1 Kings 1

Adonijah Sets Himself Up as King

1When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. 2So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.”

3Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag,a a Shunammite,b and brought her to the king. 4The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her.

5Now Adonijah,c whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, “I will be king.” So he got chariotsd and horses1 ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. 6(His father had never rebukede him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?” He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.)

7Adonijah conferred with Joabf son of Zeruiah and with Abiatharg the priest, and they gave him their support. 8But Zadokh the priest, Benaiahi son of Jehoiada, Nathanj the prophet, Shimeik and Rei and David’s special guardl did not join Adonijah.

9Adonijah then sacrificed sheep, cattle and fattened calves at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel.m He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons,n and all the royal officials of Judah, 10but he did not inviteo Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the special guard or his brother Solomon.p

11Then Nathan asked Bathsheba,q Solomon’s mother, “Have you not heard that Adonijah,r the son of Haggith, has become king, and our lord David knows nothing about it? 12Now then, let me advises you how you can save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. 13Go in to King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, did you not sweart to me your servant: “Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ 14While you are still there talking to the king, I will come in and add my word to what you have said.”

15So Bathsheba went to see the aged king in his room, where Abishagu the Shunammite was attending him. 16Bathsheba bowed down, prostrating herself before the king.

“What is it you want?” the king asked.

17She said to him, “My lord, you yourself sworev to me your servant by the LORD your God: ‘Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne.’ 18But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, do not know about it. 19He has sacrificedw great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the king’s sons, Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant. 20My lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to learn from you who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21Otherwise, as soon as my lord the king is laid to restx with his ancestors, I and my son Solomon will be treated as criminals.”

22While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. 23And the king was told, “Nathan the prophet is here.” So he went before the king and bowed with his face to the ground.

24Nathan said, “Have you, my lord the king, declared that Adonijah shall be king after you, and that he will sit on your throne? 25Today he has gone down and sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep. He has invited all the king’s sons, the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest. Right now they are eating and drinking with him and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26But me your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he did not invite.y 27Is this something my lord the king has done without letting his servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”

David Makes Solomon King

1:28-53pp — 1Ch 29:21-25

28Then King David said, “Call in Bathsheba.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him.

29The king then took an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble,z 30I will surely carry out this very day what I sworea to you by the LORD, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.”

31Then Bathsheba bowed down with her face to the ground, prostrating herself before the king, and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

32King David said, “Call in Zadokb the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king, 33he said to them: “Take your lord’s servants with you and have Solomon my son mount my own mulec and take him down to Gihon.d 34There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointe him king over Israel. Blow the trumpetf and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35Then you are to go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah.”

36Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, so declare it. 37As the LORD was with my lord the king, so may he be withg Solomon to make his throne even greaterh than the throne of my lord King David!”

38So Zadoki the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethitesj and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon mount King David’s mule, and they escorted him to Gihon.k 39Zadok the priest took the horn of oill from the sacred tentm and anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpetn and all the people shouted,o “Long live King Solomon!” 40And all the people went up after him, playing pipesp and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound.

41Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they were finishing their feast. On hearing the sound of the trumpet, Joab asked, “What’s the meaning of all the noise in the city?”q

42Even as he was speaking, Jonathanr son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in. A worthy man like you must be bringing good news.”s

43“Not at all!” Jonathan answered. “Our lord King David has made Solomon king. 44The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and they have put him on the king’s mule, 45and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon. From there they have gone up cheering, and the city resoundst with it. That’s the noise you hear. 46Moreover, Solomon has taken his seatu on the royal throne. 47Also, the royal officials have come to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s name more famous than yours and his throne greaterv than yours!’ And the king bowed in worship on his bed 48and said, ‘Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has allowed my eyes to see a successorw on my throne today.’ ”

49At this, all Adonijah’s guests rose in alarm and dispersed. 50But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, went and took hold of the hornsx of the altar. 51Then Solomon was told, “Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon and is clinging to the horns of the altar. He says, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’ ”

52Solomon replied, “If he shows himself to be worthy, not a hairy of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will die.” 53Then King Solomon sent men, and they brought him down from the altar. And Adonijah came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said, “Go to your home.”

1 Kings 2

David’s Charge to Solomon

2:10-12pp — 1Ch 29:26-28

1When the time drew near for David to die,a he gave a charge to Solomon his son. Map: Solomon’s Jerusalem

2“I am about to go the way of all the earth,”b he said. “So be strong,c act like a man, 3and observed what the LORD your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prospere in all you do and wherever you go 4and that the LORD may keep his promisef to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfullyg before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’

5“Now you yourself know what Joabh son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s armies, Abneri son of Ner and Amasaj son of Jether. He killed them, shedding their blood in peacetime as if in battle, and with that blood he stained the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet. 6Deal with him according to your wisdom,k but do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace.

7“But show kindnessl to the sons of Barzillaim of Gilead and let them be among those who eat at your table.n They stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom.

8“And remember, you have with you Shimeio son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who called down bitter curses on me the day I went to Mahanaim.p When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I sworeq to him by the LORD: ‘I will not put you to death by the sword.’ 9But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom;r you will know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood.”

10Then David rested with his ancestors and was burieds in the City of David.t 11He had reignedu forty years over Israel—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 12So Solomon sat on the thronev of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.w

Solomon’s Throne Established

13Now Adonijah,x the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. Bathsheba asked him, “Do you come peacefully?”y

He answered, “Yes, peacefully.” 14Then he added, “I have something to say to you.”

“You may say it,” she replied.

15“As you know,” he said, “the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the LORD. 16Now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me.”

“You may make it,” she said.

17So he continued, “Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me Abishagz the Shunammite as my wife.”

18“Very well,” Bathsheba replied, “I will speak to the king for you.”

19When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king’s mother,a and she sat down at his right hand.b

20“I have one small request to make of you,” she said. “Do not refuse me.”

The king replied, “Make it, my mother; I will not refuse you.”

21So she said, “Let Abishagc the Shunammite be given in marriage to your brother Adonijah.”

22King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishagd the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for him—after all, he is my older brothere—yes, for him and for Abiatharf the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah!”

23Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely,g if Adonijah does not pay with his life for this request! 24And now, as surely as the LORD lives—he who has established me securely on the throne of my father David and has founded a dynasty for me as he promisedh—Adonijah shall be put to death today!” 25So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiahi son of Jehoiada, and he struck down Adonijah and he died.j

26To Abiathark the priest the king said, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth.l You deserve to die, but I will not put you to death now, because you carried the arkm of the Sovereign LORD before my father David and shared all my father’s hardships.”n 27So Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD, fulfillingo the word the LORD had spoken at Shiloh about the house of Eli.

28When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah though not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the hornsp of the altar. 29King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the LORD and was beside the altar.q Then Solomon ordered Benaiahr son of Jehoiada, “Go, strike him down!”

30So Benaiah entered the tents of the LORD and said to Joab, “The king says, ‘Come out!t’ ”

But he answered, “No, I will die here.”

Benaiah reported to the king, “This is how Joab answered me.”

31Then the king commanded Benaiah, “Do as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so clear me and my whole family of the guilt of the innocent bloodu that Joab shed. 32The LORD will repayv him for the blood he shed,w because without my father David knowing it he attacked two men and killed them with the sword. Both of them—Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasax son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army—were bettery men and more upright than he. 33May the guilt of their blood rest on the head of Joab and his descendants forever. But on David and his descendants, his house and his throne, may there be the LORD’s peace forever.”

34So Benaiahz son of Jehoiada went up and struck down Joaba and killed him, and he was buried at his home out in the country. 35The king put Benaiahb son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab’s position and replaced Abiathar with Zadokc the priest.

36Then the king sent for Shimeid and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. 37The day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley,e you can be sure you will die; your blood will be on your own head.”f

38Shimei answered the king, “What you say is good. Your servant will do as my lord the king has said.” And Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time.

39But three years later, two of Shimei’s slaves ran off to Achishg son of Maakah, king of Gath, and Shimei was told, “Your slaves are in Gath.” 40At this, he saddled his donkey and went to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves. So Shimei went away and brought the slaves back from Gath.

41When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, 42the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the LORD and warnh you, ‘On the day you leave to go anywhere else, you can be sure you will die’? At that time you said to me, ‘What you say is good. I will obey.’ 43Why then did you not keep your oath to the LORD and obey the command I gave you?”

44The king also said to Shimei, “You know in your heart all the wrongi you did to my father David. Now the LORD will repay you for your wrongdoing. 45But King Solomon will be blessed, and David’s throne will remain securej before the LORD forever.”

46Then the king gave the order to Benaiahk son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimeil down and he died.

The kingdom was now establishedm in Solomon’s hands.

1 Kings 3

Solomon Asks for Wisdom

3:4-15pp — 2Ch 1:2-13

1Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and marrieda his daughter.b He brought her to the City of Davidc until he finished building his palaced and the temple of the LORD, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places,e because a temple had not yet been built for the Namef of the LORD. 3Solomon showed his loveg for the LORD by walkingh according to the instructionsi given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.j Map: Trade Routes in Israel

4The king went to Gibeonk to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5At Gibeon the LORD appearedl to Solomon during the night in a dream,m and God said, “Askn for whatever you want me to give you.”

6Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithfulo to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a sonp to sit on his throne this very day.

7“Now, LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little childq and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8Your servant is here among the people you have chosen,r a great people, too numerous to count or number.s 9So give your servant a discerningt heart to govern your people and to distinguishu between right and wrong. For who is ablev to govern this great people of yours?”

10The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11So God said to him, “Since you have askedw for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernmentx in administering justice, 12I will do what you have asked.y I will give you a wisez and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13Moreover, I will give you what you have nota asked for—both wealth and honorb—so that in your lifetime you will have no equalc among kings. 14And if you walkd in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”e 15Then Solomon awokef—and he realized it had been a dream.g

He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offeringsh and fellowship offerings.i Then he gave a feastj for all his court.

A Wise Ruling

16Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. 18The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.

19“During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. 20So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. 21The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”

22The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”

But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.

23The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’ ”

24Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. 25He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

26The woman whose son was alive was deeply movedk out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”

But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”

27Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”

28When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdoml from God to administer justice.

1 Kings 4

Solomon’s Officials and Governors

1So King Solomon ruled over all Israel. 2And these were his chief officials:a

7Solomon had twelve district governorsj over all Israel, who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Each one had to provide supplies for one month in the year. 8These are their names:

Solomon’s Daily Provisions

20The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sandd on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy.e 21And Solomon ruledf over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates Riverg to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.h These countries brought tributei and were Solomon’s subjects all his life.

22Solomon’s daily provisionsj were thirty cors1 of the finest flour and sixty cors2 of meal, 23ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture-fed cattle and a hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl.k 24For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsahl to Gaza, and had peacem on all sides. 25During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba,n lived in safety,o everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.p

26Solomon had four3 thousand stalls for chariot horses,q and twelve thousand horses.4

27The district governors,r each in his month, supplied provisions for King Solomon and all who came to the king’s table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking. 28They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses.

Solomon’s Wisdom

29God gave Solomon wisdoms and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sandt on the seashore. 30Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East,u and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.v 31He was wiserw than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. 32He spoke three thousand proverbsx and his songsy numbered a thousand and five. 33He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssopz that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. 34From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kingsa of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.5

1 Kings 51

Preparations for Building the Temple

5:1-16pp — 2Ch 2:1-18

1When Hirama king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. 2Solomon sent back this message to Hiram: Photo

7When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the LORDj today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”

8So Hiram sent word to Solomon:

10In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, 11and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors2 of wheat as foodm for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths3^,4 of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. 12The LORD gave Solomon wisdom,n just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.o

13King Solomon conscripted laborersp from all Israel—thirty thousand men. 14He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniramq was in charge of the forced labor. 15Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, 16as well as thirty-three hundred5 foremenr who supervised the project and directed the workers. 17At the king’s command they removed from the quarrys large blocks of high-grade stonet to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. 18The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiramu and workers from Byblosv cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

1 Kings 6

Solomon Builds the Temple

6:1-29pp — 2Ch 3:1-14

1In the four hundred and eightieth1 year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month,a he began to build the temple of the LORD.b Model: Solomon’s Temple

2The templec that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.2 3The porticod at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,3 and projected ten cubits4 from the front of the temple. 4He made narrow windowse high up in the temple walls. 5Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms.f 6The lowest floor was five cubits5 wide, the middle floor six cubits6 and the third floor seven.7 He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

7In building the temple, only blocks dressedg at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron toolh was heard at the temple site while it was being built.

8The entrance to the lowest8 floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third. 9So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedari planks. 10And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.

11The word of the LORD camej to Solomon: 12“As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commandsk and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promisel I gave to David your father. 13And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandonm my people Israel.”

14So Solomonn built the temple and completedo it. 15He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling,p and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper.q 16He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.r 17The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits9 long. 18The inside of the temple was cedar,s carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.

19He prepared the inner sanctuaryt within the temple to set the ark of the covenantu of the LORD there. 20The inner sanctuaryv was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.w 21Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. 22So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

23For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubimx out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits—ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. 25The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. 26The height of each cherub was ten cubits. 27He placed the cherubimy inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28He overlaid the cherubim with gold. Model: Temple Furnishings

29On the wallsz all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim,a palm trees and open flowers. 30He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.

31For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors out of olive wood that were one fifth of the width of the sanctuary. 32And on the two olive-wood doorsb he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. 33In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one fourth of the width of the hall. 34He also made two doors out of juniper wood, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. 35He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.

36And he built the inner courtyardc of three coursesd of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams.

37The foundation of the temple of the LORD was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. 38In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its detailse according to its specifications.f He had spent seven years building it.

1 Kings 7

Solomon Builds His Palace

1It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.a 2He built the Palaceb of the Forest of Lebanonc a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high,1 with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. 3It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns—forty-five beams, fifteen to a row. 4Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other. 5All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other.2

6He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide.3 In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof.

7He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge,d and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling.4^,e 8And the palace in which he was to live, set farther back, was similar in design. Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.f

9All these structures, from the outside to the great courtyard and from foundation to eaves, were made of blocks of high-grade stone cut to size and smoothed on their inner and outer faces. 10The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits5 and some eight.6 11Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams. 12The great courtyard was surrounded by a wall of three coursesg of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams, as was the inner courtyard of the temple of the LORD with its portico.

The Temple’s Furnishings

7:23-26pp — 2Ch 4:2-5

7:38-51pp — 2Ch 4:6,10–5:1

13King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram,7^,h 14whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was from Tyre and a skilled craftsman in bronze. Huram was filled with wisdom,i with understanding and with knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did allj the work assigned to him.

15He cast two bronze pillars,k each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.8 16He also made two capitalsl of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits9 high. 17A network of interwoven chains adorned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital. 18He made pomegranates in two rows10 encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars.11 He did the same for each capital. 19The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits12 high. 20On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranatesm in rows all around. 21He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin13 and the one to the north Boaz.14^,n 22The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the pillarso was completed.

23He made the Seap of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a lineq of thirty cubits15 to measure around it. 24Below the rim, gourds encircled it—ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

25The Sea stood on twelve bulls,r three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 26It was a handbreadth16 in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.17

27He also made ten movable standss of bronze; each was four cubits long, four wide and three high.18 28This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to uprights. 29On the panels between the uprights were lions, bulls and cherubim—and on the uprights as well. Above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths of hammered work. 30Each standt had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side. 31On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit19 deep. This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a half.20 Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were square, not round. 32The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. The diameter of each wheel was a cubit and a half. 33The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal.

34Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand. 35At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit21 deep. The supports and panels were attached to the top of the stand. 36He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around. 37This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same molds and were identical in size and shape.

38He then made ten bronze basins,u each holding forty baths22 and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands. 39He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple. 40He also made the pots23 and shovels and sprinkling bowls.v

So Huram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of the LORD:

All these objects that Huramy made for King Solomon for the temple of the LORD were of burnished bronze. 46The king had them cast in clay molds in the plainz of the Jordan between Sukkotha and Zarethan.b 47Solomon left all these things unweighed,c because there were so many;d the weight of the bronzee was not determined.

48Solomon also made allf the furnishings that were in the LORD’s temple:

51When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicatedl—the silver and gold and the furnishingsm—and he placed them in the treasuries of the LORD’s temple.

1 Kings 8

The Ark Brought to the Temple

8:1-21pp — 2Ch 5:2–6:11

1Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefsa of the Israelite families, to bring up the arkb of the LORD’s covenant from Zion, the City of David.c 2All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festivald in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.e

3When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priestsf took up the ark, 4and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the tent of meetingg and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levitesh carried them up, 5and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificingi so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.

6The priests then brought the ark of the LORD’s covenantj to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place,k and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.l 7The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowedm the ark and its carrying poles. 8These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today.n 9There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tabletso that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

10When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloudp filled the temple of the LORD. 11And the priests could not perform their serviceq because of the cloud, for the gloryr of the LORD filled his temple.

12Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud;s 13I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwellt forever.”

14While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessedu them. 15Then he said:

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

8:22-53pp — 2Ch 6:12-40

22Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his handsg toward heaven 23and said:

54When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55He stood and blessedl the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

The Dedication of the Temple

8:62-66pp — 2Ch 7:1-10

62Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrificesu before the LORD. 63Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the LORD: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicatedv the temple of the LORD.

64On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the LORD, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fatw of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altarx that stood before the LORD was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.y

65So Solomon observed the festivalz at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamatha to the Wadi of Egypt.b They celebrated it before the LORD our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. 66On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the goodc things the LORD had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

1 Kings 9

The LORD Appears to Solomon

9:1-9pp — 2Ch 7:11-22

1When Solomon had finisheda building the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, 2the LORD appearedb to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3The LORD said to him:

Solomon’s Other Activities

9:10-28pp — 2Ch 8:1-18

10At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings—the temple of the LORD and the royal palace— 11King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and goldv he wanted. 12But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. 13“What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?” he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul,4^,w a name they have to this day. 14Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents5 of gold.x

15Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscriptedy to build the LORD’s temple, his own palace, the terraces,6^,z the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor,a Megiddo and Gezer.b 16(Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter,c Solomon’s wife. 17And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon,d 18Baalath,e and Tadmor7 in the desert, within his land, 19as well as all his store citiesf and the towns for his chariotsg and for his horses8—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.

20There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites,h Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusitesi (these peoples were not Israelites). 21Solomon conscripted the descendantsj of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate9^,k—to serve as slave labor,l as it is to this day. 22But Solomon did not make slavesm of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 23They were also the chief officialsn in charge of Solomon’s projects—550 officials supervising those who did the work.

24After Pharaoh’s daughtero had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.p

25Threeq times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the LORD, burning incense before the LORD along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.

26King Solomon also built shipsr at Ezion Geber,s which is near Elatht in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.10 27And Hiram sent his men—sailorsu who knew the sea—to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men. 28They sailed to Ophirv and brought back 420 talents11 of gold,w which they delivered to King Solomon.

1 Kings 10

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon

10:1-13pp — 2Ch 9:1-12

1When the queen of Shebaa heard about the fameb of Solomon and his relationship to the LORD, she came to test Solomon with hard questions.c 2Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravand—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. 3Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. 4When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, 5the food on his table,e the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at1 the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed.

6She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 7But I did not believef these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealthg you have far exceeded the report I heard. 8How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hearh your wisdom! 9Praisei be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD’s eternal lovej for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justicek and righteousness.”

10And she gave the king 120 talents2 of gold,l large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

11(Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir;m and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood3 and precious stones. 12The king used the almugwood to make supports4 for the temple of the LORD and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that day.)

13King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.

Solomon’s Splendor

10:14-29pp — 2Ch 1:14-17; 9:13-28

14The weight of the goldn that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,5 15not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.

16King Solomon made two hundred large shieldso of hammered gold; six hundred shekels6 of gold went into each shield. 17He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas7 of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.p

18Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 20Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 21All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.q Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. 22The king had a fleet of trading ships8^,r at sea along with the shipss of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

23King Solomon was greater in richest and wisdomu than all the other kings of the earth. 24The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdomv God had put in his heart. 25Year after year, everyone who came brought a giftw—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

26Solomon accumulated chariots and horses;x he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,9 which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 27The king made silver as commony in Jerusalem as stones,z and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-figa trees in the foothills. 28Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue10—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. 29They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.11 They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittitesb and of the Arameans.

1 Kings 11

Solomon’s Wives

1King Solomon, however, loved many foreign womena besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites,b Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarryc with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines,d and his wives led him astray.e 4As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,f and his heart was not fully devotedg to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5He followed Ashtorethh the goddess of the Sidonians, and Moleki the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6So Solomon did evilj in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.

7On a hill eastk of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemoshl the detestable god of Moab, and for Molekm the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

9The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appearedn to him twice. 10Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods,o Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command.p 11So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees,q which I commanded you, I will most certainly tearr the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. 12Nevertheless, for the sake of Davids your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribet for the sakeu of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”v Map: The Divided Kingdom

Solomon’s Adversaries

14Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary,w Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. 15Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom.x 16Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom. 17But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father. 18They set out from Midian and went to Paran.y Then taking people from Paran with them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food.

19Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage. 20The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpenes brought up in the royal palace. There Genubath lived with Pharaoh’s own children.

21While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David rested with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was also dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, that I may return to my own country.”

22“What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own country?” Pharaoh asked.

“Nothing,” Hadad replied, “but do let me go!”

23And God raised up against Solomon another adversary,z Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezera king of Zobah. 24When David destroyed Zobah’s army, Rezon gathered a band of men around him and became their leader; they went to Damascus,b where they settled and took control. 25Rezon was Israel’s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled in Aramc and was hostile toward Israel.

Jeroboam Rebels Against Solomon

26Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelledd against the king. He was one of Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.

27Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the terraces1^,e and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his father. 28Now Jeroboam was a man of standing,f and when Solomon saw how wellg the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph.

29About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijahh the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, 30and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and torei it into twelve pieces. 31Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tearj the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. 32But for the sakek of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. 33I will do this because they have2 forsaken me and worshipedl Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walkedm in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decreesn and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.

34“ ‘But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees. 35I will take the kingdom from his son’s hands and give you ten tribes. 36I will give one tribeo to his son so that David my servant may always have a lampp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. 37However, as for you, I will take you, and you will ruleq over all that your heart desires;r you will be king over Israel. 38If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is rights in my eyes by obeying my decreest and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynastyu as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. 39I will humble David’s descendants because of this, but not forever.’ ”

40Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fledv to Egypt, to Shishakw the king, and stayed there until Solomon’s death.

Solomon’s Death

11:41-43pp — 2Ch 9:29-31

41As for the other events of Solomon’s reign—all he did and the wisdom he displayed—are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon? 42Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 43Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboamx his son succeeded him as king.

1 Kings 12

Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam

12:1-24pp — 2Ch 10:1–11:4

1Rehoboam went to Shechem,a for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 2When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fledb from King Solomon), he returned from1 Egypt. 3So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4“Your father put a heavy yokec on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

5Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.

6Then King Rehoboam consulted the eldersd who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.

7They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer,e they will always be your servants.”

8But Rehoboam rejectedf the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

10The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’ ”

12Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” 13The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, 14he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourgedg you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” 15So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD,h to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijahi the Shilonite.

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

So the Israelites went home.l 17But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah,m Rehoboam still ruled over them.

18King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram,2^,n who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death.o King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 19So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of Davidp to this day. Photo

20When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.q

21When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to warr against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.

22But this word of God came to Shemaiahs the man of God:t 23“Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 24‘This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’ ” So they obeyed the word of the LORD and went home again, as the LORD had ordered.

Golden Calves at Bethel and Dan

25Then Jeroboam fortified Shechemu in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.3^,v

26Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem,w they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”

28After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves.x He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”y 29One he set up in Bethel,z and the other in Dan.a 30And this thing became a sin;b the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.4 Photo

31Jeroboam built shrinesc on high places and appointed priestsd from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. 32He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighthe month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel,f sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. 33On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel.g So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.

1 Kings 13

The Man of God From Judah

1By the word of the LORD a man of Goda came from Judah to Bethel,b as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. 2By the word of the LORD he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiahc will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high placesd who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’ ” 3That same day the man of God gave a sign:e “This is the sign the LORD has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”

4When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. 5Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the LORD.

6Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercedef with the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.

7The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.”g

8But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions,h I would not go with you, nor would I eat breadi or drink water here. 9For I was commanded by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’ ” 10So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.

11Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. 12Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

“I am,” he replied.

15So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.”

16The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat breadj or drink water with you in this place. 17I have been told by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’ ”

18The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD:k ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (But he was lyingl to him.) 19So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.

20While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You have defiedm the word of the LORD and have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you. 22You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.’ ”

23When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24As he went on his way, a lionn met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 25Some people who passed by saw the body lying there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.

26When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who defiedo the word of the LORD. The LORD has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the LORD had warned him.”

27The prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they did so. 28Then he went out and found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. 29So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. 30Then he laid the body in his own tomb,p and they mourned over him and said, “Alas, my brother!”q

31After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bonesr beside his bones. 32For the message he declared by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high placess in the towns of Samariat will certainly come true.”u

33Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways,v but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sortsw of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. 34This was the sinx of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destructiony from the face of the earth.

1 Kings 14

Ahijah’s Prophecy Against Jeroboam

1At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, 2and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself, so you won’t be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijaha the prophet is there—the one who told me I would be king over this people. 3Take ten loaves of breadb with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.” 4So Jeroboam’s wife did what he said and went to Ahijah’s house in Shiloh.

Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age. 5But the LORD had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else.” Chart: Rulers of the Divided Kingdom of Israel and Judah

6So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense?c I have been sent to you with bad news. 7Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:d ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you rulere over my people Israel. 8I toref the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was rightg in my eyes. 9You have done more evilh than all who lived before you.i You have made for yourself other gods, idolsj made of metal; you have arousedk my anger and turned your back on me.l

10“ ‘Because of this, I am going to bring disasterm on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel—slave or free.1^,n I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone.o 11Dogsp will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birdsq will feed on those who die in the country. The LORD has spoken!’

12“As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy will die. 13All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the LORD, the God of Israel, has found anything good.r

14“The LORD will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam. Even now this is beginning to happen.2 15And the LORD will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproots Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they arousedt the LORD’s anger by making Asherahu poles.3 16And he will give Israel up because of the sinsv Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”

17Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left and went to Tirzah.w As soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, as the LORD had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah.

19The other events of Jeroboam’s reign, his wars and how he ruled, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. 20He reigned for twenty-two years and then rested with his ancestors. And Nadab his son succeeded him as king.

Rehoboam King of Judah

14:21,25-31pp — 2Ch 12:9-16

21Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.x

22Judahy did evil in the eyes of the LORD. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous angerz more than those who were before them had done. 23They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stonesa and Asherah polesb on every high hill and under every spreading tree.c 24There were even male shrine prostitutesd in the land; the people engaged in all the detestablee practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

25In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attackedf Jerusalem. 26He carried off the treasures of the templeg of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shieldsh Solomon had made. 27So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.i 28Whenever the king went to the LORD’s temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom. Photo

29As for the other events of Rehoboam’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 30There was continual warfarej between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 31And Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.k And Abijah4 his son succeeded him as king.

1 Kings 15

Abijah King of Judah

15:1-2,6-8pp — 2Ch 13:1-2,22–14:1

1In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah1 became king of Judah, 2and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakaha daughter of Abishalom.2

3He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devotedb to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been. 4Nevertheless, for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lampc in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. 5For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keepd any of the LORD’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriahe the Hittite.

6There was warf between Abijah3 and Jeroboam throughout Abijah’s lifetime. 7As for the other events of Abijah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 8And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Asa his son succeeded him as king.

Asa King of Judah

15:9-22pp — 2Ch 14:2-3; 15:16–16:6

15:23-24pp — 2Ch 16:11–17:1

9In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, 10and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maakahg daughter of Abishalom.

11Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father Davidh had done. 12He expelled the male shrine prostitutesi from the land and got rid of all the idolsj his ancestors had made. 13He even deposed his grandmother Maakahk from her position as queen mother,l because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it downm and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14Although he did not removen the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committedo to the LORD all his life. 15He brought into the temple of the LORD the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.p

16There was warq between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns. 17Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramahr to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.

18Asa then took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the LORD’s temples and of his own palace. He entrusted it to his officials and sentt them to Ben-Hadadu son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. 19“Let there be a treatyv between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”

20Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. He conqueredw Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maakah and all Kinnereth in addition to Naphtali. 21When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramahx and withdrew to Tirzah.y 22Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah—no one was exempt—and they carried away from Ramahz the stones and timber Baasha had been using there. With them King Asaa built up Gebab in Benjamin, and also Mizpah.c

23As for all the other events of Asa’s reign, all his achievements, all he did and the cities he built, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? In his old age, however, his feet became diseased. 24Then Asa rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of his father David. And Jehoshaphatd his son succeeded him as king.

Nadab King of Israel

25Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. 26He did evile in the eyes of the LORD, following the ways of his fatherf and committing the same sin his father had caused Israel to commit.

27Baasha son of Ahijah from the tribe of Issachar plotted against him, and he struck him downg at Gibbethon,h a Philistine town, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging it. 28Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah and succeeded him as king.

29As soon as he began to reign, he killed Jeroboam’s whole family.i He did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breathed, but destroyed them all, according to the word of the LORD given through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. 30This happened because of the sinsj Jeroboam had committed and had causedk Israel to commit, and because he aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel.

31As for the other events of Nadab’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annalsl of the kings of Israel? 32There was warm between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns.

Baasha King of Israel

33In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel in Tirzah,n and he reigned twenty-four years. 34He did evilo in the eyes of the LORD, following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

1 Kings 16

1Then the word of the LORD came to Jehua son of Hananib concerning Baasha: 2“I lifted you up from the dustc and appointed you rulerd over my people Israel, but you followed the ways of Jeroboam and causede my people Israel to sin and to arouse my anger by their sins. 3So I am about to wipe out Baashaf and his house,g and I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 4Dogsh will eat those belonging to Baasha who die in the city, and birdsi will feed on those who die in the country.”

5As for the other events of Baasha’s reign, what he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annalsj of the kings of Israel? 6Baasha rested with his ancestors and was buried in Tirzah.k And Elah his son succeeded him as king.

7Moreover, the word of the LORD camel through the prophet Jehum son of Hanani to Baasha and his house, because of all the evil he had done in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger by the things he did, becoming like the house of Jeroboam—and also because he destroyed it.

Elah King of Israel

8In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah two years.

9Zimri, one of his officials, who had command of half his chariots, plotted against him. Elah was in Tirzah at the time, getting drunkn in the home of Arza, the palace administratoro at Tirzah. 10Zimri came in, struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah. Then he succeeded him as king.p

11As soon as he began to reign and was seated on the throne, he killed off Baasha’s whole family.q He did not spare a single male, whether relative or friend. 12So Zimri destroyed the whole family of Baasha, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken against Baasha through the prophet Jehu— 13because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed and had caused Israel to commit, so that they aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, by their worthless idols.r

14As for the other events of Elah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

Zimri King of Israel

15In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah seven days. The army was encamped near Gibbethon,s a Philistine town. 16When the Israelites in the camp heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and murdered him, they proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day there in the camp. 17Then Omri and all the Israelites with him withdrew from Gibbethon and laid siege to Tirzah. 18When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and set the palace on fire around him. So he died, 19because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD and following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

20As for the other events of Zimri’s reign, and the rebellion he carried out, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

Omri King of Israel

21Then the people of Israel were split into two factions; half supported Tibni son of Ginath for king, and the other half supported Omri. 22But Omri’s followers proved stronger than those of Tibni son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri became king.

23In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah.t 24He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents1 of silver and built a city on the hill, calling it Samaria,u after Shemer, the name of the former owner of the hill.

25But Omri did evilv in the eyes of the LORD and sinned more than all those before him. 26He followed completely the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, committing the same sin Jeroboam had causedw Israel to commit, so that they aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, by their worthless idols.x

27As for the other events of Omri’s reign, what he did and the things he achieved, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 28Omri rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria.y And Ahab his son succeeded him as king.

Ahab Becomes King of Israel

29In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30Ahab son of Omri did morez evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. 31He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also marrieda Jezebel daughterb of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baalc and worship him. 32He set up an altard for Baal in the templee of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33Ahab also made an Asherah polef and did moreg to arouse the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.

34In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.h

1 Kings 17

Elijah Announces a Great Drought

1Now Elijaha the Tishbite, from Tishbe1 in Gilead,b said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rainc in the next few years except at my word.” Chart: Ancient Near Eastern Deities

Elijah Fed by Ravens

2Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: 3“Leave here, turn eastward and hided in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravense to supply you with food there.”

5So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morningf and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath

7Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8Then the word of the LORD came to him: 9“Go at once to Zarephathg in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widowh there to supply you with food.” 10So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?”i 11As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

12“As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oilj in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

13Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends raink on the land.’ ”

15She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

17Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sinl and kill my son?”

19“Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20Then he criedm out to the LORD, “LORD my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21Then he stretchedn himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

22The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mothero and said, “Look, your son is alive!”

24Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I knowp that you are a man of Godq and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”r

1 Kings 18

Elijah and Obadiah

1After a long time, in the thirda year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and presentb yourself to Ahab, and I will send rainc on the land.” 2So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.

Now the famine was severed in Samaria, 3and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, his palace administrator.e (Obadiah was a devout believerf in the LORD. 4While Jezebelg was killing off the LORD’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hiddenh them in two caves, fifty in each, and had suppliedi them with food and water.) 5Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springsj and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.”k 6So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.

7As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognizedl him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?”

8“Yes,” he replied. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’ ”

9“What have I done wrong,” asked Obadiah, “that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? 10As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to lookm for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. 11But now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ 12I don’t know where the Spiritn of the LORD may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the LORD since my youth. 13Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred of the LORD’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. 14And now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ He will kill me!”

15Elijah said, “As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely presento myself to Ahab today.”

Elijah on Mount Carmel

16So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troublerp of Israel?”

18“I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But youq and your father’s family have. You have abandonedr the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals. 19Now summons the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel.t And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”u

20So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.v 21Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waverw between two opinions? If the LORDx is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.

22Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left,y but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.z 23Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24Then you calla on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD.b The god who answers by firec—he is God.”

Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

25Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” 26So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they calledd on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response;e no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

27At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”f 28So they shouted louder and slashedg themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice.h But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.i

30Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altarj of the LORD, which had been torn down. 31Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.”k 32With the stones he built an altar in the namel of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs1 of seed. 33He arrangedm the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

34“Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.

“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

36At the timen of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “LORD, the God of Abraham,o Isaac and Israel, let it be knownp today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.q 37Answer me, LORD, answer me, so these people will knowr that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

38Then the fires of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

39When all the people saw this, they fell prostratet and cried, “The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!”u

40Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valleyv and slaughteredw there.

41And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” 42So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.x

43“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.

“There is nothing there,” he said.

Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”

44The seventh timey the servant reported, “A cloudz as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”

So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”

45Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy raina started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.b 46The powerc of the LORD came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt,d he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

1 Kings 19

Elijah Flees to Horeb

1Now Ahab told Jezebela everything Elijah had done and how he had killedb all the prophets with the sword. 2So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely,c if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”d Map: Lives of Elijah and Elisha

3Elijah was afraid1 and rane for his life.f When he came to Beershebag in Judah, he left his servant there, 4while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush,h sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life;i I am no better than my ancestors.” 5Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.j

All at once an angelk touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. Photo

7The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled fortyl days and forty nights until he reached Horeb,m the mountain of God. 9There he went into a caven and spent the night.

The LORD Appears to Elijah

And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”o

10He replied, “I have been very zealousp for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant,q torn down your altars,r and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left,s and now they are trying to kill me too.”

11The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountaint in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”u

Then a great and powerful windv tore the mountains apart and shatteredw the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12After the earthquake came a fire,x but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.y 13When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his facez and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

14He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left,a and now they are trying to kill me too.”

15The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazaelb king over Aram. 16Also, anointc Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elishad son of Shaphat from Abel Meholahe to succeed you as prophet. 17Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael,f and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.g 18Yet I reserveh seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissedi him.”

The Call of Elisha

19So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloakj around him. 20Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,”k he said, “and then I will come with you.”

“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”

21So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxenl and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.m

1 Kings 20

Ben-Hadad Attacks Samaria

1Now Ben-Hadada king of Aram mustered his entire army. Accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, he went up and besieged Samariab and attacked it. 2He sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, saying, “This is what Ben-Hadad says: 3‘Your silver and gold are mine, and the best of your wives and children are mine.’ ”

4The king of Israel answered, “Just as you say, my lord the king. I and all I have are yours.”

5The messengers came again and said, “This is what Ben-Hadad says: ‘I sent to demand your silver and gold, your wives and your children. 6But about this time tomorrow I am going to send my officials to search your palace and the houses of your officials. They will seize everything you value and carry it away.’ ”

7The king of Israel summoned all the eldersc of the land and said to them, “See how this man is looking for trouble!d When he sent for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, I did not refuse him.”

8The elders and the people all answered, “Don’t listen to him or agree to his demands.”

9So he replied to Ben-Hadad’s messengers, “Tell my lord the king, ‘Your servant will do all you demanded the first time, but this demand I cannot meet.’ ” They left and took the answer back to Ben-Hadad.

10Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if enough duste remains in Samaria to give each of my men a handful.”

11The king of Israel answered, “Tell him: ‘One who puts on his armor should not boastf like one who takes it off.’ ”

12Ben-Hadad heard this message while he and the kings were drinkingg in their tents,1 and he ordered his men: “Prepare to attack.” So they prepared to attack the city.

Ahab Defeats Ben-Hadad

13Meanwhile a propheth came to Ahab king of Israel and announced, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Do you see this vast army? I will give it into your hand today, and then you will knowi that I am the LORD.’ ”

14“But who will do this?” asked Ahab.

The prophet replied, “This is what the LORD says: ‘The junior officers under the provincial commanders will do it.’ ”

“And who will startj the battle?” he asked.

The prophet answered, “You will.”

15So Ahab summoned the 232 junior officers under the provincial commanders. Then he assembled the rest of the Israelites, 7,000 in all. 16They set out at noon while Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk.k 17The junior officers under the provincial commanders went out first.

Now Ben-Hadad had dispatched scouts, who reported, “Men are advancing from Samaria.”

18He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive.”

19The junior officers under the provincial commanders marched out of the city with the army behind them 20and each one struck down his opponent. At that, the Arameans fled, with the Israelites in pursuit. But Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with some of his horsemen. 21The king of Israel advanced and overpowered the horses and chariots and inflicted heavy losses on the Arameans.

22Afterward, the prophetl came to the king of Israel and said, “Strengthen your position and see what must be done, because next springm the king of Aram will attack you again.”

23Meanwhile, the officials of the king of Aram advised him, “Their gods are godsn of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they. 24Do this: Remove all the kings from their commands and replace them with other officers. 25You must also raise an army like the one you lost—horse for horse and chariot for chariot—so we can fight Israel on the plains. Then surely we will be stronger than they.” He agreed with them and acted accordingly.

26The next springo Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphekp to fight against Israel. 27When the Israelites were also mustered and given provisions, they marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped opposite them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside.q

28The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a godr of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will knows that I am the LORD.’ ”

29For seven days they camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle was joined. The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day. 30The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek,t where the wall collapsedu on twenty-seven thousand of them. And Ben-Hadad fled to the city and hidv in an inner room.

31His officials said to him, “Look, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful.w Let us go to the king of Israel with sackclothx around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.”

32Wearing sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says: ‘Please let me live.’ ”

The king answered, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”

33The men took this as a good sign and were quick to pick up his word. “Yes, your brother Ben-Hadad!” they said.

“Go and get him,” the king said. When Ben-Hadad came out, Ahab had him come up into his chariot.

34“I will return the citiesy my father took from your father,” Ben-Hadadz offered. “You may set up your own market areasa in Damascus,b as my father did in Samaria.”

Ahab said, “On the basis of a treatyc I will set you free.” So he made a treaty with him, and let him go.

A Prophet Condemns Ahab

35By the word of the LORD one of the company of the prophetsd said to his companion, “Strike me with your weapon,” but he refused.e

36So the prophet said, “Because you have not obeyed the LORD, as soon as you leave me a lionf will kill you.” And after the man went away, a lion found him and killed him.

37The prophet found another man and said, “Strike me, please.” So the man struck him and wounded him. 38Then the prophet went and stood by the road waiting for the king. He disguised himself with his headband down over his eyes. 39As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, “Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and someone came to me with a captive and said, ‘Guard this man. If he is missing, it will be your life for his life,g or you must pay a talent2 of silver.’ 40While your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared.”

“That is your sentence,”h the king of Israel said. “You have pronounced it yourself.”

41Then the prophet quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42He said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Youi have set free a man I had determined should die.3^,j Therefore it is your life for his life,k your people for his people.’ ” 43Sullen and angry,l the king of Israel went to his palace in Samaria.