house of Eli in Selom.

28 And the news came to Ioab the son of Sarouia—for Ioab had inclined after Adonias and did not incline after Salomon—and Ioab fled to the covert of the Lord and grasped the horns of the altar. ²⁹And it was told to Salomon, saying, “Ioab fled to the tent of the Lord, and behold, he is grasping the horns of the altar,” And Salomon sent to Ioab, saying, “What happened to you that you have fled to the altar?” And Ioab said, “Because I was afraid from before you, and I fled to the Lord.” And King Salomon sent Banaiou son of Iodae, saying, “Go, and do away with him, and bury him.” ³⁰And Banaiou son of Iodae came to Ioab into the tent of the Lord and said to him, “This is what the king says, ‘Come out.’ ” And Ioab said, “I am not going out, for I will die here.” And Banaiou son of Iodae returned and said to the king, saying, “This is what Ioab has spoken, and this is what he has answered me.” ³¹And the king said to him, “Go, and do to him as he has said, and do away with him, and you shall bury him, and today you will take away from me and from my father’s house the blood that Ioab shed without cause, ³²and the Lord brought back the blood of his injustice on his head, as he fell upon the two persons who were more righteous and better than he, and he killed them with a sword, and my father Dauid did not know of their blood, Abenner son of Ner, commander-in-chief of Israel, and Amessa son of Iether, commander-in-chief of Ioudas, ³³and their spilled blood was brought back on his head and on the head of his offspring forever, and to Dauid and to his offspring and to his house and to his throne may there be peace from the Lord forever.” ³⁴And Banaiou son of Iodae came upon Ioab and put him to death and buried him at his house in the wilderness. ³⁵And the king put Banaiou son of Iodae in command in his place, and the kingdom was being established in Ierousalem, and the king appointed the priest Sadok first priest in the place of Abiathar.

35a (4.29) And the Lord gave Salomon discernment and very great wisdom and breadth of mind like the sand which is by the sea, ^35b(4.30)and the discernment of Salomon was greatly multiplied above the discernment of all ancient sons and above all prudent ones of Egypt.

35c(3.1) And he took the daughter of Pharao and brought her into the city of Dauid until he first finished his house and the house of the Lord and the wall of Ierousalem round about; in seven years he made and finished them. ^35d(5.15)And Salomon had seventy thousand bearing a burden and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hill country.

35e(7.23) And Salomon made the sea and the supports and the great washbasins and the pillars and the fountain of the court and the bronze sea. ^35fAnd he built the citadel and its defenses, and he cut through the city of Dauid; ^(9.24)thus Pharao’s daughter used to go up from the city of Dauid to her house which he built for her. Then he built the citadel.

35g(9.25) And Salomon would offer up in the year three whole burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built for the Lord and would burn incense before the Lord. And he finished the house.

35h(9.23) And these are the chief officers who were appointed over the works of Salomon: ^(5.16)three thousand six hundred overseers of the people who did the works. ³⁵ⁱAnd he built Assour and Magdo and Gazer and Upper Baithoron and Baalath; ^35konly after he built the house of the Lord and the wall of Ierousalem round about, after these he built these cities.

35l And while Dauid was still alive, he commanded Salomon, saying, ^(2.8)“Behold, with you is Semei son of Gera, son of the offspring of the Iemini, from Chebron; ^35mhe cursed me with a painful curse on the day I was going into Camps, ³⁵ⁿand he would come down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying: If he will be put to death with a sword . . . ! ^350(2.9)And now do not hold him guiltless, for you are a prudent man, and you will know what you shall do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down with blood to Hades.”

36 And the king summoned Semei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Ierousalem, and sit there, and you shall not go out from there to any place whatever, ³⁷and it will be on the day of your going out, and you shall cross the Wadi Kedron, knowing you shall know that by death you shall die; your blood shall be on your own head.” And the king caused him to swear on that day. ³⁸And Semei said to the king, “The dictum is fair that you have spoken, my lord O king; so will your slave do.” And Semei stayed in Ierousalem three years.

39 And it happened after three years that two of Semei’s slaves ran away to King Anchous son of Maacha of Geth, and it was told Semei, saying, “Behold, your slaves are in Geth,” ⁴⁰and Semei arose and saddled his donkey and went to Anchous in Geth to search for his slaves, and Semei went and brought his slaves from Geth. ⁴¹And it was reported to Salomon, saying, “Semei went from Ierousalem to Geth and brought back his slaves.” ⁴²And the king sent and summoned Semei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly adjure you, saying, ‘Knowing you shall know that on the day you go out of Ierousalem and go to the right or to the left, by death you shall die’? ⁴³And why is it that you have not kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment which I commanded against you?” ⁴⁴And the king said to Semei, “You know all your evil that your heart knew that you did to my father Dauid, and the Lord has recompensed your evil on your own head, ⁴⁵and King Salomon is blessed, and the throne of Dauid shall be established before the Lord forever.” ⁴⁶And King Salomon commanded Banaia son of Iodae, and he went out and did away with him, and he died.

46a And King Salomon was very prudent and wise, ^(4.20)and Ioudas and Israel were very many as the sand which is by the sea in great number, eating and drinking and being happy, ^46band Salomon was chief among all the kingdoms, and they were bringing gifts, and they were subject to Salomon all the days of his life. ^46cAnd Salomon began to open the resources of Lebanon, ^46dand he built Thermai in the wilderness. ^46eAnd this was ^(4.22)the midday meal for Salomon: thirty kors^a of choice flour and sixty kors^a of ground meal, ^(4.23)ten choice calves and twenty pasture-fed oxen and one hundred sheep, besides deer and gazelles and choice fatted birds. ^46f(4.24)For he was chief everywhere across the river from Raphi to Gaza, among all the kings across the river, ^46gand he had peace on all his sides round about, ^(4.25)and Ioudas and Israel lived in confidence, each under his vine and under his fig tree, eating and drinking, from Dan and as far as Bersabee, all the days of Salomon. ^46hAnd these were the officials of Salomon: Azariou son of Sadok the priest and Orniou son of Nathan chief of those in charge and Edram, over his house, and Souba, scribe, and Basa son of Achithalam, recorder, and Abi son of Ioab, commander-in-chief, and Achire son of Edrai over the levies and Banaia son of Iodae over the main court and over the brickworks and Zachour son of Nathan, the counselor. ^46i(4.26)And Salomon had forty thousand brood mares for chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. ^46k(4.21)And he was chief among all the kings from the river and as far as the land of allophyles and to the borders of Egypt.

46l Salomon son of Dauid reigned over Israel and Ioudas in Ierousalem.

3 ²Only, the people were burning incense at the high places, because until now a house had not been built for the name of the Lord.

3 And Salomon loved the Lord, to walk in the ordinances of his father Dauid; only, he would sacrifice and offer incense at the high places. ⁴And he arose and went to Gabaon to sacrifice there, for this was the highest ground and great; Salomon offered a thousand whole burnt offerings on the altar at Gabaon. ⁵And the Lord appeared to Salomon in a dream by night, and the Lord said to Salomon, “Request some request for yourself.” ⁶And Salomon said, “You did great mercy with your slave, my father Dauid, as he passed through before you in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with you, and you have kept for him this great mercy to give his son on his throne, as this day. ⁷And now, O Lord my God, you gave your slave in place of my father Dauid, and I am a little lad, and I do not know my going out and my coming in, ⁸but your slave is in the midst of your people whom you chose, a large people, who shall not be counted, ⁹and you shall give your slave a heart to hear and to judge your people in righteousness to discern between good and evil; for who will be able to judge this your weighty people?”

10 And it was pleasing before the Lord that Salomon requested this thing. ¹¹And the Lord said to him, “Because you requested this thing from me and did not request for yourself many days and did not request riches and did not request lives of your enemies but requested for yourself understanding to listen to judgment, ¹²behold, I have done according to your word; behold, I have given you a prudent and wise heart; like you there has not been before you, and after you there shall not arise similar to you. ¹³And I have given you what you did not request, both riches and honor; there has not been a man like you among kings, ¹⁴and if you walk in my way, to keep my commandments and my ordinances as your father Dauid walked, I will also lengthen your days.”

15 And Salomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream, and he arose and came to Ierousalem and stood facing the altar which is before the ark of the covenant of the Lord in Sion and offered up whole burnt offerings and made peace offerings and made a great feast for himself and all his servants.

16 Then, two women, prostitutes, appeared before the king and stood before him. ¹⁷And the one woman said, “With regard to me, my lord, this woman and I, we live in one house, and we gave birth in the house, ¹⁸and it happened, on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth, and we were together, and there was no one else with us besides both of us in the house. ¹⁹And this woman’s son died in the night, as she lay on him, ²⁰and she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my arms and laid him in her bosom and laid her dead son in my bosom. ²¹And I arose in the morning, to nurse my son, and that one was dead, and behold, I looked at him closely in the morning, and behold, it was not my son whom I had borne.” ²²And the other woman said, “No, but the living son is mine, but the dead son is yours.” And they spoke before the king.

23 And the king said to them, “You say, ‘This is my son that is alive, and this woman’s son is the dead one,’ and you say, ‘Not so! but my son is the living one, and your son is the dead one’ ” ²⁴And the king said, “Take a dagger for me,” and they brought the dagger before the king. ²⁵And the king said, “Divide the living boy, the suckling, in two, and give the half of it to this woman and the half of it to this woman.” ²⁶And the woman whose was the living son answered and said to the king—because her womb was troubled over her son—and she said, “With regard to me, my lord, give her the boy, and by death do not put him to death,” and this woman said, “Let it be neither mine nor yours; divide it.” ²⁷And the king answered and said: “Give the boy to the one who said, ‘Give it to her, and by death do not put him to death.’ She is his mother.” ²⁸And all Israel heard this judgment that the king judged, and they stood in awe from before the king, because they perceived that divine discernment was in him to execute judgment.

4 And King Salomon was ruling over Israel, ²and these were the rulers who were his: Azariou son of Sadok ³and Eliareph and Achia son of Saba, secretaries, and Iosaphat son of Achilid, recorder, ⁴and Sadouch and Abiathar, priests, ⁵and Ornia son of Nathan, over the officials, and Zabouth son of Nathan, the king’s companion, ⁶and Achiel, steward, and Eliab son of Saph, over the paternal family, and Adoniram son of Ephra, over the levy.

7 And Salomon had twelve appointed over all Israel to provide for the king and his household; it would be that for one month in the year the one would provide. ⁸And these are their names: Benor in the hill country of Ephraim, one; ⁹son of Rechab in Machemas and Bethalamin and Baithsamus and Ailon as far as Baithanan, one; ¹⁰son of Esoth Berbethnema, Lousamencha and Resphara; ¹¹Chinanadab and Anaphathi, a man of Tableth (his wife was a daughter of Salomon), one; ¹²Bakcha son of Achilid Thaanach and Mekedo and all the house of San which is beside Sesathan below the Esrae and from Baisaphoud Ebelmaola as far as Maeber Loukam, one; ¹³son of Gaber in Remath Galaad, and to this the allotment Eregaba, which is in Basan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars, one; ¹⁴Achinadab son of Achel Maanain, one; ¹⁵Achimaas, in Nephthali (and he took Basemmath, Salomon’s daughter, as wife), one; ¹⁶Baana son of Chousi in Maalath, one; ¹⁷Samaa son of Ela in Beniamin; ¹⁸Gaber son of Adai in the land of Gad, the land of King Seon of Hesebon and of King Og of Basan; and one nasiph^a in the land of Ioudas; ¹⁹Iosaphat son of Phouasoud in Issachar.

5 ^(4.27)And thus the officials would supply provisions for King Salomon and everything ordered for the table of the king, each one in his month, they did not alter a thing, and they also used to bring to the place where the king might be barley and straw for the horses and the chariots, each according to his charge. ^2(4.22)And these were Salomon’s provisions for one day: thirty kors^b of choice flour and sixty korsb of ground meal ^3(4.23)and ten choice calves and twenty pasture-fed oxen and one hundred sheep, besides deer and gazelles and choice birds, ^cgrain fed^c. ^4(4.24)For he was ruler across the river, and he was at peace on all sides round about.

9(4.29) And the Lord gave Salomon discernment and very great wisdom and volume of mind like the sand that is by the sea, ^10(4.30)and Salomon was greatly multiplied, above the discernment of all ancient people and above all the discerning of Egypt. ^11(4.31)And he was wise beyond all humans; he was wise beyond Gaithan the Ezraite and Haiman and Chalkal and Darda, sons of Mal. ^12(4.32)And Salomon spoke three thousand illustrations, and his songs were five thousand. ^13(4.33)And he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon and as far as the hyssop that comes out through the wall, and he spoke of animals and of birds and of reptiles and of fish. ^14(4.34)And all the people used to come to hear the wisdom of Salomon, and he would receive gifts from all the kings of the earth who were hearing of his wisdom.

14a(3.1) And Salomon took the daughter of Pharao for himself for a wife and brought her into the city of Dauid until he finished the house of the Lord and his own house and the wall of Ierousalem. ^14b(9.16)Then Pharao king of Egypt went up and captured Gazer and burned it and the Canaan-ite who lived in Mergab, and Pharao gave them^d as send-off to his daughter, Salomon’s wife, and Salomon built Gazer.

15(5.1) And King Chiram of Tyre sent his servants to anoint Salomon in place of his father Dauid, for Chiram had affection for Dauid all the days. ^16(5.2)And Salomon sent to Chiram, saying, ^17(5.3)“You know my father Dauid that he could not build a house for the name of the Lord, my God, from the presence of the wars that surrounded him until the Lord put them under the traces of his feet. ^18(5.4)And now the Lord my God gave me rest all around; there is no plotter, and there is no evil encounter. ^19(5.5)And behold, I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord, my God, as the Lord God spoke to my father Dauid, saying, ‘Your son whom I will give on your throne in your place, this one shall build the house for my name.’ ^20(5.6)And now command, and let them cut timber from Lebanon for me, and behold, my slaves are with your slaves, and I will give you the wages of your services according to all that you say, for you know that we have no one who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

21(5.7) And it happened, when Chiram heard the words of Salomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be God today, who gave to Dauid a discerning son over this numerous people.” ^22(5.8)And he sent to Salomon, saying, “I have heard concerning all that you sent to me; I will do your every wish, cedar timber and pine. ^23(5.9)My slaves shall bring them down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make them rafts to the place that you indicate to me, and I will have them broken up there, and you will take them away, and you shall do my wish by providing food for my household.” ^24(5.10)And Chiram was giving Salomon cedars and his every wish. ^25(5.11)And Salomon in turn gave Chiram twenty thousand kors^a of wheat and machir^b for his household and twenty thousand beth^c of beaten oil; like this Salomon would give to Chiram yearly. ^26(5.12)And the Lord gave Salomon wisdom, as he spoke to him, and there was peace between Chiram and between Salomon, and they made a covenant between themselves.

27(5.13) And the king raised a levy out of all Israel, and the levy was thirty thousand men. ^28(5.14)And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month alternating, they were a month in Lebanon and two months in their home, and Adoniram was in charge of the levy. ^29(5.15)And Salomon had seventy thousand bearing a burden and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hill country, ^30(5.16)besides the rulers appointed over Salomon’s works, three thousand six hundred supervisors who managed the works. ^32(5.18)And for three years they prepared the stones and the wood.

6 And it happened, in the four hundred fortieth year of the departure of the sons of Israel from Egypt, in the fourth year in the second month, when King Salomon reigned over Israel, ^1a(5.17)that the king commanded, and they took great, costly stones for the foundation of the house, and unhewn stones, ^1b(5.18)and the sons of Salomon and the sons of Chiram hewed and laid them. ^1c(6.37)In the fourth year he laid the foundation of the house of the Lord in the month Niso, the second month; ^1d(6.38)in the eleventh year in the month Baal (this is the eighth month) the house was finished in all its plan and in all its arrangement. ²And the house that King Salomon built for the Lord, forty cubits its length and twenty its width in cubits and twenty-five its height in cubits. ³And the ailam^d in front of the shrine, twenty its width in cubits for the width of the house and ten its depth in cubits in front of the house. ^(6.14)And he built the house and finished it. ⁴And for the house he made hidden, peep windows. ⁵And he placed beams on the wall of the house all around the shrine and the dabir^e, and he made sides all around. ⁶The lower side five cubits its width and the middle six and the third^f seven its width in cubits; he gave the house a space all around, outside the house, in order that they should not lay hold of the walls of the house.

7 And the house while it was being built was built with rough, unworked stones, neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.

8 And the gateway of the lower side was under the right shoulder^g of the house, and there was a winding ascent into the middle and from the middle to the third-story. ⁹And he built the house and finished it, and he made a coffered ceiling for the house from cedars. ¹⁰And he built the bondings through the whole house, its height five in cubits, and he enclosed the bonding with cedar boards. ¹⁵And he built the walls of the house with cedar boards from the floor of the house and as far as the rafters and to the walls; he made a coffered ceiling enclosed with boards within, and he covered the inside of the house with sides of pine. ¹⁶And he built the twenty cubits from the top of the house, the one side from the floor to the rafters, and he made from the dabir^e to the holy of holies. ¹⁷And the shrine was forty cubits in front of ¹⁹the dabir^e in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ²⁰The length twenty cubits and twenty cubits the width and twenty cubits its height, and he covered it with overlaid gold. And he made an altar ²¹in front of the dabir^e and overlaid it with gold. ²²And he overlaid the whole house with gold until the completion of all the house.

23 And in the dabir^e he made two cheroubin of ten cubits measured size. ²⁴And five cubits the wing of the one cheroub and five cubits its second wing and from the tip of its wing to the tip of its wing ten in cubits; ²⁵thus it was with the second cheroub, with one measure one completion for both. ²⁶And the height of the one cheroub ten in cubits and so the second cheroub. ²⁷And both the cheroubin were in the midst of the innermost house and he spread out their wings, and one wing was touching the wall, and a wing of the second was touching the wall, and their other wings which were in the midst of the house were touching wing to wing. ²⁸And he overlaid the cheroubin with gold.

29 And with a stylus he inscribed all the walls of the house, round about, with engraved cheroubin, and the inner and the outer had palm trees. ³⁰And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, of the innermost and of the outermost.

31 And for the doorway of the dabire he made doors of juniper wood and a five-sided lintel ³²and two doors of pine boards and carved on them carved cheroubin and palm trees and open flower-leaves, and he overlaid with gold, and the gold went down on the cheroubin and on the palm trees.

33 And thus he made for the gateway to the shrine lintels of juniper, four-sided porticoes. ³⁴And pine boards in both the doors; the one door two leaves and their hinges and the second door two leaves, hinged; ³⁵carved cheroubin and palm trees and open flower-leaves and overlaid with gold brought down upon the relief work. ³⁶And he built the inner court, three courses of unhewn stones and a course of prepared cedar round about. And he built the veil of the court of the ailam^a of the house, which is before the shrine.

7 ⁽¹³⁾And King Salomon sent and received Chiram from Tyre, ²⁽¹⁴⁾son of a widow, and he was from the tribe of Nephthali, and his father was a Tyrian man, an artisan in bronze and accomplished in skill and understanding and knowledge to perform every work in bronze, and he was brought in to King Salomon, and he made all the works.

3(15) And he cast the two pillars for the ailam^a of the house; eighteen cubits was the height of a pillar, and a circumference of fourteen cubits encompassed it, and the thickness of the pillar was the hollow of four fingers, and so the second pillar. ⁴⁽¹⁶⁾And he made two covers of molten bronze to set on the tops of the pillars, five cubits the height of the one cover and five cubits the height of the second cover. ⁵⁽¹⁷⁾And he made two lattice works to wrap around the cover of the pillars, and a lattice-work for the one cover and a lattice work for the second cover ⁶⁽¹⁸⁾and a hanging work, two rows of bronze pomegranates wrought in net-works, a hanging work, row upon row, and thus he did with the second cover. ⁷⁽²¹⁾And he set up the pillars of the ailam^a of the shrine, and he set up the one pillar and called its name Iachoum, and he set up the second pillar and called its name Baaz. ⁸⁽¹⁹⁾And on the tops of the pillars was lily-work of four cubits, against the ailam^{a 9(20)}and a beam on both the pillars, and on top of the sides the beam was as a cover in thickness.

10(23) And he made the sea, ten in cubits from its rim to its rim; the same was round in a circle; its height was five in cubits, and ^bdrawn together^b, thirty-three in cubits encompassed it. ¹¹⁽²⁴⁾And supports under its rim all round were encircling it, ten in cubits all round, to raise up the sea. ¹²⁽²⁶⁾And its rim was like the work of the rim of a cup, like a bud of a lily, and the thickness of it a handbreadth. ¹³⁽²⁵⁾And twelve oxen were under the sea, the three facing north and the three facing seaward^c and the three facing south and the three facing east, and all the hindquarters were toward the house, and the sea was upon them from above.

14(27) And he made ten bronze mechonoth^d, five cubits the length of the one mechonothd, and four cubits its width and six in cubits its height. ¹⁵⁽²⁸⁾And this was the work of the mechonothd; they had a stopper, and a stopper between the projections. ¹⁶⁽²⁹⁾And on their stoppers between the projections were lions and oxen and cheroubin, and on the projections thus: enclosed spaces both above and below the lions and the oxen, a work of descent. ¹⁷⁽³⁰⁾And the one mechonoth^d had four bronze wheels and the bronze attachments and their four sides, shoulder^e pieces under the wash-basins. ¹⁸⁽³²⁾And there were hands^f in the wheels in the mechonoth^d, and the height of the one wheel was a cubit and a half. ¹⁹⁽³³⁾The work of the wheels was the work of chariot wheels; their hands^f and their backs^g and their works, the whole castings. ²⁰⁽³⁴⁾The four shoulder^e pieces were at the four corners of the one mechanoth^d; its shoulders were from the mechanoth^d. ²¹⁽³⁵⁾And on the top of the mechanothd, half a cubit its size, a circle around on the top of the mechanoth^d and a beginning of its hands^f and its borders, and it was open at the beginning of its hands^f. ²²⁽³⁶⁾And its borders were cheroubin and lions and palm trees, standing, each connected on its front, inside and round about. ²³⁽³⁷⁾Like it^h, he made all the ten mechonoth^d, one order and measure for all.

24(38) And he made ten bronze buckets, the one bucket holding forty chous by measurement; the one bucket on the one mechonoth^d, for the ten mechonoth^d. ²⁵⁽³⁹⁾And he placed the ten mechonoth^d, five on the shoulder^e of the house on the right and five on the shoulder^e of the house on the left and the sea on the shoulder^e of the house on the right, eastward, on the sideⁱ of the south.

26(40) And Chiram made the cauldrons and the tongs and the saucers, and Chiram finished making all the works that he made for King Salomon in the house of the Lord: ²⁷⁽⁴¹⁾two pillars and the wreathed works of the pillars on the tops of the two pillars and the two lattice works to cover both the wreathed works of the carvings that were on the pillars, ²⁸⁽⁴²⁾the four hundred pomegranates for both the lattice works, two rows of pomegranates for the one latticework, to wrap around both the wreathed works on both the pillars, ²⁹⁽⁴³⁾and the ten mechonoth^d, the ten buckets on the mechonoth^{d 30(44)}and the one sea and the twelve oxen underneath the sea ³¹⁽⁴⁵⁾and the cauldrons and the tongs and the saucers, all the implements that Chiram made for King Salomon for the house of the Lord, and the forty-eight pillars of the house of the king and the house of the Lord.

All the works of the king that Chiram made, entirely of bronze; ³²⁽⁴⁷⁾the weight of the bronze of which he made all these works, very much in abundance. ³³⁽⁴⁶⁾In the region of the Jordan the king cast them, in the thickness of the ground between Sokchoth and between Sira.

34(48) And King Salomon gave the implements that he made in the house of the Lord: the golden altar, and the table upon which were the loaves of the offering—golden, ³⁵⁽⁴⁹⁾and the lampstands, five on the right and five on the left, in front of the dabir^j—overlaid gold, and the torches and the lamps and the golden pouring vessels ³⁶⁽⁵⁰⁾and the porticoes and the nails and the saucers and the bowls and the golden censers, overlaid, and the doorways of the innermost part of the house, the holy of the holies and the golden doors of the shrine. ³⁷⁽⁵¹⁾And all the work that King Salomon did on the house of the Lord was fulfilled, and Salomon brought in the holy things of his father Dauid and all the holy things of Salomon, the silver and the gold and the implements, and gave them into the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

38(7.1a) And Salomon built his house in thirteen years.

39(7.2) And he built the House to the Forest of the Lebanon, one hundred cubits its length and fifty cubits its width and thirty cubits its height, and three courses of cedar logs, and cedar shoulders for the logs. ^40(7.3)And he paneled the house, from above, on the sides of the logs, and the number of logs was forty-five; the course was fifteen, ^41(7.4)and there were three beams and space on space, three times, ^42(7.5)and all the doorways and the spaces linked by beams were square and from the doorway on the door three times.

43(7.6) And the Ailam^a of the Pillars was fifty cubits long and thirty in cubits in width, linked together. There was an ailam^a in front of them, and pillars and thickness before it^b for the ailammin^c.

44(7.7) And the Ailam^a of the Thrones, there where he pronounced judgment, Ailam^a of the Court.

45(7.8) And he had a house, there where he sat, one court evolved for those ^daccording to^d this work, and a house for Pharao’s daughter whom Salomon took, corresponding to this ailam^a.

46(7.9) All these were of costly stones, sculptured at intervals on the inside, even from the foundation to the coping, and on the outside into the great court ^47(7.10)founded with large, costly stones, stones of ten cubits and eight cubits. ^48(7.11)And above with costly stones, according to the measure of unhewn^e, and with cedars. ^49(7.12)For the great court three courses of unhewn^e and a course of sculptured cedar. ^50(7.1b)And Salomon finished his whole house.

8 And it happened, when Salomon finished building the house of the Lord and his own house after twenty years, then King Salomon assembled all the elders of Israel in Sion to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of Dauid (this is Sion) ²in the month Athanin. ³And the priests carried the ark ⁴and the covert of witness and all the holy vessels that were in the tent of witness, ⁵and the king and all Israel were before the ark sacrificing countless sheep and oxen. ⁶And the priests brought the ark into its place in the dabir^f of the house, into the holy of holies, underneath the wings of the cheroubin, ⁷for the cheroubin were spread out by their wings over the place of the ark, and the cheroubin would cover above the ark and above its holy things from above, ⁸and the ^gsacred things^g projected, and the heads of the sacred things were seen from the holy place in front of the dabir^f, but they could not be seen from outside. ⁹There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets, tablets of the covenant, that Moyses had placed there at Choreb—which things the Lord arranged with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰And it happened, when the priests came out of the holy place, that a cloud filled the house, ¹¹and the priests could not stand to minister from before the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house.

14 And the king turned his face away, and the king blessed all Israel, and all the assembly of Israel had stood. ¹⁵And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel today, who spoke with his mouth concerning my father Dauid and fulfilled with his hands, saying, ¹⁶‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen in a city, in one scepter of Israel, to build a house for my name to be there, but I chose in Ierousalem for my name to be there, and I chose Dauid to be over my people Israel.’ ¹⁷And it was in the heart of my father Dauid to build a house for the name of the Lord, God of Israel. ¹⁸And the Lord said to my father Dauid, ‘Because it came into your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it came into your heart; ¹⁹nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who will come forth out of your sides, he shall build the house for my name.’ ²⁰And the Lord raised up his word that he spoke, and I arose in the place of my father Dauid, and I sat on the throne of Israel, as the Lord had spoken, and I built the house for the name of the Lord, God of Israel. ²¹And I set there a place for the ark, there wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which the Lord made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

22 And Salomon stood before the altar of the Lord before all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands to heaven ²³and said, “O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above and on the earth beneath, keeping covenant and mercy for your slave who goes before you with his whole heart, ²⁴which things you kept for your slave my father Dauid and spoke with your mouth and have, as this day, fulfilled with your hands. ²⁵And now, O Lord God of Israel, keep for your slave, my father Dauid, what you spoke to him, saying, ‘There shall not be taken from you a man from before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children keep their ways to go before me, as you went before me.’ ²⁶And now, O Lord God of Israel, do let your word to my father Dauid be confirmed.

27 “For will God indeed dwell with people on the earth? If heaven and the heaven of the heaven will not suffice for you, how much less even this house that I built for your name? ²⁸And you shall look upon my petition, O Lord God of Israel, to hear the delight with which your slave prays before you to you today, ²⁹that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, toward the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your slave prays toward this place day and night. ³⁰And you shall hearken to the petition of your slave and of your people Israel, which things they pray toward this place, and you shall listen in heaven, in the place of your habitation, and you shall do and be merciful.

31 “What each sins against his neighbor, and if he takes a curse upon him that he be cursed and comes and confesses before your altar in this house, ³²then you shall listen from heaven and act and shall judge your people Israel, that a lawless person has acted lawlessly—to give his way to his head—and to declare righteous a righteous person—to give him according to his righteousness.

33 “When your people Israel fall before enemies, because they will sin against you, and they shall return and acknowledge your name and pray and plead in this house, ³⁴then you shall listen from heaven and be merciful to the sins of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.

35 “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain, because they will sin against you, and they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins, when you humble them, ³⁶then you shall listen from heaven and be merciful to the sins of your slave and your people Israel, because you will make clear to them the good way to go in it, and you will grant rain on the land that you gave to your people in inheritance.

37 “If there is famine, if there is death—for there will be burning, locust larva—if there is mildew and if their enemy afflicts them in one of their cities, any plague, any pain, ³⁸any prayer, any petition, if it be to any person, when each knows the grip of his own heart and spreads out his hands toward this house, ³⁹then you shall listen from heaven from your established dwelling place, and will be merciful and act and give to a man according to his ways, just as you know his heart, for you alone know the heart of all the sons of people, ⁴⁰that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

41 “And for the stranger, he who is not of your people, ⁴²when they shall come and pray toward this place, ⁴³then you shall listen from heaven, from your established dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to you for, that all the peoples may know your name and fear you like your people Israel and know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.

44 “For your people will go out to battle against their enemies, by a way that you shall turn them, and they will pray in the name of the Lord by way of the city, which you have chosen to be in it, and the house that I have built for your name, ⁴⁵then you, from heaven, shall listen to their petition and their prayer and maintain their cause.

46 “Because they will sin against you—for there is not a person who will not sin—and you will bring against them and hand them over before enemies, and those who take captive shall take them captive to a land far off and near, ⁴⁷and they will turn their hearts in the land, there where they were transferred. And should they turn and plead with you in the land of their deportation, saying, ‘We have sinned; we have acted lawlessly; we have acted unjustly,’ ⁴⁸and they turn to you with their whole heart and with their whole soul in the land of their enemies where you transferred them, and they shall pray to you by way of their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, ⁴⁹then you shall listen from heaven, from your established dwelling place, ⁵⁰and you will be merciful to their injustices with which they sinned against you and according to all their transgressions that they have transgressed against you, and you will give them over to compassion before their captors, and they will have compassion on them, ⁵¹for they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of the land of Egypt, from the midst of a smelter of iron. ⁵²And let your eyes and your ears be open to the petition of your slave and to the petition of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to you, ⁵³for you have separated them for yourself from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, just as you said by the hand of your slave Moyses, when you brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, O Lord, O Lord.”

53a(8.12) Then Salomon spoke concerning the house, when he had finished building it,

“A sun the Lord made manifest in heaven;
he said that he should dwell in deep
         darkness:

^(8.13) ‘Build my house,

a remarkable house for yourself, to dwell
in anew.’ ”

And behold, is this one not written in a book of the song?

54 And it happened, when Salomon finished praying the whole prayer and this petition to the Lord, that he arose from before the altar of the Lord, crouched down on his knees and his hands spread out toward heaven, ⁵⁵and he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:

56 “Blessed be the Lord today, who has given rest to his people Israel according to all that he spoke; not one word failed in all his good words which he spoke by the hand of his slave Moyses. ⁵⁷May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; may he not abandon us or turn us away, ⁵⁸to incline our hearts to him, to go in all his ways and to keep all his commandments and his ordinances which he commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹And let these words which I have pleaded before the Lord, our God, be near to the Lord, our God, day and night, that he may maintain the cause of your slave and the cause of your people Israel, as a word of a day in its day ⁶⁰so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord God, he is God and there is no other. ⁶¹And let our hearts be perfect to the Lord, our God, to go devoutly in his ordinances and to keep his commandments, as this day.”

62 And the king and all the sons of Israel offered a sacrifice before the Lord. ⁶³And King Salomon offered the sacrifices of peace that he sacrificed to the Lord, twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep, and the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. ⁶⁴On that day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord, for there he made the whole burnt offering and the sacrifices and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was small so as not to be able to bear the whole burnt offering and the sacrifices of peace.

65 And Salomon held the feast in that day, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entering in of Hemath to the river of Egypt, before the Lord, our God, in the house that he built, eating and drinking and rejoicing before the Lord, our God, seven days. ⁶⁶And in the eighth day he sent the people away, and he blessed them, and they went each to his tents joyful and in good heart because of the good things that the Lord did to his slave Dauid and to his people Israel.

9 And it happened, when Salomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the house of the king and all the business of Salomon that he desired to do, ²that the Lord appeared to Salomon a second time, as he appeared at Gabaon, ³and the Lord said to him, “I heard the sound of your prayer and your petition which you petitioned before me; I have done for you according to all your prayer; I have consecrated this house that you built to put my name there forever, and my eyes and my heart will be there all the days. ⁴And if you go before me, as Dauid your father went, with piety of heart and with uprightness and doing according to all that I commanded him and will keep my ordinances and my commandments, ⁵then I will establish the throne of your kingship over Israel forever, as I spoke to your father Dauid, saying, ‘There shall not be taken from you a man who rules in Israel.’

6 “But if turning aside you turn aside from me, you and your children, and do not keep my commandments and my ordinances that Moyses set before you, and go, and be subject to other gods, and do obeisance to them, ⁷then I will remove Israel off from the land that I have given them, and this house that I consecrated for my name I will cast out from before me, and Israel will become a desolation and prattle among all the peoples. ⁸And as for this exalted house—everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why did the Lord do thus to this land and to this house?’ ⁹And they will say, ‘Because they forsook the Lord, their God, who brought their fathers out of Egypt out of a house of slavery and embraced foreign gods and did obeisance to them and were subject to them, therefore the Lord has brought this evil upon them.’ ”

9a(9.24) Then Salomon brought up Pharao’s daughter from the city of Dauid to his house that he built for himself in those days.

10 For twenty years, in which Salomon built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house, ¹¹King Chiram of Tyre supplied Salomon with cedar timber and with pine timber and with gold and with every wish of his. Then the King gave Chiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. ¹²And Chiram departed from Tyre and went to Galilee, to see the cities that Salomon gave him, and they did not please him, ¹³and he said, “What kind of cities are these that you gave me, brother?” And he called them Boundary to this day. ¹⁴And Chiram brought Salomon one hundred twenty talents of gold, ²⁶and with that King Salomon made a ship at Gasiongaber, which is near Ailath on the shore of the last sea in the land of Edom. ²⁷And Chiram sent off in the ship some of his servants, seafaring men who knew how to row the sea, together with the servants of Salomon. ²⁸And they went to Sophera and took from there one hundred twenty talents of gold and brought them to King Salomon.

10 And the queen of Saba heard the name of Salomon and the name of the Lord and came to test him with riddles, ²and she came to Ierousalem with a very weighty force, and there were camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stone, and she came in to Salomon and spoke to him all that was on her heart. ³And Salomon reported to her all her words; there was not a word overlooked by the king that he did not report to her. ⁴And the queen of Saba observed all the discernment of Salomon and the house that he built ⁵and the food of Salomon and the sitting of his servants and the standing of his public servants and his clothing and his cupbearers and his whole burnt offering that he offered in the house of the Lord, and she was beside herself.

6 And she said to King Salomon, “The word is true that I heard in my land concerning your word and concerning your discernment, ⁷and I did not believe those who spoke to me until I came and my own eyes had seen it, and behold, as they reported to me, it is not the half. You have added good things to them in every report that I heard in my land. ⁸Happy are your wives! Happy are these your servants who continually stand before you, who hear all your discernment! ⁹May the Lord your God be blessed who wanted you, to give you on the throne of Israel. Because the Lord loves Israel to establish it forever, he also made you king over them to do judgment in righteousness, even in their lawsuits.” ¹⁰And she gave Salomon one hundred twenty talents of gold and very much spices and precious stone. Like those spices, which the queen of Saba gave to King Salomon, there have not come again in quantity.

11 (And the ship of Chiram which carried the gold from Souphir brought very much unhewn wood and precious stone. ¹²And the king made the unhewn wood supports of the house of the Lord and of the house of the king and nablas^a and cinyras^b for the singers. Such unhewn wood had not come into the land or been seen anywhere to this day.)

13 And King Salomon gave the queen of Saba everything, as much as she desired, as much as she requested, beyond all that Salomon had given her through the hand of the king, and she returned and went to her own land, she and all her servants.

14 And the weight of gold that had come to Salomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, ¹⁵besides the tributes from those subjected and from the merchants and from all the kings who are from beyond and the satraps of the land. ¹⁶And Salomon made three hundred beaten gold spears; three hundred gold pieces went into the one spear. ¹⁷And he made three hundred beaten gold weapons; three minas^a of gold went into the one weapon, and he put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁸And the king made a great ivory throne and gilded it with pure gold; ¹⁹the throne had six steps, and the throne had heads of calves in relief behind it and on this side and on that, on the place of the seat, were arms^b and two lions standing beside the arms^{b 20}and twelve lions standing ^con this side and on that^c, on the six steps; it was not done so in any kingdom. ²¹And all Salomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and gold washbasins, all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon, were of overlaid with gold; there was no silver, for it was not reckoned in the days of Salomon. ²²For the king had a ship of Tharsis at sea with the ships of Chiram, one ship used to come to the king from Tharsis every three years with gold and silver and carved and hewn stones.

22a(9.15) This was the business of the foraging that King Salomon brought to build the house of the Lord and the house of the king and the wall of Ierousalem and the citadel, to fortify all round the fence of the city of Dauid and Assour and Magdan and Gazer ^(9.17)and Upper Baithoron ^(9.18)and Iethermath ^(9.19)and all the cities for the chariots and all the cities for the horsemen and the business of Salomon which he was engaged in, to build in Ierousalem and in all the land, ^22b(9.20)so that all the people who remained of the Chettite and of the Amorrite and of the Pherezite and of the Chananite and of the Heuite and of the Iebousite and of the Gergesite, those who were not of the sons of Israel—^(9.21)their children who remained after them in the land, those whom the sons of Israel were not able to destroy—would not rule over him. And Salomon brought them under tribute until this day. ^22c(9.22)And from the sons of Israel Salomon exacted nothing, for they were men who fought, and his servants and captains of his chariots and his horsemen.

23 And Salomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in discernment. ²⁴And all the kings of the earth were seeking the face of Salomon to hear his discernment, which the Lord gave into his heart. ²⁵And they each would bring their gifts, gold utensils and raiment, oil of myrrh and spices and horses and mules, this every year by year.

26 And Salomon had four thousand mares for chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he put them^d in the cities for the chariots and with the king in Ierousalem. ^26a(4.21)And he was ruling all the kings from the river and as far as the land of allophyles and to the borders of Egypt. ²⁷And the king gave gold and silver in Ierousalem like stones, and he gave the cedars like sycamores that are in a plain in abundance. ²⁸And Salomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Thekoue, and the king’s traders would receive them from Thekoue by barter, ²⁹and the import from Egypt rose, a chariot for a hundred pieces of silver and a horse for fifty pieces of silver, and thus to all the kings of Chettiin and the kings of Syria they used to go out by sea.

11 And King Salomon was a philogynist. And he had seven hundred ruling women and three hundred concubines. And he took foreign women, both the daughter of Pharao, Moabites, Ammonites, Syrians and Idumeans, Chettites and Amorrites, ²from the nations that the Lord forbade to the sons of Israel: “You shall not go in to them, and they shall not go in to you, lest they turn away your hearts after their idols”; Salomon clung to them for love. ⁴And it happened at the time of Salomon’s old age that his heart was not perfect with the Lord, his God, as was the heart of his father Dauid, and his foreign wives turned away his heart after their gods. ⁵Then Salomon built a high place to Chamos, idol of Moab, and to their king, idol of the sons of Ammon, ⁶and to Astarte, abomination of the Sidonians. ⁷And thus he did for all his foreign wives; they were offering incense and sacrificing to their idols, ⁸and Salomon did evil before the Lord; he did not go after the Lord as Dauid his father.

9 And the Lord was angry with Salomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord God of Israel, who appeared to him twice, ¹⁰and commanded him concerning this matter that he should definitely not go after other gods and should keep to do what the Lord God commanded him. ¹¹And the Lord said to Salomon, “Since these things were with you and you did not keep my commandments and my ordinances that I commanded you, tearing I will tear your kingdom from your hand and give it to your slave. ¹²Yet, for the sake of your father Dauid I will not do them in your days; I will take it out of the hand of your son. ¹³Yet, I will not take the entire kingdom; I will give one scepter to your son for the sake of my slave Dauid and for the sake of Ierousalem, the city which I chose.”

14 And the Lord raised up a satan^e against Salomon, Hader the Idumean ^(11.23)and Hesrom son of Eliadae who was in Raemmath, Hadrazar, king of Souba, his master, ^(11.24)and men were gathered around him, and he was leader of a band, and he first captured Damasek, ^(11.25)and they were a satan^a to Israel all the days of Salomon. And Hader the Idumean was of the seed of the kingdom in Idumea. ¹⁵And it happened, when Dauid utterly destroyed Edom while Ioab, commander of the army, went to bury the casualties, that they cut off every male in Idumea ¹⁶(for Ioab and all Israel encamped there in Idumea six months until he had eliminated every male from Idumea), ¹⁷and Hader fled, he and all the Idumean men of the servants of his father with him, and they went into Egypt, and Hader was a young lad. ¹⁸And men from the city of Madiam rose up and came into Pharan, and they took men with them and came to Pharao, king of Egypt, and Hader entered in before Pharao, and he gave him a house and arranged food for him. ¹⁹And Hader found great favor in the sight of Pharao, and he gave him for a wife a sister of his wife, the elder sister of Thekemina. ²⁰And the sister of Thekemina bore to him—to Hader—her son Ganebath, and Thekemina raised him among the sons of Pharao, and Ganebath was among the sons of Pharao. ²¹And Hader heard in Egypt that Dauid slept with his fathers and that Ioab, the commander of the army, had died, and Hader said to Pharao, “Send me off, and I will return to my land.” ²²And Pharao said to Hader, “What do you lack with me? And behold, you seek to go to your land.” And Hader said to him, “Sending off send me off.” And Hader returned to his land. ²⁵This was the evil which Hader did, and he was indignant with Israel, and he reigned in the land of Edom.

26 And Ieroboam son of Nabat the Ephrathi from Sarira, son of a widow woman, was a slave of Salomon. ²⁷And this was the matter when he lifted up hands against King Salomon. He built the citadel, closed up the fence of the city of Dauid his father, ²⁸and the person Ieroboam was mighty in power, and Salomon saw the lad, that he was a man of action, and he gave him charge over the levies of the house of Ioseph. ²⁹And it happened at that time that Ieroboam went out of Ierousalem, and the prophet Achias the Selonite found him on the way and took him aside out of the way, and Achias had clothed himself with a new garment, and both were in the plain. ³⁰And Achia laid hold of his new garment that was upon him and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹And he said to Ieroboam: Take for yourself ten pieces, for this is what the Lord, God of Israel, says, “Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Salomon, and I will give you ten scepters, ³²and two scepters will remain his for the sake of my slave Dauid and for the sake of Ierousalem, the city that I chose in it, out of all the tribes of Israel, ³³because he forsook me and acted for Astarte, abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chamos and for the idols of Moab and for their king, offense of the sons of Ammon, and he did not go in my ways, to do what is right before me, like his father Dauid. ³⁴And I will certainly not take the whole kingdom out of his hand because, resisting I will resist him all the days of his life, for the sake of my slave Dauid, him whom I chose. ³⁵And I will take the kingdom out of the hand of his son and give you the ten scepters, ³⁶but to his son I will give the two scepters in order that there be an institution for my slave Dauid all the days before me in Ierousalem, the city which I chose for myself to put my name there. ³⁷And I will take you, and you shall reign in what your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸And it will be, if you keep all that I command you and go in my ways and do what is right before me, to keep my commandments and my ordinances, as Dauid, my slave, did, then I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for Dauid.” ⁴⁰And Salomon sought to put Ieroboam to death, and he arose and fled to Egypt to King Sousakim of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until Salomon died.

41 And the rest of the words of Salomon and all that he did and all his discernment, behold, have these not been written in a book of the words of Salomon? ⁴²And the days that Salomon reigned in Ierousalem were forty years. ⁴³And Salomon slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of his father Dauid. And it happened, ^(12.2)when Ieroboam son of Nabat heard (and he was still in Egypt, since he fled from before Salomon and settled in Egypt), he went straight and came to his city in the land of Sarira which is in the hill country of Ephraim. And King Salomon slept with his fathers, ^(11.43)and his son Roboam ruled in his stead.

12 And King Roboam went to Sikima, for all Israel was coming to Sikima to make him king. ³And the people spoke to Roboam the king, saying, ⁴“Your father made our collar heavy, and now you, lighten some of the hard service of your father and of his heavy collar that he placed on us, and we will be subject to you.” ⁵And he said to them, “Go away for as long as three days, and come again to me,” and they went away.

6 And the king summoned the elders who had attended before his father Salomon while he was still living, saying, “How do you advise and I answer this people a word?” ⁷And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a slave to this people in this day and be subject to them and speak good words to them, they will also be your slaves all the days.” ⁸And he disregarded the advice of the elders that they counseled him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him who attended before him ⁹and said to them, “What do you advise, and what should I answer this people who spoke to me, saying, ‘Lighten some of the collar that your father put on us’?” ¹⁰And the young men who had grown up with him who attended before him spoke to him, saying, “This is what you shall speak to this people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our collar heavy, and now you, lighten it from off us,’ this is what you shall speak to them, ‘My smallness is thicker than my father’s loins, ¹¹and now, my father used to lay on you a heavy collar, and I will add to your collar; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’ ”

12 And all Israel came to King Roboam in the third day, as the king told them, saying, “Come to me again on the third day.” ¹³And the king answered the people harshly, and Roboam disregarded the advice of the elders that they counseled him ¹⁴and spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your collar heavy, and I will add to your collar; my father disciplined you with whips, and I will discipline you with scorpions.” ¹⁵And the king did not listen to the people, because the change was from the Lord that his word which he spoke by the hand of Achia the Selonite concerning Ieroboam son of Nabat might stand.

16 And all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, and the people answered the king, saying,

“What share do we have in Dauid?
And we have no inheritance in the son of
         Iessai;

depart to your coverts, O Israel!
Now feed your own house, O Dauid.”

And Israel went away to its coverts. ¹⁸And the king sent Adoniram who was over the levy, and all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died, and King Roboam was the first to mount to flee to Ierousalem. ¹⁹And Israel rebelled against the house of Dauid to this day.

20 And it happened, when all Israel heard that Ieroboam had returned from Egypt, that they sent and called him to the gathering and made him king over Israel, and there was no one behind the house of Dauid except the scepter of Ioudas and Beniamin alone.

21 And Roboam entered into Ierousalem and convened the gathering of Ioudas and scepter of Beniamin, one hundred twenty thousand young men, practicing war, to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Roboam son of Salomon. ²²And a word of the Lord came to Samaias, a man of God, saying: ²³Say to Roboam king of Ioudas, son of Salomon and to all the house of Ioudas and Beniamin and to the rest of the people, saying, ²⁴“This is what the Lord says, ‘You shall not go up or fight with your brothers, the sons of Israel; let each return to his own house, for this thing has come from me.’ ” And they heeded the word of the Lord and forbore to go, according to the word of the Lord.

24a(11.43) And King Salomon slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of Dauid. And his son Roboam ruled in his stead in Ierousalem being a son of sixteen years when he began to reign, and he reigned twelve years in Ierousalem, and his mother’s name was Naanan daughter of Anan son of Naas, king of the sons of Ammon, ^(14.22)and he did evil before the Lord and did not go in the way of Dauid his father.

24b(11.26-28) And there was a person of Mount Ephraim, a slave of Salomon, and his name was Ieroboam, and his mother’s name was Sarira, a prostitute, and Salomon made him ruler of the cudgel over the burdens of the house of Ioseph, and he built for Salomon Sarira, which was in Mount Ephraim, and he had three hundred chariots of horses; he built the citadel with the burdens of the house of Ephraim; he enclosed the city of Dauid, and he was aspiring to the kingdom. ^24c(11.40)And Salomon was seeking to put him to death, and he was afraid and ran away to King Sousakim of Egypt, and he was with him until Salomon died. ^{24d(11.21,22)}And Ieroboam heard in Egypt that Salomon had died, and he spoke in the ears of Sousakim, king of Egypt, saying, “Send me off, and I will depart into my land,” and Sousakim said to him, “Request any request, and I will give it to you.” ^24eAnd Sousakim gave Ieroboam Ano, the older sister of Thekemina his wife, to him as wife; she was great among the king’s daughters, and she bore to Ieroboam Abia his son. ^24fAnd Ieroboam said to Sousakim, “Do really send me off, and I will depart.” And Ieroboam departed from Egypt and came into the land of Sarira, which is in Mount Ephraim, and there all the scepter of Ephraim gathered, and Ieroboam built a palisaded camp there.

24g(14.1) And his lad was sick with a very severe sickness, and Ieroboam went to inquire about the lad, ^(14.2)and he said to Ano his wife, “Arise, and go; ask God about the lad, whether he will recover from his sickness.” ^24hAnd there was a person in Selo, and his name was Achia, and he was a son of sixty years, and the word of the Lord was with him. And Ieroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and ^(14.3)take in your hand for the man of God loaves and cakes for his children and grapes and a jar of honey.” ^24i(14.4) And the woman arose and took in her hand loaves and two cakes and grapes and a jar of honey for Achia, and the person was rather old, and his eyes were dim-sighted to see. ^24kAnd she arose from Sarira and came, and it happened, after she entered into the city to Achia the Selonite, that Achia said to his lad: Indeed, go out to meet Ano the wife of Ieroboam and you will say to her, ^(14.6)“Come in and do not stand, for this is what the Lord says, ‘I will send hard things upon you.’ ” ^24lAnd Ano entered in before the man of God, and Achia said to her, “Why have you brought me loaves and grapes and cakes and a jar of honey? This is what the Lord says, ‘Behold, you will depart from me, and it will be when you enter the gate to Sarira that your girls will come out to meet you and will say to you, “The lad has died.” ’ ^24m(14.11)For this is what the Lord says, ‘Behold, I will utterly destroy of Ieroboam ^aone that urinates against a wall^a, and the dead of Ieroboam will be in the city; the dogs will devour them^b, and the birds of the air will devour the one who has died in the field. And they shall lament for the child, “Woe, O Lord,” for there was found in him a good thing concerning the Lord.’ ” ^24n(14.17)And the woman departed when she heard, and it happened, as she entered into Sarira, that the lad died, ^(14.18)and the wailing came out to meet her.

24o And Ieroboam went to Sikima which is in Mount Ephraim and gathered there the tribes of Israel, and Roboam son of Salomon came up there, and a word of the Lord came to Samaias the Elami, saying, “Take for yourself a new garment which has not been immersed in water and tear it into twelve pieces, and you shall give to Ieroboam and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says, Take for yourself ten pieces to cover yourself,’ ” and Ieroboam took them, and Samaias said, “This is what the Lord says concerning the ten tribes of Israel.”

24p(12.3) And the people said to Roboam son of Salomon, ^(12.4)“Your father made his collar heavy upon us and the food of his table heavy. And now if you will ease up on us, then we will be subject to you,” and Roboam said to the people, ^(12.5)“Yet three days, and I will answer you a word.” ^24q(12.6)And Roboam said, “Bring in the elders to me and I will take counsel with them what word I should answer the people in the third day.” And Roboam spoke in their ears as the people sent to him, and the elders of the people said, “Thus the people spoke to you.” ^24r(12.8)And Roboam rejected their advice, and it was not pleasing before him, and he sent and gathered those who had been brought up with him ^(12.9)and spoke to them the issues, “And the people sent to me, saying these things.” ^(12.10)And those who had been brought up with him said: “Thus you shall speak to the people, saying, ‘My smallness is thicker than my father’s loins; ^(12.11)my father chastised you with whips, but I will rule you with scorpions.’ ” ^24sAnd the word was pleasing before Roboam, ^(12.14)and he answered the people according as the lads who grew up with him advised him. ^24t(12.16)And all the people as one man said, each to his neighbor, and all cried out, saying,

“There is no part for us in Dauid,
neither inheritance in the son of Iessai;

to your coverts, O Israel,
for this person is not for a ruler or for a
         leader.”

^24uAnd all the people were dispersed from Sikima, and each departed to his coverts. ^(12.21)And Roboam retained control and departed and mounted on his chariot and entered into Ierousalem, and all the scepter of Ioudas and all the scepter of Beniamin went after him.

24x And it happened at the beginning of the year that Roboam gathered every man of Ioudas and Beniamin and went up to fight against Ieroboam at Sikima. ^24y(12.22)And a word of the Lord came to Samaias a man of God, saying: ^(12.23)Say to Roboam, king of Ioudas, and to all the house of Ioudas and Beniamin and to the rest of the people, saying, ^(12.24)“This is what the Lord says, You shall not go up or fight against your brothers, sons of Israel; return each to his house, for this word has come from me.” ^24zAnd they heard the word of the Lord and forbore to go, according to the word of the Lord.

25 And Ieroboam built Sikima, which is in Mount Ephraim and settled in it, and he went out from there and built Phanouel. ²⁶And Ieroboam said in his heart, “Behold, now the kingdom will revert to the house of Dauid. ²⁷If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord in Ierousalem, the heart of the people will also turn again to the Lord and their lord, to King Roboam of Ioudas, and they will kill me.” ²⁸And the king took counsel and went and made two golden calves and said to the people, “Let it suffice for you to go up to Ierousalem; behold, your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” ²⁹And he set the one in Baithel, and the one he gave in Dan. ³⁰And this thing became a sin, and the people would go before the one as far as Dan. ³¹And he made houses on high places and made some part of the people priests who were not of the sons of Leui. ³²And Ieroboam made a feast in the eighth month in the fifteenth day of the month like the feast that was in the land of Ioudas, and he went up onto the altar that he made in Baithel to sacrifice to the calves that he had made, and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he made. ³³And he went up onto the altar that he made on the fifteenth day in the eighth month on the feast that he fashioned from his heart, and he made a feast for the sons of Israel and went up onto the altar to sacrifice.

13 And behold, a man of God came out of Ioudas to Baithel by word of the Lord, and Ieroboam was standing by the altar to sacrifice, ²and proclaimed against the altar by a word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, this is what the Lord says, ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of Dauid, Iosias by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who sacrifice on you and shall burn human bones on you.’ ” ³And he gave a sign in that day, saying, “This is the word that the Lord spoke, saying, ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the fatness that is on it shall be poured out.’ ” ⁴And it happened, when King Ieroboam heard the words of the man of God who called out against the altar which was at Baithel, that the king stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” And behold, his hand that he stretched out against him withered, and he could not return it to himself, ⁵and the altar also was torn down, and the fatness poured out from the altar according to the sign that the man of God gave by a word of the Lord. ⁶And King Ieroboam said to the man of God, “Entreat the face of the Lord your God, and let my hand return to me.” And the man of God entreated the face of the Lord, and he returned the king’s hand to him, and it became as it was before. ⁷And the king spoke to the man of God, “Come home with me, and dine, and I will give you a gift.” ⁸And the man of God said to the king, “If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you, nor will I eat food or drink water in this place. ⁹For thus the Lord commanded by a word, saying: Do not eat food, and do not drink water, and do not return by the way that you came on it.” ¹⁰And he went another way and did not return by the way that he had come on it to Baithel.

11 And one old prophet lived in Baithel and his sons came and told him all the deeds that the man of God did in that day in Baithel, and the words that he spoke to the king, and they turned the face of their father. ¹²And their father spoke to them, saying, “Which way has he gone?” And his sons showed him the way on which the man of God who came from Ioudas returned. ¹³And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it. ¹⁴And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree, and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Ioudas?” And he said to him, “I am.” ¹⁵And he said to him, “Come with me, and eat some food.” ¹⁶And he said, “I am not able to return with you neither will I eat food nor drink water in this place, ¹⁷for thus the Lord has commanded me by a word, saying: Do not eat food there, and do not drink water there, and do not return by the way that you came on it.” ¹⁸And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel has spoken to me by a word of the Lord, saying: Bring him back to yourself into your house, and let him eat food and drink water,” and he lied to him. ¹⁹And he brought him back, and he ate food and drank water in his house.

20 And it happened, as they were sitting at the table, that a word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back, ²¹and he said to the man of God who came from Ioudas, saying, “This is what the Lord says: Because you embittered the word of the Lord and did not keep the commandment that the Lord your God commanded you ²²and came back and ate food and drank water in this place about which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Do not eat food, and do not drink water,’ your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.” ²³And it happened, after he ate food and drank water, that he saddled for him the donkey, and he turned back. ²⁴And he departed, and a lion found him on the road and put him to death, and his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it, and the lion stood beside the body. ²⁵And behold, men were passing by and saw the carcass thrown in the road, and the lion was standing by the carcass, and they came in and spoke in the town wherein the old prophet lived.

26 And the one who had brought him back from the way heard and said, “This is the man of God who embittered the word of the Lord.” ²⁸And he went and found his body thrown in the road, and the donkey and the lion stood beside the body, and the lion did not eat the body of the man of God and did not crush the donkey. ²⁹And the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey, and the prophet brought it back to the city to bury him ³⁰in his own grave, and they mourned over him, “Woe, brother!” ³¹And it happened, after he mourned him, that he said to his sons, saying, “When I die, bury me in this grave wherein the man of God is buried; lay me beside his bones, that my bones may be preserved with his bones, ³²for the saying that he spoke by the word of the Lord against the altar which is in Baithel and against the houses of the high places that are in Samaria shall come to pass.”

33 And after this event Ieroboam did not turn from his evil, and he turned and made priests for the high places from part of the people; anyone who wanted to, he would fill his hand, and he would become a priest for the high places. ³⁴And this matter became to the house of Ieroboam sin and ruin and desolation from the face of the earth.

14 ²¹And Roboam son of Salomon reigned over Ioudas; Roboam was a son of forty and one years when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Ierousalem, the city that the Lord chose out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there, and his mother’s name was Naama the Ammanite. ²²And Roboam did what was evil before the Lord and provoked him to jealousy with all that his fathers did and with their sins with which they sinned, ²³and they built for themselves high places and poles and groves on every high hill and under every shady tree, ²⁴and there was also a conspiracy in the land, and they did some of all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out from before the sons of Israel.

25 And it happened, in the fifth year when Roboam was reigning, King Sousakim of Egypt came up against Ierousalem ²⁶and took all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house and the golden spears that Dauid took from the hand of the servants of Hadraazar, king of Souba, and brought them into Ierousalem; he took all the golden shields. ²⁷And King Roboam made bronze shields instead of them. And the officers of the runners^a who keep the gateway of the king’s house put them on him. ²⁸And it happened, when the king would go into the house of the Lord, that the runners^a would remove them and deposit them in the Thee^b of the runners^a.

29 And the rest of the histories of Roboam and all that he did, behold, are these things not written in a book of Histories of the Days of the Kings of Ioudas? ³⁰And there was war between Roboam and between Ieroboam all the days. ³¹And Roboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of Dauid, and his son Abiou reigned instead of him.

15 And in the eighteenth year of the reign of Ieroboam son of Nabat, Abiou son of Roboam began to reign over Ioudas, ²and he reigned six years, and his mother’s name was Maacha daughter of Abessalom. ³And he went in the sins of his father that he did before him, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord, his God, like the heart of his father Dauid. ⁴For because of Dauid the Lord gave him a remnant, that he might establish his children after him and establish Ierousalem; ⁵as Dauid did what was right before the Lord, he did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life. ⁷And the rest of the histories of Abiou and all that he did, behold, are these things not written in a book of Histories of the Days for the Kings of Ioudas? And there was war between Abiou and between Ieroboam. ⁸And Abiou slept with his fathers in the twenty-fourth year of Ieroboam, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of Dauid, and his son Asa reigned instead of him.

9 In the twenty-fourth year of King Ieroboam of Israel, Asa began to reign over Ioudas, ¹⁰and he reigned forty-one years in Ierousalem, and his mother’s name was Ana daughter of Abessalom. ¹¹And Asa did what was right before the Lord like his father Dauid. ¹²And he took away the mystic rites out of the land and removed all the evil practices that his fathers did. ¹³And he also removed his mother Ana from being a leader, because she conducted a meeting in her grove, and Asa cut down her hiding-places and burned them with fire at the Wadi Kedron. ¹⁴But he did not take away the high places; yet, the heart of Asa was perfect with the Lord all his days. ¹⁵And he brought in the columns of his father, and he brought in his columns into the house of the Lord—silver and gold and utensils.

16 And there was war between Asa and between King Baasa of Israel all the days. ¹⁷And King Baasa of Israel went up against Ioudas and built Rama to prevent anyone from going out and coming in to King Asa of Ioudas. ¹⁸And Asa took the silver and the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the king and gave them into the hands of his servants, and King Asa sent them away to Hader’s son, son of Taberemman son of Hazin king of Syria who resided in Damascus, saying, ¹⁹“Make a covenant between me and between you and between my father and your father; behold, I have sent you presents, silver and gold; go, break your covenant with King Baasa of Israel, and he will withdraw from me.” ²⁰And Hader’s son listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the cities of Israel and smote Ain and Dan and Abelmaa and all Chezrath as far as all the land of Nephthali. ²¹And it came to pass, when Baasa heard, that he stopped building Rama and returned to Thersa. ²²And King Asa made a proclamation to all Ioudas up to Ainakim, and they carried away the stones of Rama and its timber which Baasa built, and with them King Asa built all the hill of Beniamin and the watchtower. ²³And the rest of the histories of Asa and all his dominance that he exercised, behold, are these things not written in a book of Histories of the Days for the Kings of Ioudas? Yet, in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. ²⁴And Asa slept and was buried with his fathers in the city of Dauid, and his son Iosaphat reigned instead of him.

25 And Nadab son of Ieroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of King Asa of Ioudas, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶And he did what was evil before the Lord and went in the way of his father and in his sins with which he made Israel sin.

27 And Baasa son of Achia, over the house of Belaan, laid siege against him and struck him down at Gabathon, which belonged to the allophyles, and Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gabathon. ²⁸And Baasa put him to death in the third year of Asa son of King Abiou of Ioudas, and he reigned. ²⁹And it happened, when he reigned, that he smote the house of Ieroboam and did not leave the house of Ieroboam any breath until he destroyed it according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by the hand of his slave Achia the Selonite ³⁰concerning the sins of Ieroboam as he made Israel sin and by his provocation with which he provoked the Lord God of Israel.

31 And the rest of the histories of Nadab and all that he did, behold, are these things not written in a book of Histories of the Days for the Kings of Israel?

33 And in the third year of King Asa of Ioudas, Baasa son of Achia began to reign over Israel at Thersa for twenty-four years. ³⁴And he did what was evil before the Lord and went in the way of Ieroboam son of Nebat and in his sins as he made Israel sin.

16 And a word of the Lord came by the hand of Iou son of Hanani against Baasa, ²“Since I raised you from the ground and gave you as a leader over my people Israel and you went in the way of Ieroboam and made my people Israel sin, provoking me to anger with their vain things, ³behold, I am rousing up after Baasa and after his house, and I will render your house like the house of Ieroboam son of Nabat; ⁴the dead person of Baasa in the city, him the dogs shall devour, and his dead person on the plain, him the birds of the air shall devour.”

5 And the rest of the histories of Baasa and all that he did and his acts of dominance, behold, are these things not written in a book of Histories of the Days of the Kings of Israel? ⁶And Baasa slept with his fathers and was buried at Thersa, and his son Ela reigned in his stead in the twentieth year of King Asa. ⁷And by the hand of Iou son of Hanani the Lord spoke against Baasa and against his house all the evil that he did before the Lord, to provoke him to anger with the works of his hands, in being like the house of Ieroboam, and because he smote it.

8 And Ela son of Baasa reigned over Israel two years in Thersa. ⁹And Zambri, commander of half his cavalry, conspired against him, and he was at Thersa drinking himself drunk in the house of Osa the steward at Thersa, ¹⁰and Zambri came in and struck him down and put him to death and reigned instead of him.

11 And it happened, when he began to reign, when he sat on his throne, that he smote the whole house of Baasa ¹²according to the word which the Lord spoke against the house of Baasa to the prophet Iou ¹³concerning all the sins of Baasa and his son Ela as made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vain things. ¹⁴And the rest of the histories of Ela and all that he did, behold, are these things not written in a book of Histories of the Days of the Kings of Israel?

15 And Zambri reigned seven days in Thersa. And the camp of Israel was against Gabathon, which belonged to the allophyles, ¹⁶and the people in the camp heard, saying, “Zambri conspired and struck the king,” and in Israel they made Ambri, the commander of the army, king over Israel on that day in the camp. ¹⁷And Ambri went up from Gabathon, and all Israel with him, and they laid siege to Thersa. ¹⁸And it happened, when Zambri saw that his city had been taken, that he went into the cave of the house of the king and burned down the house of the king over himself with fire, and he died ¹⁹because of his sins that he did, to do what was evil before the Lord, to go in the way of Ieroboam son of Nabat and in his sins as he made Israel sin. ²⁰And the rest of the histories of Zambri and the collusions in which he colluded, behold, are these things not written in a book of Histories of the Days of the Kings of Israel?

21 Then the people of Israel were divided; half of the people were behind Thamni son of Gonath to make him king, and half of the people were behind Ambri. ²²The people who were behind Ambri overcame the people who were behind Thamni son of Gonath, and Thamni died, and Ioram his brother, at that time, and Ambri became king after Thamni. ²³In the thirty-first year of King Asa, Ambri began to reign over Israel for twelve years. He reigned six years in Thersa.

24 And Ambri bought mount Semeron from Semer, the owner of the mount, for two talents of silver, and he built the mount and called the name of the mount that he built Saemeron after the name of Semer, the owner of the mount.

25 Ambri did what was evil before the Lord and did more evil than all who were before him, ²⁶and he went in every way of Ieroboam son of Nabat and in his sins with which he made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel, to anger with their vain things. ²⁷And the rest of the words of Ambri and all that he did and his dominance, behold, are these not written in the Book of the Words of the Days of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸And Ambri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and his son Achaab reigned in his stead.

28a And in the eleventh year of Ambri, ^(22.41)Iosaphat son of Asa began to reign, being ^(22.42)thirty-five years at his reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Ierousalem, and his mother’s name was Gazouba daughter of Selei. ^28b(22.43)And he went in the way of his father Asa, and he did not turn aside from it to do what was right before the Lord; except the high places they did not remove. They kept sacrificing and offering incense on the high places. ^28cAnd what Iosaphat agreed to ^(22.45)and all the dominance that he exercised and whom he fought, behold, are these things not written in a book of Histories of the Days of the Kings of Ioudas? ^28d(22.46)And the rest of the combinations^a that they practiced in the days of his father Asa, he removed from the land. ^28e(22.47)And there was no king in Syria, a nasib^b. ^28fAnd King ^(22.48)Iosaphat made a ship for Tharsis, to go to Sophir for gold, and it did not go, for the ship was wrecked at Gasiongaber. ^28g(22.49)Then the king of Israel said to Iosaphat, “I will send forth your servants and my lads in the ship,” and Iosaphat was not willing. ^28h(22.50)And Iosaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of Dauid, and his son Ioram reigned in his stead.

29 In the second year of Iosaphat, Achaab son of Ambri began to reign; he reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰And Achaab did what was evil before the Lord, he was more wicked than all who were before him, ³¹and it was not enough for him to go in the sins of Ieroboam son of Nabat, and he took as his wife Iezebel daughter of King Iethebaal of the Sidonians and went and was subject to Baal and did obeisance to him. ³²And he set an altar for Baal in the house of his offences which he built in Samaria, ³³and Achaab made a grove, and Achaab added to do provocations to provoke to anger so that his life might be destroyed; he did more evil than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ³⁴In his days Achiel the Bethelite built Iericho; he laid its foundation with Abiron his firstborn and set up its doors with his younger son Segoub according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of Iesous son of Naue.

17 And Eliou the prophet, the Thesbite from Thesbon of Galaad, said to Achaab, “The Lord lives, the God of hosts, the God of Israel before whom I stand, if there shall be dew and rain these years, except by the word of my mouth.” ²And a word of the Lord came to Eliou, ³“Go from here eastward, and hide yourself by the wadi Chorrath which is before the Jordan. ⁴And it will be that you shall drink water from the wadi, and I will command the ravens to feed you there.” ⁵And Eliou did according to the word of the Lord, and he settled by the wadi Chorrath before the Jordan. ⁶And the ravens would bring him bread in the morning and meat in the evening, and he drank water from the wadi. ⁷And it happened after days that the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

8 And a word of the Lord came to Eliou, ⁹“Arise, and go to Sarepta of Sidonia; behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” ¹⁰And he arose and went to Sarepta, to the gateway of the town, and behold a widow was there gathering sticks, and Eliou shouted after her and said, “Bring me now a little water in a vessel, and I will drink.” ¹¹And she went to take it, and Eliou shouted after her and said to her, “Indeed take for me a morsel of bread in your hand.” ¹²And the woman said, “The Lord your God lives, if I have a cake, but there is only a handful of meal in the jar and a little oil in the jug, and behold, I am now gathering two sticks, and I shall go in and make it for myself and my children, and we shall eat and die.” ¹³And Eliou said to her, “Be of good courage; go in, and do according to your word, but first make me a little cake of it, and you shall bring it to me, but afterwards you shall make something for yourself and your children. ¹⁴For this is what the Lord says, ‘The jar of meal will not fail, and the jug of oil will not diminish until the day that the Lord gives rain on the earth.’ ” ¹⁵And the woman went and did it, and she and he and her children ate. ¹⁶And the jar of meal did not fail, and the jug of oil did not diminish according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by the hand of Eliou.

17 And it happened after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill, and his illness was so severe until there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸And she said to Eliou, “What to me and to you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my injustices to remembrance and to put to death my son!” ¹⁹And Eliou said to the woman, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her bosom and carried him up into the upper chamber, there where he was lodging, and laid him on his bed. ²⁰And Eliou cried out and said, “Alas O Lord, the witness of the widow, her with whom I am staying, you have done evil by putting to death her son.” ²¹And he breathed on the lad three times and called on the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, let this lad’s life now come into him again.” ²²And it happened thus, and the lad cried out. ²³And he brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and gave him to his mother, and Eliou said, “See, your son is alive.” ²⁴And the woman said to Eliou, “Behold, I know that you are a divine man and that a word of the Lord in your mouth is true.”

18 And it happened after many days that a word of the Lord came to Eliou in the third year, saying, “Go, and appear to Achaab, and I will give rain on the surface of the earth.” ²And Eliou went to appear to Achaab. And the famine was severe in Samaria. ³And Achaab summoned Abdiou the steward. (And Abdiou was one who revered the Lord greatly, ⁴and it happened, when Iezabel smote the prophets of the Lord, that Abdiou took a hundred men, prophets, and hid them by fifty to a cave and kept providing them with bread and water.) ⁵And Achaab said to Abdiou, “Come, and let us pass through the land to springs of water and to wadis, if perhaps we may find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and none of the animals will be destroyed.” ⁶And they divided for themselves the way to pass through it; Achaab went in one direction alone, and Abdiou went in another direction alone.

7 And Abdiou was on the way alone, and Eliou came to meet him alone, and Abdiou hastened and fell on his face and said, “Are you he, my lord Eliou?” ⁸And Eliou said to him, “It is I; go, say to your lord, Behold, Eliou.” ⁹And Abdiou said, “What have I sinned, that you give your slave into the hand of Achaab, to put me to death? ¹⁰The Lord your God lives, if there is a nation or kingdom to which my lord has not sent to seek you, and they said, ‘He is not here,’ and he set fire to the kingdom and its regions, because it had not found you. ¹¹And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, Behold, Eliou.’ ¹²And it will be if I depart from you, that a spirit of the Lord will carry you into a land that I know not, and I will go in to tell Achaab, and he will kill me, and your slave is one who reveres the Lord from his youth. ¹³Has it not been told to you my lord what I have done when Iezabel killed the prophets of the Lord, that I hid some of the Lord’s prophets, a hundred men, by fifty to a cave, and provided them with loaves and water? ¹⁴And now you say to me, ‘Go, say to your lord, Behold Eliou,’ and he will kill me.” ¹⁵And Eliou said, “The Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand, for I will appear to him today.” ¹⁶And Abdiou went to meet Achaab and told him, and Achaab ran forth and came to meet Eliou.

17 And it happened, when Achaab saw Eliou, that Achaab said to Eliou, “Are you he who perverts Israel?” ¹⁸And Eliou said, “I am not perverting Israel, but you and your father’s house, when you forsook the Lord, your God, and went after the Baalim. ¹⁹And now send, assemble all Israel for me at Mount Carmel, and the four hundred fifty prophets of shame and the four hundred prophets of the groves, since they eat at Iezabel’s table.”

20 And Achaab sent to all Israel and gathered all the prophets at Mount Carmel. ²¹And Eliou came near to all, and Eliou said to them, “How long will you go limping on both legs? If the Lord is God, go after him, but if Baal is he, go after him.” And the people did not answer a word. ²²And Eliou said to the people, “I all alone am left over as prophet of the Lord, and Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty men, and the prophets of the grove, four hundred. ²³Let them give us two bulls, and let them choose the one for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, and let them put on no fire, and I will do the other bull and will put on no fire. ²⁴And shout in the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord, my God, and it will be, the god who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered and said, “The word which you spoke is good!” ²⁵And Eliou said to the prophets of shame, “Choose for yourselves the one bull calf, and do it first, for you are many, and call on the name of your god, and put on no fire.” ²⁶And they took the bull calf and did it and were calling on the name of Baal from morning until noon and said, “Hear us, O Baal, hear us!” And there was no voice, and there was no hearing, and they ran about on the altar that they made. ²⁷And it happened at noon that Eliou the Thesbite mocked them and said, “Call in a loud voice! For he is a god, for prating^a occupies him, and at the same time he is perhaps giving an oracle, or perhaps he is asleep and will get up.” ²⁸And they were calling in a loud voice and, as was their custom, they were cutting themselves with daggers and lances until the blood gushed out over them, ²⁹and they were acting the prophet until evening came. And it happened, as it was the time for the sacrifice to ascend and there was no voice, that Eliou the Thesbite spoke to the prophets of the offenses, saying, “Stand aside for the present, and I will do my whole burnt offering,” and they stood aside and departed.

30 And Eliou said to the people, “Come closer to me,” and all the people came closer to him. ³¹And Eliou took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of Israel, as the Lord had spoken to him, saying, “Israel shall be your name,” ³²and he built the stones in the name of the Lord and repaired the altar that had been thrown down and made a thaala^a around the altar, holding two measures of seed. ³³And he piled up the firewood on the altar that he made and cut the whole burnt offering in pieces and laid it on the firewood and piled it on the altar. ³⁴And he said, “Take for me four jars of water, and pour it on the whole burnt offering and on the firewood,” and they did so. And he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. ³⁵And the water ran all around the altar, and filled the thaala^a with water.

36 And Eliou cried aloud to heaven and said, “O Lord, God of Abraam and Isaak and Israel, heed me, O Lord, heed me today with fire, and let all this people know that you are Lord, God of Israel, and I am your slave, and I have done these works on your account. ³⁷Heed me, O Lord, heed me with fire, and let this people know that you are Lord God and that you turned the heart of this people back.” ³⁸And fire from the Lord fell from heaven and consumed the whole burnt offering and the firewood and the water that was in the thaala^a and the stones, and the fire licked up the dust. ³⁹And all the people fell on their face and said, “Truly the Lord is God; he is God.” ⁴⁰And Eliou said to the people, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” And they seized them, and Eliou brought them down to the wadi Kison and slaughtered them there.

41 And Eliou said to Achaab, “Go up, and eat, and drink, for there is a sound of the feet of the rain.” ⁴²And Achaab went up to eat and to drink, and Eliou went up on Carmel and bowed down upon the earth and put his face between his knees. ⁴³And he said to his lad, “Go up, and look the way of the sea.” And the lad looked and said, “There is nothing.” And Eliou said, “Now you—go again seven times.” And the lad returned seven times. ⁴⁴And it happened at the seventh time, and behold, a little cloud—like the sole of a person’s foot—bringing water. And he said, “Go up, and say to Achaab, ‘Harness your chariot, and go down; do not let the rain overtake you.’ ” ⁴⁵And it happened ^buntil thus and thus^b, and heaven grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain, and Achaab wept and went to Iezrael. ⁴⁶And the hand of the Lord was on Eliou, and he girded up his loins and ran in front of Achaab to Iezrael.

19 And Achaab told Iezabel his wife all that Eliou did and how he killed the prophets with a sword. ²And Iezabel sent to Eliou and said, “If you are Eliou and I am Iezabel, this is what God may do to me, and this is what he may add, because I will make your life like the life of one of them by this hour tomorrow.” ³And Eliou was afraid and got up and went away for his life and came to Bersabee which belongs to Ioudas, and he left his lad there.

4 And he went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under one rathm^c and asked that his soul die and said “Let it be enough now; indeed, take away my life from me, Lord, for I am no better than my fathers.” ⁵And he lay down there under a plant and fell asleep, and behold, someone touched him and said to him, “Get up, and eat.” ⁶And Eliou looked, and behold, at his head was a wheat cake and a jar of water, and he arose and ate and drank. And turning away, he slept. ⁷And the angel of the Lord returned a second time and touched him and said to him, “Get up, eat, for the journey will be too much for you.” ⁸And he got up and ate and drank, and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Mount Choreb. ⁹And there he entered into a cave and lodged there.

And behold, a word of the Lord came to him and said, “Why are you here, Eliou?” ¹⁰And Eliou said, “Being zealous, I have been zealous for the Lord Almighty, for the sons of Israel forsook you; they threw down your altars and killed your prophets with a sword, and I alone am a remnant, and they are seeking my life, to take it.”

11 And he said, “You shall go out tomorrow and shall stand before the Lord on the mountain; behold, the Lord will pass by.” And there was a great, strong wind splitting mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord, and the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind a ^dseismic upheaval^d; the Lord was not in the ^dseismic upheaval^d, ¹²and after the ^dseismic upheaval^d a fire; the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire the sound of a light breeze, and the Lord was there. ¹³And it happened, when Eliou heard it, that he wrapped his face in his hairy mantle and went out and stood by the cave, and behold, there came a voice to him, and it said, “Why are you here, Eliou?” ¹⁴And Eliou said, “Being zealous, I have been zealous for the Lord Almighty, for the sons of Israel forsook your covenant; they tore down your altars and killed your prophets with a sword, and I alone am a remnant, and they are seeking my life, to take it.” ¹⁵And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way, and you will come to the way of the wilderness of Damascus, and you shall anoint Hazael as king of Syria, ¹⁶and you shall anoint Iou son of Namessi as king over Israel, and you shall anoint

Elisaie son of Saphat from Abelmaoula as prophet in your stead. ¹⁷And it will be that the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael Iou shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Iou Elisaie shall put to death. ¹⁸And you will leave seven thousand men in Israel, all the knees that did not bow a knee to Baal and every mouth that did not do obeisance to him.”

19 And he set out from there and found Elisaie son of Saphat, and he was plowing with oxen—twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelve—and he came upon him and threw his hairy mantle over him. ²⁰And Elisaie left the oxen and ran after Eliou and said, “I will kiss my father and will follow after you,” and Eliou said, “Go back, for I am done with you.” ²¹And he returned from behind him and took the yoke of oxen and slaughtered and boiled them with the equipment from the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate, and he arose and went after Eliou and ministered to him.

20(21) And Nabouthai the Iezraelite had one vineyard beside the threshing floor of King Achaab of Samaria. ²And Achaab spoke to Nabouthai, saying, “Give me your vineyard, and it will be to me for a garden of vegetables, because it is nearer my house, and I will give you another vineyard better than it, but if it seems pleasing before you, I will give you money in exchange for this your vineyard, and it will be to me for a garden of vegetables.” ³And Nabouthai said to Achaab, “May it not be to me from my God to give you the inheritance of my fathers.” ⁴And the spirit of Achaab became troubled, and he lay down on his bed and covered his face and did not eat bread.

5 And his wife Iezabel came in to him and spoke to him, “Why is your spirit troubled and you are not eating bread?” ⁶And he said to her, “Because I spoke to Nabouthai the Iezraelite, saying, ‘Give me your vineyard for money, but if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it,’ and he said, ‘I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.’ ” ⁷And his wife Iezabel said to him, “Do you now thus act the king over Israel? Get up, eat bread, and be yourself, I will give you the vineyard of Nabouthai the Iezraelite.”

8 And she wrote a document in Achaab’s name and sealed it with his seal and sent the document to the elders and the freemen who lived with Nabouthai. ⁹And it was written in the documents, saying, “Fast a fast, and seat Nabouthai at the head of the people, ¹⁰and seat two men, sons of transgressors, opposite him and have them testify against him, saying, ‘You have blessed^a God and king,’ and let them take him out and stone him, and let him die.” ¹¹And the men of his city, the elders and the freemen who lived in his city, did as Iezabel sent to them, just as it was written in the documents that she sent to them. ¹²They called a fast and seated Nabouthai at the head of the people, ¹³and two men, sons of transgressors, came and sat opposite him and testified against him, saying, “You have blessed^a God and king,” and they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, and he died. ¹⁴And they sent to Iezabel, saying, “Nabouthai has been stoned and is dead.”

15 And it happened, when Iezabel heard, that she said to Achaab, “Get up, take possession of the vineyard of Nabouthai the Iezraelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Nabouthai is not alive, for he is dead.” ¹⁶And it happened, when Achaab heard that Nabouthai the Iezraelite was dead, that he tore his garments and put on sackcloth, and it happened after these things that Achaab arose and went down to the vineyard of Nabouthai the Iezraelite to possess it.

17 And the Lord said to Eliou the Thesbite, saying: ¹⁸Arise, and go down to meet King Achaab of Israel who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Nabouthai, for he has gone down there to possess it. ¹⁹And you shall speak to him, saying, “This is what the Lord says: Since you murdered and took possession,” therefore, “this is what the Lord says: In every place where swine and dogs licked up the blood of Nabouthai, there dogs will lick up your blood, and the prostitutes will wash themselves in your blood.”

20 And Achaab said to Eliou, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” And he said, “I have found you, because you have vainly sold yourself to do what is evil before the Lord, to provoke him to anger. ²¹This is what the Lord says, ‘Behold I am bringing disaster on you, and I will burn after you and will cut off from Achaab ^bevery one who urinates against a wall^b, both shut up and one left in Israel, ²²and I will render your house like the house of Ieroboam son of Nabat and like the house of Baasa son of Achia concerning the provocations with which you provoked, and you made Israel sin.’ ²³And to Iezabel the Lord spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat her by the fortification of Iezrael.’ ²⁴The dead of Achaab in the city the dogs shall eat, and his dead on the plain the birds of the air shall eat.”

25 (Yet, Achaab did act foolishly when he sold himself to do what was evil before the Lord, as his wife Iezabel led him astray, ²⁶and he acted most abominably in going after abominations, according to all that the Amorrites did, whom the Lord utterly destroyed from before the sons of Israel.)

27 And because of the word, when Achaab was smitten with remorse from before the Lord, he went weeping, and he tore his tunic and girded himself with sackcloth on his body and fasted and put on sackcloth in the day on which he smote Nabouthai the Iezraelite. ²⁸And a word of the Lord by the hand of his slave Eliou came concerning Achaab, and the Lord said, ²⁹ “Have you seen how Achaab is smitten with remorse from before me? I will not bring the disaster in his days, but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster.”

21(20) And Hader’s son gathered all his force together and went up and laid siege against Samaria, and thirty-two kings with him and every horse and chariot, and they went up and laid siege against Samaria and fought against it. ²And he sent into the city to King Achaab of Israel ³and said to him, “This is what Hader’s son says: Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and your children are mine.” ⁴And the king of Israel answered and said, “As you spoke, O lord, king, I am yours, and all that is mine.” ⁵And the messengers came again and said, “This is what Hader’s son says: I have sent to you, saying: You shall give me your silver and your gold and your wives and your children, ⁶for I will send my servants to you tomorrow at this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants, and it will be the desirable objects of their eyes, on which they shall lay their hands, they will take.”

7 And the king of Israel called all the elders, and said, “Indeed, know, and see that this man is seeking trouble, for he has sent to me concerning my wives and concerning my sons and concerning my daughters; my silver and my gold I did not keep back from him.” ⁸And the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen, and do not consent.” ⁹And he said to the messengers of Hader’s son, “Say to your master: All things that you have sent to your slave about at first I will do, but this matter I cannot do.” And the men left and returned word to him. ¹⁰And Hader’s son sent back to him, saying, “This may God do to me, and this may he add, if the dust of Samaria will suffice for foxes for all the people, for my footmen.” ¹¹And the king of Israel answered and said, “Let it suffice; let not the hunchback boast as he who is straight.” ¹²And it happened, when he answered him this word, he was drinking, he and all the kings with him, in booths, and he said to his servants, “Build a palisade!” And they placed a palisade against the city.

13 And behold, one prophet came up to the king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” ¹⁴And Achaab said, “By whom?” and he said, “This is what the Lord says, By the lads who serve the district governors.” And Achaab said, “Who shall begin the battle?” And he said, “You.” ¹⁵And Achaab mustered the lads who served the district governors, and there were two hundred thirty, and after these things he mustered the people, every son of power, sixty thousand.

16 And he went out at noon, and Hader’s son was drinking himself drunk in Sokchoth, he and the kings, thirty-two kings allied with him. ¹⁷And the lads who served the district governors went out among the first. And they sent and reported to the king of Syria, saying, “Men have come out from Samaria.” ¹⁸And he said to them, “If these have come out for peace, take them alive, and if they have come out for war, take them alive, ¹⁹and do not let the lads who serve the district governors come out of the city.” And the force behind them ²⁰smote, each the one beside him, and he repeated, each the one beside him, and Syria fled, and Israel pursued them, and Hader’s son, king of Syria, escaped on a horse of a horseman. ²¹And the king of Israel went out and took all the horses and the chariots and struck a great blow in Syria.

22 And the prophet approached the king of Israel and said, “Strengthen yourself, and consider, and see what you will do, for when the year turns, Hader’s son, king of Syria, will come up against you.”

23 And the servants of the king of Syria said, “The God of Israel is a god of mountains and not a god of valleys, therefore he prevailed over us, but if we fight against them on level ground, then we shall prevail over them. ²⁴And do this: send away the kings, each to their place, and put satraps in place of them, ²⁵and we will exchange with you a form like the force that you have lost, both horse for horse and chariot for chariot, and we will fight against them on level ground, and we shall prevail over them.” And he heeded their voice and did so.

26 And it happened when the year turned that Hader’s son mustered Syria and went up to Apheka for battle against Israel. ²⁷And the sons of Israel mustered and went out to meet them, and Israel encamped opposite them like two flocks of goats, and Syria filled the country. ²⁸And the man of God approached and said to the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says, Because Syria said, ‘The Lord the God of Israel is a god of mountains and not a god of the valleys,’ I will give this great force into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” ²⁹And they encamped opposite one another seven days, and it happened on the seventh day that the battle drew near, and Israel smote Syria, one hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰And the rest fled into the city of Apheka, and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men that were left.

And Hader’s son fled and entered the house into the inner chamber of the bedroom. ³¹And he said to his servants, “I know that the kings of Israel are merciful kings; let us now put sackcloths around our waists and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel, perhaps he will spare our lives.” ³²And they tied sackcloths around their waists and put ropes on their heads and said to the king of Israel, “Your slave, Hader’s son, says, ‘Indeed, let my soul live.’ ” And he said, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” ³³And the men practiced ornithomancy, and they hastened and seized upon the word from his mouth and said, “Hader’s son is your brother.” And he said, “Go in, and bring him,” and Hader’s son came out to him, and they made him come up to him into the chariot. ³⁴And he said to him, “I will restore to you the towns that my father took from your father, and you shall establish streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria, and I will send you off with a covenant.” So he made a covenant with him and sent him off.

35 And by a word of the Lord one person of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor, “Indeed, smite me!” And the person refused to smite him. ³⁶And he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, you will depart from me, and a lion will smite you.” And he went out from him, and a lion found him and smote him. ³⁷And he found another person and said, “Now smite me!” And the person smote him, and he smote and smashed him. ³⁸And the prophet departed and waited for the king of Israel along the road and bound his eyes with a bandage. ³⁹And it happened, as the king was passing by, that he shouted to the king and said, “Your slave went out to the army for the battle, and behold, a man brought a man to me and said to me, ‘Guard this man, but if escaping he escapes, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’ ⁴⁰And it happened: your slave looked around here and there, and he was not.” And the king of Israel said to him, “Behold, you have also slain the ambushes on my side.” ⁴¹And he hastened and removed the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him that he was one of the prophets. ⁴²And he said to him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Because you carried off a man destined for destruction at your hand, your life shall also be for his life, and your people for his people.’ ” ⁴³And the king of Israel departed, troubled and faint, and came to Samaria.

(KAIGE)

22 And he stayed for three years, and there was no war between Syria and between Israel. ²And it happened in the third year that Iosaphat, king of Iouda, came down to the king of Israel. ³And the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know that Remmath Galaad belongs to us, and we are saying nothing to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?” ⁴And the king of Israel said to Iosaphat, “Will you go up with us to Remmath Galaad to battle?” And Iosaphat said, “As I am, so also are you; as my people, are your people; as my horses, are your horses.”

5 And Iosaphat, king of Iouda, said to the king of Israel, “Do inquire of the Lord today.” ⁶And the king of Israel gathered all the prophets together, about four hundred men, and the king said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Remmath Galaad, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, and giving the Lord will give it into the hands of the king.” ⁷And Iosaphat said to the king of Israel, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here? And we will inquire of the Lord through him.” ⁸And the king of Israel said to Iosaphat, “There is still one man to inquire of the Lord through him, but I hate him, for he does not speak anything good about me, but only evil, Michaias son of Iemla.” And Iosaphat, king of Iouda, said, “Let the king not say so.” ⁹And the king of Israel summoned one eunuch and said, “Quickly, Michaias son of Iemla.” ¹⁰And the king of Israel and Iosaphat king of Iouda were sitting, a man upon his throne, armed in the gates of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹¹And Sedekias son of Chanana made for himself horns of iron, and he said, “This is what the Lord says: With these you shall gore Syria until it is finished.” ¹²And all the prophets were prophesying the same way, saying, “Go up to Remmath Galaad, and you will succeed, and the Lord will give into your hands even the king of Syria.”

13 And the messenger who had gone to summon Michaias spoke to him, saying, “Behold now, all the prophets are speaking with one mouth good things about the king; now you too, let your words be like the words of one of them, and speak good things.” ¹⁴And Michaias said, “The Lord lives, for whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.”

15 And he came to the king, and the king said to him, “Michaias, shall I go up to Remmath Galaad to battle, or shall I refrain?” And he said, “Go up, and you will succeed, and the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” ¹⁶And the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear that you tell me the truth in the name of the Lord?” ¹⁷And Michaias said, “Not so—I have seen all Israel scattered on the mountains, like a flock that has no shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each one go home in peace.’ ” ¹⁸And the king of Israel said to Iosaphat, king of Iouda, “Did I not tell you that this one does not prophesy anything good to me, for on the contrary evil?”

19 And Michaias said, “Not so, not I—hear the word of the Lord—not so: I saw the Lord God of Israel, sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven stood near him on his right and on his left. ²⁰And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Achaab, king of Israel, and he will go up and fall at Remmath Galaad?’ And one spoke one way, and another another way. ²¹And a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’ ²²And he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You shall entice him, and indeed you shall prevail; go out, and do so.’ ²³And now, behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets, and the Lord has spoken evil against you.”

24 And Sedekias^a son of Chanana came near and struck Michaias on the cheek and said, “What kind of a spirit of the Lord has spoken in you?” ²⁵And Michaias said, “Behold, you shall see in that day, when you go into a chamber of the chamber to hide.” ²⁶And the king of Israel said, “Take Michaias, and return him to Emer the governor of the city, and tell Ioas son of the king ²⁷to put this fellow in prison and to feed him bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peace.” ²⁸And Michaias said, “If returning you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.”

29 And the king of Israel and Iosaphat, king of Iouda, with him went up to Remmath Galaad. ³⁰And the king of Israel said to Iosaphat, king of Iouda, “I will disguise myself and enter into the battle, and you wear my clothing.” And the king of

Israel disguised himself and entered into the battle. ³¹And the king of Syria commanded the thirty-two commanders of his chariots, saying, “Fight not small or great, but only the king of Israel.” ³²And it happened, as the commanders of the chariots saw Iosaphat, king of Iouda, that they said, “This appears to be the king of Israel.” And they surrounded him to fight him, and Iosaphat cried out. ³³And it happened, as the commanders of the chariots saw that this was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from him. ³⁴And one drew his bow aiming well and struck the king of Israel between the lungs and between the breastplate. And he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn your hands around, and carry me away out of the battle, for I am wounded.” ³⁵And the battle turned into a rout in that day, and the king stood on his chariot facing Syria from morning until evening, and he shed blood from the wound into the hollow of the chariot, and he died in the evening, and blood ^aof the^a rout flowed out to the hollow of the chariot. ³⁶And the herald of the army stood at sunset, saying, “Every man to his own city and to his own country, ³⁷for the king is dead!”

And they came to Samaria and buried the king in Samaria. ³⁸And they washed off the chariot by the spring of Samaria, and the sows and the dogs licked up the blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in the blood, according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken. ³⁹And the rest of the histories of Achaab and all that he did and the ivory house that he built and all the cities that he made, behold, are these things not written in a book of Histories of the Days of the Kings of Israel? ⁴⁰And Achaab slept with his fathers, and Ochozias his son reigned in his stead.

41 And Iosaphat son of Asa reigned over Iouda. In the fourth year of Achaab, king of Israel, he became king. ⁴²Iosaphat was a son of thirty-five years when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Ierousalem. And his mother’s name was Azouba daughter of Selei. ⁴³And he walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord; ^44(43b)yet he did not take away any of the high places; the people were still sacrificing and offering incense on the high places. ⁴⁵⁽⁴⁴⁾And Iosaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

46(45) And the rest of the histories of Iosaphat and his acts of dominance that he exercised, behold, are these things not written in a book of Histories of the Days of the Kings of Iouda? ⁵¹⁽⁵⁰⁾And Iosaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of Dauid his father, and Ioram his son reigned in his stead.

52(51) And Ochozias son of Achaab reigned over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Iosaphat, king of Iouda, and he reigned in Israel two years. ⁵³⁽⁵²⁾And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Achaab his father and in the way of Iezabel his mother and in the sins of the house of Ieroboam son of Nabat, who made Israel sin. ⁵⁴⁽⁵³⁾And he was subject to the Baalim and did obeisance to them, and he provoked the Lord, God of Israel, to anger, according to all that had been done before him.