But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, was in front of the Lord's tabernacle. Solomon and the entire assembly prayed to him there.)

God said to Solomon, "Because you desire this, and did not ask for riches, wealth, and honor, or for vengeance on your enemies, and because you did not ask for long life, but requested wisdom and discernment so you can make judicial decisions for my people over whom I have made you king,

The poles were so long their ends extending out from the ark were visible from in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. They have remained there to this very day.

But now I have chosen Jerusalem as a place to live, and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.'

But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.'

But respond favorably to your servant's prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you.

"But if you people ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, and decide to serve and worship other gods,

But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up.

The young advisers with whom Rehoboam had grown up said to him, "Say this to these people who have said to you, 'Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden' -- say this to them: 'I am a lot harsher than my father!

King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, the supervisor of the work crews, out after them, but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to jump into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem.

But the Lord told Shemaiah the prophet,

But you banished the Lord's priests, Aaron's descendants, and the Levites, and appointed your own priests just as the surrounding nations do! Anyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of these fake gods!

But as for us, the Lord is our God and we have not rejected him. Aaron's descendants serve as the Lord's priests and the Levites assist them with the work.

They offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord every morning and every evening, along with fragrant incense. They arrange the Bread of the Presence on a ritually clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. Certainly we are observing the Lord our God's regulations, but you have rejected him.

Asa prayed to the Lord his God: "O Lord, there is no one but you who can help the weak when they are vastly outnumbered. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you and have marched on your behalf against this huge army. O Lord our God, don't let men prevail against you!"

He met Asa and told him, "Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The Lord is with you when you are loyal to him. If you seek him, he will respond to you, but if you reject him, he will reject you.

But as for you, be strong and don't get discouraged, for your work will be rewarded."

Did not the Cushites and Libyans have a huge army with chariots and a very large number of horsemen? But when you relied on the Lord, he handed them over to you!

In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a foot disease. Though his disease was severe, he did not seek the Lord, but only the doctors.

but instead sought the God of his ancestors and obeyed his commands, unlike the Israelites.

But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not a prophet of the Lord still here, that we may ask him?"

The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man through whom we can seek the Lord's will. But I despise him because he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but always disaster. His name is Micaiah son of Imlah. Jehoshaphat said, "The king should not say such things!"

But Micaiah said, "As certainly as the Lord lives, I will say what my God tells me to say!"

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but disaster?"

So now, look, the Lord has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours; but the Lord has decreed disaster for you."

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself and then enter the battle; but you wear your royal attire." So the king of Israel disguised himself and they entered the battle.

When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "He must be the king of Israel!" So they turned and attacked him, but Jehoshaphat cried out. The Lord helped him; God lured them away from him.

He told the judges, "Be careful what you do, for you are not judging for men, but for the Lord, who will be with you when you make judicial decisions.

Whenever your countrymen who live in the cities bring a case before you (whether it involves a violent crime or other matters related to the law, commandments, rules, and regulations), warn them that they must not sin against the Lord. If you fail to do so, God will be angry with you and your colleagues; but if you obey, you will be free of guilt.

He said: "Pay attention, all you people of Judah, residents of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says to you: 'Don't be afraid and don't panic because of this huge army! For the battle is not yours, but God's.

Their father gave them many presents, including silver, gold, and other precious items, along with fortified cities in Judah. But he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

But the Lord was unwilling to destroy David's dynasty because of the promise he had made to give David a perpetual dynasty.

but have instead followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel. You encouraged the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem to be unfaithful to the Lord, just as the family of Ahab does in Israel. You also killed your brothers, members of your father's family, who were better than you.

Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. No one regretted his death; he was buried in the City of David, but not in the royal tombs.

He assembled the priests and Levites and ordered them, "Go out to the cities of Judah and collect the annual quota of silver from all Israel for repairs on the temple of your God. Be quick about it!" But the Levites delayed.

The Lord sent prophets among them to lead them back to him. They warned the people, but they would not pay attention.

When they withdrew, they left Joash badly wounded. His servants plotted against him because of what he had done to the son of Jehoiada the priest. They murdered him on his bed. Thus he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

He did what the Lord approved, but not with wholehearted devotion.

But a prophet visited him and said: "O king, the Israelite troops must not go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel or any of the Ephraimites.

Amaziah asked the prophet: "But what should I do about the hundred talents of silver I paid the Israelite troops?" The prophet replied, "The Lord is capable of giving you more than that."

While he was speaking, Amaziah said to him, "Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop prophesying or else you will be killed!" So the prophet stopped, but added, "I know that the Lord has decided to destroy you, because you have done this thing and refused to listen to my advice."

You defeated Edom and it has gone to your head. Gloat over your success, but stay in your palace. Why bring calamity on yourself? Why bring down yourself and Judah along with you?"

But Amaziah did not heed the warning, for God wanted to hand them over to Joash because they followed the gods of Edom.

From the time Amaziah turned from following the Lord, conspirators plotted against him in Jerusalem, so he fled to Lachish. But they sent assassins after him and they killed him there.

But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. He disobeyed the Lord his God. He entered the Lord's temple to offer incense on the incense altar.

King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came, but he gave him more trouble than support.

Ahaz gathered riches from the Lord's temple, the royal palace, and the officials and gave them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help.

He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus whom he thought had defeated him. He reasoned, "Since the gods of the kings of Damascus helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me." But they caused him and all Israel to stumble.

But there were not enough priests to skin all the animals, so their brothers, the Levites, helped them until the work was finished and the priests could consecrate themselves. (The Levites had been more conscientious about consecrating themselves than the priests.)

The messengers journeyed from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but people mocked and ridiculed them.

But some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

He has with him mere human strength, but the Lord our God is with us to help us and fight our battles!" The army was encouraged by the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.

Hezekiah says, "The Lord our God will rescue us from the power of the king of Assyria." But he is misleading you and you will die of hunger and thirst!

But Hezekiah was ungrateful; he had a proud attitude, provoking God to be angry at him, as well as Judah and Jerusalem.

But then Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem humbled themselves and abandoned their pride, and the Lord was not angry with them for the rest of Hezekiah's reign.

But Manasseh misled the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.

The Lord confronted Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

The people continued to offer sacrifices at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.

Necho sent messengers to him, saying, "Why are you opposing me, O king of Judah? I am not attacking you today, but the kingdom with which I am at war. God told me to hurry. Stop opposing God, who is with me, or else he will destroy you."

But Josiah did not turn back from him; he disguised himself for battle. He did not take seriously the words of Necho which he had received from God; he went to fight him in the Plain of Megiddo.

But they mocked God's messengers, despised his warnings, and ridiculed his prophets. Finally the Lord got very angry at his people and there was no one who could prevent his judgment.