92 Bible Verses about Kings

This time tomorrow I will send you a man from the territory of Benjamin. Anoint him to be ruler of my people Israel. He will save my people from the Philistines. I have seen my people suffering and their cry has reached me.

The trees went out to anoint a king over them. They said to the olive tree: 'Be our king.'

Zadok and Nathan are to anoint him as king of Israel. Then blow the trumpet and shout: Long live King Solomon!

David responded to Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon from Beeroth: I once seized a man who told me that Saul had died. He thought he was bringing good news. I killed him in Ziklag to reward him for his news. How much more should I reward wicked men who kill an innocent man on his own bed in his home? Jehovah has rescued me from every trouble. I solemnly swear, as Jehovah lives, I will now seek revenge for his murder and rid the land of you. read more.
David gave the order for his soldiers to kill Rechab and Baanah and cut off their hands and feet. They killed them and hung their hands and feet near the pool in Hebron. They took Ishbosheth's head and buried it in Abner's tomb there at Hebron.

The king said: Do as he said. Kill him there and bury him in the earth. This will remove the guilt of his senseless murders from my father's family and me.

King Solomon took an oath by Jehovah, saying: May God's punishment be on me if Adonijah does not give payment for these words with his life.

King Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada to attack and kill him.

The king said to the guards who were attending him: Turn around and kill the priests of Jehovah! They are also with David. They knew that he was fleeing and did not reveal it to me. But the servants of the king were not willing to lift a hand to attack the priests of Jehovah. The king said to Doeg: You turn around and attack the priests. Doeg the Edomite turned around and attacked the priests. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.

Each governor also supplied his share of barley and straw as needed for the chariot horses and the work animals.

He ate by the wall, just as he always did. Jonathan sat across from him. Abner sat next to him. But David's place was empty. Saul was in deep thought. So he did not say anything that day. Something must have happened to make David unfit to be at the Festival. Yes, something must have happened. David's place was still empty the day after the New Moon Festival. Saul asked Jonathan: Why has that son of Jesse not come to eat with us? He was not here yesterday, and he still is not here today!

David replied: Do not be afraid. I will be kind to you for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will give you back all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul. You will always be welcome at my table. Mephibosheth bowed again and said: I am no better than a dead dog! Why should you be so good to me? The king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said: I am giving Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, everything that belonged to Saul and his family. read more.
You, your sons, and your servants will farm the land for your master Saul's family and bring in the harvest. This will provide food for them. Mephibosheth will always be a guest at my table. Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Ziba answered: I will do everything Your Majesty commands. So Mephibosheth ate at the king's table, just like one of the king's sons. Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. Everyone who lived at Ziba's home became Mephibosheth's servant. Mephibosheth was disabled. He lived in Jerusalem. He always ate at the king's table.

The king said to him: Come with me to Jerusalem. I will take care of you.

The supplies Solomon needed each day were one hundred and fifty bushels of fine flour and three hundred bushels of meal. Also needed were ten stall-fed cattle, twenty pasture-fed cattle, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fowl (cuckoo).

Everyone took presents such as vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and robes, and coats of metal, and spices, and horses, and beasts of transport, regularly year by year.

They entered the house and saw the young child with his mother Mary. They bowed down and paid him homage. Then they opened their treasure chests and offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

So she came to Jerusalem with a very large caravan. The camels carried spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she approached Solomon, she talked about everything she had on her mind (heart).

The king said: Go to the king of Israel and take this letter to him. Naaman departed. He took thirty thousand pieces of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of fine clothes.

She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a great store of spices and jewels. Never again was such a wealth of spices seen as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

Saul chose three thousand men from Israel. Two thousand of them were stationed with Saul at Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel. One thousand were stationed with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent the rest of the people home.

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was the commander of David's bodyguard. David's sons were priests.

As a result King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them. He put them by the entrance to the royal palace, where the captains of the guards were stationed.

Indeed he was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three. David appointed him over his guard.

Some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver as taxes. The Arabs also brought him flocks: seven thousand and seven hundred rams and seven thousand and seven hundred male goats.

Solomon's kingdom included all the nations from the Euphrates River to Philistia and the Egyptian border. They paid him taxes and were subject to him all his life.

They had descendants who were still in the land. Solomon drafted them for slave labor. They are still Israel's slaves today.

Solomon ruled over all the land west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah on the Euphrates as far west as the city of Gaza. All the kings west of the Euphrates were subject to him. He was at peace with all the neighboring countries. As long as he lived, the people throughout Judah and Israel lived in safety. Each family had its own grapevines and fig trees.

Solomon's son Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king of Judah. He ruled seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city Jehovah chose from all the territory of Israel as the place where he was to be worshiped. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah from Ammon. The people of Judah sinned against Jehovah. They did more to arouse his anger against them than all their ancestors had done. They built places of worship for false gods. They put up stone pillars and symbols of Asherah to worship on the hills and under shady trees. read more.
There were also male (cult) prostitutes in the temples of idols throughout the land. The people of Judah practiced all the disgusting practices done by the nations that Jehovah forced out of the Israelites' way. King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign. He took the treasures from Jehovah's Temple and the royal palace. He took them all. He took all the gold shields Solomon had made. King Rehoboam replaced them with bronze shields and entrusted them to the officers responsible for guarding the palace gates. The guards carried the shields every time the king went to the Temple and then returned them to the guardroom. The rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and everything he did are recorded in the book of the History of the Kings of Judah. There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. Rehoboam went to rest with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonite woman. And Abijam his son became king in his place.

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he called together one hundred and eighty thousand of the best soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. He wanted to go to war and restore his control over the northern tribes of Israel. But God told the prophet Shemaiah: Give this message to Rehoboam and to all the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin: read more.
Do not attack the people of Israel, your own relatives. All of you go home. What has happened is my will.' They all obeyed Jehovah's command and went home.

Rehoboam ruled the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah. King Rehoboam sent Hadoram to the Israelites. He was in charge of forced labor, but they stoned him to death. So King Rehoboam got on his chariot as fast as he could and fled to Jerusalem. Israel has rebelled against David's dynasty to this day. read more.
Rehoboam came to Jerusalem and gathered the people of Judah and Benjamin. There were one hundred and eighty thousand of the best soldiers, to fight against Israel and return the kingdom to Rehoboam. God spoke his word to Shemaiah, the man of God. He said: Speak to Judah's King Rehoboam, son of Solomon, and all Israel in Judah and Benjamin. Jehovah says: Do not wage war against your relatives. Everyone, go home. What has happened is my doing. So they obeyed the word of Jehovah. They turned back from their attack on Jeroboam. Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem. He built fortified cities in Judah. He rebuilt Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These were fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. He strengthened the cities and put army officers with reserves of food, olive oil, and wine in them. He stored shields and spears in each city. He made the cities very secure. Rehoboam held on to Judah and Benjamin. The priests and Levites in every region of Israel aligned with Rehoboam. The priests abandoned their land and property and went to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his descendants rejected them as Jehovah's priests. As an alternative, Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the illegal worship sites and the goat and calf statues he had made as idols. People from every tribe of Israel who were determined to seek Jehovah the true God of Israel followed the Levitical priests to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Jehovah God of their ancestors. So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah by supporting Rehoboam, son of Solomon, for three years. During those three years they lived the way David and Solomon had lived. Rehoboam married Mahalath, daughter of Jerimoth. Jerimoth was the son of David and Abihail. Abihail was the daughter of Eliab, son of Jesse. Mahalath gave birth to the following sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. After marrying Mahalath, he married Maacah, Absalom's granddaughter. She gave birth to Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. Rehoboam loved Maacah, Absalom's granddaughter, more than all his other wives and concubines. He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines. He fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. Rehoboam appointed Abijah, son of Maacah, as family head and prince among his brothers. By doing this, Rehoboam could make him king. He wisely placed his sons in every region of Judah and Benjamin, in every fortified city. He gave them allowances and obtained many wives for them. Rehoboam established his kingdom and made himself strong. He and all Israel abandoned Jehovah's teachings. King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. This took place in the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign. It happened because all Israel was not loyal to Jehovah. Shishak had twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horses, and an army of countless Libyans, Sukkites, and Sudanese from Egypt. He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. Shemaiah the prophet approached Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them: Jehovah says: 'You have forsaken me, so I also have forsaken you to Shishak.' Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said: Jehovah is righteous. Jehovah saw that they humbled themselves. The word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah. He said: They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them. I will grant them deliverance. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger on Jerusalem. However, they will become his servants. They must learn the difference between serving me and serving foreign kings. King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures from Jehovah's temple and the royal palace. He took them all! He even took the gold shields Solomon had made. As a result King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them. He put them by the entrance to the royal palace, where the captains of the guards were stationed. When the king went into Jehovah's Temple, guards carried the shields and then returned them to the guardroom. When Rehoboam humbled himself, the anger of Jehovah turned from him. He did not completely destroy him. So things went well in Judah. King Rehoboam strengthened his position in Jerusalem and ruled. He was forty-one years old when he began to rule. He ruled for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that Jehovah chose from all the tribes of Israel, and the city where Jehovah put his name. Rehoboam's mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah. He did evil because he did not seriously dedicate his life to Jehovah. The events concerning Rehoboam from first to last are written in the records of the prophet Shemaiah and the records of the seer Iddo in the genealogies? There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam as long as they lived. Rehoboam lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Abijah succeeded him as king.

Zadok and Nathan are to anoint him as king of Israel. Then blow the trumpet and shout: Long live King Solomon!

He sent messengers to all the tribes of Israel. He told them: When you hear the sound of trumpets, shout: 'Absalom is king in Hebron!'

There she saw the new king standing by the column at the entrance of the Temple, as was the custom. The officers and the trumpeters surrounded him, and the people were all shouting joyfully and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes in distress and shouted: Treason! Treason!

At once Jehu's fellow officers spread their cloaks at the top of the steps for Jehu to stand on. They blew trumpets and shouted: Jehu is king!

Mephibosheth bowed again and said: I am no better than a dead dog! Why should you be so good to me?

The king was told that the prophet was there. Nathan went in and bowed low before the king.

Then David got up and left the cave. He called to Saul: My lord! When Saul looked back. David knelt down with his face touching the ground.

Joab quickly bowed down with his face touching the ground. He blessed the king. He said: Today I know that you have been kind to me because you did what I wanted.

Jesse loaded a donkey with bread and a goatskin full of wine. He told David to take the donkey and a young goat to Saul.

Some good-for-nothing people asked: How can this man save us? They despised him and would not bring him presents. He did not respond.

They feasted and drank with David for three days. Their relatives had made preparations for their arrival. People from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali brought food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen. Vast supplies of flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine; olive oil, cattle, and sheep were brought to the celebration. There was great joy throughout the land of Israel

Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah. This was in the twelfth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab as king of Israel. He was twenty-two years old. He ruled in Jerusalem for one year. His mother was Athaliah, the daughter of King Ahab and granddaughter of King Omri of Israel. Ahaziah was related to King Ahab by marriage. He sinned against Jehovah as Ahab's family did. read more.
King Ahaziah joined King Joram of Israel in a war against King Hazael of Syria. The armies clashed at Ramoth in Gilead. Joram was wounded in battle. He returned to the city of Jezreel to recover from his wounds. Ahaziah went there to visit him.

So Jehu got into his carriage and went to Jezreel. Joram was ill in bed there and Ahaziah, king of Judah came to see him. The watchman on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu and his company coming. He said: I see a company of people. Joram said: Send out a horseman to them and let him ask: 'Do you come in peace?' So a horseman went out to them and said: The king asks: 'Do you come in peace? ' Jehu said: What have you to do with peace? Follow me. The watchman reported that the horseman reached the group and was returning. read more.
A second man was sent out on horseback. He approached them and asked the same thing: Do you come in peace? Jehu replied: What have you to do with peace? Follow me. The watchman reported: He went up to them and has not come back. The driving is like the driving of Jehu, son of Nimshi, for he is driving violently. Joram said: Get ready. They prepared his chariot and Joram, king of Israel, with Ahaziah, king of Judah, went out in their chariots to meet Jehu. They came face to face with him at the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. When Joram saw Jehu he said: Do you come in peace, Jehu? He said in reply: What peace is possible while all the land is full of the disgusting sins of your mother Jezebel, and her secret arts of witchcraft? Then Joram turned his horses and fled. He said to Ahaziah: Broken faith, O Ahaziah! Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and sent an arrow, wounding Joram between the arms. The arrow came out at his heart, and he went down on his face in his chariot. Jehu said to Bidkar, his captain: Pick him up, and put him in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. I remember when you and I were riding together after Ahab, his father. Jehovah offered this prophesy against him. Even as I saw the blood of Naboth and his sons yesterday, 'I will pay you back in this field,' declares Jehovah. Now take him and throw him into the field as Jehovah predicted. When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled on the road leading to Beth Haggan. Jehu pursued him and ordered: Shoot him down in his chariot. They shot him at Gur Pass, near Ibleam. Ahaziah continued to flee until he got to Megiddo, where he died. His servants brought him in a chariot to Jerusalem. They buried him in a tomb with his ancestors in the City of David. Ahaziah became king over Judah. It was in the eleventh year of the rule of Joram, the son of Ahab.

The people of Jerusalem made Jehoram's youngest son Ahaziah king in his place, because the raiders who came to the camp with the Arabs had killed all the older sons. So Jehoram's son Ahaziah became king of Judah. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to rule. He ruled for one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. Ahaziah also followed the ways of Ahab's family, because his mother gave him advice that led him to sin. read more.
He did what Jehovah considered evil the same as Ahab's family had done. After his father died, they advised him to do what Ahab's family had done. They did this to destroy him. He followed their advice. He joined King Joram of Israel in a war against King Hazael of Syria. The armies clashed at Ramoth in Gilead, and Joram was wounded in battle. He returned to the city of Jezreel to recover from his wounds. Ahaziah went there to visit him. God used this visit to Joram to bring about Ahaziah's downfall. While Ahaziah was there, a man named Jehu confronted him and Joram. Jehu was the son of Nimshi, whom Jehovah chose to destroy the dynasty of Ahab. Jehu carried out God's sentence on the dynasty. He came across a group made up of Judean leaders and of Ahaziah's nephews that had accompanied Ahaziah on his visit. Jehu killed them all. A search was made for Ahaziah. He was found hiding in Samaria. They took him to Jehu and put him to death. But they did bury his body out of respect for his grandfather King Jehoshaphat, who had done all he could to serve Jehovah. No member of Ahaziah's family was left who could rule the kingdom.

You did a foolish thing, Samuel told Saul. You did not follow the command of Jehovah your God. If you had, Jehovah would have established your kingdom over Israel from generation to generation (for a very long time).

He must not think he is better than the rest of his people. He will not disobey these commandments in any way. So he and his sons will rule for a long time in Israel.

Samuel said to him: Jehovah has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today. He gave it to someone who is a better man than you. The Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind. He is not a mortal who changes his mind.

This time tomorrow I will send you a man from the territory of Benjamin. Anoint him to be ruler of my people Israel. He will save my people from the Philistines. I have seen my people suffering and their cry has reached me.

Jesse sent for him. He was a handsome, healthy young man, and his eyes sparkled. Jehovah said to Samuel: This is the one. Anoint him!

Enter the land Jehovah your God gives you. Possess it and live in it. You will say: I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me, you shall surely set a king over you whom Jehovah your God chooses. It will be one from among your countrymen. You may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman.

Then the men of Judah came to Hebron. They anointed David as king of Judah. David heard that the people of Jabesh-gilead (Jabesh in Gilead) buried Saul.

He was king of Israel for forty years. He ruled seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

Everything else that Zimri did, including the account of his conspiracy, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

In the twenty-seventh year of Asa, king of Judah, Zimri was king for seven days in Tirzah. The people were attacking Gibbethon in the land of the Philistines.

Immediately after he became king and took his place on the throne of the kingdom, he put to death all the family of Baasha. Not one male child survived. So Zimri destroyed the entire family of Baasha as Jehovah promised through the prophet Jehu.

Then all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.

Azariah son of Amaziah became king of Judah. This was in the twenty-seventh year of the rule of Jeroboam, king of Israel. Azariah was sixteen years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah, as his father Amaziah had done. read more.
He did not take away the high places. The people still continued to make and burn offerings in the high places. Jehovah sent disease on the king and he became a leper. To the day of his death he lived separately in his private house. Jotham his son was over his house, judging the people of the land. Now the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all he did are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. Azariah slept with his fathers. He was buried with his fathers in the town of David. Jotham his son became king in his place.

Then Jehoiada led Joash out and placed the crown on his head. He gave him a copy of the laws governing kingship. Then Jehoash was anointed and proclaimed king. The people clapped their hands and shouted: Long live the king!

Samuel asked the people: Do you see whom Jehovah has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people. Then all the people shouted: Long live the king!

David's friend Hushai from Archi's family came to Absalom. He said: Long live the king! Long live the king!

Then Jehoiada led Joash out and placed the crown on his head. He gave him a copy of the laws governing kingship. Then Jehoash was anointed and proclaimed king. The people clapped their hands and shouted: Long live the king!

Then they brought out the king's son and put the crown on him. They gave him the testimony and made him king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed him. They said: Long live the king!

You come to him with the blessings of good things. You set a crown of fine gold on his head.

But Abishai shouted: You should be killed for cursing Jehovah's chosen king!

He told his men: Stop talking foolishly. We are not going to attack Saul. He is my king. I pray that Jehovah will keep me from doing anything to harm his chosen king.

When they entered he looked at Eliab and thought: Surely Jehovah's anointed is before Him.

Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head. He kissed him and said: Jehovah has anointed you to be ruler of his people Israel. You will rule his people. You will save them from all their enemies. This will be the sign that Jehovah has anointed you to be ruler of his people.

Samuel took the olive oil and anointed David in front of his brothers. Immediately the Spirit of Jehovah took control of David and was with him from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.

I have found David my servant. I anointed him with my holy oil.

Follow him back here when he comes to sit on my throne. He will succeed me as king. He is the one I have chosen to be the ruler over Israel and Judah.

Solomon is seated on the royal throne.

Jehoiada the priest, the officers, the royal bodyguard, and the palace guards escorted the king from the Temple to the palace. All the people followed them. Jehoash entered by the Guard Gate and took his place on the royal throne.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to rule. He ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what Jehovah his God considered evil. He did not humble himself in front of the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke Jehovah's word. Zedekiah also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah swear an oath of allegiance to him in God's name. But Zedekiah became so stubborn and so impossible to deal with that he refused to turn back to Jehovah the God of Israel. read more.
All the officials, the priests, and the people became increasingly unfaithful and followed all the disgusting practices of the nations. Although Jehovah made the Temple in Jerusalem holy, they made the Temple unclean. Jehovah the God of their ancestors repeatedly sent messages through his prophets because he wanted to spare his people and his dwelling place. They mocked God's messengers. They despised his words, and made fun of his prophets until Jehovah became angry with his people. He could no longer heal them. So he had the Babylonian king attack them and execute their best young men in their holy temple. He did not spare the best men or the unmarried women, the old people or the sick people. God handed all of them over to him. He brought to Babylon each of the utensils from God's temple, the treasures from Jehovah's Temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials. He burned down the Temple and the city, with all its palaces and its wealth, and broke down the city wall. The survivors were taken to Babylonia as prisoners. They served as slaves of the king and his sons, until Persia became a powerful nation. This fulfilled the word of Jehovah that was spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept Sabbath until seventy years were complete.

The king of Babylon installed Mattaniah, his father's brother, king in place of Jehoiachin. He changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king. He was king in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, as Jehoiakim had done. read more.
This happened in Jerusalem and Judah because of Jehovah's anger. It continued until he had sent them all away from before him. Then Zedekiah took up arms and rebelled against the king of Babylon. Now in the ninth year of his rule, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked Jerusalem with all his army. He took his position and laid siege to it. They built earthworks all round the town. They surrounded the town and laid siege till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month, the store of food in the town was almost gone. There was no food for the people of the land. An opening was made in the wall of the town. All the men of war went in flight by night through the doorway between the two walls by the king's garden. The Chaldaeans were stationed around the town: and the king went by the way toward the plain of Arabah. But the Chaldaean army went after the king. They overtook him in the lowlands of Jericho. All his army went in flight from him in every direction. They made the king a prisoner and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah to be judged. They put the sons of Zedekiah to death before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, chained him with iron bands and took him to Babylon.

The king was told that the prophet was there. Nathan went in and bowed low before the king.

Then David got up and left the cave. He called to Saul: My lord! When Saul looked back. David knelt down with his face touching the ground.

If you do not my son Solomon and I will be treated as traitors when you die.

Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of the reign of King Ahab of Israel. He was thirty-five years old. He ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. Like his father Asa before him, he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah. However the places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. read more.
Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. Everything else that Jehoshaphat did, all his bravery and his battles, are recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. He banished all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan altars who were still left from the days of his father Asa. The land of Edom had no king. A deputy appointed by the king of Judah ruled it. King Jehoshaphat had ocean-going ships built to sail to the land of Ophir for gold. They were wrecked at Eziongeber and never sailed. King Ahaziah of Israel offered to let his men sail with Jehoshaphat's men. Jehoshaphat refused the offer. Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City. His son Jehoram succeeded him as king.

Jehoshaphat succeeded his father Asa as king and strengthened his position against Israel. He stationed troops in the fortified cities of Judah. He also put troops in the Judean countryside, and in the cities that Asa had captured in the territory of Ephraim. Jehovah blessed Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father's early life and did not worship Baal. read more.
He served his father's God. He obeyed God's commandments, and did not act the way the kings of Israel did. Jehovah gave Jehoshaphat firm control over the kingdom of Judah. The people brought him gifts, so that he became wealthy and highly honored. His heart was devoted to the ways of Jehovah. He destroyed all the pagan places of worship and the symbols of the goddess Asherah in Judah. In the third year of his reign he sent out the following officials to teach in the cities of Judah: Benhail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah. With them were the Levites Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, Tob Adonijah, and the priests Elishama and Jehoram. They taught in Judah. They had the Book of Torah (the Law) (Jehovah's Teachings) with them when they taught the people in all the cities of Judah. All the kingdoms around Judah were afraid of Jehovah. As a result, they did not wage war against Jehoshaphat. Some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver as taxes. The Arabs also brought him flocks: seven thousand and seven hundred rams and seven thousand and seven hundred male goats. Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful. He built fortresses and cities where supplies were stored in Judah. He stored large supplies of food in the cities of Judah and an army of professional soldiers served him in Jerusalem. The following is a breakdown of these soldiers. They are listed by families. Judah's regimental commanders were Commander Adnah with three hundred thousand fighting men, next to him was Commander Jehohanan with two hundred and eighty thousand men. There was Amasiah, Zichri's son, who volunteered to serve Jehovah with two hundred thousand fighting men. From Benjamin there was the fighting man Eliada with two hundred thousand armed men with bows and shields. Next to him was Jehozabad with an army of one hundred and eighty thousand armed men. These were the men who served the king in addition to those whom the king put in the fortified cities throughout Judah. Jehoshaphat was wealthy and honorable. He became Ahab's in-law. After that he went to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for a banquet in honor of Jehoshaphat and the people who were with him. Ahab persuaded Jehoshaphat to attack Ramoth in Gilead with him. He asked: Will you go with me to attack Ramoth? Jehoshaphat replied: I am ready when you are. My army is ready. We will join you. He added: But first let us consult Jehovah. Ahab called in about four hundred prophets. He asked them: Should I go and attack Ramoth, or not? Attack it, they answered. God will give you victory. Jehoshaphat asked: Is there another prophet through whom we can consult Jehovah? Ahab answered: There is one more. He is Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me. It is always something bad. Jehoshaphat replied: You should not say that. Consequently King Ahab called in a court official and told him to go and get Micaiah at once. The two kings, dressed in their royal robes, sat on their thrones at the threshing place just outside the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying in front of them. One of them, Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, made iron horns and said to Ahab: This is what Jehovah says: With these you will fight the Syrians and totally defeat them. All the other prophets said the same thing. March against Ramoth and you will win, they said. Jehovah will give you victory. The official who had gone to get Micaiah said to him: All the other prophets have prophesied success for the king. You had better do the same. But Micaiah answered: By the living God Jehovah I will say what my God tells me to say. When he appeared before King Ahab, the king asked him: Micaiah, should King Jehoshaphat and I go and attack Ramoth, or not? Attack! Micaiah answered. You will win! Jehovah will give you victory. Ahab replied: When you speak to me in the name of Jehovah, tell the truth! How many times do I have to tell you that? Micaiah answered: I can see the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. Jehovah said: These men have no leader. Let them go home in peace. Ahab said to Jehoshaphat: I told you that he never prophesies anything good for me. It is always something bad! Micaiah continued: Now listen to what Jehovah says! I saw Jehovah sitting on his throne in heaven. All his angels were standing beside him. Jehovah asked: Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and get killed at Ramoth? Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, until a spirit stepped forward, approached Jehovah, and said: I will deceive him. How? Jehovah asked. The spirit replied: I will go and make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies. Jehovah said: Go and deceive him. You will succeed. Micaiah concluded: This is what has happened. Jehovah made these prophets of yours lie to you. But he has decreed that you will meet with disaster! Then the prophet Zedekiah went up to Micaiah and slapped his face. He asked: Since when did Jehovah's spirit leave me and speak to you? You will find out when you go into some back room to hide, Micaiah replied. Then King Ahab ordered one of his officers: Arrest Micaiah and take him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Prince Joash. Say: This is what the king says: 'Put this man in prison, and feed him nothing but bread and water until I return home safely.' Micaiah said: If you really do come back safely, then Jehovah was not speaking through me. Pay attention to this, everyone! Thus the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to Ramoth in Gilead. The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat: I will disguise myself and go into battle. You, however, should wear your royal robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. The king of Aram gave orders to the chariot commanders. He said: Do not fight anyone except the king of Israel. When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said: He must be the king of Israel. So they surrounded him in order to fight him. When Jehoshaphat cried out Jehovah helped him. God drew them away from him. Soon the chariot commanders realized that Jehoshaphat was not the king of Israel. Then they turned away from him. One man aimed his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between his scale armor and his breastplate. Ahab told the chariot driver: Turn around, and get me away from these troops for I am badly wounded. The battle raged on and King Ahab remained propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians. At sunset he died. King Jehoshaphat of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem. A prophet, Jehu son of Hanani, went to meet the king. He said to him: Do you think it is right to help those who are wicked and to take the side of those who hate Jehovah? What you have done has brought Jehovah's anger upon you. Regardless of this, there is some good in you. You have removed all the symbols of the goddess Asherah that people worshiped. You have tried to follow God's will. While Jehoshaphat was living in Jerusalem, he regularly went to the people between Beersheba and the mountains of Ephraim. He brought the people back to Jehovah the God of their ancestors. He appointed judges in the country, in each fortified city of Judah. He told the judges: Be careful when you make your decisions in court. Remember these are Jehovah's people. He will know the judgements you decide. Do your work in honor of him and know that he will not allow you to be unfair to anyone or to take bribes. Jehoshaphat also appointed some Levites, some priests, and some of the family leaders to serve as judges in Jerusalem. He told them: Faithfully serve Jehovah! Warn your relatives living in other cities about every case they bring to you, even if the case involves bloodshed or commandments, rules, or regulations derived from the law. Then your relatives will not become guilty in front of Jehovah. Otherwise, he will become angry with you and your relatives. Do this and you will not be guilty of anything. The chief priest Amariah will be in charge of you in every matter involving Jehovah. Zebadiah, who is the son of Ishmael and the leader of the tribe of Judah, will be in charge of every matter involving the king. The Levites will serve as officers of the court. Be strong and do your job. May Jehovah be with those who do right. Shortly after that the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites came to wage war against Jehoshaphat. Some men reported to Jehoshaphat: A large crowd is coming against you from the other side of the Dead Sea, from Edom. The crowd is already in Hazazon Tamar (En Gedi). Jehoshaphat was frightened and decided to ask for Jehovah's help. He announced a fast throughout Judah. The people of Judah gathered to seek Jehovah's help. They came from every city in Judah. In the new courtyard at Jehovah's Temple, Jehoshaphat stood in front of the people. He prayed aloud: O Jehovah, God of our ancestors, you rule in heaven over all the nations of the world. You are powerful and mighty. No one can oppose you. You are our God. When your people Israel moved into this land, you drove out the people who were living here and gave the land to the descendants of Abraham, your friend, to be theirs from generation to generation. Our ancestors lived in this land and built a Temple to honor you. They believed that whenever this land is struck by war, judgement, disease, or famine, your people can pray to you at the Temple. You will hear their prayer and save them. You can see that the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Edom are attacking us! Those are the nations you would not let our ancestors invade on their way from Egypt. Consequently these nations were not destroyed. They are now paying us back by coming to force us out of your land that you gave to us. You are our God. Will you judge them? We do not have the strength to face this large crowd that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, so we are looking to you. All the people from Judah, their infants, wives, and children were standing in front of Jehovah. Then Jehovah's Spirit came to Jahaziel. He was the son of Zechariah, grandson of Benaiah, great-grandson of Jeiel, whose father was Mattaniah, a Levite descended from Asaph. Jahaziel said: Pay attention to me, everyone from Judah, everyone living in Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what Jehovah says to you: 'Do not be frightened or terrified by this large crowd. The battle is not yours. It is God's. Attack them tomorrow as they come up the pass at Ziz. Meet them at the end of the valley that leads to the wild country near Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Just take up your positions and wait. You will see Jehovah give you victory. People of Judah and Jerusalem, do not hesitate or be afraid.' Go out to battle. Jehovah will be with you! Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low. His face was touching the ground. All the people bowed with him and worshiped Jehovah. The members of the Levite clans of Kohath and Korah stood up and with a loud shout praised Jehovah, the God of Israel. Early the next morning the people went out to the wild country near Tekoa. Before they began Jehoshaphat addressed them with these words: 'People of Judah and Jerusalem! Put your trust in Jehovah your God. You will stand your ground. Believe what his prophets tell you, and you will succeed. After consulting with the people, the king ordered some musicians to put on the robes they wore on sacred occasions and to march ahead of the army. They sang: 'Praise Jehovah! His love is eternal!' As soon as they began singing, Jehovah confused the enemy camp, The Ammonite and Moabite troops attacked and completely destroyed those from Edom. Then they turned against each other and fought until the entire camp was wiped out! Judah's army reached the tower that overlooked the desert. They saw that every soldier in the enemy's army was lying dead on the ground. Jehoshaphat and his troops came to take the loot. They found among them a lot of goods, clothes, and valuables. They found more than they could carry. They spent three days collecting the loot. They gathered in the valley of Beracah on the fourth day. Because they thanked Jehovah there, that place is still called the Valley of Beracah (Thanks) today. All the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned to Jerusalem. They rejoiced while Jehoshaphat led them. Jehovah gave them a reason to rejoice about what had happened to their enemies. They brought harps, lyres, and trumpets to Jehovah's Temple in Jerusalem. Deep respect for Jehovah came over the kingdoms in that area when they heard how Jehovah waged war against Israel's enemies. Jehoshaphat's kingdom was peaceful, since his God surrounded him with peace. Jehoshaphat ruled as king of Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to rule. He ruled for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah, daughter of Shilhi. Jehoshaphat carefully followed the example his father Asa had set and did what Jehovah considered right. However the illegal worship sites on the hills were not torn down. The people still did not have their hearts set on the God of their ancestors. Everything else about Jehoshaphat from first to last is written in the records of Jehu, son of Hanani, which is included in the Book of the Kings of Israel. After this, King Jehoshaphat of Judah allied himself with King Ahaziah of Israel, who led him to do evil. Jehoshaphat joined him in making ships to go to Tarshish. They made the ships in Ezion Geber. Eliezer was the son of Dodavahu from Mareshah. He prophesied against Jehoshaphat. He said: Jehovah will destroy your work because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah. The ships were wrecked and could not go to Tarshish. Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City and his son Jehoram succeeded him as king.

Then Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of Josiah his father. He changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz away to Egypt, where he remained till he died. Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh. He ordered that the land be taxed to get the money. All the people of the land had to give silver and gold in order to make the payment to Pharaoh Necho. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother's name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. read more.
He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah as his fathers had done. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded Judah. Jehoiakim king of Judah was forced to serve him for three years. Then he rebelled and fought against him. Jehovah sent raiding parties of Babylonians, Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites against Jehoiakim to destroy Judah as Jehovah predicted through his servants the prophets. This happened to Judah because Jehovah commanded it to happen. He wanted to remove the people of Judah from his sight because of Manasseh's sins and everything he had done, and especially because of all the innocent people he killed. Jehovah would not forgive Manasseh for that. The rest of the acts of Jehoiakim are written in the Book of the History of the Days of the Kings of Judah. Jehoiakim slept with his fathers. Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king. He ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what Jehovah his God considered evil. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked Jehoiakim and put him in bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the utensils of Jehovah's Temple to Babylon. He put them in his palace (temple) in Babylon. read more.
Everything about Jehoiakim, the disgusting things he did and all the charges against him are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiakin succeeded him as king.

Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king. He ruled for two years in Jerusalem. He did what Jehovah considered evil, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the idols his father Manasseh had made, and he worshiped them. He did not humble himself in front of Jehovah as his father Manasseh had humbled himself. Instead, Amon continued to sin. read more.
His officials conspired against him and killed him in his palace. The people of the land killed everyone who conspired against King Amon. They made his son Josiah king in his place.

Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for two years. His mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah as Manasseh his father had done. He followed all the practices of his father. He was a servant and worshipper of the false gods to which his father had been a servant. read more.
Amon turned away from Jehovah the God of his fathers. He did not walk in his ways. The servants of Amon conspired against him. They killed the king in his house. But the people of the land put to death all those who had taken part in the design against the king. Then they made Josiah his son king in his place. Now the rest of the acts which Amon did, are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. Josiah his son became king in his place.

That day they were very happy as they ate and drank in the presence of Jehovah. For a second time they proclaimed Solomon king. In the name of Jehovah they anointed him as their ruler and Zadok as priest.

All these men came in battle array to Hebron with the single purpose of making David the king of Israel. In fact, all Israel agreed that David should be their king.

he said to them: Take my court officials with you; have my son Solomon ride my own mule, and escort him to Gihon Spring, Zadok and Nathan are to anoint him as king of Israel. Then blow the trumpet and shout: Long live King Solomon!

Rehoboam appointed Abijah, son of Maacah, as family head and prince among his brothers. By doing this, Rehoboam could make him king. He wisely placed his sons in every region of Judah and Benjamin, in every fortified city. He gave them allowances and obtained many wives for them.

In the seventh year Jehoiada the priest sent for the officers in charge of the royal bodyguard and of the palace guards, and told them to come to the Temple. He made them agree under oath to what he planned to do. He showed them King Ahaziah's son Joash and gave them the following orders: When you come on duty on the Sabbath, one third of you are to guard the palace. One third are to stand guard at the Sur Gate. The other third are to stand guard at the gate behind the other guards. read more.
The two groups that go off duty on the Sabbath are to stand guard at the Temple to protect the king. You are to guard King Jehoash with drawn swords and stay with him wherever he goes. Anyone who comes near you is to be killed. The officers obeyed Jehoiada's instructions and brought their men to him, those going off duty on the Sabbath and those going on duty. He gave the officers the spears and shields that had belonged to King David and had been kept in the Temple. He stationed the men with drawn swords all around the front of the Temple, to protect the king. Then Jehoiada led Joash out and placed the crown on his head. He gave him a copy of the laws governing kingship. Then Jehoash was anointed and proclaimed king. The people clapped their hands and shouted: Long live the king! Queen Athaliah heard the noise being made by the guards and the people. She hurried to the Temple, where the crowd had gathered. There she saw the new king standing by the column at the entrance of the Temple, as was the custom. The officers and the trumpeters surrounded him, and the people were all shouting joyfully and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes in distress and shouted: Treason! Treason! Jehoiada the priest did not want Athaliah killed in the Temple area. He ordered the army officers: Take her out between the rows of guards, and kill anyone who tries to rescue her. They seized her and took her to the palace. There at the Horse Gate they killed her. The priest Jehoiada had King Jehoash and the people make a covenant with Jehovah that they would be Jehovah's people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people. The people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and the idols, and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars. Jehoiada put guards on duty at the Temple, Jehoiada the priest, the officers, the royal bodyguard, and the palace guards escorted the king from the Temple to the palace. All the people followed them. Jehoash entered by the Guard Gate and took his place on the royal throne. All the people were happy. The city was quiet, now that Athaliah had been killed in the palace. Jehoash was seven years old when he became king. Jehoash became king of Judah. It was the seventh year of Jehu's rule over Israel. Jehoash ruled for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah all his days, because he was guided by the teaching of Jehoiada the priest. The high places were not taken away. The people continued making offerings and burning them in the high places. Jehoash said to the priests: All the money of the holy things, which comes into the house of Jehovah, the amount fixed for every man's payment, and all the money given by any man freely by motivation of his heart, Let the priests take, every man from his friends and neighbors, to make good what is damaged in the Temple, wherever it is to be seen. But in the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had not made good the damaged parts of the Temple. He called in Jehoiada and the other priests and asked them: Why are you not repairing the Temple? From now on you are not to keep the money you receive. You must hand it over, so that the repairs can be made. The priests agreed to this and also agreed not to make the repairs in the Temple. Then Jehoiada took a box, made a hole in the lid, and placed the box by the altar, on the right side as one enters the Temple. The priests on duty at the entrance put in the box all the money given by the worshipers. Whenever there was a large amount of money in the box, the royal secretary and the High Priest would come, melt down the silver, and weigh it. After recording the exact amount, they would hand the silver over to the men in charge of the work in the Temple. These would pay the carpenters, the builders, the masons, and the stonecutters, buy the timber and the stones used in the repairs, and pay all other necessary expenses. None of the money was used to pay for making silver cups, bowls, trumpets, or tools for tending the lamps, or any other article of silver or of gold. It was all used to pay the workers and to buy the materials used in the repairs. The men in charge of the work were very honest. There was no need to require them to account for the funds. The money given for the repayment offerings and for the offerings for sin was not deposited in the box. It belonged to the priests. King Hazael of Syria attacked the city of Gath and conquered it. Then he decided to attack Jerusalem. King Jehoash of Judah took all the offerings that his predecessors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah had dedicated to Jehovah, added to them his own offerings and all the gold in the treasuries of the Temple and the palace, and sent them all as a gift to King Hazael, who then led his army away from Jerusalem. The rest of the history of Jehoash is recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Judah. His own officials plotted against him and killed him at the House of the Mound on the road that goes down to Silla. Jehoash's officials Jozacar, son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad, son of Shomer, executed him. They buried him with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Amaziah succeeded him as king.

Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. He did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah. He walked in the ways of David his father, without turning to the right hand or to the left. Now in the eighteenth year after he became king, Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah son of Meshullam the scribe, to the Temple of Jehovah. He said to him: read more.
Go to Hilkiah the high priest. Let him count the money brought into the Temple of Jehovah that the keepers of the door gathered from the people. Let them deliver it to the workmen who have oversight of the work of Jehovah's Temple. Then they can pay it to the workmen who are making good what was damaged in the Temple of Jehovah. To the woodworkers and the builders and the stonecutters; and for getting wood and cut stones for building the Temple. Since the workmen are honest, do not require them to account for the money you give them. The chief priest Hilkiah told the scribe Shaphan: I found the Book of the Law in Jehovah's House. Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who then read it. The scribe Shaphan reported to the king: We have taken the money donated in the temple and have given it to the workmen who are in charge of Jehovah's House. Then the scribe Shaphan told the king: The priest Hilkiah has given me a book. Shaphan read it to the king. When the king heard what the book of the Law said, he tore his clothes in distress. The king gave an order to the priest Hilkiah, to Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, the scribe Shaphan, and the royal official Asaiah. He said: Go inquire of Jehovah on my behalf and for the people. This is concerning the words in this book that has been found. Jehovah's fierce anger is directed towards us because our ancestors did not obey the things in this book or do everything written in it. So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to talk to the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum, son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas. Shallum was in charge of the royal wardrobe. Huldah was living in the Second Part of Jerusalem. She told them: This is what Jehovah God of Israel says: Tell the man who sent you to me: This is what Jehovah says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and on the people living here. This is according to everything written in the book that the king of Judah has read. I will do this because they abandoned me. They sacrificed to other gods in order to make me furious. Therefore, my burning anger against this place will never be extinguished.' Huldah added: Tell Judah's king who sent you to me to ask Jehovah a question. This is what Jehovah God of Israel says about the words you heard: You had a change of heart and humbled yourself in front of Jehovah when you heard my words against this place and those who live here. I said that those who live here would be destroyed and cursed. You also tore your clothes in distress and cried in front of me. So I will listen to you,' declares Jehovah. That is why I will bring you to your ancestors. I will bring you to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see any of the disaster I will bring on this place.' They reported this to the king. Then the king sent for all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to join him. The king went up to the Temple of Jehovah. All the inhabitants of Judah young and old also went to Jehovah's Temple. Josiah read everything written in the Book of the Promise found in Jehovah's Temple so they could all hear it. The king stood beside the pillar and made a promise to Jehovah that he would follow Jehovah and obey his commands, instructions, and laws with all his heart and mind. He confirmed the terms of the promise written in this book. All the people joined in the promise. Then the king ordered the high priest Hilkiah, the priests who served under Hilkiah, and the doorkeepers to remove from Jehovah's Temple all utensils that had been made for Baal, Asherah, and the entire army of heaven. Josiah burned the utensils outside Jerusalem. It was in an open field near the Kidron Brook. Then he carried their ashes to Bethel. He got rid of the pagan priests. The kings of Judah appointed them to sacrifice at the illegal places of worship in the cities of Judah and all around Jerusalem. They had been sacrificing to Baal, the sun god, the moon god, the constellations of the zodiac (Mazzalohth Constellation-Job 38:32), and the entire army of heaven. He removed the pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah from the temple. He took it to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. There he burned it in the Kidron Valley, ground it to dust, and threw its ashes on the tombs of the common people. He tore down the houses of the male temple (cult) prostitutes who were in Jehovah's Temple. This is where women did weaving for Asherah. He brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah from Geba to Beersheba and made the places where those priests sacrificed unclean. He tore down the worship site at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the gate named after the mayor of the city. The worship site was to the left of anyone going through the city gate. The priests of the illegal worship sites had never gone to Jehovah's altar in Jerusalem. Instead, they ate their unleavened bread among the other worshipers. Josiah also made Topheth in the valley of Ben Hinnom unclean so that people would never again sacrifice their sons or daughters by burning them to the god Molech. He also removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the worship of the sun. He burned the chariots used in this worship. The altars the kings of Judah built on the palace roof above King Ahaz' quarters, King Josiah tore down, along with the altars put up by King Manasseh in the two courtyards of the Temple. He smashed the altars to bits and threw them into Kidron Valley. The king made the illegal places of worship east of Jerusalem unclean. They were on the southern part of the Hill of Destruction. King Solomon of Israel built them for Astarte the disgusting goddess of the Sidonians. Also made unclean were references to Chemosh the disgusting god of Moab, and Milcom the disgusting god of the Ammonites. Josiah crushed the sacred stones. He cut down the poles dedicated to Asherah. And he filled their places with human bones. He also tore down the altar at Bethel the place of worship made by Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin. He tore down both the altar and the place of worship. They burned the worship site. They crushed it into powder and burned the pole dedicated to Asherah. Josiah turned and saw the tombs on the hill. He sent men to take the bones out of the tombs and burn them on the altar to make it unclean. This fulfilled the word of Jehovah announced by the man of God. What is that headstone I see over there? Josiah asked. The men of the town said: It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah. The one who foretold all these things you have done to the altar of Bethel. He said: Let him be. Do not move his bones. So they let his bones be with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. Josiah removed all the houses of the high places the kings of Israel built in the towns of Samaria. This provoked Jehovah to anger and he did with them as he had done in Bethel. He killed all the priests of the high places on the altars. Their bones were burned on the altars. Then the king went back to Jerusalem. The king gave orders to all the people. He said: Keep the Passover to Jehovah your God, as it says in this book of the law. Truly, such a Passover had not been kept in all the days of the judges of Israel or of the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah. In the eighteenth year of the rule of King Josiah this Passover was kept to Jehovah in Jerusalem. Josiah removed all the spirit mediums, the foretellers, the images, and the false gods, and all the disgusting things seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. That way he could establish the words of the agreement recorded in the book Hilkiah the priest discovered in the Temple of Jehovah. Never before had there been a king like him. He turned to Jehovah with all his heart and his entire mind and all his power. As the Law of Moses says: and after him there was no king like him. Still the heat of Jehovah's anger was not turned back from Judah. This is because of all Manasseh had done in moving him to anger. Jehovah said: I will send Judah away from before my face, as I have sent Israel. I will have nothing more to do with this town. It is Jerusalem my town. And the holy house of which I said: 'My name will be there.' Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all he did are recorded in the book of the History of the Kings of Judah. In his days, Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, sent his armies against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went out against him. Josiah was killed when he saw him at Megiddo. His servants took his body in a carriage from Megiddo to Jerusalem. They buried him there. The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, and put the holy oil on him and made him king in place of his father.

Let every person be subject to superior authorities. For there is no authority except by God. God allows the authorities to serve in their positions.

You must be in subjection, not only because of that wrath, but also for the sake of your conscience.

Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it is to the king,

you shall surely set a king over you whom Jehovah your God chooses. It will be one from among your countrymen. You may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman.

Yet, from my entire family Jehovah God of Israel chose me to be king of Israel for as long as I live. He had chosen the tribe of Judah to lead Israel. From the families of Judah he chose my father's family. From among my father's sons he was pleased to make me king over all Israel. Of all my sons, for Jehovah has given me many sons, he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of Jehovah's kingdom to rule Israel. He told me: 'Your son Solomon will build my Temple and my courtyards because I have chosen him to be my son. I will be his father.

Rehoboam went to Shechem. All the people of northern Israel gathered to make him king. Jeroboam son of Nebat went to Egypt to escape from King Solomon. When he heard this news he returned from Egypt. The people of the northern tribes sent for him. Then they all went together to Rehoboam and said to him: read more.
Your father Solomon treated us harshly and placed heavy burdens on us. If you make these burdens lighter and make life easier for us, we will be your loyal subjects. Come back in three days and I will give you my answer, he replied. So they left. Then King Rehoboam consulted elders who had been with Solomon his father when he was living. He said: In your opinion, what answer am I to give to these people? They said to him: If you will be a servant to this people today, caring for them and giving them a favorable answer, then they will be your servants for ever. But he paid no attention to the opinion of the elders. He went to the young men who were his advisors: What is your opinion? He asked: What answer are we to give to this people? They want me to lighten the burdens placed on them by my father. His young advisors said: This is the answer to give to the people who came to you saying: 'Your father put a hard yoke on us; will you make it less?' Say to them: 'My little finger is thicker than my father's body.' If my father put a hard yoke on you, I will make it harder! My father gave you punishment with whips, but I will give you blows with snakes.' So all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day just as the king ordered. The king gave them a harsh answer. He paid no attention to the suggestion of the elders. He gave them the answer suggested by the young advisors. He said: My father made your yoke hard, but I will make it harder! My father gave you punishment with whips, but I will give it with snakes. The king did not listen to the people. This came about by Jehovah's purpose, so that what he had said by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam, son of Nebat, might be fulfilled. When all Israel realized that the king would not respond to their request, the people in answer said to the king: What share do we have in David? What is our heritage in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel; now see to your people, David. So Israel went away to their tents. Rehoboam was still king over those of the children of Israel who were living in the towns of Judah. Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, the overseer of the forced work. He was stoned to death by all Israel. King Rehoboam went quickly and got into his carriage to escape to Jerusalem. Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they requested a meeting of the people. At that meeting they made him king over Israel. There was none who followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah.

Rehoboam went to Shechem because all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. Jeroboam, Nebat's son, was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon. When he heard about Rehoboam, he returned from Egypt. Israel sent for Jeroboam and invited him back. Jeroboam and all Israel went to speak to Rehoboam. They said: read more.
Your father made us carry a heavy burden. Reduce the hard work and lighten the heavy burden he put on us. We will serve you. He said to them: Come back the day after tomorrow. So the people left. King Rehoboam sought advice from the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive. He asked: What do you advise? How should I respond to these people? They told him: If you are good to these people and try to please them by speaking gently to them, then they will always be your servants. He ignored the advice the elders gave him. He sought advice from the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. He asked: What is your advice? How should we respond to these people who are asking me to lighten the burden my father put on them? The young men who had grown up with him answered: This is what you should tell them: 'My little finger is heavier than my father's whole body. If my father put a heavy burden on you, I will add to it. If my father punished you with whips, I will punish you with scorpions.' So Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam two days later, as the king had instructed them. The king answered them harshly. He ignored the elder's advice. He spoke to them as the young men advised. He said: If my father made your burden heavy, I will add to it. If my father punished you with whips, I will use scorpions. The king refused to listen to the people because Jehovah was directing these events to carry out the promise he had made to Jeroboam, Nebat's son through Ahijah from Shiloh. When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king: What share do we have in David's kingdom? We will not receive an inheritance from Jesse's son. Everyone to his own tent, Israel! Now look after your own house, David! So all Israel went home to their tents.

So all the people went to Gilgal. In Gilgal they made Saul king before Jehovah. Peace offerings were offered before Jehovah. Saul and all the men of Israel were glad with great joy. Samuel said to all Israel: I listened to everything you said to me and established a king over you. Now you have a king as your leader. I am old and gray and my sons are with you. I walked before you (served as your leader) from childhood until this day. read more.
Here I am! Testify against me before Jehovah and before his anointed one. Whose bull have I stolen? Whose donkey have I taken? Have I cheated anyone? Have I oppressed any? Have I ever taken a bribe? Tell me and I will make it right. The people answered: You have not cheated us or oppressed us. You have not taken anything from anyone. Samuel replied: Jehovah and the king he has chosen are witnesses today that you have found me to be completely innocent. They answered: That is right, Jehovah is our witness! Samuel continued: Jehovah chose Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors out of Egypt. Now stand where you are. I will judge you before Jehovah by reminding you of all the mighty actions Jehovah did to save you and your ancestors. When Jacob and his family went to Egypt the Egyptians oppressed them. Your ancestors cried to Jehovah for help. He sent Moses and Aaron, who brought them out of Egypt and settled them in this land. But the people forgot Jehovah their God. So he let the Philistines and the king of Moab and Sisera, commander of the army of the city of Hazor, fight against your ancestors and conquer them. Again they cried to Jehovah for help! They said: 'We have sinned, because we turned away from you, Jehovah. We worshiped the idols of the Baals and the Ashtoreth (Greek: Astarte). Rescue us from our enemies. We will worship you!' Jehovah sent Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, and finally me. Each of us rescued you from your enemies. You lived in safety. But when you saw that King Nahash of Ammon was about to attack you, you rejected Jehovah as your king. You said to me: 'We want a (human) king to rule us.' Now here is the king you have chosen. You asked for him. Now Jehovah gives him to you. All will go well with you if you honor Jehovah your God, serve him, listen to him, and obey his commands. If you and your king follow Jehovah all will be well. But if you do not listen to Jehovah but disobey his commands, he will be against you and your king. He was against your fathers because they disobeyed. So then, stand where you are, and you will see the great thing that Jehovah will do. It is the dry season and the wheat harvest. I will pray and Jehovah will send thunder and rain. When this happens, you will realize that you committed a great sin against Jehovah when you asked him for a king. Samuel prayed. That same day Jehovah sent thunder and rain. Then all the people became afraid of Jehovah and of Samuel. They said to Samuel: Please pray to Jehovah your God for us, that we will not die. We now realize that we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for a (human) king. Do not be afraid! Samuel answered. Even though you have done such an evil thing, do not turn away from Jehovah. Serve him with all your heart. Do not go after false gods and empty things. They cannot help you or save you. They are useless. Jehovah made a solemn promise. He will not abandon you. You are his people for his great name's sake. As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah by no longer praying for you. Instead, I will teach you what is good and right for you to do. Reverence Jehovah and serve him in truth with all your heart. Remember the great things he has done for you. If you continue to sin, you and your king will be destroyed. Saul was thirty years old when he became king. He was king of Israel forty-two years. Saul chose three thousand men from Israel. Two thousand of them were stationed with Saul at Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel. One thousand were stationed with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent the rest of the people home. Jonathan defeated the Philistine troops at Geba. The Philistines heard about it. With the sounding of the trumpet throughout the land, Saul announced: Let the Hebrews listen! All Israel listened as Saul told that he had defeated the Philistine troops. Now Israel has gone on the offensive against the Philistines. All the troops rallied behind Saul at Gilgal. The Philistines assembled to fight Israel. They had thirty thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and as many soldiers as the sand on the seashore. They camped at Michmash, east of Beth Aven. The Israelite army realized that they were outnumbered and were going to lose the battle. Some of the Israelite men hid in caves, thickets and rocks. Others hid in tombs or in deep dry pits. Some of them went to Gad and Gilead on the other side of the Jordan River. Saul stayed at Gilgal. His soldiers trembled with fear. They were starting to run off and leave him. Saul waited there seven days, just as Samuel had ordered him to do. But Samuel did not come. Saul commanded: Bring me some animals so we can offer sacrifices to please Jehovah. Then we can ask for his help. Saul slaughtered one of the animals, and just as he was placing it on the altar, Samuel arrived. So Saul went out to welcome him. Samuel asked: What have you done? Saul replied: I saw the troops were scattering. You did not come when you said you would and the Philistines were assembling at Michmash. So I thought the Philistines will come against me at Gilgal. I have not sought Jehovah's favor. I felt pressured into sacrificing the burnt offering. You did a foolish thing, Samuel told Saul. You did not follow the command of Jehovah your God. If you had, Jehovah would have established your kingdom over Israel from generation to generation (for a very long time). Your kingdom will not last. Jehovah searched for a man after his own heart. Jehovah appointed him as ruler of his people. This is because you did not follow the command of Jehovah. Samuel left Gilgal. The rest of the people followed Saul to meet the soldiers. They went from Gilgal to Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul counted the troops who were still with him. There were about six hundred men. Saul and his son Jonathan and the troops with them stayed at Geba (Gebeah) in Benjamin. The Philistines camped at Michmash. Raiding parties left the Philistine camp in three companies. One company turned on the road to Ophrah to the region of Shual. Another company turned to the road to Beth Horon. Another turned onto the road toward the region that overlooks the valley of Zeboim and the desert. No blacksmith could be found in all of Israel. In this way the Philistines kept the Hebrews from making swords and spears. Everyone in Israel had to go to the Philistines to sharpen the blade of his plow, his mattock, ax, or sickle. The charge for sharpening plowshares and for the mattocks, and for the mattocks, and for the three-pronged forks, and for the axes was a pim. So in the day of battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan. But with Saul and with his son Jonathan there was found sword and spear. The garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash. Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor: Come and let us go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side. He did not tell his father. Saul stayed on the edge of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. There were about six hundred men with him. Ahiah son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, Jehovah's priest in Shiloh, who was wearing an ephod were with him. The people did not know that Jonathan was gone. Johathan tried to go over to the Philistines garrison between the passes. There was a rocky crag on each side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other crag was Seneh. One cliff was on the north side of the pass facing Michmash. The other was on the south side facing Geba. Jonathan said to the young man: Let us cross over to the camp of those heathen Philistines. Maybe Jehovah will help us. If he does, nothing can keep him from giving us the victory no matter how few of us there are. His armor bearer answered him: Do whatever you have in mind. Go ahead! I agree with you. We will do this, Jonathan said. We will go across so they can see us. If they agree to come to us down the hill and fight where we are, then we will not climb up to their camp. But we will go to them if they tell us to come up the hill and fight. That will mean Jehovah will help us win. So they let the Philistines see them. The Philistines said: Some Hebrews are coming out of the holes they were hiding in! They called out to Jonathan and the young man: Come up here! We have something to tell you! Jonathan said to the young man: Follow me, for Jehovah gives Israel victory over them. Jonathan climbed out of the pass on his hands and knees. The young man followed him. Jonathan attacked the Philistines and knocked them down. The young man killed them. In that first slaughter Jonathan and the young man killed about twenty men in an area of about half an acre. There was panic among the army in the field. All the troops in the military post trembled with fear. The raiding party also trembled in fear. The earth shook, and there was a panic sent from God. Saul's watchmen at Gibeah of Benjamin could see the crowd in the Philistine camp dispersing in all directions. Call the roll, Saul told the troops who were with him, See who has left our camp. They looked and found that Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there. Then Saul said to Ahijah: Bring the Ark of God here. At that time it was with the Israelites. While Saul was talking to the priest, the confusion in the Philistine camp grew worse. Then Saul said to the priest: Remove your hand. Saul and all the people with him came together and went forward to the battle. Every man's sword was turned against the man at his side. There was a very great noise. The Hebrews who had been with the Philistines for some time went to their camp. They joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. All the men of Israel who had taken cover in the mountains of Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines had been put to flight chased them and attacked them. Jehovah made Israel safe that day. The battle shifted to Beth-aven. And all the people were with Saul. There were about twenty thousand men. The fight was general through all the mountains of Ephraim. Saul made a great error that day. He put the people under an oath, saying: Let that man be cursed who eats any food before evening. I have taken vengeance on my enemies. So the people did not eat. All the people came to the forest. There was honey on the ground. The bees had gone from it. When the people entered the woods, the honey was flowing. But no one put his hand to his mouth. The people were afraid of violating their oath. Jonathan had not heard that his father forced the people to take an oath. So he stretched out the tip of the staff he had in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb. When he put it to his mouth his eyes lit up. Then one of the people told him: Your father forced the people to take a solemn oath, saying: 'Cursed is anyone who eats food today.' That is why the people were exhausted. Jonathan answered: My father brought trouble to the country. See how my eyes lit up when I tasted a little of this honey? If only the people had eaten some of the enemies' food they found today. We would have killed more Philistines. That day they struck down the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, but the people were thoroughly exhausted. They grabbed the food they had captured from the Philistines and started eating. They even killed sheep and cows and calves right on the ground and ate the meat without draining the blood. Someone told Saul: The army is disobeying Jehovah by eating meat before the blood drains out. You are right, Saul answered. They are being unfaithful to Jehovah! Hurry! Roll a big rock over here. Then tell everyone in camp to bring their cattle and lambs to me. They can kill the animals on this rock and then eat the meat. That way no one will disobey Jehovah by eating meat with blood still in it. That night the people brought their cattle over to the big rock and killed them there. It was the first altar Saul had built for offering sacrifices to Jehovah. Saul said: Let us attack the Philistines again while it is still dark. We can fight them all night. Let us kill them and take everything they own! The people answered: We will do whatever you want. Ahijah the priest said: Wait! Let us ask God what we should do. Saul asked God: Should I attack the Philistines? Will you help us win? This time God did not answer. Saul called his army officers together and said: We have to find out what sin has kept God from answering. I promise by the living Jehovah, who gives Israel victory, that the guilty one will be put to death, even if he is my son Jonathan. But no one said anything. Then Saul said to them: All of you stand over there. Jonathan and I will stand over here. Do whatever you think best, they answered. Saul said to Jehovah the God of Israel, give a perfect lot. Jonathan and Samuel were taken, but the people escaped. Then Saul said: Cast lots to decide between my son Jonathan and me. And Jonathan was indicated. Then Saul asked Jonathan: What have you done? Jonathan answered: I ate a little honey with the stick I was holding. Here I am. I am ready to die. Saul said: May God strike me dead if you are not put to death! But the people said to Saul: Will Jonathan, who won this great victory for Israel, be put to death? No! We promise by the living Jehovah that he will not lose even a hair from his head. What he did today was done with God's help. So the people saved Jonathan from being put to death. After that, Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines. The Philistines went back to their own territory. After Saul became king of Israel, he fought all his enemies everywhere: the people of Moab, of Ammon, and of Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. He was victorious wherever he fought. He fought heroically and defeated even the people of Amalek. He saved the Israelites from all attacks. Saul's sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua. The names of his two daughters were Merab the firstborn daughter and Michal the younger daughter. The name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of his army was Abner son of Saul's uncle Ner. Kish, Saul's father and Ner, Abner's father, were the sons of Abiel. There was intense warfare with the Philistines as long as Saul lived. Whenever any warrior or any skilled fighting man came to Saul's attention, Saul would enlist him in the army. Samuel told Saul: Jehovah sent me to anoint you king of his people Israel. Now listen to Jehovah's words: The Israelites were on their way out of Egypt when the nation of Amalek attacked them. I am Jehovah All-Powerful. I am going to make Amalek pay for what he did to Israel! Go and attack the Amalekites! Destroy them and all their possessions. Do not have any pity. Kill their men, women, children, and even their babies. Slaughter their cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys.' Saul called his forces together and inspected them at Telem. There were two hundred thousand soldiers from Israel and ten thousand from Judah. Then he and his men went to the city of Amalek. They waited in ambush in a dry riverbed. He sent a warning to the Kenites, a people whose ancestors had been kind to the Israelites when they came from Egypt: Go away and leave the Amalekites. That way I will not kill you along with them. So the Kenites left. Saul defeated the Amalekites. He fought all the way from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt. He captured King Agag of Amalek alive and with the sword he killed all the people. Saul and his men spared Agag's life and did not kill the best sheep and cattle, the best calves and lambs, or anything else that was good. They destroyed only what was useless or worthless. Jehovah spoke to Samuel: I am sorry that I made Saul king. He has turned away from me and disobeyed my commands. Samuel was angry. All night long he pleaded with Jehovah. Early the following morning he went off to find Saul. He heard that Saul had gone to the town of Carmel. There in Carmel he built a monument to himself. Then he went to Gilgal. Samuel went up to Saul. Saul said: Jehovah bless you, Samuel! I have obeyed Jehovah's command. Samuel asked: Why do I hear the sound of cows and sheep? Saul answered: The army brought them from the Amalekites. They spared the best sheep and cows to sacrifice to Jehovah your God. But the rest they claimed for God and destroyed them. Be quiet, Samuel told Saul, Let me tell you what Jehovah told me last night. Speak, Saul replied. Samuel said to Saul: You are little in your own eyes. Even though you are a leader of all of the tribes of Israel that Jehovah anointed king over Israel. Jehovah sent you on a mission. He said: Go and destroy those sinners, the Amalekites. Fight against them until every one is dead. Why then did you not obey the voice of Jehovah? Why did you pounce on the plunder? Why did you do evil in the sight of Jehovah? Then Saul said to Samuel: I did obey the voice of Jehovah. I went on the mission Jehovah sent me. I brought back Agag the king of Amalek. I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. The people took from the plunder of the flock the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to Jehovah your God in Gilgal. Samuel said: What is more pleasing to Jehovah, burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Obeying is better than sacrifice. To pay attention is better than the fat of rams. The sin of divination is rebellion. Wickedness and idolatry are arrogance. They are evil. Because you rejected the word of Jehovah, he rejects you as king. Then Saul told Samuel: I have sinned by not following Jehovah's command or your instructions. I was afraid of the people and listened to them. But now I beg you, forgive my sin and return with me, so that I can worship Jehovah. I will not return with you, Samuel answered. You rejected Jehovah's command. He has rejected you as king of Israel. Samuel turned to leave, but Saul caught hold of his cloak, and it tore. Samuel said to him: Jehovah has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today. He gave it to someone who is a better man than you. The Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind. He is not a mortal who changes his mind. Saul replied: I have sinned! Now please honor me in front of the elders of my people and in front of Israel. Come back with me. Let me worship Jehovah your God! Then Samuel turned and followed Saul. Saul worshiped Jehovah. Bring me King Agag of the Amalekites, Samuel said. Agag came to him trembling. Surely, the bitterness of death is past, Agag said. But Samuel said: As your sword made women childless, so your mother will be made childless among women. Samuel cut Agag in pieces in the presence of Jehovah at Gilgal. Samuel went to Ramah. Saul went up to his house in Gibeah, in the land of Saul. Samuel never saw Saul again until the day of his death. Samuel went into mourning for Saul. It was no longer Jehovah's pleasure for Saul to be king over Israel. Jehovah said to Samuel: How long will you mourn for Saul? After all I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Take oil in your vessel and go. I will send you to Jesse, the Beth-lehemite. I have a king from among his sons. How can I go? Samuel asked. When Saul hears about it he will kill me Jehovah said: Take a heifer with you and say: 'I have come to sacrifice to Jehovah.' Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice. I will reveal to you what you should do. You will anoint the one I point out to you. Samuel did what Jehovah told him. When he came to Bethlehem the elders of the city trembled at his coming. They greeted him and said: May peace be with you. Greetings, he replied, I have come to sacrifice to Jehovah. Perform the ceremonies to make yourselves holy, and come with me to the sacrifice. He performed the ceremonies for Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they entered he looked at Eliab and thought: Surely Jehovah's anointed is before Him. But Jehovah said to Samuel: Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature. I have rejected him. God does not see as man sees. Man looks at the outward appearance. Jehovah looks at the heart (inner man). Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. Samuel said: Jehovah has not chosen this one either. Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. He said: Jehovah has not chosen this one either. So Jesse brought seven more of his sons to Samuel, but Samuel told Jesse: Jehovah has not chosen any of these. Are these all the sons you have? Samuel asked. There is still the youngest one, Jesse answered. He is tending sheep. Samuel responded: Send someone to get him. We will not continue until he gets here. Jesse sent for him. He was a handsome, healthy young man, and his eyes sparkled. Jehovah said to Samuel: This is the one. Anoint him! Samuel took the olive oil and anointed David in front of his brothers. Immediately the Spirit of Jehovah took control of David and was with him from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah. Jehovah's Spirit left Saul, and a distressing spirit sent by Jehovah tormented him. His servants said to him: We know that a distressing spirit sent by God is tormenting you. So give us the order and we will look for a man who knows how to play the harp. Then when the distressing spirit comes on you, the man can play his harp, and you will be all right again. Saul ordered: Find me a man who plays well and bring him to me. One of his attendants said: Jesse of the town of Bethlehem has a son who is a good musician. He is also a brave and handsome man, a good soldier, and an able speaker. Jehovah is with him. Saul sent a message to Jesse: Tell your son David to leave your sheep and come here to me. Jesse loaded a donkey with bread and a goatskin full of wine. He told David to take the donkey and a young goat to Saul. David went to Saul and worked for him. Saul liked him so much that he put David in charge of carrying his weapons. Not long after this, Saul sent another message to Jesse: I really like David. Please let him stay with me. Whenever the distressing spirit from God bothered Saul, David would play his harp. Saul would relax and feel better. The distressing spirit would go away. The Philistines got ready for war and brought their troops together to attack the town of Socoh in Judah. They set up camp at Ephes-Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. Saul and the men of Israel came together and took up their position in the valley of Elah. They drew up in battle array against the Philistines. The Philistines were stationed on the mountain on one side. Israel was on the mountain on the other side. There was a valley between them. A fighter came out from the tents of the Philistines. His name was Goliath of Gath. He was over nine feet tall. He had a headdress of copper on his head. He was dressed in a coat of metal that weighed one hundred twenty five pounds. He had copper shin guards on his legs and on his back a copper javelin. The shaft of his spear was like the beam used by weavers. The head of his spear was made of fifteen pounds of iron. The man who carried his shield walked ahead of him. Goliath stood and called to the Israelites: Why do you form a battle line? Am I not a Philistine? Are you Saul's servants? Choose a man, and let him come down to fight me. If he can fight me and kill me we will be your slaves. But if I overpower him and kill him you will be our slaves and serve us. The Philistine added: I challenge the Israelite battle line today. Send out a man so we can fight each other. Saul and all the Israelites were overcome with fear when they heard what this Philistine said. David was a son of a man named Jesse from the region of Ephrath and the city of Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons. In Saul's day he was an old man. Jesse's three oldest sons joined Saul's army for the battle. The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. David was the youngest. The three oldest joined Saul's army. David went back and forth from Saul's camp to Bethlehem, where he tended his father's flock. Each morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came forward and made his challenge. Jesse told his son David: Take this half-bushel of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers. Take them to your brothers in the camp right away. Also take these ten slices of cheese to the commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are getting along. Bring back something to show that you saw them and that they are well. King Saul, your brothers, and all the other Israelites are in Elah Valley fighting the Philistines. David obeyed his father. He got up early the next morning and left someone else in charge of the sheep. He loaded the supplies and started off. He reached the army camp just as the soldiers were taking their places and shouting the battle cry. The army of Israel and the Philistine army stood there facing each other. David left his things with the man in charge of supplies. He ran up to the battle line to ask his brothers if they were well. David talked to his brothers. Goliath came out from the line of Philistines and boasted as usual. David heard him. When the Israelite soldiers saw Goliath they were afraid and ran off. They said to each other: Look how he keeps coming out to insult us. The king offers a big reward to the man who kills Goliath. That man will even get to marry the king's daughter. No one in his family will ever have to pay taxes again. David asked some soldiers standing nearby: What will a man get for killing this Philistine and stopping him from insulting our people? Who does that worthless Philistine think he is? He makes fun of the army of the living God! The soldiers repeated to David how the man who kills Goliath would be treated. Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard David talking to the men. Then Eliab became angry with David. Why did you come here, he asked him, and with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how overconfident and headstrong you are. You came here just to see the battle. What have I done now? David snapped at him. Did I just ask a question? He turned to face another man and asked the same question. The other soldiers gave him the same answer. What David said was overheard and reported to Saul. Saul sent for him. David told Saul: No one should be discouraged because of this. I will go and fight this Philistine. Saul responded to David: You cannot fight this Philistine. You are just a boy. He has been a warrior since he was your age. David replied to Saul: I am a shepherd for my father's sheep. When a lion or a bear comes and carries off a sheep from the flock, I go after it, attack it, and rescue the lamb. If the lion or bear turns on me, I grab it by the throat and beat it to death. I have killed lions and bears. I will do the same to this heathen Philistine. He has defied the army of the living God. Jehovah saved me from lions and bears. He will save me from this Philistine. Saul answered: Go and Jehovah be with you. He gave his own armor to David for him to wear. It consisted of a copper helmet, which he put on David's head, and a coat of armor. David strapped Saul's sword over the armor and tried to walk. But he could not walk. I cannot fight with all this, he said to Saul. I am not used to it. So he took it all off. He took his shepherd's stick and picked up five smooth stones from the stream and put them in his bag. With his sling ready, he went out to meet Goliath. The Philistine, preceded by the man carrying his shield came closer and closer to David. The Philistine got a good look at David and he despised him. David was only a young man with a healthy complexion and good looks. The Philistine asked David: Am I a dog that you come to attack me with sticks? So the Philistine called on his gods to curse David. Come here, the Philistine told David, and I will give your body to the birds. David answered: You come out to fight me with a sword and a spear and a dagger. But I come out to fight you in the name of Jehovah of Hosts. He is the Almighty God of Israel's army. You have insulted him! Today Jehovah will help me defeat you. I will knock you down and cut off your head! I will feed the bodies of the other Philistine soldiers to the birds and wild animals. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a real God. Everybody here will see that Jehovah does not need swords or spears to save his people. Jehovah always wins his battles. He will help us defeat you! Goliath started forward and David ran toward him. He put a rock in his sling and swung the sling around by its straps. When he let go of one strap, the rock flew out and hit Goliath on the forehead. It cracked his skull. He fell facedown on the ground. So David overcame the Philistine with his leather band and a stone. The Philistine was wounded and laying on the ground. But David had no sword in his hand. He ran to him and stood over him. David took Goliath's sword out of its sheath and cut off his head to kill him. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead they ran away. The men of Israel and Judah shouted and ran after them. They pursued them all the way to Gath and to the gates of Ekron. The Philistines fell wounded all along the road that leads to Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron. The sons of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines. They plundered their tents. David took the head of the Philistine to Jerusalem. But he put his armor in his tent. When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he asked Abner the commander of the army: Abner, whose son is this young man? Abner said: By your life, O king, I do not know. The king said: Find out whose son the young man is. When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine's head in his hand. Saul said: Whose son are you, young man? David answered: I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. David finished talking to Saul. Jonathan became David's closest friend. He loved David as much as he loved himself. Saul kept him with him that day and would not let him go home to his father's house any more. Jonathan made a covenant with David. He loved him as himself. Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing. He gave it to David along with his armor, including his sword, his bow and his belt. So David did everything Saul sent him to do successfully. Saul made him a commander in his army. This pleased the people and Saul's servants. David returned from a campaign against the Philistines. That same day women from all of Israel's cities came to meet King Saul. They sang and danced. Tambourines, joyful music, and triangles accompanied them. The women who celebrated sang: Saul has defeated thousands but David tens of thousands! Saul became very angry because he considered this saying to be insulting. He said: To David they credit tens of thousands but to me they credit only a few thousand. The only thing left for David is my kingdom. He was jealous and suspicious of David from that day on. The next day Jehovah let a distressing spirit take control of Saul. He began acting like a crazy man inside his house. David came to play the harp for Saul as usual. This time Saul had a spear in his hand. Saul balanced the spear in his hand and said: I will give David a blow! I will pin him to the wall. David got away from him twice. Saul was afraid of David, because Jehovah was with David but left Saul. So Saul sent him away. He put him in command of a thousand men. David led his men in battle. Jehovah helped David. He and his soldiers always won their battles. Saul saw how wisely David behaved. This made him fear him. Everyone in Israel and Judah loved David. He led them in and out of battle. Finally, Saul said to David: Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I will give her to you as your wife if you prove yourself to be a warrior for me and fight Jehovah's battles. Saul thought: I must not lay a hand on him. Let the Philistines do that. David answered: Who am I? What is my family that I should be the king's son-in-law? The time came for Merab to be given to David. Instead, she was given to a man named Adriel from Meholah. Saul's daughter Michal fell in love with David. When Saul heard of this he was pleased. He said to himself: I will give Michal to David. I will use her to trap him. The Philistines will kill him. So for the second time Saul said to David: You will be my son-in-law. Saul ordered his officials to speak to David in private. They went to David and said: Look, the king likes you, and all of his officials are loyal to you. Why not ask the king if you may marry his daughter Michal? Saul's servants said these things to David. And David said: I am not rich or famous enough to marry Princess Michal. Saul's servants told him: David asked, do you think it is easy to become the king's son-in-law? I am a poor and unimportant person. When the officers told Saul what David had said, Saul's officials reported to David what Saul had said. David was delighted with the thought of becoming the king's son-in-law. Before the day set for the wedding, David and his men killed two hundred Philistines. He took their foreskins to the king and counted them all out to him. This was so he might become his son-in-law. So Saul had to give his daughter Michal in marriage to David. Saul knew she loved David. He also realized that Jehovah was helping David. Knowing those things made Saul even more afraid of David. He was David's enemy for the rest of his life. The Philistine rulers kept coming to fight Israel. David always won when he fought them. He won more battles against the Philistines than any of Saul's other officers. This made him famous. Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants to kill David. But Jonathan was very fond of David. Jonathan told David: My father Saul is seeking to kill you. Please be on guard in the morning, and stay in a secret place and hide yourself. I will stand beside my father in the field where you will be. I will speak with my father about you. If I find out anything I will tell you. Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul. You should not commit a sin against your servant David, he said. He has not sinned against you. He has in fact done some very fine things for you. He risked his life and killed the Philistine Goliath. Jehovah gave all Israel a great victory. You rejoiced when you saw it. Why should you sin by shedding David's innocent blood for no reason? Jonathan convinced Saul, so Saul made a vow in Jehovah's name that he would not kill David. Jonathan called to David and told him what Saul said. Then he brought David to Saul. David served in Saul's army just as he had done before. Then there was a war with the Philistines. David fought hard and forced them to retreat. One night, David was in Saul's home, playing the harp for him. Saul sat there with a spear in his hand. The distressing spirit from Jehovah took control of him. Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear. David dodged it, and Saul's spear struck the wall. David escaped from Saul that night. Saul sent messengers to watch David's house and kill him in the morning. Michal, David's wife advised him: If you do not save yourself tonight, you will be dead tomorrow! Michal lowered David through a window. He ran away to escape. Then Michal took some idols, laid them in the bed, put a goat-hair blanket at its head, and covered the idols with a garment. Saul sent messengers to get David. Michal said: He is sick. Then Saul sent messengers to see David. They said: Bring him up to me on his bed. I will put him to death. The messengers entered. There, on the bed was the household idol with the quilt of goats' hair at its head. Saul said to Michal: Why have you deceived me like this? You let my enemy go. He has escaped! Michal said to Saul: He said to me: 'Let me go! Why should I kill you?' David escaped to Samuel at Ramah. He told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel stayed in Naioth. Saul was told: David is at Naioth in Ramah. Saul sent messengers to get David. They saw a group of prophets prophesying with their leader Samuel. God's Spirit came over Saul's messengers so that they also prophesied. Saul heard what happened. So he sent another group of messengers, but they prophesied the same way. He sent a third group of messengers, but the same thing happened to them. Finally, Saul left for Ramah himself. He went as far as the deep pit at the town of Secu. He asked: Where are Samuel and David? The people answered: At Prophets Village in Ramah. He went on from there to Naioth in Ramah. The spirit of God came on him and he acted like a prophet. Then he arrived at Naioth in Ramah. He even took off his clothes as he prophesied in front of Samuel. He lay there naked all day and all night. The saying: Is Saul one of the prophets? came from there. David fled from the pastures at Ramah. He went to Jonathan and asked: What have I done? What crime am I guilty of? What sin have I committed against your father that he tries to kill me? He said to him: It will not happen. You will not die! My father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. So why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so! David again said: Your father has certainly known that I have found favor in your eyes. He said: Do not let Jonathan know this, that he not be grieved. And yet, as Jehovah lives, and you live, there is only a step between death and me. Jonathan said: I will do anything you want. Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, David replied, and I am supposed to eat with the king. But if it is all right with you, I will go and hide in the fields until the evening of the day after tomorrow. If your father notices that I am not at the table, tell him that I begged your permission to hurry home to Bethlehem. It is after all the time for the annual sacrifice there for my whole family. If he says: 'It is well. I will be safe.' But if he becomes angry, you will know that he is determined to harm me. Therefore deal kindly with your servant. You brought your servant into a covenant of Jehovah with you. But if there is iniquity in me kill me yourself. Why should you take me to your father?' Jonathan replied: Far be it from you! For if I should indeed learn my father decided to bring evil on you then would I not tell you about it? David asked: Who will tell me whether or not your father gives you a harsh answer? Jonathan said: Let us go out to the field. So they went to the field. As Jehovah God of Israel is my witness, Jonathan continued, I will find out in the next two or three days how my father feels about you. If he does feel kindly toward you I will send someone to tell you. If my father plans to harm you and I do not send you away safely, may Jehovah harm me even more. Jehovah should be with you just as he used to be with my father. Someday Jehovah will wipe out all of your enemies. Then if I am still alive, please be as kind to me as Jehovah has been. But if I am dead, be kind to my family. Show the same kind of loyalty to my family as long as you live. When Jehovah has completely destroyed all your enemies, May our promise to each other still be unbroken. If it is broken, Jehovah will punish you. Once again Jonathan made David promise to love him. Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself. Jonathan said to him: Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival. Your absence will be noticed if you are not at the meal. The day after tomorrow you will be missed even more. So go to the place where you hid on that other occasion. Stay by the rock. I will shoot three arrows at a target off to the side of the rock. Then I will send my servant to find the arrows. You will know if it is safe to come out by what I tell him. If it is safe, I swear by the living God Jehovah that I will say: 'The arrows are on this side of you! Pick them up! If it is not safe, I will say to the boy: The arrows are farther away! This will mean that Jehovah wants you to leave. You must go. He will always watch us to make sure that we keep the promise we made to each other.' David hid there in the field. It was the New Moon Festival. Saul sat down to eat. He ate by the wall, just as he always did. Jonathan sat across from him. Abner sat next to him. But David's place was empty. Saul was in deep thought. So he did not say anything that day. Something must have happened to make David unfit to be at the Festival. Yes, something must have happened. David's place was still empty the day after the New Moon Festival. Saul asked Jonathan: Why has that son of Jesse not come to eat with us? He was not here yesterday, and he still is not here today! Jonathan answered Saul: David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem. David said to me: 'Please let me go, since our family must make a sacrifice in the city. My brother has commanded me to attend. If I have found favor in your sight, please let me get away that I may see my brothers.' For this reason he has not come to the king's table.' Saul got angry with Jonathan and he said, You are Son of a crooked and rebellious woman Jonathan! I know you have sided with Jesse's son, Saul accused. You have no shame. You act as if you are your mother's son not mine. As long as Jesse's son lives on earth, neither you nor your right to be king is secure. Send some men to bring him to me. He is a dead man! Jonathan asked his father: Why should he be killed? What has he done? Saul threw his spear at Jonathan and tried to kill him. Then Jonathan was sure that his father really did want to kill David. Jonathan was angry that his father had insulted David. He got up and left the table. He did not eat anything all that day. In the morning Jonathan went out to the field to meet David. He took a servant boy along. Jonathan told him: When I shoot the arrows, you run and find them for me. The boy started running, and Jonathan shot an arrow so that it would go beyond him. When the boy reached the place where the arrow fell Jonathan shouted to him: The arrow is farther on! Do not just stand there! Hurry up! The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. The boy did not know what it all meant. Only Jonathan and David knew. Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and told him to take them back to town. After the boy left, David got up from behind the pile of stones. He fell on his knees and bowed with his face to the ground three times. Both he and Jonathan cried as they kissed each other. David's grief was even greater than Jonathan's. Jonathan said to David: God be with you. Jehovah will make sure that you and I, and your descendants and mine, will keep the sacred promise we have made to each other for as long as we live. Then David left and Jonathan went back to town. David went to the priest Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech was afraid when he met David. Why are you alone? He asked David. Why is no one with you? The king ordered me to do something, David answered the priest Ahimelech, and he told me: No one must know anything about this mission I am sending you to do. I have stationed my young men at a certain place. David added: What do you have to eat? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever you can find. The high priest answered David: I do not have any ordinary bread here. But there is holy bread for the young men if they have not had sexual intercourse today. David answered the priest: Women have been kept away from us as usual when we go on a mission. The young men's bodies are kept holy even on ordinary campaigns. How much more then are their bodies holy today? The priest gave him holy bread. For he only had the bread of the presence that had been taken from Jehovah's presence and replaced with warm bread that day. That same day one of Saul's servants who was obligated to stay in Jehovah's presence was there. His name was Doeg. He was chief herdsman for Saul's shepherds from Edom. David asked Ahimelech: Do you have a spear or a sword here? I did not take either my spear or any other weapon because the king's business was urgent. The high priest answered: The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Elah Valley, is here. It is wrapped in a cloth behind the priestly ephod. Take it if you want. There is no other weapon here. David said: There is none like it. Let me have the sword. David kept running from Saul that day until he came to Gath. There he met with King Achish. The officers of King Achish were also there. They asked Achish: Is David a king back in his own country? Do the Israelites not dance and sing: 'Saul has killed a thousand enemies; David has killed ten thousand enemies?' David thought about what they said. It made him afraid of Achish. Right there in front of everyone, he pretended to be insane. He acted confused and scratched up the doors of the town gate. He drooled in his beard. Look at him! Achish said to his officers. You can see he is crazy. Why did you bring him to me? I have enough crazy people without your bringing another one here. Keep him away from my palace! David escaped from the town of Gath and he went to Adullam Cave. Once they found out where he was his brothers and the rest of his family followed him there. A lot of other people joined him too. Some were in trouble. Others were angry or in debt. David was soon the leader of four hundred men. David went from there to Mizpah in Moab. He said to the king of Moab: Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me. He left them with the king of Moab. So they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. Do not live in your stronghold, the prophet Gad told David. Go to the land of Judah. So David went to the forest of Hereth. Saul heard that David and his men were found. Saul stayed in Gibeah under the tamarisk tree at the worship site. He held his spear in his hand. All his officials stood around him. He said to his officials: Listen to me men of Benjamin! Will Jesse's son give every one of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all officers over a regiment or a battalion of soldiers? All of you are plotting against me. No one informed me when my son entered into a loyalty pledge with Jesse's son. No one felt sorry for me. And no one informed me that my son has encouraged my servant David to ambush me, as he is doing now. Doeg from Edom, standing with Saul's officials, answered him: I saw Jesse's son when he came to Ahimelech, Ahitub's son, in Nob. Ahimelech prayed to Jehovah for David. He gave him food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine. Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub's and his entire family who were the priests in Nob. All of them came to the king. Saul said: Listen here, son of Ahitub! He responded: Here I am lord. Saul asked him: Why did you and Jesse's son plot against me? You gave him bread and a sword. You even prayed to God that he could rise up against me and ambush me, as he is doing now. Ahimelech asked the king: But whom among all your officials can you trust like David? Your Majesty, he is your son-in-law, the commander of your bodyguard. He is honored in your own household. Is this the first time I have prayed to God for him? Not at all! You should not blame my family or me for this. I knew nothing at all about this. The king said: Ahimelech, you and your entire family are going to die. The king said to the guards who were attending him: Turn around and kill the priests of Jehovah! They are also with David. They knew that he was fleeing and did not reveal it to me. But the servants of the king were not willing to lift a hand to attack the priests of Jehovah. The king said to Doeg: You turn around and attack the priests. Doeg the Edomite turned around and attacked the priests. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. He also killed the people of Nob, the city of the priests. Using his sword, he killed men and women, children and infants, cows, donkeys, and sheep. Ahimelech, Ahitub's son had one son who escaped. His name was Abiathar. He fled to David. Abiathar told David that Saul killed Jehovah's priests. David told Abiathar: I knew that day when Doeg from Edom was there that he would be certain to tell Saul. I am the one responsible for all the lives of your family. Stay with me. Do not be afraid. The one who is seeking my life is also seeking your life. You will be under my protection. David heard that the Philistines attacked the town of Keilah. They robbed the threshing floors of the newly harvested grain. He asked Jehovah: Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Jehovah answered: Yes, Attack them and save Keilah. David's men said to him: We have enough to be afraid of here in Judah. It will be worse if we go to Keilah and attack the Philistine forces! David consulted Jehovah once again, and Jehovah said to him: Go attack Keilah! I will give you victory over the Philistines. David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines. They drove off their livestock, and overwhelmingly defeated them. So David rescued the people who lived in Keilah. When Ahimelech's son Abiathar fled to David at Keilah, Abiathar brought a priestly ephod with him. When Saul was told that David went to Keilah, Saul said: God has delivered him into my hands. He has trapped himself by going into a city which has a gate with a double door held shut by a bar. So Saul called all the troops to go to war. They wanted to blockade Keilah, where David and his men were. David learned that Saul was planning to harm him. He told the priest Abiathar: Bring the ephod! Then David said: Jehovah God of Israel, I have actually heard that Saul is going to come to Keilah and destroy the city on account of me. Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come here as I have heard? Jehovah God of Israel, please tell me. Jehovah answered: He will come. Will the citizens of Keilah hand my men and me over to Saul? David asked. Jehovah answered: They will hand you over. David and his men, about six hundred in all, left Keilah. They went wherever they could go. Then Saul was told: David has escaped from Keilah! So he gave up the campaign. David lived in fortified camps in the desert. He lived in fortified camps in the mountains of the desert of Ziph. Saul was always searching for him. But God did not let him capture David. David was afraid because Saul had come to kill him at Horesh in the desert of Ziph. Jonathan went to see David. God helped him encourage David. Do not be afraid, Jonathan said. My father Saul will never get his hands on you. In fact, you are going to be the next king of Israel. I will be your highest official. Even my father knows it is true. They both promised Jehovah that they would always be loyal to each other. Then Jonathan went home while David stayed at Horesh. Some people from the town of Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah. They said: Your Majesty, David has a hideout not far from us! It is near Horesh. It is somewhere on Mount Hachilah south of Jeshimon. We know how much you want to capture him. Come to our territory and we will make sure you catch him. Saul answered: May Jehovah bless you for being so kind to me! Go and make sure once more. Find out for certain where he is and who has seen him there. I hear that he is very cunning. Find out exactly the places where he hides. Be sure to bring back a report to me right away. Then I will go with you. If he is still in the region, I will hunt him down, even if I have to search the whole land of Judah. So they left and returned to Ziph ahead of Saul. David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon. They were in a desolate valley in the southern part of the Judean wilderness. Saul and his men set out to look for David. David heard about it and went to a rocky hill in the wilderness of Maon and stayed there. When Saul heard about this he went after David. Saul and his men were on one side of the hill. They were separated from David and his men, who were on the other side. They were hurrying to get away from Saul and his men, who were closing in on them and were about to capture them. Just then a messenger arrived and said to Saul: Come back at once! The Philistines are invading the country! Saul stopped pursuing David and went to fight the Philistines. That is why that place is called Separation Hill. From there David went to stay in the fortified camps of En Gedi. Saul returned from fighting the Philistines. He declared: I have heard that David is in the desert around En-Gedi. Saul led three thousand of Israel's best soldiers out to look for David and his men near Wild Goat Rocks at En-Gedi. There were some sheep pens along the side of the road. One of them was built around the entrance to a cave. So Saul went into the cave to relieve himself. David and his men were hiding at the back of the cave. They whispered to David: Jehovah told you he was going to let you defeat your enemies and do whatever you want with them. This must be the day Jehovah was talking about. David sneaked over and cut off a small piece of Saul's robe and Saul did not notice. Later David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul's robe. He told his men: Stop talking foolishly. We are not going to attack Saul. He is my king. I pray that Jehovah will keep me from doing anything to harm his chosen king. David stopped his men by saying this to them. He did not let them attack Saul. Saul left the cave and went out onto the road. Then David got up and left the cave. He called to Saul: My lord! When Saul looked back. David knelt down with his face touching the ground. David asked Saul: Why do you listen to rumors that I am trying to harm you? Today you saw how Jehovah handed you over to me in the cave. Although I was told to kill you I spared you. I said: 'I will not raise my hand against my lord because you are Jehovah's anointed.' My master, look at this! The border of your robe is in my hand! I cut off the border of your robe and did not kill you. You should know and be able to see I mean no harm or rebellion. I have not sinned against you! But you are trying to ambush me in order to take my life. I will let Jehovah decide which one of us has done right. I pray that Jehovah will punish you for what you are doing to me. However, I will not do anything to you. An old proverb says: 'Only evil people do evil things.' So I will not harm you. Why should the king of Israel be out chasing me, anyway? I am as worthless as a dead dog or a flea. I pray that Jehovah will help me escape and show that I am in the right. David, my son is that you? Saul asked. Then he started crying. He said: David, you are a better person than I am. You treated me with kindness when I was cruel to you. You have shown me how you were kind enough not to kill me when Jehovah gave you the chance. You would not let me live if you were my enemy. I pray that Jehovah will reward you for what you did today. I know now you will be the next king. You will be a powerful king too. Promise me with Jehovah as your witness, that you will not destroy my descendants. Let them live to keep my family name alive. David promised and Saul went home. David and his men returned to their hideout. Samuel died. All Israel gathered to mourn him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David went to the desert of Paran. There was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very rich man. He had three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. He sheared his sheep in Carmel. His name was Nabal. He was of the family of Caleb. His wife's name was Abigail. She was a woman of good sense and pleasing looks. The man was cruel and dishonest in his dealings. While David was in the desert he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. David sent ten young men to Nabal. David said to them: Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and say kind words to him in my name. Say to him: 'May you live long! May you, your home, and all you have prosper! I hear that your sheepshearers are with you. Your shepherds have been with us. We have not mistreated them. Nothing of theirs has been missing as long as they have been in Carmel. Ask your shepherds. They will tell you the same thing. My servants are your servants. You are like a father to me. This is a day for celebrating. Please be kind and share some of your food with us.' David's men went to Nabal and gave him David's message. They waited for Nabal's answer. This is what he said: Who does this David think he is? That son of Jesse is just one more slave on the run from his master. There are too many of them now days. What makes you think I would give you the bread and water, and the meat that I cooked for my own servants? I do not even know where you are from. The men returned to their camp and told David everything Nabal said. David ordered: Everyone get your swords! They strapped on their swords. Two hundred men stayed behind to guard the camp. The other four hundred followed David. One of Nabal's servants told Nabal's wife Abigail: Have you heard? David sent some messengers from the wilderness with greetings for our master. He insulted them. Yet they were very good to us. They never bothered us. Nothing belonging to us was stolen at the time we were with them in the fields. They protected our sheep and us day and night the whole time we were with them. Consider what you should do because our master and his whole household are doomed. He is such a worthless man that it is useless to talk to him. So Abigail quickly took two hundred loaves of bread, two full wineskins, five butchered sheep, a bushel of roasted grain, one hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred fig cakes and loaded them on donkeys. Lead the way, she told her young men, and I will follow you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal about it. She rode her donkey down a hidden mountain path. David and his men came to her. David thought: I guarded this man's possessions in the desert for nothing! Not one of his possessions was missing. Yet, he paid me back with evil when I was good to him. May God punish me if I do not kill every one of those men before morning! Abigail saw David and quickly got down from her donkey. She immediately bowed down in front of David with her face touching the ground. She fell at his feet and said: Let me be held responsible for this wrong. Please let me speak with you. Please listen to me. You should not take this worthless person Nabal seriously. He is like his name. His name is Nabal (Godless Fool). He is foolish. But I did not see the young men you sent. Jehovah kept you from spilling innocent blood and from getting a victory by your own efforts. As Jehovah lives and you live, may your enemies and those who are trying to harm you end up like Nabal. Please accept this gift from your maidservant. And give it to the young men who accompany my lord. Also please forgive the transgression of your maidservant. Jehovah will certainly give you a lasting dynasty, because my lord is fighting the battles of Jehovah. Evil will not be found in you all your days. Even if someone pursues you to take your life, your life is wrapped securely in the bundle (purse) (bag) of the living from Jehovah your God (God will keep you safe). He will dispose of the lives of your enemies. They will be hurled like stones from a sling. When Jehovah does all the good he promised and makes you ruler of Israel, you should not have a troubled conscience because you spilled blood for no good reason and claimed your own victory. When Jehovah gives you success, remember me. David said to Abigail: Blessed is Jehovah the God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me. Blessed is your good judgment and blessed are you for keeping me from slaughtering people today and from getting a victory by my own efforts. I solemnly promise as Jehovah the God of Israel lives that if you had not come to meet me Nabal would not have had one of his men alive at dawn. Then David accepted what she brought him. He said: Go home in peace. I have listened to what you said and I grant your request. When Abigail came to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his home. It was like a king's banquet. He was in a good mood and very drunk, so she did not tell him anything until dawn. In the morning after the effects of the wine wore off his wife told him what had happened. Nabal had a stroke. He could not move. Ten days later Jehovah made him sicker and Nabal died. David heard Nabal was dead. He said: Blessed is Jehovah who defended me against the insults of Nabal. He kept me from doing wrong. Jehovah has turned Nabal's own wickedness back on him. David sent men on his behalf to propose marriage to Abigail. David's servants approached Abigail at Carmel. They told her: David sent us to you to take you to him to be his wife. She bowed down with her face touching the ground. I am ready to serve, she said. I am willing to wash the feet of my master's servants. Abigail quickly got up and rode on a donkey with five of her female servants following her. So she went with David's messengers and became his wife. Earlier David married Ahinoam from the town of Jezreel. Now both she and Abigail were David's wives. Meanwhile, Saul arranged for Michal to marry Palti the son of Laish, who came from the town of Gallim. Some people from Ziph went to Gibeah to talk with Saul, they said: David has a hideout on Mount Hachilah near Jeshimon out in the desert. Saul went to the desert of Ziph. He took three thousand of Israel's best-trained men to search for David. Saul camped by the road at the hill of Hachilah near Jeshimon. David camped in the desert. He discovered that Saul come to the desert after him. David sent spies to confirm Saul's arrival. Then David went to the place where Saul camped. David saw the place where Saul and Ner's son Abner, the commander of the army, were lying. Saul was lying in the camp. The troops were camped around him. David asked Ahimelech the Hittite, and Abishai the brother of Joab: Who will go to Saul's camp with me? I will, Abishai answered. David and Abishai entered Saul's camp at night. They found Saul sleeping in the center of the camp. His spear was stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the troops were sleeping around him. Abishai said to David: God put your enemy in your power tonight. Let me plunge his own spear through him and pin him to the ground. I will do it with just one blow. I will not have to strike twice! But David said: Do not harm him! Jehovah will certainly punish whoever harms his chosen king. By the living God Jehovah, David declared, I know that Jehovah will kill Saul, either when his time comes to die a natural death or when he dies in battle. Jehovah forbid that I should try to harm the one Jehovah anointed to be king. Just take his spear and his water jar and go. David took the spear and the water jar from beside Saul's head. Then he and Abishai left. No one saw it or knew what happened. No one woke up. They were all sound asleep, because Jehovah sent a heavy sleep on them all. Then David crossed over to the other side of the valley. He went to the top of the hill a great distance away. David shouted to Saul's troops and to Abner: Abner! Can you hear me? Who is calling to the king? Abner asked. David answered, Abner, are you the greatest man in Israel? Why are you not protecting your master, the king? Someone entered the camp to kill your master. You failed in your duty, Abner! I swear by the living God Jehovah all of you deserve to die. You have not protected your master, whom Jehovah made king. Look for the king's spear? Where is the water jar that was near his head? Saul recognized David's voice and said: Is that your voice my son David? And David said: It is my voice, my lord the king. He also said: Why are you my lord pursuing your servant? What have I done? Or what evil is in my hand? Please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If Jehovah has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering. If it is men, cursed are they before Jehovah. They have driven me out today so that I would have no attachment with the inheritance of Jehovah, saying: 'Go serve other gods.' Do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of Jehovah. The king of Israel comes to search for a flea. Yet he hunts me down like a partridge on the mountains. My servant David, Saul said, I have sinned. Come back. I will not harm you again. You valued my life today. I have acted like a fool. I made a terrible mistake. David answered: Here is the king's spear. Have one of your soldiers come and get it. Jehovah put you in my power today. But you are his chosen king. I would not harm you. Jehovah rewards the righteous and faithful. I valued and saved your life today. I pray that you will value and save my life and that Jehovah will deliver me out of tribulation. Saul said: David, my son, I pray that Jehovah will bless you and make you successful! Saul went back home. David also left. David thought to himself: One of these days Saul will kill me. The best thing for me to do is escape to Philistia. Saul will give up looking for me in Israel. Then I will be safe. David and his six hundred men went over at once to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath. David and his men and their families lived with Achish at Gath. David brought his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. Word soon reached Saul that David fled to Gath. So he stopped hunting for him. David said to Achish: If it is all right with you, let me live in one of the outlying towns. Why should I live in the royal city with you? Achish immediately gave him Ziklag. This is why Ziklag still belongs to the kings of Judah today. David lived in Philistine territory for one year and four months. David and his men raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. Their territory extends from Telaim to Shur and Egypt. David attacked the territory and left no man or woman alive. He also took sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing and returned to Achish. Achish would ask: Whom did you raid today? David would answer: The south country (Negev) in Judah, or the south country of the Jerahmeelites, or the south country of the Kenites. He did not bring a single man or woman back to Gath alive. He thought, they could tell Achish what I really did. This was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. Achish trusted David and thought: David's people must be furious with him. From now on he will have to take orders from me. One day the Philistines brought their soldiers together to attack Israel. Achish told David: You and your men must fight as part of our Philistine army. David answered: That will give you a chance to see for yourself just how well we can fight! Achish said: You and your men will always be my bodyguards. After Samuel died all the Israelites mourned for him. They buried him in his hometown of Ramah. Saul forced all the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel. The Philistine troops assembled and camped near the town of Shunem. Saul gathered the Israelites and camped at Mount Gilboa. Saul was terrified when he saw the Philistine army. So he asked Jehovah what to do. But Jehovah did not answer him. He did not answer by dreams or by the use of Urim and Thummim or by prophets. Saul ordered his officials: Find me a woman who is a medium. I will go and consult her. There is one in Endor, they answered. Saul disguised himself. He put on different clothes. After dark he went with two of his men to see the woman. Consult the spirits for me and tell me what is going to happen, he said to her: Call up the spirit of the man I name. The woman answered: You know what King Saul has done? He forced the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel. Are you trying to trap me and get me killed? Saul made a sacred vow. By the living God Jehovah I promise that you will not be punished for doing this, he told her. Whom shall I call up for you? The woman asked. Samuel, he answered. The woman saw Samuel. She screamed and said to Saul, Why have you tricked me? You are King Saul! Do not be afraid! The king said to her. What do you see? She answered: I see a spirit coming up from the earth. The spirit, what does it look like? He asked. It is an old man, she answered. He wears a cloak. Saul knew it was Samuel. So he bowed to the ground in respect. Samuel said to Saul: Why have you disturbed me? Why did you make me come back? Saul answered: I am in great trouble! The Philistines are at war with me. God has abandoned me. He does not answer me any more by prophets or by dreams. Please tell me what to do. Samuel said: Why do you call me when Jehovah has abandoned you and become your enemy? Jehovah did to you what he told you through me. He took the kingdom away from you and gave it to David instead. You disobeyed Jehovah's command and did not completely destroy the Amalekites. That is why Jehovah is doing this to you. He will give you and Israel over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will join me. Jehovah will also give the army of Israel over to the Philistines. At once Saul fell down and lay stretched out on the ground. He was terrified by what Samuel said. He was weak because he had not eaten anything all day and all night. The woman went to him. She saw that he was terrified. So she said to him: I risked my life by doing what you asked. Now please do what I ask. Let me fix you some food. You must eat so that you will be strong enough to travel. Saul refused. He said he would not eat. But his officers also urged him to eat. He finally gave in, got up from the ground, and sat on the bed. The woman quickly butchered a calf she had fattened. Then she took some flour and prepared it. She baked some bread without yeast. She set the food before Saul and his officers and they ate. They left that same night. The Philistines gathered all their troops at Aphek. The Israelites camped by the spring in Jezreel Valley. The five Philistine kings marched with units of a hundred and of a thousand men. David and his men marched in the rear with King Achish. The Philistine commanders saw them and asked: What are these Hebrews doing here? Achish answered: This is David. He is the man who ran away from King Saul of Israel. He has been with me for more than a year. He has done nothing I can find fault with since the day he came to me. The Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said to him: Send that fellow back to the town you gave him. Do not let him go into battle with us. He might turn against us during the fight. What better way is there for him to win back his master's favor than by causing the death of our men? This is David, the one about whom the women sang, as they danced: Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands. Achish called David and said: I swear by the living God of Israel that you have been loyal to me. I would be pleased to have you go with me and fight in this battle. I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me. But the other kings do not approve of you. Go home in peace. Do not do anything that would displease them. David answered: What have I done wrong? As you say, you have not found any fault in me since the day I started serving you. Why should I not go with you, my master and king, and fight your enemies? I agree, Achish replied. I consider you as loyal as an angel of God. But the other kings say you may not go with us into battle. Tomorrow morning all of you who left Saul and came over to me must get up early and leave at first light. David and his men started out early the following morning. They went back to Philistia. The Philistines went on to Jezreel. Two days later David and his men came to Ziklag. The Amalekites raided the south country (Negev) including Ziklag. They attacked Ziklag and burned it. They captured the women young and old. However they killed no one. Instead, they took the women as prisoners. When David and his men came to Zikleg they found it completely destroyed by fire. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been taken captive. David and his men cried loudly until they did not have the strength to cry anymore. The Amalekites also captured David's two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal's widow, from Carmel. The people in their bitterness said David should be stoned. This caused him great distress. They were thinking of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in Jehovah his God. David told Abiathar the priest: Please bring me the priestly ephod. So Abiathar brought David the ephod. David asked Jehovah: Should I pursue these troops? Will I catch up with them? Pursue them! Jehovah told him: You will certainly catch up with them and rescue the captives. So David and his six hundred men went to the Besor Valley, where some were left behind. David and four hundred men went in pursuit. Two hundred men who were too exhausted to cross the Besor Valley stayed behind. David's men found an Egyptian in the open country and took him to David. They gave him food to eat and water to drink. He also ate some dried figs, and two bunches of raisins. After he ate his strength returned. He had not eaten nor did he drank for three days. Who is your master? Where are you from? David asked. I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite, he answered. My master left me behind three days ago when I got sick. We raided the territory of the Cherethites in the southern part of Judah. We also raided the territory of the clan of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag. Will you lead me to those raiders? David asked him. He answered, I will if you promise me in God's name that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master. He led David to the Amalekites. They were eating, drinking and celebrating because of what they had taken from Philistia and Judah. David attacked just before sunrise the next day. They fought until sunset. Four hundred Amalekites rode away on camels. They were the only ones to escape. David rescued his two wives. They rescued everyone else the Amalekites captured at Ziklag. Young and old, sons and daughters alike, no one was missing. David brought back everything that had been stolen. They even brought back their livestock. David also took the sheep and cattle that the Amalekites had with them. He kept these separate from the others. Everyone agreed that these would be David's reward. On the way back, David met the two hundred men he left at Besor Gorge. They were too tired to keep up with him. They approached David and the people who were with him. He greeted the two hundred men and asked how they were doing. Then every wicked and worthless man who had gone with David said: Since they did not go with us, they should not be given any of the loot we recovered. Each of them should take only his wife and children and leave. David said: My brothers, do not do that with the things Jehovah has given us. He kept us safe and helped us defeat the enemy. Besides, who is going to pay attention to what you have to say in this matter? The share of those who go into battle must be like the share of those who stay with the supplies. They will all share alike. From that time on he made this a rule and a custom in Israel as it is to this day. When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the goods to the elders of Judah, and to his friends. He said: Here is an offering for you from the spoil of those who fought against Jehovah. He sent the offering to the people in Bethel, to the people in Ramah in the southern part of Judah, and to the people in the towns of Jattir, Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, and Racal; to the clan of Jerahmeel, to the Kenites, and to the people in the towns of Hormah, Borashan, Athach, and Hebron. He sent it to all the places where he and his men had been. When the Philistines fought Israel, the men of Israel fled from the Philistines and were killed in battle on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines caught up to Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons. The heaviest fighting was against Saul. When the archers got him in their range, he was badly wounded by them. He said to the young man carrying his weapons: Draw your sword and kill me. That way these godless Philistines will not gloat over me and kill me. But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it. The young man saw that Saul was dead. Then he too threw himself on his own sword and died with Saul. That is how Saul, his three sons, and the young man died. All of Saul's men died that day. The Israelites on the other side of Jezreel Valley and east of the Jordan River heard that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had been killed. They abandoned their towns and fled. Then the Philistines came and occupied the towns. The next day the Philistines came to strip the dead. They found Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his armor. Then they sent men throughout Philistine territory to tell the people this good news in their idols' temples. They put his armor in the temple of their goddesses the Asherahs and fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth Shan. The people living in Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. All the fighting men marched all night and took the dead bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan. They came back to Jabesh and burned the bodies. They buried the bones under a small tree in Jabesh. Then for seven days, they went without eating to show their sorrow.

When King Ahaziah's mother Athaliah learned of her son's murder, she gave orders for all the members of the royal family of Judah to be killed. Ahaziah had a half sister, Jehosheba, who was married to a priest named Jehoiada. She secretly rescued one of Ahaziah's sons, Joash, took him away from the other princes who were about to be murdered. She hid him and a nurse in a bedroom at the Temple. By keeping him hidden, she saved him from death at the hands of Athaliah. For six years he remained there in hiding, while Athaliah ruled as queen.

King Ahaziah's mother Athaliah learned of her son's murder. She gave orders for all the members of the royal family to be killed. Only Ahaziah's son Jehoash escaped. He was about to be killed with the others, but was rescued by his aunt Jehosheba, who was King Jehoram's daughter and Ahaziah's half sister. She hid him and his nurse in a bedroom in the Temple. Jehosheba took care of the boy and kept him hidden in the Temple for six years. During this time Athaliah ruled as queen.

Jehoiakin was eighteen years old when he became king. He was king for three months in Jerusalem. His mother was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. Following the example of his father, Jehoiachin sinned against Jehovah. It was during his reign that the Babylonian army, commanded by King Nebuchadnezzar's officers, marched against Jerusalem and besieged it. read more.
During the siege Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem in person. King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his sons, his officers, and the palace officials, surrendered to the Babylonians. In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign he took Jehoiachin prisoner. The Babylonians carried off to Babylon all the treasures in the Temple and the palace. As Jehovah foretold, Nebuchadnezzar broke up all the gold utensils King Solomon had made for use in the Temple. Nebuchadnezzar carried away as prisoners the people of Jerusalem, all the royal princes, and all the leading men, ten thousand in all. He also deported all the skilled workers, including the blacksmiths, leaving only the poorest of the people behind in Judah. He took Jehoiakin to Babylon as a captive. He also took the king's mother, wives, eunuchs, and the leading citizens of the land from Jerusalem as captives to Babylon. Included as prisoners were all the men of war, seven thousand of them, and a thousand expert workmen and metalworkers, all of them strong and able to take up arms.

Jehoiakin was eight years old when he began to rule as king. He was king for three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what Jehovah considered evil. In the spring King Nebuchadnezzar sent for Jehoiakin and brought him to Babylon with the valuable utensils from Jehovah's Temple. Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiakin's uncle Zedekiah king of Judah and Jerusalem.

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He ruled for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. He did what Jehovah considered evil by copying the disgusting things done by the nations that Jehovah dispossessed from before the Israelites. He rebuilt the illegal places of worship that his father Hezekiah had torn down. He set up altars dedicated to other gods such as the Baals. He erected a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh, like Ahab, worshiped and served the entire army of heaven. read more.
He built altars in Jehovah's Temple, of which Jehovah said: My name will be in Jerusalem from generation to generation. He built altars for the entire army of heaven in the two courtyards of Jehovah's Temple. He burned his son as a sacrifice in the valley of Ben Hinnom, he consulted fortunetellers, and he cast evil spells. He also practiced witchcraft, and appointed royal mediums and psychics. He did many things that made Jehovah furious. Manasseh had a carved idol made. Then he set it up in God's Temple, where God had said to David and his son Solomon: I have chosen this temple and Jerusalem from all the tribes of Israel. I will put my name here from generation to generation. I will never again remove Israel from the land that I set aside for their ancestors if they will obey all the commandments, all the teachings, the ordinances, and the regulations I gave through Moses. Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that they did more evil things than the nations that Jehovah destroyed when the Israelites arrived in the land. Jehovah spoke to Manasseh and his people. But they would not pay attention. So Jehovah made the army commanders of the king of Assyria invade Judah. They took Manasseh captive, put a hook in his nose, put him in bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon. When he experienced distress, he begged Jehovah his God to be kind and humbled himself in front of the God of his ancestors. He prayed to Jehovah. And Jehovah accepted his prayer and listened to his request. Jehovah brought him back to his kingdom in Jerusalem. Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah is God. Then Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon Spring in the valley to the entrance of Fish Gate. He made the wall go around the Ophel. He built it very high. He put army commanders in every fortified city in Judah. Manasseh also removed the foreign gods and the idol in Jehovah's Temple. He eliminated the altars he had built in the Temple on Jehovah's mountain and in Jerusalem. He built Jehovah's altar and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it. And he told Judah to serve Jehovah the God of Israel. However the people continued to sacrifice at the illegal places of worship. But they sacrificed only to Jehovah their God. Everything else about Manasseh, including his prayer to his God and the words that the seers spoke to him in the name of Jehovah the God of Israel are in the records of the kings of Israel. His prayer and how God accepted it are written in the records of Hozai. The things he did before he humbled himself are also written there. This includes all his sins and unfaithfulness and the places where he built illegal worship sites and set up idols and poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah. Manasseh lay down in death with his ancestors. They buried him in his own palace. His son Amon succeeded him as king.

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother's name was Hephzibah. He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. He copied the disgusting ways of those nations Jehovah sent out before the children of Israel. He built the high places that Hezekiah his father destroyed. He made altars for Baal. Then he made an Asherah as Ahab, king of Israel, had done. Manasseh was a worshipper and servant of all the stars of heaven. read more.
He built heathen altars in the Temple of Jehovah. The same Temple that Jehovah spoke of when he said: In Jerusalem will I put my name. And he built altars for all the stars of heaven in the two outer courts of the Temple of Jehovah. He made his own son pass through fire. He burned him as an offering to Molech. He practiced reading the future; gave positions to those who had control of spirits and to wonder-workers. He did much evil in the eyes of Jehovah and provoked him to anger. He made an image of the goddess Asherah and set it in the Temple of Jehovah. This is the same Temple that Jehovah said to David and to Solomon his son: In this house, and in Jerusalem, the town which I have made mine out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever (for a very long time). And never again will I send the feet of Israel wandering from the land that I gave to their fathers. If only they will take care to do all my orders, and obey all the law my servant Moses gave them. But they would not listen. Manasseh enticed them to do evil. In fact they committed more evil than the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the children of Israel. Jehovah said through his servants the prophets: Manasseh king of Judah committed detestable sins. He did more evil than all the Amorites before him. He enticed Judah to do evil with his false gods. Because of this,' says Jehovah the God of Israel: 'I will send such evil on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of all who hear of it will burn. The line of Samaria and the weight of Ahab will be stretched over Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be washed clean as a plate is washed, and turned over on its face. I will discard the rest of my heritage. I will give them into the hands of their enemies. They will take their property and their goods for themselves. Because they have done evil in my eyes. They moved me to anger from the day their fathers came out of Egypt till this day.' Even more, Manasseh killed many innocent men. He filled Jerusalem from one end to the other with blood. He also caused Judah to sin and do evil in the eyes of Jehovah. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all he did, and his sins, are recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. So Manasseh went to rest with his fathers. He was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza. Amon his son became king in his place.

Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for three months. His mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, as his fathers had done. And Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So that he was not king in Jerusalem. Pharaoh Necho extracted from the land a tax of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

The people of the land crowned Josiah's son Jehoahaz as their new king in Jerusalem in place of his father. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king. He was king in Jerusalem for three months. The king of Egypt removed him from office in Jerusalem and fined the country seven thousand five hundred pounds of silver and seventy-five pounds of gold. read more.
The king of Egypt made Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim king of Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. Necho took Jehoahaz away to Egypt.

The chief priest Amariah will be in charge of you in every matter involving Jehovah. Zebadiah, who is the son of Ishmael and the leader of the tribe of Judah, will be in charge of every matter involving the king. The Levites will serve as officers of the court. Be strong and do your job. May Jehovah be with those who do right.

Zichri, a fighting man from Ephraim, killed Maaseiah, who was the king's son, Azrikam, who was in charge of the palace, and Elkanah, who was the king's second-in-command.

([Psalm of David]) Jehovah said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to talk to him for Adonijah. The king stood up to meet her and bowed down to her. He took his place on the king's throne and she sat at his right hand on the seat made ready for the king's mother.

Kings' daughters are among your noble ladies. At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

Zadok took the container of olive oil that he had brought from the Tent of Jehovah's presence, and anointed Solomon. They blew the trumpet, and all the people shouted: Long live King Solomon! All the people followed him. They blew flutes and celebrated so loudly that their voices shook the ground. Adonijah and all his guests heard this while they were eating. When Joab heard the sound of the horn, he asked: Why all this noise in the city? read more.
He was still speaking when Jonathan, son of the priest Abiathar, arrived. Come in, Adonijah said: You are an honorable man. You must be bringing good news. Not at all, Jonathan answered Adonijah. His Majesty King David has made Solomon king! The king sent the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites with him. They placed him on the king's mule. The priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan anointed him king at Gihon. They came from there celebrating. The city is excited. That is the sound you heard. Solomon is seated on the royal throne. Even the royal officials have come to congratulate His Majesty King David, saying: May your God make Solomon's name more famous than yours and his reign greater than your reign. The king himself bowed down on his bed and prayed: 'Let us praise Jehovah the God of Israel. Today he made one of my descendants succeed me as king.' He let me live to see it! Adonijah's guests were afraid. So they all left. Adonijah, in great fear of Solomon, went to the Tent of Jehovah's presence and grabbed hold of the corners of the altar. King Solomon was told that Adonijah was afraid of him and that he was holding on to the corners of the altar. He heard that he said: First, I want King Solomon to swear to me that he will not have me put to death. Solomon replied: If he is loyal, not even a hair on his head will be touched. If he is not, he will die. King Solomon then sent for Adonijah and had him brought down from the altar. Adonijah went to the king and bowed low before him. The king said to him: You may go home. David was about to die. He called his son Solomon and gave him his last instructions: It is my time to die. I go the way of all people of the earth. Be strong and be a man. Do what Jehovah your God orders you to do. Obey all his laws and commands, as written in the Law of Moses. That way wherever you go you may prosper in everything you do. If you obey Jehovah he will keep the promise he made when he told me, 'Your descendants will rule Israel as long as they are careful to obey my commands faithfully with all their heart and being.' Remember what Joab did to me by killing the two commanders of Israel's armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. You remember how he murdered them in time of peace. This was revenge for deaths they had caused in time of war. He killed innocent men. I bear the responsibility for what he did. I suffer the consequences. You know what to do. You must not let him die a natural death. But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai from Gilead and take care of them. They were kind to me when I was fleeing from your brother Absalom. There is also Shimei son of Gera, from the town of Bahurim in Benjamin. He cursed me with a bitter curse the day I went to Mahanaim. When he met me at the Jordan River, I gave him my solemn promise in the name of Jehovah, saying, 'I will not have you killed by the sword.' However you must not let him go unpunished. You know what to do. You must make sure he is put to death. David died and was buried in David's City. He was king of Israel for forty years. He ruled seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. Solomon succeeded his father David as king. His royal power was firmly established. Adonijah, son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. Is this a friendly visit? She asked. Yes, he answered. I have something to discuss with you. He said. What is it? She asked. He said: You know the kingship was mine. All Israel expected me to be their king. But the kingship has been turned over to my brother because Jehovah gave it to him. I have one request to make to you. Do not say no to me. She responded: Tell me. He said: Will you go to Solomon the king for he will not say 'No' to you. And make my request that he give me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife? Bathsheba said: Indeed, I will make your request to the king. So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to talk to him for Adonijah. The king stood up to meet her and bowed down to her. He took his place on the king's throne and she sat at his right hand on the seat made ready for the king's mother. Then she said: I have one small request to make of you. Do not say 'No' to me. The king replied: Speak mother for I will not say no to you. She said: Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother for a wife. Then King Solomon answered: Why are you requesting me to give Abishag the Shunammite to Adonijah? Take the kingdom for him in addition, for he is my older brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab, the son of Zeruiah, are on his side. King Solomon took an oath by Jehovah, saying: May God's punishment be on me if Adonijah does not give payment for these words with his life. Now by the living God Jehovah who has given me my throne from David my father. He made me one of a line of kings. He gave me his word. Adonijah will be put to death this day. King Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada to attack and kill him. The king spoke to Abiathar the priest: Go to your fields at Anathoth. You deserve death. But I will not put you to death now, because you carried the Ark of Jehovah God before David my father. You were with him in all his troubles. Solomon did not allow Abiathar to be priest any longer. So the word of Jehovah came true concerning the sons of Eli in Shiloh. Joab received news of this for Joab had been one of Adonijah's supporters. He was not on Absalom's side. Then Joab went in flight to the Tent of Jehovah and put his hands on the corners of the altar. When King Solomon heard about this he sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada to kill him. Benaiah went to the Tent of Jehovah and told Joab: Come out. Joab said: No! Let me die here. So Benaiah returned to the king and gave him the answer Joab gave him. The king said: Do as he said. Kill him there and bury him in the earth. This will remove the guilt of his senseless murders from my father's family and me. Jehovah will punish Joab for those murders he committed without my father David's knowledge. Joab killed two innocent men who were better men than he: Abner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa, commander of the army of Judah. Jehovah will repay him for the blood Joab shed. The blood will fall on Joab and on his descendants as long as they live. Jehovah will always give success to David's descendants who sit on his throne. So Benaiah went to the Tent of Jehovah's presence and killed Joab. He was buried at his home in the wilderness. The king made Benaiah commander of the army in Joab's place and put Zadok the priest in Abiathar's place. The king sent for Shimei and said to him: Build a house for yourself here in Jerusalem. Live in it and do not leave the city. If you ever leave and go beyond Kidron Brook, you will die and it will be your fault. As you say, Your Majesty, Shimei answered. I will do what you say. So he lived in Jerusalem a long time. Three years later, however, two of Shimei's slaves ran away to the king of Gath, Achish son of Maacah. When Shimei heard that they were in Gath, he saddled his donkey and went to King Achish in Gath, to find his slaves. He found them and brought them back home. When Solomon heard what Shimei did, he sent for him and said: I made you promise in Jehovah's name not to leave Jerusalem. I warned you that if you ever did, you would die. Did you not agree to it and say that you would obey me? Why did you break your promise and disobey my command? You know very well all the wrong that you did to my father David. Jehovah will punish you for it. But he will bless me, and he will make David's kingdom secure forever. The king gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada. He killed Shimei. Solomon was now in complete control. Solomon made an alliance with the king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. He brought her to live in David's City until he finished building his palace, the Temple, and the wall around Jerusalem. A Temple had not yet been built for Jehovah. The people were still offering sacrifices at many different altars. Solomon loved Jehovah. He followed the instructions of his father David. He also slaughtered animals and offered them as sacrifices on different altars. One time he went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices because that was where the most used altar was. He offered hundreds of burnt offerings there in the past. That night Jehovah appeared to him in a dream and asked him: What do you want me to give you? Solomon answered: You always showed great love for my father David, your servant. He was good, loyal, and honest in his relation with you. You have continued to show him your great and constant love by giving him a son who today rules in his place. O Jehovah God, you allowed me to succeed my father as king, even though I am very young and do not know how to rule. I am among the people you have chosen to be your own. They are a people who are so many that they cannot be counted. Give me the wisdom I need to rule your people with justice. Help me know the difference between good and evil. Otherwise, how would I ever be able to rule this great people of yours? Jehovah was pleased that Solomon asked for this. He said to him: Because you have asked for the wisdom to rule justly, instead of long life for yourself or riches or the death of your enemies, I will do what you have asked. I will give you more wisdom and understanding than anyone has ever had. There has never been nor will ever be anyone like you. I will also give you what you did not ask for. All your life you will have wealth and honor, more than that of any other king. If you obey me and keep my laws and commands, as your father David did, I will give you a long life. Solomon woke up and was aware that God had spoken to him in the dream. Then he went to Jerusalem and stood in front of Jehovah's Ark of the Covenant. He offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to Jehovah. Then he gave a feast for all his officials. One day two women who were prostitutes came to the king. One of them said: Your Majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby boy at home while she was there. Two days after my child was born she also gave birth to a baby boy. Only the two of us were there in the house. No one else was there. One night she accidentally rolled over on her baby and smothered it. She got up during the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep. She took him to her bed and put the dead child in my bed. The next morning I woke up and was going to nurse my baby. It was dead. I looked at it more closely and saw that it was not my child. The other woman said: The living child is mine, and the dead one is yours! The first woman answered back: The dead child is yours, and the living one is mine! They argued before the king. King Solomon said: Each of you claims that the living child is hers and that the dead child belongs to the other one. He sent for a sword. When it arrived, he said: Cut the living child in two and give each woman half of it. With a heart full of love for her son the real mother said: Please, Your Majesty, do not kill the child! Give it to her! But the other woman said: Do not give it to either of us cut it in two. Then Solomon said: Do not kill the child! Give it to the first woman. She is the real mother. The people of Israel heard of Solomon's decision and were all filled with deep respect for him. They knew then that God had given him the wisdom to settle disputes fairly. Solomon was king over all Israel. His high officials were as follows: The priest: Azariah son of Zadok, the court secretaries: Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha In charge of the records: Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud. Commander of the army: Benaiah son of Jehoiada. Priests: Zadok and Abiathar. Chief of the district governors: Azariah son of Nathan Royal Adviser: the priest Zabud son of Nathan. In charge of the palace servants: Ahishar In charge of the forced labor: Adoniram son of Abda. Solomon appointed twelve men as district governors in Israel. They provided food from their districts for the king and his household, each man being responsible for one month out of the year. The following are the names of these twelve officers and the districts they were in charge of: Benhur: the mountains of Ephraim, Bendeker: the cities of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, Elon, and Beth Hanan, Benhesed: the cities of Arubboth and Socoh and all the territory of Hepher, Benabinadab, who was married to Solomon's daughter Taphath: the whole region of Dor. Baana son of Ahilud: the cities of Taanach, Megiddo, and all the region near Beth Shan, near the town of Zarethan, south of the town of Jezreel, as far as the city of Abel Meholah and the city of Jokmeam. Bengeber: the city of Ramoth in Gilead, and the villages in Gilead belonging to the clan of Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, and the region of Argob in Bashan, sixty large towns in all, fortified with walls and with bronze bars on the gates. Ahinadab son of Iddo: the district of Mahanaim. Ahimaaz, who was married to Basemath, another of Solomon's daughters: the territory of Naphtali. Baana son of Hushai: the region of Asher and the town of Bealoth. Jehoshaphat son of Paruah: the territory of Issachar. Shimei son of Ela: the territory of Benjamin. Geber son of Uri: the region of Gilead, which had been ruled by King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan. Besides these twelve, there was one governor over all the land. The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. They ate and drank and were very happy. Solomon's kingdom included all the nations from the Euphrates River to Philistia and the Egyptian border. They paid him taxes and were subject to him all his life. The supplies Solomon needed each day were one hundred and fifty bushels of fine flour and three hundred bushels of meal. Also needed were ten stall-fed cattle, twenty pasture-fed cattle, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fowl (cuckoo). Solomon ruled over all the land west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah on the Euphrates as far west as the city of Gaza. All the kings west of the Euphrates were subject to him. He was at peace with all the neighboring countries. As long as he lived, the people throughout Judah and Israel lived in safety. Each family had its own grapevines and fig trees. Solomon had forty thousand stalls for his chariot horses and twelve thousand cavalry horses. His twelve governors supplied the food King Solomon needed for all who ate in the palace. They always supplied everything needed, each one in the month assigned. Each governor also supplied his share of barley and straw as needed for the chariot horses and the work animals. God gave Solomon great wisdom and insight, and knowledge too great to be measured. Solomon was wiser than the wise men of the East or the wise men of Egypt. He was the wisest of all men. He was wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, and the sons of Mahol. His fame spread throughout all the neighboring countries. He wrote three thousand proverbs and more than a thousand songs. He spoke of trees and plants, from the Lebanon cedars to the hyssop that grows on walls. He talked about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. Kings all over the world heard of his wisdom and sent people to listen to the Wisdom of Solomon. When King Hiram of Tyre heard that Solomon succeeded his father as king he sent ambassadors to Solomon. He had always been a friend of David's. Solomon sent this message to Hiram: You know my father David could not build a Temple for the worship of Jehovah due to the constant wars he had to fight. There were enemies in countries all around him. First Jehovah had to give him victory over all his enemies. Jehovah my God has given me peace on all my borders. I have no enemies, and there is no danger of attack. Jehovah promised my father David: 'Your son, whom I will make king after you, will build a Temple for me. I have decided to build that Temple for the worship of Jehovah my God.' Send your men to Lebanon to cut down cedars for me. My men will work with them. I will pay your men whatever you decide. You may already know, my men do not know how to cut down trees as well as yours do. Hiram was extremely pleased when he received Solomon's message. He said: Praise Jehovah today for giving David such a wise son to succeed him as king of the great nation of Israel! Then Hiram sent Solomon the following message: I received your message. I am ready to do what you ask. I will provide the cedars and the pine trees. My men will bring the logs from Lebanon to the sea and will tie them together in rafts to float them down the coast to the place you choose. My men will untie them. There your men will take charge of them. On your part, I would like you to supply the food for my men. So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the cedar and pine logs he wanted. Solomon provided Hiram with one hundred thousand bushels of wheat and one hundred and ten thousand gallons of pure olive oil every year to feed his men. Jehovah kept his promise and gave Solomon wisdom. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon for they made a treaty with each other. King Solomon drafted thirty thousand men as forced labor from all over Israel. He appointed Adoniram to be in charge of them. He divided them into three groups of ten thousand men. Each group spent one month in Lebanon and two months back home. Solomon also had eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountains. There were seventy thousand men to carry the stones. He placed three thousand three hundred foremen there to supervise their work. King Solomon command that they cut fine large stones for the foundation of the Temple. Solomon's and Hiram's workers and men from the city of Gebal prepared the stones and the timber to build the Temple. Solomon began work on the Temple. It was four hundred and eighty years after the people of Israel left Egypt, during the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the second month, the month of Ziv. The Temple Solomon built was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high inside. The entrance room was fifteen feet deep and thirty feet wide. It was as wide as the sanctuary. He made windows for the Temple. Their openings were narrower on the outside than on the inside. A third-story annex, seven and one half feet high, was built against the outside walls. It was on the sides and the back of the Temple. Each room in the lowest story was seven and one half feet wide. The middle story was nine feet wide. The top story was ten and one half feet wide. The Temple wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below, so that the rooms could rest on the wall without having their beams built into it. The stones with which the Temple was built were prepared at the quarry. That way there was no noise made by hammers, axes, or any other iron tools as the Temple was built. The entrance to the lowest story of the annex was on the south side of the Temple. It had stairs leading up to the second and third stories. King Solomon finished building the Temple. He put in a ceiling made of beams and boards of cedar. The three-story annex, each story seven and one half feet high, was built against the outside walls of the Temple. Cedar beams were used to join it to them. Jehovah spoke to Solomon: If you obey all my laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised your father David. I will live among my people Israel in this Temple that you are building. I will never abandon them. Solomon finished building the Temple. The inside walls were covered with cedar panels from the floor to the ceiling. The floor was made of pine. An inner room, called the Most Holy Place, was built in the rear of the Temple. It was thirty feet long and was partitioned off by cedar boards reaching from the floor to the ceiling. The room in front of the Most Holy Place was sixty feet long. The cedar panels were decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers. The entire interior was covered with cedar. The stones of the walls could not be seen. An inner room was built in the rear of the Temple. The Ark of the Covenant was to be placed there. This inner room was thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high, all covered with pure gold. The altar was covered with cedar panels. The inside of the Temple was covered with gold. Gold chains were placed across the entrance of the inner room. The whole interior of the Temple was covered with gold, as well as the altar in the Most Holy Place. Two cherubim made of olive wood were placed in the Most Holy Place. Each one was fifteen feet tall. Each had two wings, each wing was seven and one half feet long. The distance from one wing tip to the other was fifteen feet. The other cherub was fifteen feet tall. Both were the same size and shape. They were placed side by side in the Most Holy Place. Their outstretched wings touched each other in the middle of the room, and the other two wings touched the walls. The two cherubim were covered with gold. The walls of the main room and of the inner room were all decorated with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and flowers. Even the floor was covered with gold. A double door made of olive wood was hung at the entrance of the Most Holy Place. There was a pointed arch on top of the doorway. The doors were decorated with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and flowers. The doors, the cherubim, and the palm trees were covered with gold. A rectangular doorframe of olive wood was made for the entrance to the main room. There were two folding doors made of pine and decorated with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and flowers, which were evenly covered with gold. An inner court was built in front of the Temple. They enclosed it with walls that had one layer of cedar beams for every three layers of stone. The foundation of the Temple was laid in the second month, the month of Ziv, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign. In the eighth month, the month of Bul, in the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, the Temple was completely finished exactly as it had been planned. It took Solomon seven years to build it. Solomon took thirteen years to build a palace for himself. The Hall of the Forest of Lebanon was one hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. It had three rows of cedar pillars, fifteen in each row, with cedar beams resting on them. The ceiling was of cedar, extending over storerooms, which were supported by the pillars. On each of the two sidewalls there were three rows of windows. All the doors and doorframes were rectangular. There were three doors facing each other on opposite sides of the palace. Solomon made the Hall of Pillars seventy-five feet long and forty-five feet wide. In front of the hall was an entrance hall with pillars. He made the hall for the throne. It was a place where he could sit on his throne and judge. The hall was covered with cedar from floor to ceiling. His own private quarters were in a different location than the hall containing the throne. They were similar in design. Solomon also built private quarters like this for his wife, Pharaoh's daughter. From the foundation to the roof, all these buildings, including the large courtyard, were built with high-grade stone blocks. The stone blocks were cut to size and trimmed with saws on their inner and outer faces. The foundation was made with large, high-grade expensive stones. Some were twelve feet and others fifteen feet long. Above the foundation were cedar beams and high-grade expensive stone blocks, which were cut to size. The large courtyard had three layers of cut stone blocks and a layer of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of Jehovah's Temple and the entrance hall. King Solomon sent for a man named Huram, a craftsman living in the city of Tyre. Huram was knowledgeable and skilled in making things out of copper. He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali. His father had been from Tyre. He went to do all of King Solomon's work. Huram cast two copper columns. Each one was twenty-seven feet tall and eighteen feet in circumference. They were placed at the entrance of the Temple. He also made two copper crowns. Each one was seven and one half feet tall. They were to be placed on top of the columns. The top of each column was decorated with a design of interwoven chains. They had two rows of copper pomegranates. The crowns on the top of the columns were shaped like lilies, six feet tall, and were placed on a rounded section which was above the chain design. There were two hundred pomegranates in two rows around each crown. Huram placed these two copper columns in front of the entrance of the Temple. The column on the south side was named Jachin and the one on the north was named Boaz. The lily-shaped copper crowns were on top of the columns. The work on the columns was completed. Hiram made a round tank of copper, seven and one half feet deep, fifteen feet in diameter, and forty-five feet in circumference. All around the outer edge of the rim of the tank were two rows of copper gourds. They were all cast in one piece with the rest of the tank. The tank rested on the backs of twelve copper bulls that faced outward. Three faced in each direction. The sides of the tank were three inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup. It curved outward like the petals of a lily. The tank held about ten thousand gallons. Huram also made ten copper carts. Each cart was six feet long, six feet wide, and four and one half feet high. They were made of square panels set in frames. There were figures of lions, bulls, and cherubim on the panels. And there were spiral relief figures on the frames above and underneath the lions and bulls. Each cart had four copper wheels with copper axles. At the four corners were copper supports for a basin. The supports were decorated with spiral relief figures. There was a circular frame on top for the basin. It projected eighteen inches upward from the top of the cart and seven inches down into it. It had carvings around it. The wheels were under the panels. They were twenty-five inches high. The axles were of one piece with the carts. The wheels were like chariot wheels. Their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of copper. There were four supports at the bottom corners of each cart. They were of one piece with the cart. There was a nine-inch band around the top of each cart. Its supports and the panels were of one piece with the cart. The supports and panels were decorated with figures of cherubim, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was space for them, with spiral figures all around. This is how the carts were made. They were all alike, having the same size and shape. Huram made ten basins, one for each cart. Each basin was six feet in diameter and held two hundred gallons. He placed five of the carts on the south side of the Temple. The other five were placed on the north side. The tank was placed at the southeast corner. Huram made the pots and spades and the basins. Huram finished all the work he did for King Solomon in the house of Jehovah. The two pillars and the two cups of the crowns which were on the tops of the two pillars; and the network covering the two cups of the crowns on the tops of the pillars, The four hundred apples for the network, two lines of apples for every network, covering the two cups of the crowns on the pillars; The ten bases, with the ten washing-vessels on them; The great water-vessel (molten sea) (copper sea), with the twelve oxen under it; And the pots and the spades and the basins; all the vessels which Huram made for King Solomon, for the house of Jehovah, were of polished brass. He made them of liquid metal in the lowland district of the Jordan River. This was at the river crossing at Adama, between Succoth and Zarethan. Solomon did not weigh all the utensils because so much copper was used. No one tried to determine how much the copper weighed. Solomon made all the furnishings for Jehovah's Temple: the gold altar, the gold table on which the bread of the presence was placed, lamps stands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north in front of the inner room, flowers, lamps, gold tongs, dishes, snuffers, bowls, saucers, incense burners of pure gold, the gold sockets for the doors of the inner room (the Most Holy Place), and the doors of the temple. All the work King Solomon did on Jehovah's Temple was finished. He brought the holy things that belonged to his father David: the silver, gold, and utensils and put them in the storerooms of Jehovah's Temple. King Solomon summoned all the leaders of the tribes and clans of Israel to come to him in Jerusalem. They were to take Jehovah's Ark of the Covenant from Zion, David's City, to the Temple. They all assembled during the festival. It was the seventh month, the month of Ethanim. As soon as all the elders gathered, the priests lifted the Ark and carried it to the Temple. The Levites and the priests also moved the Tent of Jehovah's presence and all its equipment to the Temple. King Solomon and all the people of Israel assembled in front of the Ark and sacrificed a large number of sheep and cattle, too many to count. Then the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant into the Temple and put it in the Most Holy Place, beneath the cherubim (angel). Their outstretched wings covered the box and the poles it was carried by. The ends of the poles could be seen by anyone standing directly in front of the Most Holy Place, but from nowhere else. There was nothing inside the Ark of the Covenant except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed there at Mount Sinai, when Jehovah made a covenant with the people of Israel as they were coming from Egypt. As the priests were leaving the Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud. It shined with the dazzling light of Jehovah's presence. They could not go back in to perform their duties. Solomon prayed: Jehovah, you have placed the sun in the sky, yet you have chosen to live in clouds and darkness. Now I have built a majestic temple for you, a place for you to live in for a very long time. King Solomon turned to face the people standing there. He asked God's blessing on them. He said: Praise Jehovah the God of Israel! He kept the promise he made to my father David, when he told him: Since the time I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen any city in all the land of Israel in which a temple should be built where I would be worshiped. But I chose you, David, to rule my people.' Solomon continued: My father David planned to build a temple for the worship of Jehovah the God of Israel, Jehovah said to him: 'You were right in wanting to build a temple for me. However you will never build it. It is your son who will build my temple.' Now Jehovah has kept his promise. I have succeeded my father as king of Israel. And I have built the Temple for the worship of Jehovah the God of Israel. I also provided a place in the Temple for the Ark of the Covenant containing the stone tablets of the covenant Jehovah made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt. In the presence of the people Solomon stood in front of the altar. He raised his arms and prayed: Jehovah God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. You kept the promise you made to my father David. Every word has been fulfilled. Jehovah, God of Israel, I pray that you will also keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided they obeyed you as carefully as he did. So now, O God of Israel, let your word come true that you promised to my father David, your servant. Can you, O God, really live on earth? Not even heaven or the heaven of heavens is large enough to hold you. How can this Temple I have built be large enough? Jehovah my God, I am your servant. Listen to my prayer. Grant the requests I make to you today. Watch over this Temple day and night. For this is the place where you have chosen to be worshiped. Hear me when I face this Temple and pray. Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people. In your home in heaven hear us and forgive us. When a person is accused of wronging another and is brought to your altar in this Temple to take an oath that he is innocent, O Jehovah, listen in heaven and judge your servants. Punish the guilty one, as he deserves. Justify the one who is innocent. When your people Israel have sinned against you their enemies defeat them. They can turn to you and come to this Temple, humbly praying to you for forgiveness. Listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people and bring them back to the land that you gave to their ancestors. When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you. And when they repent in this Temple, humbly praying to you, listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of the king and of the people of Israel, and teach them to do what is right. Then, O Jehovah, send rain on this land of yours, which you gave to your people as a permanent possession. When there is famine in the land or an epidemic or scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when their enemies attack your people, or when disease or sickness among them destroys the crops, listen to their prayers. If any of your people Israel, out of heartfelt sorrow, stretch out their hands in prayer toward this Temple, hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven, help them and forgive them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each person, as he deserves, so that your people may obey you all the time they live in the land you gave to our ancestors. When a foreigner who lives in a distant land hears of your fame and of the great things you have done for your people and comes to worship you and to pray at this Temple, For they will have news of your great name and your strong hand and your out-stretched arm. When he comes to pray in this house: Listen to him and give him his desire. Let all the peoples of the earth know about your name. Let them worship you as your people Israel, and that they may see that this house which I have built is truly named by your name. When your people go to war against their enemies, they pray to you, O Jehovah, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I built for your name. Hear their prayer for mercy in heaven, and do what is right for them. They may sin against you, for everyone sins. You may become angry with them and hand them over to an enemy far or near who takes them to another country as captives. If they come to their senses and are sorry for what they have done, and plead with you in the land where they are captives, saying: We have sinned. We have done wrong. We have been wicked. If they change their attitude toward you in the land of their enemies where they are captives, if they pray to you toward the land that you gave their ancestors, and the city you have chosen, and the temple I have built for your name, then in heaven, the place where you live, hear their prayer for mercy. Do what is right for them. Forgive your people, who have sinned against you. Forgive all their wrongs when they rebelled against you. Cause those who captured them to have mercy on them. They are your own people. You brought them out of Egypt from the middle of an iron smelter. May your eyes always see my plea and your people Israel's plea so that you will listen to them whenever they call on you. You Jehovah set them apart from all the people of the world. They are your own as you promised through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt. When Solomon finished praying this prayer for mercy to Jehovah, he stood in front of Jehovah's altar, where he had been kneeling with his hands stretched out toward heaven. Then he stood and in a loud voice blessed the entire assembly of Israel: THANKS TO JEHOVAH! He has given his people Israel rest, as he has promised. None of the good promises he made through his servant Moses has failed to come true. May Jehovah our God be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he not leave us or abandon us. May he bend our hearts toward him. Then we will follow him and obey his commands, laws, and rules, which he commanded our ancestors to obey. May these words I have prayed to Jehovah be near Jehovah our God day and night. Then he will give his people Israel and me justice every day as it is needed. In this way all the people of the earth may know that Jehovah is God and there is no other god. Let your hearts be committed to Jehovah our God. Then you will live by his laws and keep his commands as you have today. Then the king and all Israel offered sacrifices to Jehovah. Solomon sacrificed twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep as fellowship offerings to Jehovah. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated Jehovah's Temple. On that day the king designated the courtyard in front of Jehovah's Temple as a holy place. He sacrificed the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat from the fellowship offerings because the copper altar in front of Jehovah was too small to hold all of them. At that time Solomon and all Israel celebrated the festival. A large crowd had come from the territory between the border of Hamath and the River of Egypt to be near Jehovah our God for seven days. On the eighth day he dismissed the people. They blessed the king and went to their tents. They rejoiced with cheerful hearts for all the blessings Jehovah had given his servant David and his people Israel. Solomon finished building Jehovah's Temple, the royal palace, and everything else he wanted to build. Jehovah came to him again in a vision just as he had done at Gibeon. Jehovah said: I have heard your prayers and your supplication you made. I have made this house holy. I put my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there at all times. As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father did, uprightly and with a true heart, doing what I have given you orders to do, keeping my laws and my decisions; I will make the seat of your rule over Israel certain forever. I gave my word to David your father. I said: You will never be without a man to be king in Israel. But if you turn from my ways, you or your children, and do not keep my orders and my laws which I have put before you, but go and make yourselves servants to other gods and give them worship: I will have Israel cut off from the land I gave them. I will abandon this house even though I have made it holy for myself. I will put you out of my sight. Israel will be a public example, and a word of shame among all peoples. This house will become a mass of broken walls. Everyone who goes by will be overcome with wonder at it and make whistling sounds. They will say: Why has Jehovah done this to this land and to this house? The answer will be: 'Because they turned away from Jehovah their God. The one who took their fathers out of the land of Egypt. They took for themselves other gods and gave them worship and became their servants: that is why Jehovah has sent this evil on them.' It took twenty years for Solomon to build two houses, the Temple of Jehovah and the king's house. Hiram, king of Tyre, had given Solomon cedar-trees and cypress-trees and gold, as much as he needed. King Solomon gave Hiram twenty towns in the land of Galilee. But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. He said: What sort of towns are these you have given me, my brother? So they were named the land of Cabul, to this day. Hiram sent the king a hundred and twenty talent of gold. King Solomon used forced labor to build the Temple and the palace, to fill in land on the east side of the city, and to build the city wall. He also used it to rebuild the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. The king of Egypt attacked Gezer and captured it. They killed its inhabitants and set fire to the city. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter when she married Solomon. Solomon rebuilt it. Using his forced labor, Solomon also rebuilt Lower Beth Horon, Baalath, Tamar in the wilderness of Judah, the cities where his supplies were kept, the cities for his horses and chariots, and everything else he wanted to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and elsewhere in his kingdom. Solomon used the descendants of the people of Canaan whom the Israelites had not killed when they took possession of their land as his forced labor. These included Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Their descendants continue to be slaves down to the present time. Solomon did not make slaves of Israelites. They served as his soldiers, officers, commanders, chariot captains, and cavalry. There were five hundred and fifty officials in charge of the forced labor working on Solomon's various building projects. Solomon filled in the land on the east side of the city, after his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, had moved from David's City to the palace Solomon built for her. Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built to Jehovah. He also burned incense to Jehovah. He finished building the Temple. King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Eziongeber. This is near Elath on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the land of Edom. King Hiram sent experienced sailors from his fleet to serve with Solomon's men. They sailed to the land of Ophir and brought back to Solomon about sixteen tons of gold. The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame. She traveled to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. So she came to Jerusalem with a very large caravan. The camels carried spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she approached Solomon, she talked about everything she had on her mind (heart). Solomon answered all her questions. Nothing was hidden from the king that he did not explain to her. When the queen of Sheba perceived all the Wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of Jehovah, she was overwhelmed. She said to the king: The report I heard in my country about your acts and your wisdom was true. But I had no faith in what was said about you, till I came and saw for myself. Now I see that what I was told was not the half of it! Your wisdom and your wealth are much greater than they said. Happy are your wives, happy are your servants whose place is ever before you, hearing your words of wisdom. Praise Jehovah your God! He delighted in you and made you king of Israel. Jehovah's love for Israel is long lasting, he has made you king, to be their judge in righteousness. She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a great store of spices and jewels. Never again was such a wealth of spices seen as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon. Hiram's fleet that brought gold from Ophir also brought a large quantity of sandalwood and precious stones from Ophir. With the sandalwood (possibly the algum tree) the king made supports for Jehovah's Temple and the royal palace, and lyres and harps for the singers. Never again was sandalwood like this imported into Israel, nor has any been seen there to this day. King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all her desire. Whatever she requested in addition to what he gave her freely from the impulse of his heart. She and her servants went back to her country. Each year King Solomon received about twenty-five tons of gold. This was in addition to what came to him from the business of the traders, and from all the kings of the Arabians, and from the rulers of the country. Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold. About fifteen pounds of gold went into each shield. He made three hundred smaller body-covers of hammered gold. Three pounds of gold was in every cover. The king put them in the house of the Woods of Lebanon. The king made a great ivory throne plated with the best gold. There were six steps going up to it. The top of it was round at the back. There were arms on the two sides of the throne and two lions by the side of the arms. Twelve lions were placed on one side and on the other side on the six steps: there was nothing like it in any kingdom. All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold. All the vessels of the house of the Woods of Lebanon were of the best gold. Not one was of silver, for no one gave a thought to silver in the days of King Solomon. For the king had Tarshish-ships at sea with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years the Tarshish-ships came with gold and silver and ivory and apes (monkeys) and peacocks. King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom. They came from all over the earth to see Solomon and to listen to his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. Everyone took presents such as vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and robes, and coats of metal, and spices, and horses, and beasts of transport, regularly year by year. Solomon gathered war-carriages and horsemen. He had one thousand, four hundred carriages and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he kept, some in the carriage-towns and some with the king at Jerusalem. The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem and cedars like the sycamore-trees of the lowlands in number. Solomon's string of horses came from Egypt and from Kue. The king's traders got them at a price from Kue. A war-carriage might be obtained from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They got them at the same rate for all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram. Solomon loved many women. They were of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites. Jehovah warned the children of Israel about these nations. He said: You are not to take wives from them and they are not to take wives from you. They will certainly turn your hearts to go after their gods. Solomon loved his wives anyway. He had seven hundred wives, daughters of kings, and three hundred other wives. His wives influenced his heart to turn away. When Solomon was old he allowed his heart to be turned away to other gods by his wives. His heart was no longer true to Jehovah his God as the heart of his father David had been. Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and Milcom, the disgusting god of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. He did not walk in Jehovah's ways with all his heart as David his father did. Then Solomon put up a high place for Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, in the mountain near Jerusalem. And for Molech, the disgusting god worshipped by the children of Ammon. He did likewise for all his strange wives, who made offerings with burning of perfumes to their gods. Jehovah was angry with Solomon. This is because his heart turned away from Jehovah, the God of Israel, who had twice come to him in a vision. Jehovah had given him orders about this very thing that he was not to go after other gods. But he did not obey the orders of Jehovah. So Jehovah said to Solomon: Because you have done this, and have not kept the agreement and laws I gave you, I will take the kingdom away from you by force and will give it to your servant. I will not do it in your lifetime, because of your father David, but I will take it from your son. Still I will not take the entire kingdom from him. I will give one tribe to your son, because of my servant David, and because of Jerusalem, the town of my selection. Jehovah sent Hadad the Edomite to make trouble for Solomon. He was of the king's seed in Edom. When David had sent destruction on Edom, and Joab, the commander of the army went to bury the dead. They put to death every male in Edom. Joab and all Israel stayed there six months until they had destroyed every male in Edom. Hadad was a young boy at the time. He and some of his father's Edomite servants fled to Egypt. They left Midian and went to Paran. Taking some men from Paran with them, they went to Pharaoh the king of Egypt. Pharaoh gave Hadad a home, a food allowance, and land. Pharaoh approved of Hadad. So he gave Hadad his sister-in-law, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, to be Hadad's wife. Tahpenes' sister had a son named Genubath. Tahpenes presented the boy to Pharaoh in the palace, and Genubath lived in the palace among Pharaoh's children. When the news reached Hadad in Egypt that David had died and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to the king: Let me go back to my own country. Why? The king asked. Have I failed to give you something? Is that why you want to go back home? Hadad answered: Just let me go. He went back to his country. As king of Edom, Hadad was an evil, bitter enemy of Israel. God also caused Rezon son of Eliada to turn against Solomon. Rezon had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah, and had become the leader of a gang of outlaws. This happened after David defeated Hadadezer and slaughtered his Syrian allies. Rezon and his gang lived in Damascus, where his followers made him king of Syria. He was trouble to Israel all through the days of Solomon. This is the damage Hadad did: he was cruel to Israel while he was ruler over Edom. Jeroboam rebelled against the king. He was the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother was Zeruah, a widow. This is how he rebelled: Solomon was building the Millo (supporting terraces) and making good the damaged parts of the town of his father David. Jeroboam was a capable and responsible man. Solomon saw that he was a good worker and made him overseer of all the work given to the sons of Joseph. When Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite came across him on the road. Ahijah was wearing a new robe. They were by themselves in the open country. Ahijah took his new robe in his hands and tore it into twelve pieces. He said to Jeroboam: Take ten of the parts, for this is what Jehovah said: 'I will take the kingdom away from Solomon by force. I will give ten tribes to you. But one tribe will be his because of my servant David, and because of Jerusalem. Out of the tribes of Israel he will have the town I have made mine. I am going to do this because Solomon has rejected me and has worshiped foreign gods. Astarte, the goddess of Sidon; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of Ammon. Solomon disobeyed me. He has done wrong! He has not obeyed my laws and commands as his father David did. I will not take the entire kingdom away from Solomon. I will keep him in power as long as he lives. This I will do for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose and who obeyed my laws and commands. I will take the kingdom away from Solomon's son and will give you ten tribes. I will let Solomon's son keep one tribe. That way I will always have a descendant of my servant David ruling in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as the place where I am worshiped. Jeroboam, I will make you king of Israel. You will rule over all the territory that you want. If you obey me completely I will always be with you. You must live by my laws, and win my approval by doing what I command, as my servant David did. I will make you king of Israel and will make sure that your descendants rule after you, just as I have done for David. Because of Solomon's sin I will punish the descendants of David, but not forever.' For this reason Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. Jeroboam escaped to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon's death. Everything else that Solomon did, his career, and his wisdom, are all recorded in The History of Solomon. He was king in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. He died and was buried in David's City. His son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.

Jeroboam had been king of Israel twenty years. Asa became king of Judah. He was king for forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. Asa did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah, as David his father did. read more.
He banished perverted persons from the land. He removed those used for sex purposes in the worship of the gods. He removed all the idols his fathers had made. He would not let Maacah his mother be queen, because she had made a disgusting image for Asherah. Asa had the obscene image cut down and burned by the Kidron Stream. The high places were not taken away. Nevertheless Asa's heart was true to Jehovah all his life. He brought into the Temple of Jehovah all the things he and his father made holy, silver and gold and vessels. There was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, through out their reigns. And Baasha, king of Israel, went up against Judah. He fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or in to Asa the king of Judah. Then Asa took all the silver and gold still stored in Jehovah's Temple, and in the king's house, and delivered them, in the care of his servants, to Ben-hadad, son of Tabrimmon, son of Rezon, king of Aram, at Damascus. He said: Let there be an agreement between us just as there was between my father and your father. I have sent you an offering of silver and gold. End your agreement with Baasha, king of Israel that he may give up attacking me. Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa's request and sent his armies to attack Israel. He conquered Ijon and Dan and Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth as far as the land of Naphtali. When Baasha heard this he stopped fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah. Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah. Every man came to carry away the stone and the timber Baasha used to fortify Ramah. King Asa used them for building Geba in the land of Benjamin, and Mizpah. The rest of the events of Asa's reign, the extent of his power and the names of the cities he built are all recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. His feet became diseased, as he grew old. So Asa went to rest with his fathers and was buried in the town of David his father. Jehoshaphat his son became king in his place.

You are that man! Nathan said to David. And this is what the Lord Jehovah the God of Israel says: 'I made you king of Israel and rescued you from Saul. I gave you his kingdom and his wives. Then I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much. Why have you disobeyed my commands? Why did you do this evil thing? You had Uriah killed in battle! You let the Ammonites kill him. Then you took his wife! read more.
In every generation some of your descendants will die a violent death because you have disobeyed me and have taken Uriah's wife. I swear to you that I will cause someone from your own family to bring trouble to you. You will see it when I take your wives from you and give them to another man. He will have intercourse with them in broad daylight. You did this secretly. I will make this happen in broad daylight in front of all Israel.'

Go to Ahab, king of Israel, in Samaria. He is in the garden of Naboth the Jezreelite. He went there to take it as his heritage. Say to him: 'Jehovah says: Have you put a man to death and taken his heritage?' Then say: 'Jehovah says: Your blood will become the drink of dogs! You will go to the same place where the dogs drink the blood of Naboth.' Ahab said to Elijah: Have you come face to face with me, O my enemy? Elijah said: I have come to you because you have given yourself up to do evil in the eyes of Jehovah. read more.
Jehovah says to you: I will bring disaster on you. I will do away with you and get rid of every male in your family, young and old alike. Your family will become like the family of King Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the family of King Baasha son of Ahijah. This is because you have stirred up my anger by leading Israel into sin. Concerning Jezebel, Jehovah says: Dogs will eat her body in the city of Jezreel. Dogs will eat your relatives dying in the city. Vultures will eat your dead relatives in the country.

When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they requested a meeting of the people. At that meeting they made him king over Israel. There was none who followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah.

King Jeroboam of Israel fortified the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there for a while. Then he left and fortified the town of Penuel. He thought to himself: The way things are my people will go to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices to Jehovah at the Temple there. They will transfer their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah and will kill me. read more.
After asking for advice, the king made two golden calves. He said: You have been worshiping in Jerusalem long enough. Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt. He placed one in Bethel and the other in Dan. This became Israel's sin, worshiping the golden calves. The people went as far as Dan to worship the one calf. Jeroboam built worship sites on hilltops. He appointed men who were not descended from Levi to be priests. Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the festival in Judah. He went to the altar in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had made. He appointed priests from the illegal worship sites to serve in Bethel. He went to his altar in Bethel to burn an offering on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the festival he invented for the Israelites. A man of God from Judah went to Bethel. He arrived there while Jeroboam was at the altar ready to offer a sacrifice. He actually spoke against the altar: O altar, altar, this is what Jehovah says: 'A child, whose name will be Josiah, will be born to the family of David. He will slaughter the priests serving at the pagan altars who offer sacrifices on you. He will burn human bones on you.' The prophet went on to say: This altar will fall apart. The ashes on it will be scattered. Then you will know that Jehovah has spoken through me. King Jeroboam heard this. He pointed his outstretched hand at him and ordered: Seize that man! At once the king's arm became paralyzed so that he could not pull it back. The altar suddenly fell apart and the ashes spilled to the ground. This is what the prophet predicted in the name of Jehovah. King Jeroboam said to the prophet: Please pray to Jehovah your God for me, and ask him to heal my arm! The prophet prayed to Jehovah and the king's arm was healed. Then the king said to the prophet: Come home with me and have something to eat. I will reward you for what you have done. The prophet answered: Even if you gave me half of your wealth, I would not go with you or eat or drink anything with you. I was ordered by the word of Jehovah, he said: You are not to take food or a drink of water, and you are not to go back the way you came. So he went another way, and not by the way he came to Bethel. There was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons told him what the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They reported what he said to the king. Their father asked: Which way did he go? His sons saw which way the man of God went. So the prophet said to his sons: Saddle the donkey for me. So they saddled the donkey and he mounted it. He rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree. Are you the man of God who came from Judah? He asked. I am. Came his reply. He said: Come back to the house with me and have a meal. But the man of God from Judah replied: I may not go back with you or go into your house. I will not take food or a drink of water with you in this place. Jehovah said to me: 'You are not to take food or water there, or go back again by the way you came.' Then he said: I am a prophet like you. An angel said to me by the word of Jehovah, Take him back with you and give him food and water. But he lied to him. So he went back with him, and had a meal in his house and a drink of water. But while they were seated at the table, the word of Jehovah came to the old prophet who had brought him back. Crying out to the man of God who came from Judah, he said: Jehovah says, 'because you have gone against the voice of Jehovah, and have not done as Jehovah ordered you, but have come back, and have taken food and water in this place where he said you were to take no food or water; your dead body will not be put to rest with your fathers.' After the meal he made the donkey ready for the prophet whom he had taken back. He went on his way. A lion met him on the road and jumped him and killed him. His dead body was stretched in the road with the donkey by its side. The lion was by the body. Some people who passed by saw the body stretched out in the road with the lion by its side. They brought the news to the town where the old prophet lived. The old prophet heard about it and said: That is the prophet who disobeyed Jehovah's command! Jehovah sent the lion to attack and kill him, just as Jehovah said he would. He said to his sons: Saddle my donkey for me. They did so. He rode away to find the prophet's body lying on the road. The donkey and the lion were still standing by it. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. The old prophet picked up the body and brought it back to Bethel on the donkey. There he mourned over it and buried it. He buried it in his own family grave. He and his sons mourned over it, saying: Oh my brother, my brother! After the burial the prophet said to his sons: When I die, bury me in this grave and lay my body next to his. The words that he spoke at Jehovah's command against the altar in Bethel and against all the places of worship in the towns of Samaria will surely come true. King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built. He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam. It brought about its ruin and total destruction from the face of the earth. King Jeroboam's son Abijah became sick. Jeroboam said to his wife: Disguise yourself so that no one will recognize you, and go to Shiloh. That is where the prophet Ahijah lives. He is the one who said I would be king of Israel. Take him ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey. Ask him what is going to happen to our son. He will tell you. She went to Ahijah's home in Shiloh. Old age had made Ahijah blind. Jehovah told him: Jeroboam's wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is sick. Jehovah told Ahijah what to say. Jeroboam's wife pretended to be someone else when she arrived there. Ahijah heard her coming in the door and said: Come in. I know you are Jeroboam's wife. Why do you pretend to be someone else? I have bad news for you. Go and tell Jeroboam that this is what Jehovah, the God of Israel, says to him: I chose you from among the people and made you the ruler of my people Israel. I took the kingdom away from David's descendants and gave it to you. You have not been like my servant David. He was completely loyal to me. He obeyed my commands, and did only what I approve of. You have committed far greater sins than those who ruled before you. You have rejected me and have aroused my anger by making idols and metal images to worship. I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will kill all your male descendants, young and old alike. I will get rid of your family. They will be swept away like dung. Dogs will eat members of your family who die in the city. Vultures will eat any who die in the open country. I, Jehovah, have spoken! Ahijah went on to say to Jeroboam's wife: Go back home. As soon as you enter the town, your son will die. All the people of Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He will be the only member of Jeroboam's family who will be properly buried for he is the only one with whom Jehovah, the God of Israel, is pleased. Jehovah will place a king over Israel who will put an end to Jeroboam's house. Jehovah will punish Israel, and she will shake like a reed shaking in a stream. He will uproot the people of Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors. He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they have aroused his anger by making idols of the goddess Asherah. Jehovah will abandon Israel because Jeroboam sinned and led the people of Israel into sin. Jeroboam's wife went back to Tirzah. Just as she entered her home, the child died. The people of Israel mourned for him and buried him. This is as Jehovah said through his servant, the prophet Ahijah. Everything else that King Jeroboam did, the wars he fought and how he ruled, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. Jeroboam ruled as king for twenty-two years. He died and was buried. His son Nadab succeeded him as king.

Then Jehoiada led Joash out and placed the crown on his head. He gave him a copy of the laws governing kingship. Then Jehoash was anointed and proclaimed king. The people clapped their hands and shouted: Long live the king!

Then they brought out the king's son and put the crown on him. They gave him the testimony and made him king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed him. They said: Long live the king!

Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head. He kissed him and said: Jehovah has anointed you to be ruler of his people Israel. You will rule his people. You will save them from all their enemies. This will be the sign that Jehovah has anointed you to be ruler of his people.

All the officials and soldiers, and even all of David's other sons, promised to be loyal to Solomon as king.

In the thirty-seventh year of the rule of Jehoash king of Judah, Joash son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria. He ruled for sixteen years. He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, not turning away from the sin of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he did and made Israel do. He continued sinning. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash, and all he did, and the force with which he went to war against Amaziah, king of Judah, are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. read more.
Joash went to rest with his fathers. They buried Jehoash in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Jeroboam took his place as king. Elisha became ill with the disease that caused his death. Jehoash, king of Israel, came down to him, and weeping over him said: My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen! Elisha said to him: Take bow and arrows So he took bow and arrows. He said to the king of Israel: Put your hand on the bow So he put his hand on it; and Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. Then he said: Let the window be open to the east. So he got it open. Then Elisha said: Let the arrow go! So he let it go. He said: Jehovah's arrow of salvation, of salvation over Aram for you will overcome the Aramaeans in Aphek and put an end to them. He said: Take the arrows! So he took them. He said to the king of Israel: Send them down into the earth. He did so three times and no more. Then the man of God was angry with him and said: If you had done it five or six times, then you would have overcome Aram completely. Now you will only overcome them three times. Elisha died and they buried him. Now in the spring of the year, armed bands of Moabites frequently came, overrunning the land. While they were burying a dead man they saw a band coming. They put the man quickly into the place where Elisha's body was. The dead man's body touched Elisha's bones. The man came to life again and got up on his feet. Israel was crushed under the power of Hazael, king of Aram, all the days of Jehoahaz. But Jehovah was kind to them and had pity on them, caring for them, because of his agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He would not put them to destruction or send them away from his presence until now. Then Hazael king of Aram died. Benhadad his son became king in his place. Jehoash son of Jehoahaz captured again from Benhadad, the son of Hazael, the towns he had taken from Jehoahaz, his father, in war. Three times Jehoash defeated him and recovered the towns of Israel.

Then Amaziah sent representatives to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying: Come let us have a meeting face to face. Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying: The thorn-tree in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying: 'Give your daughter to my son for a wife.' A beast from the woodland in Lebanon went by, crushing the thorn under his feet. It is true that you have overcome Edom and your heart is uplifted. Let that glory be enough for you and stay in your own country. Why do you make causes for trouble, putting yourself and Judah with you in danger of downfall? read more.
But Amaziah paid no attention. So Jehoash king of Israel went to Amaziah king of Judah to meet face to face at Bethshemesh in Judah. Judah was defeated by Israel and every man fled home. Jehoash king of Israel made Amaziah king of Judah son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, prisoner at Bethshemesh. He went to Jerusalem and had the wall of Jerusalem pulled down from the Gate of Ephraim to the gate in the angle, six hundred feet. He took all the gold and silver and all the vessels in the Temple of Jehovah and in the storehouse of the king, together with those whose lives would be the price of broken faith, and went back to Samaria. The rest of the acts of Jehoash, and his power, and how he went to war with Amaziah, king of Judah, are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. Jehoash went to rest with his fathers. They buried him in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Jeroboam his son became king in his place.

Jotham son of Uzziah became king of Judah. It was in the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel. He was twenty-five years old when he became king. He ruled sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. Jotham did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah, as his father Uzziah had done. read more.
But he did not take away the high places. The people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. He was the builder of the higher gate of the Temple of Jehovah. The rest of the acts of Jotham are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. At that time Jehovah first sent Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, against Judah. Jotham died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City. His son Ahaz succeeded him as king.

for the herds grazing in Sharon, Shitrai from Sharon for the herds in the valleys- Shaphat, son of Adlai

That same day one of Saul's servants who was obligated to stay in Jehovah's presence was there. His name was Doeg. He was chief herdsman for Saul's shepherds from Edom.

So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to talk to the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum, son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas. Shallum was in charge of the royal wardrobe. Huldah was living in the Second Part of Jerusalem.

Hilkiah and the king's officials went to talk to the prophet Huldah about this matter. She was the wife of Shallum, son of Tokhath and grandson of Hasrah. Shallum was in charge of the royal wardrobe. Huldah was living in the Second Part of Jerusalem.

Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah. It was the fifth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab as king of Israel. He was thirty-two years old. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. His wife was Ahab's daughter. Like the family of Ahab he followed the evil ways of the kings of Israel. He sinned against Jehovah. read more.
Jehovah was not willing to destroy Judah. He promised his servant David that his descendants would always continue to rule. Edom revolted against Judah and became an independent kingdom. Jehoram and his chariots went to Zair. The Edomite army surrounded them. He and his chariot commanders managed to break out and escape. His soldiers scattered to their homes. Edom has been independent of Judah ever since. The city of Libnah also revolted at that time. Everything Jehoram did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. Jehoram died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City. His son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.

Amaziah son of Jehoash became king of Judah. It was in the second year of Jehoash son of Joahaz king of Israel. Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah. Though not like David his forefather; he did as Joash his father had done. read more.
Still the high places were not taken away. The people continued making offerings and burning them in the high places. As soon as he firmly established the kingdom he immediately put to death those servants who had taken the life of his father, the king. But he did not put their children to death. The orders of Jehovah recorded in the book of the law of Moses say: The fathers are not to be put to death for the children, or the children for their fathers; but each man shall be put to death for his own sin. He put to the sword twelve thousand men of Edom in the Valley of Salt. He captured Sela in war, and named it Joktheel, as it is to this day. Then Amaziah sent representatives to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying: Come let us have a meeting face to face. Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying: The thorn-tree in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying: 'Give your daughter to my son for a wife.' A beast from the woodland in Lebanon went by, crushing the thorn under his feet. It is true that you have overcome Edom and your heart is uplifted. Let that glory be enough for you and stay in your own country. Why do you make causes for trouble, putting yourself and Judah with you in danger of downfall? But Amaziah paid no attention. So Jehoash king of Israel went to Amaziah king of Judah to meet face to face at Bethshemesh in Judah. Judah was defeated by Israel and every man fled home. Jehoash king of Israel made Amaziah king of Judah son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, prisoner at Bethshemesh. He went to Jerusalem and had the wall of Jerusalem pulled down from the Gate of Ephraim to the gate in the angle, six hundred feet. He took all the gold and silver and all the vessels in the Temple of Jehovah and in the storehouse of the king, together with those whose lives would be the price of broken faith, and went back to Samaria. The rest of the acts of Jehoash, and his power, and how he went to war with Amaziah, king of Judah, are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. Jehoash went to rest with his fathers. They buried him in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Jeroboam his son became king in his place. Amaziah, the son of Jehoash, king of Judah, went on living for fifteen years after the death of Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. The rest of the acts of Amaziah are recorded in the book of the History of the Kings of Judah. Conspiracy was plotted against him in Jerusalem. He went in flight to Lachish, but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. They took his body on horseback and buried him with his fathers in Jerusalem, the town of David.

I will choose one of your sons to be king when you reach the end of your life and are buried in the tomb of your ancestors. I will make him a strong ruler. I will allow no one to take his long lasting kingdom away from him. He will be the one to build a temple for me. I will be his father. He will be my son. When he does wrong I will correct him just as parents correct children. read more.
I will never put an end to my agreement with him. I put an end to my agreement with Saul when he was king before you. I will make sure that one of your descendants will be king for a very long time. Your throne will be established from generation to generation.'

On my holiness I have taken an oath: I will not lie to David. His descendants will last forever. His throne will be in my presence like the sun. It shall be established forever like the moon. It will be like a faithful witness in heaven.

Do not curse God. Do not curse a ruler of your people.

Do not curse the king, no not even in thought. Do not curse the rich in your bedchamber for a bird of the air will carry the voice, and that which has wings will tell the matter.

Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, became king over Israel in the second year that Asa was king of Judah; and he was king of Israel for two years. He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. He copied the evil ways of his father. He made Israel sin so much that they provoked Jehovah to anger with their idols. And Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the family of Issachar, made a secret design against him, attacking him at Gibbethon, a town of the Philistines. Nadab and the armies of Israel were making war on Gibbethon.

Everything else that Nadab did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. He ruled three years as king in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. He was not completely loyal to Jehovah his God as his great-grandfather David had been. He committed the same sins as his father did. read more.
For David's sake Jehovah his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising Abijam a son to rule after him to keep Jerusalem secure. Jehovah did this because David had done what was right in Jehovah's eyes. He obeyed his commandments, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. Abijam continued the war that Rehoboam and Jeroboam started. There was war throughout Abijam's lifetime. Everything else that Abijah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. Then Abijam went to rest with his fathers, and they buried him in the earth in the town of David. Asa his son became king in his place.

Ahithophel was the king's adviser. Hushai, a descendant of Archi, was the king's friend.

Chief of the district governors: Azariah son of Nathan Royal Adviser: the priest Zabud son of Nathan.

The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against Jehovah and against his Anointed One.

Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his rage (fury). He says:

You will rule them with an iron scepter. You will dash them to pieces like pottery!

Rezin king of Aram, and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came to Jerusalem to make war. They attacked Ahaz but could not conquer him.

Pekah son of Remaliah became king over Israel in Samaria. He ruled twenty years. It was in the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah. He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. He did not turn from the sin Jeroboam son of Nebat committed and caused Israel to commit. In the days of Pekah king of Israel Tiglathpileser king of Assyria captured Ijon and Abelbethmaacah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee and all the land of Naphtali. He took the people captive to Assyria. read more.
Hoshea son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He attacked him and killed him. He became king in his place. It was in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah king of Judah. The rest of the acts of Pekah are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel. It was the seventeenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah. Ahaziah ruled in Samaria for two years. He sinned against Jehovah, following the wicked example of his father Ahab, his mother Jezebel, and King Jeroboam, who had led Israel into sin. He worshiped and served Baal. Like his father before him, he aroused the anger of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

Everything else that King Ahaziah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

In charge of the palace servants: Ahishar In charge of the forced labor: Adoniram son of Abda.

Zichri, a fighting man from Ephraim, killed Maaseiah, who was the king's son, Azrikam, who was in charge of the palace, and Elkanah, who was the king's second-in-command.

the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of Jehovah, she was overwhelmed.

She told the king: What I heard in my country about your words and your wisdom is true!

A ruler is persuaded by patience, and a soft tongue breaks the bone.

Anger from a king is the messenger of death, but a wise man will placate it.

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. They said: We want a king! We want to be like other nations, with our own king to rule us and to lead us out to war and to fight our battles.

They said: You are an old man. You set a good example for your sons. But they have not followed it. Now we want a king to be our leader like all the other nations. Choose one for us!

The king who faithfully judges the poor will have his throne established forever.

It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness for the throne is established by righteousness.

With the sandalwood the king made gateways to Jehovah's Temple and the royal palace. They also made lyres and harps for the singers. No one had ever seen anything like them in Judah.

They will come forward with gladness and rejoicing. They will enter into the King's palace.

Joab was in command of the army of Israel. Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of David's bodyguards.

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was the commander of David's bodyguard. David's sons were priests.

The king's anger is like the roaring of a lion but his favor is like dew upon the grass.

Fear of a king is like the roar of a lion. Provoke him to anger and sin against yourself.

You are that man! Nathan said to David. And this is what the Lord Jehovah the God of Israel says: 'I made you king of Israel and rescued you from Saul.

Jesse sent for him. He was a handsome, healthy young man, and his eyes sparkled. Jehovah said to Samuel: This is the one. Anoint him!

So all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day just as the king ordered.

When all Israel realized that the king would not respond to their request, the people in answer said to the king: What share do we have in David? What is our heritage in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel; now see to your people, David. So Israel went away to their tents.

But David said: Do not harm him! Jehovah will certainly punish whoever harms his chosen king.

David asked: Why were you not afraid to take it upon yourself to destroy Jehovah's (YHWH) anointed king?

Jehovah answered: Samuel, do everything they want you to do. I am really the one they have rejected as their king.

You have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and distresses. You said to him: No! Place a king over us. Now then, stand in front of Jehovah by your tribes and family groups.'

The king of Babylon installed Mattaniah, his father's brother, king in place of Jehoiachin. He changed his name to Zedekiah.

Then Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of Josiah his father. He changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz away to Egypt, where he remained till he died.

Caesar's, they said. Then he said: Pay Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Pay God the things that are God's.

That is why you pay taxes. They are God's ministers continually serving this very purpose. Render therefore to all their due. Provide tribute to whom tribute is due. Give custom to whom custom is owed. Render fear to whom fear is owed and offer honor to whom honor is deserved.

From the city he also took an army commander, five men who had access to the king whom he found in the city, the scribe who was in charge of the militia, and sixty of the common people whom he found in the city.

Happy are your wives, happy are your servants whose place is ever before you, hearing your words of wisdom.

I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like these.

The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: I will change my clothing, so that I do not seem to be the king. Then I will go into the fight. You put on your royal robes. So the king of Israel changed his dress and went into the battle.

He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to the discerning.

Now here is the king you have chosen. You asked for him. Now Jehovah gives him to you.

In charge of the palace servants: Ahishar In charge of the forced labor: Adoniram son of Abda.

Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, the overseer of the forced work. He was stoned to death by all Israel. King Rehoboam went quickly and got into his carriage to escape to Jerusalem.

Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Abiathar the son of Ahimelech, were the priests. Seraiah was the secretary.

the court secretaries: Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha In charge of the records: Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud.

the court secretaries: Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha In charge of the records: Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud.

Joab the son of Zeruiah was the commander in chief of the army. Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud kept the government records.

Commander of the army: Benaiah son of Jehoiada. Priests: Zadok and Abiathar.

Joab the son of Zeruiah was the commander in chief of the army. Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud kept the government records.

He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to the discerning.

So Jehovah said to Solomon: Because you have done this, and have not kept the agreement and laws I gave you, I will take the kingdom away from you by force and will give it to your servant.

Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Reverence and respect God. Honor the king.

Render therefore to all their due. Provide tribute to whom tribute is due. Give custom to whom custom is owed. Render fear to whom fear is owed and offer honor to whom honor is deserved.

The Lord said to him: Be on your way. This man is a chosen vessel to bear my name to the people of the nations, and kings and the children of Israel.

King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe. Then Agrippa said to Paul: In a short time you would persuade (convince) me to become a Christian.

These are the words of Cyrus, king of Persia: 'Jehovah the God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has made me responsible for building a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. May your God be with you and let you go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah. There you are to build the house of Jehovah the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. If any of his people in exile need help to return, their neighbors should give them help. They are to provide them with silver and gold, supplies and pack animals, as well as offerings to present in the Temple of God in Jerusalem.'

Then Darius the king gave an order and a search was made in the house of the records. This is where the things of value were stored in Babylon. In the great house of the king in the land of Media, at Achmetha they came across a roll. This statement was put on record: In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made an order: In connection with the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be constructed as the place where they make offerings. Let them brake ground for the foundation. Let it be 90 feet high and 90 feet wide, read more.
with three lines of large stones and one line of new wood supports. Let the necessary money be given out of the king's storehouse. And let the gold and silver vessels from the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple at Jerusalem to Babylon, be given back and taken again to the Temple at Jerusalem, every one in its place, and put them in the house of God. Tattenai, ruler of the land across the river, and Shethar-bozenai and your people the Apharsachites across the river, keep far from that place: Let the work of this house of God continue. Let the ruler of the Jews and their responsible men construct this house of God in its place. Further, I give orders as to what you are to do for the responsible men of the Jews in connection with the building of this house of God: That from the king's wealth, that is, from the taxes got together in the land over the river, the money needed is to be given to these men readily, so that their work may not be stopped. When they need young bulls and sheep and lambs, for burned offerings to the God of heaven and grain, salt, wine, and oil, whatever the priests in Jerusalem say is necessary, is to be given to them day by day regularly: That they may make offerings of a sweet smell to the God of heaven, with prayers for the life of the king and of his sons. I further give orders that if anyone makes any change in this word; one of the supports is to be pulled out of his house. He is to be lifted up and fixed to it and his house is to be destroyed. May the God who has made it a resting-place for his name send destruction on all kings and peoples whose hands are outstretched to make any change in this or to do damage to this house of God at Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given this order. Let it be done with all care.

This is primarily for those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble at glorious ones but speak abusively.

Should anyone even say to a king: You good-for-nothing scoundrel! Or to nobles, you wicked people!

This is primarily for those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble at glorious ones but speak abusively.

In like manner these men also in their dreams defile the flesh, reject authority and speak evil of glorious ones.

When he first sits on the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll taken in the presence of the Levitical priests. He should keep it with him. He should read from it all the days of his life. In this way he will learn to respect Jehovah his God by carefully observing all the words of this Law and these statutes. He must not think he is better than the rest of his people. He will not disobey these commandments in any way. So he and his sons will rule for a long time in Israel.

In the thirty-eighth year that Asa was king of Judah, Ahab, the son of Omri, became king over Israel. Ahab was king in Samaria for twenty-two years. Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, even worse than all who went before him! It was as if he copied the evil ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. He took as his wife Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Zidon, and became a servant and worshipper of Baal. read more.
He built an altar for Baal in the house of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab made an image of Asherah. He did more than all the kings of Israel before him to make Jehovah, the God of Israel, angry. In his days Hiel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundation at the price of Abiram, his oldest son, and he put its doors in place at the price of his youngest son Segub. This was according to the word of Jehovah spoken through Joshua, the son of Nun. Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab: By the living Jehovah, the God of Israel, whose servant I am, there will be no dew or rain in these years, but only at my word. Then the word of Jehovah came to him, saying: Go east from here and hide by the Cherith Brook, east of Jordan. You will drink from the brook. I have ordered the ravens to feed you there. So he did as Jehovah said, living by the Cherith Brook, east of Jordan. The ravens took him bread in the morning and meat in the evening. And he drank water from the brook. Now after a time the brook became dry, because there was no rain in the land. Then the word of Jehovah came to him, saying: Go now to Zarephath, in Zidon, and live there. I have given orders to a widow woman there to see that you have food. He went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, he saw a widow woman gathering sticks. He said to her: Will you give me a little water in a vessel for my drink? As she was going to get it, he said: And get me some bread. Then she said: By the life of Jehovah your God, I have nothing but a little meal, and a drop of oil in the bottle; and now I am getting two sticks together so that I may go in and make it ready for me and my son, so that we may have a meal before our death. Elijah said to her: Have no fear. Go and do as you said, but first make me a little cake of it and come and give it to me. Then make something for yourself and your son. For this is the word of Jehovah, the God of Israel: 'Your supply of meal will not come to an end. The bottle will never be without oil, till the day when Jehovah sends rain on the earth.' She did as Elijah told her and they all had food for a long time. The store of meal did not come to an end. The bottle was never without oil. This was just as Jehovah said through the mouth of Elijah. After this the son of the woman of the house became ill. He was so ill that there was no breath in him. She said to Elijah: What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to put God in mind of my sin, and to put my son to death? He said: Give your son to me. And lifting him out of her arms, he took him up to his room and put him down on his bed. Crying to Jehovah he said: O Jehovah my God, have you sent evil even on the widow I now visit, by causing her son's death? Stretching himself out on the child three times, he made his prayer to Jehovah. He said: O Jehovah my God, be pleased to let this child's life come back to him again. Jehovah listened to the voice of Elijah. The child began to breath and came back to life. Elijah took the child down from his room into the house and gave him to his mother. See, your son is alive. He said. Then the woman said to Elijah: Now I am certain that you are a man of God, and that the word of Jehovah in your mouth is truth. After a long time, the word of Jehovah came to Elijah. In the third year he said: Go and let Ahab see you. I will send rain on the earth. So Elijah went to let Ahab see him. There was no food to be had in Samaria. Ahab sent for Obadiah, the controller of the king's house. Obadiah had great respect for Jehovah. When Jezebel massacred the prophets of Jehovah, Obadiah took a hundred of them, and hid them secretly in a hole in the rock, fifty at a time, and gave them bread and water. Ahab said to Obadiah: Come! Let us go through all the country, to all the fountains of water and all the rivers. Let us see if there is any grass for the horses and the transport beasts. We must save some of the livestock. They went through all the country by dividing it between them. Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another by himself. While Obadiah was on his way, he came face to face with Elijah. Seeing who it was, he went down on his face and said: Is it you, my lord Elijah? Elijah answered: It is I. Go tell your lord Elijah is here. He said: What sin have I done that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab to kill him? By the life of Jehovah your God, there is not a nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent in search of you. When they said: He is not here; he made them take an oath that they had not seen you. Now you say: 'Go, say to your lord Elijah is here.' What if the Spirit of Jehovah carries you off to some unknown place as soon as I leave? Then, when I tell Ahab that you are here and he cannot find you, he will put me to death. Remember that I have been a devout worshiper of Jehovah ever since I was a boy. Have you not heard that when Jezebel was killing Jehovah's prophets I hid a hundred of them in caves, in two groups of fifty, and supplied them with food and water? So how can you order me to go and tell the king that you are here? He will kill me! Elijah said: By the life of Jehovah of armies, whose servant I am, I will certainly let him see me today. So Obadiah went to Ahab and gave him the news. Ahab went to see Elijah. Ahab saw Elijah. He said: Is it you, Israel's troublemaker? Then he said in answer: I have not made trouble for Israel. You and your family have. You have disobeyed Jehovah's commands and have gone after the Baals. Now gather all Israel together before me at Mount Carmel. Also gather the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal who get their food at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and assembled the prophets together at Mount Carmel. Elijah came near to all the people and said: How long will you balance (bounce back and forth) between two opinions? If Jehovah is God, then give worship to him. If Baal is, give worship to him. The people did not answer him. Then Elijah said to the people: I, even I, am the only living prophet of Jehovah but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them give us two bulls. Let them take one for themselves and have it cut up, and put it on the wood, but put no fire under it. I will get the other bull ready, and put it on the wood, and put no fire under it. You pray to your god and I will pray to Jehovah. The God who answers with fire is God! All the people answered: It is well said. Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal: Take one bull for yourselves and get it ready first, for there are so many of you; and make your prayers to your god, but do not light the fire. So they took the bull that was given them, and made it ready. They cried out to Baal from morning till the middle of the day. They said: O Baal, give ear to us. But there was no voice and no answer. They jumped up and down before the altar they had made. In the middle of the day, Elijah made sport of them, saying: Give louder cries, for he is a god; he may be deep in thought. He may have gone away for some purpose. Perhaps he is on a journey. By chance he is sleeping and must be woke up. So they gave loud cries and they cut themselves with knives and swords till the blood came streaming out all over them. They went on with their prayers from midday till the time of the offering; but there was no voice, or any answer, or any who gave attention to them. Then Elijah said to all the people: Come near to me. Then all the people came near. He repaired the altar of Jehovah that was broken down. Elijah took twelve stones, the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom Jehovah said: Israel will be your name. He used the stones to make an altar to the name of Jehovah. He dug a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on there. Then he said: Get four vessels full of water and put it on the burned offering and on the wood. Do it a second time, and they did it a second time. Then he said: Get four vessels full of water and put it on the burned offering and on the wood. Do it a second time They did it a second time. Then he said: Do it a third time and they did it a third time. The water went all round the altar until the drain was full. Then at the time of the offering, Elijah the prophet came near and said, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be seen this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things by your order. Give me an answer, O Jehovah. Give me an answer so that this people may see that you are God. That you have made their hearts come back again. Then the fire of Jehovah came down. It burned up the offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and drinking up the water in the drain. When the people saw it, they all went down on their faces. They said: Jehovah is God! Jehovah is God! Elijah said to them: Take the prophets of Baal. Do not let one of them get away. So they took them, and Elijah made them go down to the stream Kishon, and executed them there. Then Elijah said to Ahab: Get up and take food and drink, for there is a sound of much rain. So Ahab went up to have food and drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel. He bowed down to the earth and put his face between his knees. He told his servant to look in the direction of the sea. After he looked the servant said: There is nothing. Elijah said: Go again seven times. So he went seven times. The seventh time he said: I see a cloud coming up out of the sea, as small as a man's hand. Then Elijah said: Go up and say to Ahab, Get your carriage ready and go down or the rain will keep you back. After a very little time, the heaven became black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. Ahab went in his carriage to Jezreel. The hand of Jehovah was on Elijah. Jehovah gave special strength to Elijah and he ran ahead of Ahab until they came to Jezreel. King Ahab told his wife Jezebel everything Elijah had done. He told how he put all the prophets of Baal to death. She sent a message to Elijah: May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I do not do the same thing to you that you did to the prophets. Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He took his servant and went to Beersheba in Judah. He left the servant there. Elijah walked a whole day into the wilderness. He stopped and sat down under a broom plant and wished he would die. It is just too much, Jehovah, he prayed. Take away my life. I could just as well be dead. Stretching himself on the earth, he went to sleep under the broom-plant. An angel touched him and said: Get up and eat some food. Looking up, he saw near his head a cake cooked on coals and a bottle of water. So he ate food and drink water and went to sleep again. The angel of Jehovah came again a second time, and touched him and said: Get up and have some food, or you will not have strength for the journey. So he got up and took food and drink. He was strengthened to go for forty days and forty nights, to Horeb, the mountain of God. He went into a cave and spent the night. The word of Jehovah came to him, saying: What are you doing here, Elijah? He said: I have been zealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts. The children of Israel have not kept your agreement (covenant). They have destroyed your altars. They killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I, am the only one living. Now they seek to take my life too. Then he said: Go out and take your place on the mountain before Jehovah. Jehovah passed by and the force of a great wind parted the mountains. Rocks were broken before Jehovah but Jehovah was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but Jehovah was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire, the sounds of a soft breathe. Elijah heard it and went out covering his face with his robe. He stood by the entrance of the cave. He heard a voice saying: What are you doing here, Elijah? He replied: I have been very zealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts. The children of Israel have not kept your agreement. They have torn down your altars. They killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I, am the only one living. Now they seek to take my life. Jehovah said to him: Go back on your way through the wasteland to Damascus. When you get there, put holy oil on Hazael to make him king over Aram, And also anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, making him king over Israel; and Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, to be prophet in your place. Whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will put to death. Whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will put to death. I will leave seven thousand people alive in Israel; all those who are loyal to me and have not bowed to Baal or kissed his idol. Elijah left there and found Elisha plowing with a team of bulls. There were eleven teams ahead of him. He was plowing with the last one. Elijah took off his cloak and put it on Elisha. Elisha then left his bulls and ran after Elijah. He said: Let me kiss my father and mother good-bye and then I will go with you. Elijah answered, All right, go back. I am not stopping you! Then Elisha went to his team of bulls, killed them, and cooked the meat. He used the yoke as fuel for the fire. He gave the meat to the people, and they ate it. Then he followed Elijah as his helper. King Benhadad of Syria mustered his entire army, accompanied by thirty-two other kings with their horses and chariots, he laid siege on Samaria, and launched attacks against it. He sent messengers into the city to King Ahab of Israel to say: King Benhadad demands that you surrender to him your silver and gold, your women and the strongest of your children. Tell my lord, King Benhadad, that I agree; he can have everything I own, Ahab answered. Later the messengers came back to Ahab with another demand from Benhadad: I sent you word that you were to hand over to me your silver and gold, your women and your children. Now I will send my officers to search your palace and the homes of your officials. They will take everything they consider valuable. They will be there about this time tomorrow. Then the king of Israel sent for all the responsible men of the land, and said: Now will you take note and see the evil purpose of this man. He sent for my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, and I did not keep them back. All the responsible men and the people said to him: Do not pay attention to him or do what he says. So he said to the representatives of Benhadad: Say to my lord the king: 'All the orders you sent the first time I will do. But I will not do this thing. The representatives went back with this answer. Benhadad sent Ahab the following message: May the gods strike me dead if there will be enough dust left from Samaria to give a handful to each soldier who follows me. The king of Israel responded: It is said, let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off. Benhadad heard this when he and his allies were drinking in their tents. He told his officers to get ready. So they got prepared to attack the city. A prophet approached King Ahab of Israel and said: This is what Jehovah says: 'Have you seen this large army? I will hand it over to you today. Then you will know that I am Jehovah.' Ahab asked: How will this be done? The prophet answered: This is what Jehovah says: 'By using the young officers of the district governors. Who will start the battle? Ahab asked. You will, the prophet answered. Ahab mustered the young officers of the district governors. There were two hundred and thirty-two. After counting them, he counted all the Israelite soldiers. There were seven thousand. In the middle of the day they went out. But Benhadad was drinking in the tents with the thirty-two kings who were helping him. The servants of the chiefs who were over the divisions of the land went forward first. Benhadad sent out a patrol and they told him: Men have come out from Samaria. He said: If they have come out for peace, take them alive and if they have come out for war, take them alive. So the servants of the chiefs of the divisions of the land went out of the town, with the army following them. Each one killed his opponent. The Syrians (Aramaeans) went in flight with Israel after them. Benhadad the king of Aram got away safely on a horse with his horsemen. The king of Israel took the horses and the war-carriages and caused great destruction among the Syrians. Then the prophet came up to the king of Israel, and said: Now make yourself strong. Be careful what you do. Otherwise a year from now the king of Aram will come up against you again. Then the king of Aram's servants said to him: Their god is a god of the hills. That is why they were stronger than us. If we attack them in the lowlands, we will certainly be stronger than they. This is what you must do: take the kings from their positions, and put captains in their places. Assemble another army like the one that was destroyed. Horse for horse, and carriage for carriage let us make war on them in the lowlands, and certainly we will be stronger than they. He listened and did what was suggested. So, a year later, Benhadad got the Syrians (Aramaeans) together and went to Aphek to make war on Israel. And the children of Israel assembled, and food was made ready and they went against them. The children of Israel camped like two little flocks of goats before them. All the country was full of the Syrians. A man of God came to the king of Israel. He said: Jehovah says, 'Because the Aramaeans have said, Jehovah is a god of the hills and not of the valleys; I will give all this great army into your hands, and you will see that I am Jehovah.' The two armies kept their positions facing one another for seven days. The seventh day the fight was started. The children of Israel put to the sword a hundred thousand Aramaean footmen in one day. The rest went in flight to Aphek, into the town, where a wall came down on the twenty-seven thousand who were still living. Benhadad went in flight into the town, into an inner room. His servants said to him: It is said that the kings of Israel are full of mercy: let us then put on haircloth, and cords on our heads, and go to the king of Israel. Maybe he will give you your life. So they put on haircloth, and cords on their heads, and went to the king of Israel and said: Your servant Benhadad says: 'Let me now keep my life.' And he said: Is he still living? He is my brother. Now the men took it as a sign, and were quick to pick up on his word. They said: Benhadad is your brother. Then he said: Go and get him. So Ben-hadad came out to him and he made him get up into his carriage. Benhadad said: The towns my father took from your father I will give back. You may name streets for yourself in Damascus as my father did in Samaria. As for me, at the price of this agreement you will let me go. So he made an agreement with him and let him go. A man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbors by the word of Jehovah: Give me a wound. But the man would not. Then he said: Because you have not listened to the voice of Jehovah, immediately after you leave me a lion will kill you. When he went away a lion came rushing at him and killed him. Then he came across another man, and said: Give me a wound. And the man gave him a blow wounding him. So the prophet went away, and pulling his headband over his eyes to keep his face covered. He took his place by the road waiting for the king. When the king went by he cried out to him: Your servant went out into the fight. A man came to me. He brought a man to me and said: 'guard this man. Do not let him get away. Your life is the price of his life or you will have to give a talent of silver in payment.' But while your servant was turning this way and that, he was gone. Then the king of Israel said to him: 'You are responsible; you have given the decision against yourself.' He quickly took the headband from his eyes. The king of Israel saw that he was one of the prophets. He said to him: These are the words of Jehovah: 'Because you have let go from your hands the man whom I had put to the curse, your life will be taken for his life, and your people for his people.' Then the king of Israel went back to his house, bitter and angry, he went to Samaria. Naboth the Jezreelite had a garden in Jezreel, near the house of Ahab, king of Samaria. Ahab said to Naboth: Give me your garden so that I may have it for a garden of sweet plants. Since it is near my house let me give you a better vine-garden in exchange. If it seems good to you, let me give you its value in money. But Naboth said to Ahab, God forbid that I give you the heritage of my fathers. Ahab returned to his house bitter and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite said to him: I will not give you the heritage of my fathers. Stretching himself on the bed with his face turned away, he would not eat. Jezebel his wife came to him and asked: Why is your spirit so bitter that you have no desire for food? He replied: I was talking to Naboth the Jezreelite. I said to him: 'Let me have your garden for money, or, if it pleases you, I will give you another garden for it.' 'But he said: I will not give you my garden.' Then his wife Jezebel said: Are you now the ruler of Israel? Get up, eat and be happy. I will give you the garden of Naboth the Jezreelite. So she sent a letter in Ahab's name, stamped with his stamp, to the elders and nobles who were in authority with Naboth. The letter she wrote is as follows: Let a time of public sorrow be fixed, and put Naboth at the head of the people. Get two good-for-nothing persons to come before him and give witness that he has been cursing God and the king. Then take him out and have him stoned to death. So the elders and nobles in authority in his town did as Jezebel said in the letter she sent them. They gave orders for a day of public sorrow and put Naboth at the head of the people. The two good-for-nothing persons came in and took their seats before him and gave witness against Naboth, in front of the people. They said: Naboth has been cursing God and the king. Then they took him outside the town and had him stoned to death. Then they sent word to Jezebel, saying: Naboth has been stoned and is dead. Jezebel, hearing that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, said to Ahab: Get up and take as your heritage the garden of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he would not give you for money. Naboth is dead. When he heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab went down to the garden of Naboth the Jezreelite to take it as his heritage. And the word of Jehovah came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: Go to Ahab, king of Israel, in Samaria. He is in the garden of Naboth the Jezreelite. He went there to take it as his heritage. Say to him: 'Jehovah says: Have you put a man to death and taken his heritage?' Then say: 'Jehovah says: Your blood will become the drink of dogs! You will go to the same place where the dogs drink the blood of Naboth.' Ahab said to Elijah: Have you come face to face with me, O my enemy? Elijah said: I have come to you because you have given yourself up to do evil in the eyes of Jehovah. Jehovah says to you: I will bring disaster on you. I will do away with you and get rid of every male in your family, young and old alike. Your family will become like the family of King Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the family of King Baasha son of Ahijah. This is because you have stirred up my anger by leading Israel into sin. Concerning Jezebel, Jehovah says: Dogs will eat her body in the city of Jezreel. Dogs will eat your relatives dying in the city. Vultures will eat your dead relatives in the country. No one else devoted himself so completely to doing wrong in Jehovah's sight as Ahab all at the urging of his wife Jezebel. He committed the most shameful sins by worshiping idols the way the Amorites had done. Jehovah drove the Amorites from the land as the people of Israel advanced. Elijah finished speaking. Ahab tore his clothes and took them off. He dressed in sackcloth. He refused food (fasted) and slept in the sackcloth. He was gloomy and depressed. Jehovah said to the prophet Elijah: Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has done this, I will not bring disaster on him during his lifetime. It will be during his son's lifetime that I will bring disaster on Ahab's family. There was peace between Israel and Syria for the next two years. In the third year King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to see King Ahab of Israel. Ahab asked his officials: Why have we not done anything to get back Ramoth in Gilead from the king of Syria? It is ours! Ahab asked Jehoshaphat: Will you go with me to attack Ramoth? I am ready when you are, Jehoshaphat answered. And so are my soldiers and my cavalry. First let us inquire of Jehovah. So Ahab called in the prophets, about four hundred of them, and asked them: Should I attack Ramoth, or not? They answered: Attack, Jehovah will give you victory. Jehoshaphat asked: Is there another prophet through whom we can consult Jehovah? Ahab answered: There is one more, Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, always something bad. The king should not say such things! Jehoshaphat replied. Then Ahab called a court official and told him to get Micaiah at once. They dressed in their royal robes and sat on their thrones at the threshing place near the gate of Samaria. The two kings listened to all the prophets prophesy in front of them. One of them, Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, made iron horns and said to Ahab: Jehovah says: 'With these you will fight the Syrians and totally defeat them.' All the other prophets said the same thing: March against Ramoth and you will win, they said. Jehovah will give you victory. The messenger who went to get Micaiah said to him: All the other prophets have prophesied success for the king. You had better do the same. Micaiah answered: By the living God Jehovah I promise that I will say what he tells me to say! He appeared before King Ahab. The king asked him: Micaiah, should King Jehoshaphat and I go and attack Ramoth, or not? Attack! Micaiah answered. You will win. Jehovah will give you victory. But Ahab replied: Tell the truth when you speak to me in the name of Jehovah! How many times do I have to tell you that? Micaiah answered: I can see the army of Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd. Jehovah said: These men have no leader. Let them go home in peace. Israel's king said to Jehoshaphat: Did I not say to you, He will prophesy about me? It is always something bad! Micaiah continued: Now listen to what Jehovah says! I saw Jehovah sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him. Jehovah asked: Who will deceive Ahab so that he will go and be killed at Ramoth? Some of the angels said one thing, and others said something else, until a spirit stepped forward, approached Jehovah, and said: I will deceive him. How will you deceive him? Jehovah asked. The spirit replied: I will make all of Ahab's prophets tell lies. Jehovah said: Go and deceive him. You will succeed. Micaiah concluded: This is what has happened. Jehovah made these prophets of yours lie to you. He has decreed that you will meet with disaster! The prophet Zedekiah went to Micaiah and slapped his face. He asked: Since when did Jehovah's spirit leave me and speak to you? You will see when you go into an inner chamber to hide. Micaiah replied. The king of Israel said: Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son. Tell them: 'It is the king's order that this man is to be put in prison and given prison food till I come again in peace.' Micaiah said: If you come back at all in peace, Jehovah has not sent his word by me. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went to Ramoth-gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: I will change my clothing, so that I do not seem to be the king. Then I will go into the fight. You put on your royal robes. So the king of Israel changed his dress and went into the battle. Now the king of Aram had given orders to the thirty-two captains of his war-carriages, saying: Make no attack on small or great, but only on the king of Israel. So when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said: Truly, this is the king of Israel. They turned against him and surrounded him. Jehoshaphat gave a cry. When the captains of the chariots saw that he was not the king of Israel they withdrew from him. A stray arrow wounded the king of Israel a wound where his breastplate was joined to his clothing. He said to the chariot driver: Go to the side. Take me away from the fight for I am badly wounded. The fight grew more violent as the day went on. The king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians (Aramaeans). The floor of the chariot was covered with the blood from his wound. By evening he died. About sundown a cry went up from all parts of the army, saying: Let every man go back to his town and his country, for the king is dead. They traveled to Samaria and buried the king there. The chariot was washed at the pool of Samaria the bathing-place of the loose women. Dogs were drinking his blood there, as Jehovah said. Everything else that King Ahab did, including an account of his palace decorated with ivory and of all the cities he built, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. Ahab's son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.

Ahaziah also followed the ways of Ahab's family, because his mother gave him advice that led him to sin. He did what Jehovah considered evil the same as Ahab's family had done. After his father died, they advised him to do what Ahab's family had done. They did this to destroy him.

He also built fortified towers in the open country and dug many cisterns, because he had large herds of livestock in the western foothills and plains. Because he loved farming, he encouraged the people to plant vineyards in the hill country and to farm the fertile land.

He made towns for himself. He gathered much property in flocks and herds: for God had given him great wealth.

In the third year of the rule of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha put him to death, and became king in his place. When he became king, he sent destruction on all the offspring of Jeroboam. He killed every person of the family of Jeroboam according to the word of Jehovah as stated by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. This happened because Jeroboam aroused the anger of Jehovah, the God of Israel, by the sins he committed and that he caused Israel to commit. read more.
Everything else that Nadab did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel were constantly at war as long as they reigned. In the third year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel. He ruled in Tirzah for twenty-four years. Like King Jeroboam before him, he sinned against Jehovah and led Israel into sin. Jehovah spoke to the prophet Jehu son of Hanani and gave him this message to give to Baasha: I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over my people Israel. You have gone the way of Jeroboam. You made my people Israel do evil, moving me to wrath by their sins. Truly, I will take away the family of Baasha. I will make your family like the family of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. Dogs will eat anyone of the family of Baasha who dies in town. The birds of the air will eat anyone who dies in the open country. The rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his power, are recorded in the book of the History of the Kings of Israel. Baasha rested with his fathers. He was buried at Tirzah; and Elah his son became king in his place. The word of Jehovah came to the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani. This was a warning against Baasha and his family because of all the evil he did in the eyes of Jehovah. He made Jehovah angry by the work of his hands, because he was like the family of Jeroboam, and because he killed him.

for the olive and fig trees in the foothills, Baal Hanan from Gedor for storing olive oil- Joash

for the vineyards, Shimei from Ramah for storing wine that came from the vineyards- Zabdi from Shepham

for the camels, Obil, a descendant of Ishmael for the donkeys, Jehdeiah from Meronoth

for the flocks, Jaziz from Hagar

for the farm workers in the fields, Ezri, son of Chelub

Ahithophel was the king's adviser. Hushai, a descendant of Archi, was the king's friend.

These were all the commanders in charge of King David's property: for the royal treasuries, Azmaveth, son of Adiel for the goods in the fields, cities, villages, and watchtowers- Jonathan, son of Uzziah

These were all the commanders in charge of King David's property: for the royal treasuries, Azmaveth, son of Adiel for the goods in the fields, cities, villages, and watchtowers- Jonathan, son of Uzziah

He did not permit anyone to oppress them. He warned kings about them:

Pour this olive oil on his head, and say: 'Jehovah anoints you king of Israel. Then leave there as fast as you can.' The young prophet went to Ramoth. He found the army officers in conference. He said: I have a message for you. Jehu asked: Who are you speaking to? To you, captain. He replied. read more.
The two of them went indoors. The prophet poured the olive oil on Jehu's head and said to him: Jehovah, the God of Israel, says: 'I anoint you king of my people Israel. You are to kill your master the king of the house of Ahab. I am punishing Jezebel for murdering my prophets and my other servants. The entire house of Ahab will perish. I will get rid of every male in his family, young and old alike. I will treat his family as I did the families of King Jeroboam son of Nebat and of King Baasha son of Ahijah. Jezebel will not be buried. Dogs in the territory of Jezreel will eat her body.' After saying this, the young prophet opened the door and fled. Jehu went back to his fellow officers. They asked him: Is everything all right? What did this mad fellow want with you? Jehu answered: You know what he wanted. No we do not! They replied. Tell us what he said! They asked. He told me that Jehovah says: 'I anoint you king of Israel.' At once Jehu's fellow officers spread their cloaks at the top of the steps for Jehu to stand on. They blew trumpets and shouted: Jehu is king! So Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, plotted against Joram. Joram and all the army of Israel were keeping watch on Ramoth-gilead against Hazael, king of Aram: King Joram went back to Jezreel to recuperate from the wounds he received from the Aramaeans when he fought against Hazael, king of Aram. Jehu said: If this is your purpose let no one get away to give news of it in Jezreel. So Jehu got into his carriage and went to Jezreel. Joram was ill in bed there and Ahaziah, king of Judah came to see him. The watchman on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu and his company coming. He said: I see a company of people. Joram said: Send out a horseman to them and let him ask: 'Do you come in peace?' So a horseman went out to them and said: The king asks: 'Do you come in peace? ' Jehu said: What have you to do with peace? Follow me. The watchman reported that the horseman reached the group and was returning. A second man was sent out on horseback. He approached them and asked the same thing: Do you come in peace? Jehu replied: What have you to do with peace? Follow me. The watchman reported: He went up to them and has not come back. The driving is like the driving of Jehu, son of Nimshi, for he is driving violently. Joram said: Get ready. They prepared his chariot and Joram, king of Israel, with Ahaziah, king of Judah, went out in their chariots to meet Jehu. They came face to face with him at the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. When Joram saw Jehu he said: Do you come in peace, Jehu? He said in reply: What peace is possible while all the land is full of the disgusting sins of your mother Jezebel, and her secret arts of witchcraft? Then Joram turned his horses and fled. He said to Ahaziah: Broken faith, O Ahaziah! Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and sent an arrow, wounding Joram between the arms. The arrow came out at his heart, and he went down on his face in his chariot. Jehu said to Bidkar, his captain: Pick him up, and put him in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. I remember when you and I were riding together after Ahab, his father. Jehovah offered this prophesy against him. Even as I saw the blood of Naboth and his sons yesterday, 'I will pay you back in this field,' declares Jehovah. Now take him and throw him into the field as Jehovah predicted. When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled on the road leading to Beth Haggan. Jehu pursued him and ordered: Shoot him down in his chariot. They shot him at Gur Pass, near Ibleam. Ahaziah continued to flee until he got to Megiddo, where he died. His servants brought him in a chariot to Jerusalem. They buried him in a tomb with his ancestors in the City of David. Ahaziah became king over Judah. It was in the eleventh year of the rule of Joram, the son of Ahab. Jehu went to Jezreel. Jezebel had news of what happened. Painting her eyes and dressing her hair with ornaments, she put her head out of the window. As Jehu entered the town, she said: Have you come in peace, you Zimri, who killed his master? Then, looking up to the window, he said: Who is on my side, who? Two or three eunuchs look out at him. He said: Take her and throw her out the window. So they threw her down with force. Her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses. She was crushed under their feet. He came in and ate and drank. He said: Now see to this cursed woman. Bury her body in the earth, for she is a king's daughter. They went to bury her, but they found nothing to bury. There were only the bones of her head, and her feet, and parts of her hands. So they came back and told him about it. He said: This is what Jehovah said by his servant Elijah the Tishbite: 'In the heritage of Jezreel the flesh of Jezebel will become food for dogs. The dead body of Jezebel will be like waste dropped on the face of the earth in the heritage of Jezreel. They will not be able to say: This is Jezebel.' Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Jehu sent letters to Samaria, to the rulers of the town, and to the elders, and to those who took care of the sons of Ahab. The letter stated: You are in charge of the king's descendants, and you have at your disposal chariots, horses, weapons, and fortified cities. As soon as you receive this letter, choose the best qualified of the king's descendants and make him king, and fight to defend him. The rulers of Samaria were terrified. They said: How can we oppose Jehu when neither King Joram nor King Ahaziah could? So the officer in charge of the palace and the official in charge of the city, together with the leading citizens and the guardians, sent this message to Jehu: We are your servants, and we are ready to do anything you say. But we will not make anyone king. Do whatever you think best. Jehu wrote them another letter: If you are with me and are ready to follow my orders, bring the heads of King Ahab's descendants to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow. The seventy descendants of King Ahab were under the care and were being brought up by the leading citizens of Samaria. As soon as Jehu's letter arrived, the leaders of Samaria killed all seventy of Ahab's descendants and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel. Jehu was informed that the heads of Ahab's descendants had been brought. He ordered them to be piled up in two heaps at the city gate and left there until the following morning. In the morning he went out and said to all the people there: You are upright people. It is true that I made designs against my master, and put him to death. Who is responsible for the death of all these? You may be certain that nothing Jehovah said about the family of Ahab will be without effect. Jehovah has done what he said by his servant Elijah. Jehu put to death all the rest of the seed of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his relations and his near friends and his priests, till there were no more of them. Jehu then left for Samaria. He was at the meeting-place of the shepherds of the sheep. He came across the brothers of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and asked: Who are you? They replied: We are the brothers of Ahaziah, king of Judah. We are going down to see the children of the king and of the queen. He ordered: Take them alive. So they took them alive and then killed them at the cistern of the shearing house. He killed all forty-two of them. When he left there he met Jehonadab, the son of Rechab. He greeted him and said to him: Is your heart true to mine, as mine is to yours? Jehonadab in answer said: It is. Jehu said: If it is give me your hand. He gave him his hand and he made him come up into his chariot. He said: Come with me and see how I am on fire with zeal for Jehovah's cause. So he made him go with him in his chariot. When Jehu arrived at Samaria, he put to death all those of Ahab's family who were still in Samaria. There were no more of them, as Jehovah had said to Elijah. Jehu assembled all the people and said to them: Ahab was Baal's servant in a small way, but Jehu will be his servant on a great scale. Now send for all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and priests, to come to me. Let no one stay away for I have a great offering to make to Baal. Anyone who is not present will be put to death. Jehu did this with deceit. It was his purpose to destroy the servants of Baal. Jehu said: Let there be a special holy meeting for the worship of Baal. So a public statement was made. Jehu sent through all Israel; and all the servants of Baal came, not one kept away. They entered the house of Baal. It was full from one end to the other end. Jehu said to the keeper of the robes: Get out robes for all the servants of Baal. So he got out robes for them. Jehu, with Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, went into the house of Baal. He said to the servants of Baal: Make a search with care, to see that no servant of Jehovah is with you, but only servants of Baal. They went in to make offerings and burned offerings. Jehu put eighty men outside. He told them: If any man whom I give into your hands escapes, he who lets him go will forfeit his own life for that life. As soon as he finished offering the burned offering Jehu said to the armed men and the captains: Go in and put them to death! Do not let one come out! So they put them to the sword. Pulling the images to the ground, they went into the holy place of the house of Baal. They removed the image of Asherah from the house of Baal and burned it. The altar of Baal was pulled down and the house of Baal was broken up and made an unclean place, as it is to this day. Jehu put an end to the worship of Baal in Israel. But Jehu did not keep himself from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and the evil he made Israel do. The gold calves were still worshiped in Bethel and in Dan. Jehovah said to Jehu: You have done well by doing what is right in my eyes. You carried out my purpose for the family of Ahab. Therefore your sons will be kings of Israel to the fourth generation. But Jehu did not take care to keep the law of Jehovah with all his heart. He did not keep himself from the sin that Jeroboam did and made Israel do. Jehovah began to reduce the size of Israel's territory. King Hazael of Syria conquered all the Israelite territory east of the Jordan, as far south as the town of Aroer on the Arnon River. This included the territories of Gilead and Bashan, where the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and East Manasseh lived. Everything else that Jehu did, including his brave deeds, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. He died and was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoahaz succeeded him as king. Jehu had ruled in Samaria as king of Israel for twenty-eight years.

He must not take many wives or his heart will turn astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

He must not take many wives or his heart will turn astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

He must not increase his herd of horses. He must not send the people to return to Egypt to get more horses. For Jehovah said to you: You should never again return that way.

He should keep it with him. He should read from it all the days of his life. In this way he will learn to respect Jehovah his God by carefully observing all the words of this Law and these statutes.

He should keep it with him. He should read from it all the days of his life. In this way he will learn to respect Jehovah his God by carefully observing all the words of this Law and these statutes.

you shall surely set a king over you whom Jehovah your God chooses. It will be one from among your countrymen. You may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman.

It is the dry season and the wheat harvest. I will pray and Jehovah will send thunder and rain. When this happens, you will realize that you committed a great sin against Jehovah when you asked him for a king. Samuel prayed. That same day Jehovah sent thunder and rain. Then all the people became afraid of Jehovah and of Samuel. They said to Samuel: Please pray to Jehovah your God for us, that we will not die. We now realize that we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for a (human) king. read more.
Do not be afraid! Samuel answered. Even though you have done such an evil thing, do not turn away from Jehovah. Serve him with all your heart.

Jeroboam son of Joash king of Israel became king in Samaria. He ruled for forty-one years. This was in the fifteenth year of the rule of Amaziah son of Joash the king of Judah. He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. He did not turn away from the sin which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did and made Israel do. He got back the old limits of Israel from the way into Hamath to the sea of the Arabah. This was what Jehovah said by his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet of Gathhepher. read more.
Jehovah saw the bitter affliction of Israel. There was no one left, bond or free. There was no help for Israel. Jehovah had not said that the name of Israel was to be taken away from the earth. So he gave them a savior in Jeroboam, the son of Joash. Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all he did, and his power, and how he went to war with Damascus, causing the wrath of Jehovah to be turned away from Israel, are recorded in the book of the History of the Kings of Israel. Jeroboam went to rest with his fathers. He was buried with the kings of Israel. Zechariah his son became king in his place.

Pekahiah son of Menahem became king over Israel in Samaria. He ruled two years. It was in the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah. He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. He did not turn from the sin Jeroboam son of Nebat committed and caused Israel to commit. Pekah son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him. He attacked him in the king's great house in Samaria. Fifty men of Gilead were with him. He killed the king and became king in his place. read more.
Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

Shallum son of Jabesh became king and ruled in Samaria for one month. It was in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah, king of Judah. Then Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to Samaria. He attacked Shallum, son of Jabesh, in Samaria. He killed him and made himself king in his place. Now the rest of the acts of Shallum, and the conspiracy he committed, are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

Then Menahem sent destruction on the people of Tappuah and the nearby territory. He attacked it because they would not let him come in. He had all the pregnant women cut open. In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel. He ruled in Samaria for ten years. He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. He did not keep himself from the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat. He causes Israel to sin too. read more.
Pul king of Assyria came against the land. Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver to let him keep the kingdom. Menahem extracted the money from men of wealth in Israel. Every man gave fifty silver shekels to give to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria turned back and did not stop in the land. The rest of the acts of Menahem are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. Menahem slept with his fathers. Pekahiah his son became king in his place.

Omri began to rule Israel in Asa's thirty-first year as king of Judah. He ruled for twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. Omri bought a hill from Shemer for one hundred and fifty pounds of silver. He fortified the hill and built the city of Samaria on it. He named the city after its former owner, Shemer. Omri did what Jehovah considered evil. He did more evil things than all the kings before him. read more.
He lived exactly like Jeroboam, Nebat's son. He sinned and led Israel to sin with worthless idols. The Israelites made Jehovah the God of Israel furious. Everything else about Omri is written in the official records of the kings of Israel. Omri rested with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria. Ahab his son became king in his place.

Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel in the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat of Judah. He ruled in Samaria for twelve years. Though he was not as bad as his father or his mother Jezebel; he sinned against Jehovah. He removed the image his father had made for the worship of Baal. Like King Jeroboam son of Nebat before him, he caused Israel to sin. He would not turn away from sin. read more.
King Mesha of Moab raised sheep. Yearly he gave as tribute to the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool from one hundred thousand sheep. When King Ahab of Israel died Mesha rebelled against Israel. At once King Joram mobilized his troops and left Samaria. He sent this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: The king of Moab rebelled against me. Will you join me to war against Moab? King Jehoshaphat replied: I will. I am on your side. My men and horses are at your disposal. Which way shall we go to the attack? Joram answered: We will go the long way through the wilderness of Edom. King Joram and the kings of Judah and Edom assembled. After marching seven days, they ran out of water. There was none left for the men or the pack animals. Alas, all is done, King Joram exclaimed. Has Jehovah called us together to be at the mercy of the king of Moab? King Jehoshaphat asked: Do we have a prophet here to consult Jehovah? An officer of King Joram's forces answered: Elisha son of Shaphat is here who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah. The word of Jehovah is with him, King Jehoshaphat said. So the three kings went to Elisha. Why should I have anything to do with you? Elisha said to the king of Israel. Go consult the prophets your father and mother consulted. No! Joram king of Israel replied. It is Jehovah who placed us three kings at the mercy of the king of Moab. Elisha answered: By the living God Jehovah, whom I serve, I swear that I would have nothing to do with you if I did not respect your ally, King Jehoshaphat of Judah. Now bring me a musician. As the musician played his harp, the power of Jehovah came on Elisha. He said: This is what Jehovah says: 'Dig ditches all over this dry streambed (wadi). You will not see any rain or wind. This streambed will be filled with water and you and your animals will have plenty to drink. Elisha continued: This is an easy thing for Jehovah to do. He will also give you victory over the Moabites. You will conquer all their beautiful fortified cities. You will cut down all their fruit trees, stop all their springs, and ruin all their fertile fields by covering them with stones. The next morning when the sacrifice was offered water came flowing from the direction of Edom. It covered the ground. The Moabites heard that the three kings came to attack them. All the young and old men who could bear arms were called out and stationed at the border. They got up the next morning. The sun was shining on the water. It looked as red as blood. They said: It is blood! The three armies fought and killed each other! Let us go and loot their camp! When they came to the camp the Israelites attacked them and drove them back. The Israelites kept up the pursuit, killing the Moabites. They destroyed their cities. As they passed by a fertile field, every Israelite would throw a stone on it until finally all the fields were covered with stones. They also stopped up the springs and cut down the fruit trees. At last only the capital city of Kir Heres was left. The slingers surrounded it and attacked it. The king of Moab realized that he was losing the battle. So he took seven hundred swordsmen with him and tried to force his way through the enemy lines and escape to the king of Edom. However they failed. He took his oldest son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him on the city wall as a sacrifice to the god of Moab. The Israelites were terrified and so they drew back from the city and returned to their own country. The widow of a member of a group of prophets said to Elisha: My husband has died! As you know, he was a man who respected God. A man to whom he owed money came to take away my two sons as slaves in payment for my husband's debt. Elisha said: Tell me what shall I do for you? What do you have at home? She answered: Except for a small jar of olive oil, I have nothing. Ask your neighbors for empty jars. Borrow as many as you can, Elisha told her. You and your sons go into the house and shut the door behind you. Pour oil into the jars. Set each one aside as soon as it is full. The woman went into her house with her sons. They closed the door and took the small jar of olive oil, and poured oil into the jars as her sons brought them to her. When the jars were full she asked if there were any more. That was the last one, one of her sons told her. So the olive oil stopped flowing. She returned to Elisha, the prophet. He said: Sell the olive oil and pay all your debts. There will be enough money left over for you and your sons to pay your living expenses. Elisha went to Shunem, where a rich woman lived. She invited him to a meal. From that time on every time he went to Shunem he would have his meals at her house. She said to her husband: I know that this man who comes here often is a holy man. Let us build a small room on the roof, and put a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp in it. He can stay there when he visits us. One day Elisha returned to Shunem and went to his room to rest. He told his servant Gehazi to call the woman. When she came, he said to Gehazi: Ask her what I can do for her in return for all the trouble she has had in providing for our needs. Maybe she would like me to go to the king or the army commander and put in a good word for her. I have all I need here among my own people, she answered. Elisha asked Gehazi: What can I do for her? He answered: She has no son, and her husband is an old man. Tell her to come here, Elisha ordered. She came and stood in the doorway. Elisha said to her: By this time next year you will hold a son in your arms. Please do not lie to me. You are a man of God! She said. Just as Elisha said, about that time the following year she gave birth to a son. Years later at harvest time, the boy went out one morning to join his father, who was in the field with the harvest workers. Suddenly he cried out to his father: My head hurts! My head hurts! Carry the boy to his mother, the father said to a servant. The servant carried the boy back to his mother. She held him in her lap until noon. Then the boy died. She carried him up to Elisha's room and put him on the bed. She closed the door behind her and left. She called her husband and said to him: Send a servant here with a donkey. I need to go to the prophet Elisha. I will be back as soon as I can. Why must you go today? Her husband asked. It is neither a Sabbath nor a New Moon Festival. She replied: Never mind. She had the donkey saddled, and ordered the servant: Make the donkey go as fast as it can. Do not slow down unless I tell you. She left for Mount Carmel, where Elisha was. Elisha saw her coming while she was still far off. He said to his servant Gehazi: Look, there comes the woman from Shunem! Hurry to her and find out if everything is all right with her and her family. She told Gehazi that everything was all right, but when she came to Elisha, she bowed down before him and took hold of his feet. Gehazi was about to push her away. Elisha said: Do not bother her. You can see she is deeply distressed. Jehovah has not told me a thing about it. The woman said to him: Did I ask you for a son? Did I not tell you not to get my hopes up? Elisha told Gehazi: Hurry! Take my walking stick. Do not stop to talk to anyone. If anyone speaks to you do not respond. Go straight to the house and hold my stick over the boy. The woman said to Elisha: I swear by my loyalty to the living God Jehovah and to you that I will not leave you! So the two of them started back together. Gehazi went ahead and held Elisha's stick over the child. There was no sound or any other sign of life. He returned to meet Elisha and said: The boy did not wake up. When Elisha arrived he went alone into the room. He saw the boy lying dead on the bed. He closed the door and prayed to Jehovah. Then he lay down on the boy, placing his mouth, eyes, and hands on the boy's mouth, eyes, and hands. As he lay stretched out over the boy, the boy's body started to get warm. Elisha got up and walked around the room. He returned and again stretched himself over the boy. The boy sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes. Elisha called Gehazi and told him to call the boy's mother. When she came in, he said to her: Take your son! She fell at Elisha's feet with her face on the ground. Then she took her son and left. When there was a famine throughout the land, Elisha returned to Gilgal. He was teaching a group of prophets. He told his servant to put a big pot on the fire and make some stew for them. One of them went out in the fields to gather herbs. He found a wild vine and picked as many gourds as he could carry. He brought them back and sliced them into the stew, not knowing what they were. The stew was poured out for the men to eat. They tasted it and exclaimed to Elisha: It is poisoned! They would not eat it. Elisha asked for some meal. He threw it into the pot and said: Pour out some more stew for them. Then there was nothing wrong with it. A man came from Baal Shalishah. He brought Elisha twenty loaves of bread made from the first barley harvested that year and some freshly cut heads of grain. Elisha told his servant to feed the group of prophets with this. He asked: How am I to feed a hundred hungry men with this? Elisha replied: Give it to them to eat, because Jehovah says that they will eat and still have some left over. (Matthew 14:20) So the servant set the food before them. Just as Jehovah said, they ate and had some left over. Naaman was a great soldier. He was commander of the Syrian army and highly respected and esteemed by the king of Syria (Aram). Jehovah gave victory to the Syrian forces through Naaman. He suffered from a dreaded skin disease. The Syrians carried off a little Israelite girl during one of their raids against Israel. The girl became a servant of Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress: I wish my master could go to the prophet who lives in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy. Naaman heard of this and told the king what the girl said. The king said: Go to the king of Israel and take this letter to him. Naaman departed. He took thirty thousand pieces of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of fine clothes. The letter stated: This letter will introduce my officer Naaman. I want you to cure him of his leprosy. The king of Israel read the letter and tore his clothes and said: How can the king of Syria expect me to cure this man? Does he think that I am God, with the power of life and death? It is plain that he is trying to start a quarrel with me! When the prophet Elisha heard what happened, he sent word to the king: Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me. I will show him that there is a prophet in Israel! Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the entrance to Elisha's house. Elisha sent a servant to tell him to wash himself seven times in the Jordan River. He would then be completely cured of his disease. Naaman left in a rage, saying: I thought he would at least come out to me, pray to Jehovah his God, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and cure me! Are not the Abanah and Pharpar rivers in Damascus better than any river in Israel? I could have washed in them and been cured! His servants went up to him and said: If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it. Now why can you not just wash yourself, as he said, and be cured? So Naaman went to the Jordan River and dipped himself in it seven times, as Elisha had instructed. He was completely cured. His flesh became firm and healthy like that of a child. Naaman returned to Elisha with all his men and said: Now I realize there is no god but the God of Israel. Please accept a gift from me. Elisha the prophet answered: By the living God Jehovah whom I serve, I swear that I will not accept a gift. Naaman insisted that he accept it, but he would not. So Naaman said: If you will not accept my gift, then let me have two mule-loads of earth to take home with me. From now on I will not offer sacrifices or burnt offerings to any god except Jehovah. I hope Jehovah will forgive me when I accompany my king to the temple of Rimmon, the god of Syria, and worship him. Surely Jehovah will forgive me! Elisha said: Go in peace. And Naaman left. He had gone only a short distance, when Elisha's servant Gehazi said to himself: My master has let Naaman get away without paying a thing! He should have accepted what that Syrian offered him. By the living God Jehovah I will run after him and get something from him. He ran after Naaman. When Naaman saw a man running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him, and asked: What is wrong? Nothing is wrong, answered Gehazi. But my master sent me to tell you that just now two members of the group of prophets in the hill country of Ephraim arrived. He would like you to give them three thousand pieces of silver and two changes of fine clothes. Please take six thousand pieces of silver, Naaman replied. He tied the silver in two bags and gave them and two changes of fine clothes to two of his servants, and sent them on ahead of Gehazi. They reached the hill where Elisha lived. Gehazi took the two bags and carried them into the house. Then he sent Naaman's servants back. He went into the house. Elisha asked him: Where have you been? Oh, nowhere, he answered. Elisha said: Was I there in spirit when the man got out of his chariot to meet you? This is no time to accept money and clothes, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and cattle, or servants! Naaman's leprosy will come upon you. You and your descendants will have it from generation to generation! When Gehazi left, he had the disease. His skin was as white as snow. The group of prophets Elisha was in charge of complained to him: The place where we live is too small! Allow us to go to the Jordan and cut down some trees. We can build a place to live. Elisha answered: Go. One of them urged him to go with them and he agreed. They set out together and when they arrived at the Jordan they cut down trees. One of them was cutting down a tree when suddenly his ax head fell in the water. It was a borrowed ax, he exclaimed to Elisha. What will I do? Elisha said: Where did it fall? The man showed him the place. Elisha cut off a stick. Then he threw it in the water and made the ax head float. Pick it up, he ordered. The man put his hand in the water and picked it up. The king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his officers and chose a place to set up camp. Elisha sent word to the king of Israel. He warned him not to go near that place, because the Syrians were waiting to ambush him. The king of Israel warned the people who lived there. So they were on guard. This happened several times. The Syrian king was greatly upset over this. He called in his officers and asked them: Show me who of us is on the side of the king of Israel? One of his servants said: No one is, Your Majesty. The prophet Elisha tells the king of Israel what you say even in the privacy of your own bedroom. Locate him! the king ordered, and I will capture him. He was told: Elisha is in Dothan. He sent a large force there with horses and chariots. They surrounded the town at night. Early the next morning Elisha's servant got up and went out of the house. He saw the Syrian troops with their horses and chariots surrounding the town. He went to Elisha and said: Alas my master what shall we do? Do not be afraid, Elisha answered. We have more on our side than they have on theirs. Elisha prayed: O Jehovah, open his eyes that he may see. Jehovah answered his prayer. Elisha's servant looked up and saw the hillside covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. The Syrians attacked! Elisha prayed, O Jehovah, strike these men blind! Jehovah answered his prayer and struck them blind. Elisha said to the Syrians: This is not the way or the town you are looking for. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are after. He led them to Samaria. When they entered the city, Elisha prayed: Open their eyes and let them see. Jehovah answered his prayer. He restored their sight, and they saw that they were inside Samaria. When the king of Israel saw the Syrians, he asked Elisha: Shall I kill them? No, Elisha answered. Would you put to death soldiers you captured in combat? Give them something to eat and drink. Then let them return to their king. So the king of Israel provided a great feast for them. After they ate and drank he sent them back to the king of Syria. From then on the Syrians stopped raiding the land of Israel. After that King Benhadad of Syria led his entire army against Israel in siege of the city of Samaria. The siege caused a great food shortage in the city. It was so severe that a donkey's head cost eighty pieces of silver, and half a pound of dove's dung cost five pieces of silver. The king of Israel walked by on the city wall when a woman cried out: Help me, Your Majesty! The king replied: If Jehovah will not help you, what help can I provide? Where can I get you help from the threshing floor or the wine press? The king asked: What is your trouble? She answered: The other day a woman suggested that we eat my child. Then we could eat her child the next day. So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I told her that we would eat her son, but she had hidden him! Hearing this, the king tore his clothes. The people close to the wall could see that he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes. He exclaimed: May God strike me dead if Elisha is not beheaded before the day is over! He sent a messenger to get Elisha. Meanwhile Elisha was at home with some elders who were visiting him. Before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders: That murderer is sending someone to kill me! When he gets here, shut the door. Do not let him come in. The king will follow him. While Elisha was still talking the king arrived and said: Jehovah brought this trouble on us! Why should I wait any longer for him to do something? Elisha answered: Hear the word of Jehovah: 'By this time tomorrow you will be able to buy in Samaria ten pounds of the best wheat or twenty pounds of barley for one piece of silver.' The personal attendant of the king said to Elisha: If Jehovah could make floodgates in the heavens could this happen? Elisha replied: You will see it with your own eyes. But you will not eat from it. Four men who were suffering from a dreaded skin disease were outside the gates of Samaria. They said to each other: Why should we wait here until we die? If we go into the city we will starve to death. If we stay here we will also die. So let us go to the Syrian camp. The worst they can do is kill us. Maybe they will spare our lives. They arose in the twilight and went to the Syrian camp. When they reached it, no one was there. Jehovah made the Syrians hear what sounded like the advance of a large army with horses and chariots. The Syrians thought that the king of Israel had hired Hittite and Egyptian kings and their armies to attack them. The Syrians arose and fled while it was yet dark. They left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys in the camp and fled for their lives. The lepers came to the edge of the camp. They went into one tent and ate and drank. They took silver and gold and clothing. They entered another tent and carried away spoil and hid it. They said to each other: We should not do this! We have good news. We should not keep it to ourselves. If we wait until morning to tell it we will be punished. Let us go tell the king's officers! They left the Syrian camp and went to Samaria. They called out to the guards at the gates: We went to the Syrian camp and did not see or hear anyone. The horses and donkeys have not been untied. The tents are just as the Syrians left them. The guards announced the news. It was reported in the palace. The king got out of bed even though it was night. He said to his officials: I will tell you what the Syrians are planning! They know about the famine here, so they have left their camp to go and hide in the countryside. They think that we will leave the city to find food. Then they will take us alive and capture the city. One of his servants said: The people in the city are doomed like those who have already died. Send some men with five of the horses that are left and find out what happened. They chose some men and the king sent them in two chariots with instructions to go and find out what had happened to the Syrian army. The men went to the Jordan. Along the road they saw the clothes and equipment that the Syrians had abandoned as they fled. Then they returned and reported to the king. The people of Samaria rushed out and looted the Syrian camp. Just as Jehovah said, ten pounds of the best wheat or twenty pounds of barley were sold for one piece of silver. The king of Israel put the city gate under the command of the officer who was his personal attendant. The officer was trampled to death there by the people and died, as Elisha had predicted when the king went to see him. Elisha told the king that by that time the following day ten pounds of the best wheat or twenty pounds of barley would be sold in Samaria for one piece of silver. The king's attendant answered: If Jehovah could open floodgates in the heavens could this happen? Elisha had replied: You shall see with your own eyes. But you will not eat from it. And that is just what happened! He died. The people at the city gate trampled him to death. Elisha told the woman who lived in Shunem, whose son he brought back to life: Jehovah is sending a famine on the land. It will last for seven years. Leave with your family and go live somewhere else. She followed his instructions and left with her family to live in Philistia for the seven years. When the seven years ended she returned to Israel. She went to the king to ask that her house and her land be restored to her. The king was talking with Gehazi, Elisha's servant, when she found him. The king wanted to know about Elisha's miracles. Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought a dead person back to life. The woman made her appeal to the king. Gehazi said to him: Your Majesty, here is the woman and here is her son whom Elisha brought back to life! She responded to the king's question by confirming Gehazi's story. The king called an official and told him to give back to her everything that was hers. This included the value of all the crops that her fields produced during the seven years she was away. Elisha went to Damascus when King Benhadad of Syria was sick. The king was told that Elisha was there. He said to Hazael, one of his officials: Take a gift to the prophet and ask him to consult Jehovah to find out whether or not I am going to get well. Hazael loaded forty camels with all kinds of the finest products of Damascus and went to Elisha. Hazael said: Your servant, King Benhadad sent me to ask if he will recover from his sickness. Elisha answered: Jehovah has revealed to me that he will die. However go to him and tell him that he will recover. Elisha stared at him in horror until Hazael became ill at ease. Suddenly Elisha burst into tears. Why are you crying? Hazael asked. Because I know the horrible things you will do against the people of Israel, Elisha answered. You will burn their fortresses, slaughter their finest young men, batter their children to death, and rip open their pregnant women. How could I ever be that powerful? Hazael asked. I am nobody, only a dog. Elisha replied: Jehovah has revealed to me that you will be king of Syria. Hazael returned to Benhadad, who asked him: What did Elisha say? He told me that you will certainly get well, Hazael answered. The following day Hazael took a blanket, soaked it in water, and smothered the king. Hazael succeeded Benhadad as king of Syria. Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah. It was the fifth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab as king of Israel. He was thirty-two years old. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. His wife was Ahab's daughter. Like the family of Ahab he followed the evil ways of the kings of Israel. He sinned against Jehovah. Jehovah was not willing to destroy Judah. He promised his servant David that his descendants would always continue to rule. Edom revolted against Judah and became an independent kingdom. Jehoram and his chariots went to Zair. The Edomite army surrounded them. He and his chariot commanders managed to break out and escape. His soldiers scattered to their homes. Edom has been independent of Judah ever since. The city of Libnah also revolted at that time. Everything Jehoram did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. Jehoram died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City. His son Ahaziah succeeded him as king. Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah. This was in the twelfth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab as king of Israel. He was twenty-two years old. He ruled in Jerusalem for one year. His mother was Athaliah, the daughter of King Ahab and granddaughter of King Omri of Israel. Ahaziah was related to King Ahab by marriage. He sinned against Jehovah as Ahab's family did. King Ahaziah joined King Joram of Israel in a war against King Hazael of Syria. The armies clashed at Ramoth in Gilead. Joram was wounded in battle. He returned to the city of Jezreel to recover from his wounds. Ahaziah went there to visit him. Elisha the prophet called one of the young prophets and said to him: Prepare to go to Ramoth in Gilead. Take this jar of olive oil with you. When you get there look for Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi. Take him to a private room away from his companions. Pour this olive oil on his head, and say: 'Jehovah anoints you king of Israel. Then leave there as fast as you can.' The young prophet went to Ramoth. He found the army officers in conference. He said: I have a message for you. Jehu asked: Who are you speaking to? To you, captain. He replied. The two of them went indoors. The prophet poured the olive oil on Jehu's head and said to him: Jehovah, the God of Israel, says: 'I anoint you king of my people Israel. You are to kill your master the king of the house of Ahab. I am punishing Jezebel for murdering my prophets and my other servants. The entire house of Ahab will perish. I will get rid of every male in his family, young and old alike. I will treat his family as I did the families of King Jeroboam son of Nebat and of King Baasha son of Ahijah. Jezebel will not be buried. Dogs in the territory of Jezreel will eat her body.' After saying this, the young prophet opened the door and fled. Jehu went back to his fellow officers. They asked him: Is everything all right? What did this mad fellow want with you? Jehu answered: You know what he wanted. No we do not! They replied. Tell us what he said! They asked. He told me that Jehovah says: 'I anoint you king of Israel.' At once Jehu's fellow officers spread their cloaks at the top of the steps for Jehu to stand on. They blew trumpets and shouted: Jehu is king! So Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, plotted against Joram. Joram and all the army of Israel were keeping watch on Ramoth-gilead against Hazael, king of Aram: King Joram went back to Jezreel to recuperate from the wounds he received from the Aramaeans when he fought against Hazael, king of Aram. Jehu said: If this is your purpose let no one get away to give news of it in Jezreel. So Jehu got into his carriage and went to Jezreel. Joram was ill in bed there and Ahaziah, king of Judah came to see him. The watchman on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu and his company coming. He said: I see a company of people. Joram said: Send out a horseman to them and let him ask: 'Do you come in peace?' So a horseman went out to them and said: The king asks: 'Do you come in peace? ' Jehu said: What have you to do with peace? Follow me. The watchman reported that the horseman reached the group and was returning. A second man was sent out on horseback. He approached them and asked the same thing: Do you come in peace? Jehu replied: What have you to do with peace? Follow me. The watchman reported: He went up to them and has not come back. The driving is like the driving of Jehu, son of Nimshi, for he is driving violently. Joram said: Get ready. They prepared his chariot and Joram, king of Israel, with Ahaziah, king of Judah, went out in their chariots to meet Jehu. They came face to face with him at the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. When Joram saw Jehu he said: Do you come in peace, Jehu? He said in reply: What peace is possible while all the land is full of the disgusting sins of your mother Jezebel, and her secret arts of witchcraft? Then Joram turned his horses and fled. He said to Ahaziah: Broken faith, O Ahaziah! Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and sent an arrow, wounding Joram between the arms. The arrow came out at his heart, and he went down on his face in his chariot. Jehu said to Bidkar, his captain: Pick him up, and put him in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. I remember when you and I were riding together after Ahab, his father. Jehovah offered this prophesy against him. Even as I saw the blood of Naboth and his sons yesterday, 'I will pay you back in this field,' declares Jehovah. Now take him and throw him into the field as Jehovah predicted.

There is power (authority) in the word of a king. Who may ask him: What are you doing?

A king who cultivates the field is an advantage to the land.

They will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome (conquer) them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings. Those who are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel; it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes to desire strong drink. They will drink and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.

In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah, king of Judah, Zechariah, son of Jeroboam, was king over Israel for six months. He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, as his father had done, not turning away from the sin which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did and made Israel do. Shallum, the son of Jabesh conspired against him. He attacked him in Ibleam and killed him. Shallum became king in his place. read more.
Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. Jehovah spoke to Jehu: Your sons to the fourth generation will be kings of Israel. It happened that way.

In the twenty-sixth year that Asa was king of Judah, Elah, the son of Baasha, became king of Israel in Tirzah. He was king for two years. His servant Zimri, commander of half his war-carriages made plans to kill him. He was in Tirzah, drinking hard at the house of Arza, controller of the king's house in Tirzah. Zimri attacked and killed him. It was the twenty-seventh year that Asa was king of Judah. read more.
Immediately after he became king and took his place on the throne of the kingdom, he put to death all the family of Baasha. Not one male child survived. So Zimri destroyed the entire family of Baasha as Jehovah promised through the prophet Jehu. This happened because of the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, and because of all the sins they led Israel to commit. It aroused the anger of Jehovah the God of Israel. The rest of the acts of Elah are recorded in the book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

His servant Zimri, commander of half his war-carriages made plans to kill him. He was in Tirzah, drinking hard at the house of Arza, controller of the king's house in Tirzah. Zimri attacked and killed him. It was the twenty-seventh year that Asa was king of Judah.

I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, They should be made for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

Open your mouth for the dumb in the cause of all who are appointed to destruction. Open your mouth and judge righteously. Plead the cause of the poor and needy.

Just then Saul came from the field from behind some oxen. Why are these people crying? Saul asked. They told him the news about the men of Jabesh. When he heard this news, God's Spirit came over him. He became very angry. Saul took a pair of oxen, cut them in pieces, and sent them by messengers throughout the territory of Israel with the following message: This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel into battle. The people were afraid of Jehovah. They came out united behind Saul.

Listen to them. But be sure to warn them and tell them about the behavior and rights of a king who rules over them. Then Samuel told the people who had asked him for a king everything Jehovah said. Samuel said: These are the rights of a king: He will draft your sons and make them serve on his chariots and horses, and make them run ahead of his chariots. read more.
He will appoint them to be his officers over one thousand or over fifty soldiers. He will have them plow his ground and harvest his crops. He will require them to make weapons and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters from you and force them to make perfumes, cook, and bake. He will take away the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his officials. He will take a tenth of your grain and wine and give it to his aids and officials. He will confiscate your male and female slaves, your best cattle, and your donkeys for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks. In addition, you will be his servants. You will cry out because of the king whom you have chosen for yourselves. Jehovah will not answer you when that day comes.

So all the people went to Gilgal. In Gilgal they made Saul king before Jehovah. Peace offerings were offered before Jehovah. Saul and all the men of Israel were glad with great joy.

Solomon appointed twelve men as district governors in Israel. They provided food from their districts for the king and his household, each man being responsible for one month out of the year. The following are the names of these twelve officers and the districts they were in charge of: Benhur: the mountains of Ephraim, Bendeker: the cities of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, Elon, and Beth Hanan, read more.
Benhesed: the cities of Arubboth and Socoh and all the territory of Hepher, Benabinadab, who was married to Solomon's daughter Taphath: the whole region of Dor. Baana son of Ahilud: the cities of Taanach, Megiddo, and all the region near Beth Shan, near the town of Zarethan, south of the town of Jezreel, as far as the city of Abel Meholah and the city of Jokmeam. Bengeber: the city of Ramoth in Gilead, and the villages in Gilead belonging to the clan of Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, and the region of Argob in Bashan, sixty large towns in all, fortified with walls and with bronze bars on the gates. Ahinadab son of Iddo: the district of Mahanaim. Ahimaaz, who was married to Basemath, another of Solomon's daughters: the territory of Naphtali. Baana son of Hushai: the region of Asher and the town of Bealoth. Jehoshaphat son of Paruah: the territory of Issachar. Shimei son of Ela: the territory of Benjamin. Geber son of Uri: the region of Gilead, which had been ruled by King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan. Besides these twelve, there was one governor over all the land.

If a ruler listens to lies, all his servants are wicked.

Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria. This was in the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah. Hoshea ruled for nine years. He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. Though he was not like the kings of Israel before him. Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him. Hoshea became his servant and sent him offerings. read more.
Hoshea's treachery became clear to the king of Assyria. He had sent representatives to the king of Egypt. He did not send his offering to the king of Assyria like he did in previous years. So the king of Assyria had him put in chains and locked in prison. Then the king of Assyria invaded the land and advanced to Samaria. He besieged the city for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He led the Israelites away to Assyria. He stationed them in Halah and Habor on the Gozan River, and in the towns of the Medes.

Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, became king over Israel in Samaria. He ruled for seventeen years. It was the twenty-third year of Joash, son of Ahaziah, king of Judah. He did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, copying the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he did and made Israel do. He did not keep himself from them. The wrath of Jehovah burned against Israel! He gave them up into the power of Hazael, king of Aram, and into the power of Benhadad, the son of Hazael, again and again. read more.
Then Jehoahaz prayed to Jehovah. Jehovah listened to him. He saw how cruelly the king of Aram crushed Israel. Jehovah gave Israel a savior, so that they became free from the hands of the Aramaeans. The children of Israel were living in their tents as in the past. Still they did not give up the sin of Jeroboam. This he made Israel do and they continued. There was an image of Asherah in Samaria. Out of all his army, Jehoahaz had only fifty horsemen and ten carriages and ten thousand footmen. The king of Aram had given them up to destruction, crushing them like dust. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all he did, and his great power are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. Jehoahaz went to rest with his fathers. He was buried at Samaria. Joash his son became king.

He sent messengers to all the tribes of Israel. He told them: When you hear the sound of trumpets, shout: 'Absalom is king in Hebron!'

Solomon appointed twelve men as district governors in Israel. They provided food from their districts for the king and his household, each man being responsible for one month out of the year. The following are the names of these twelve officers and the districts they were in charge of: Benhur: the mountains of Ephraim, Bendeker: the cities of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, Elon, and Beth Hanan, read more.
Benhesed: the cities of Arubboth and Socoh and all the territory of Hepher, Benabinadab, who was married to Solomon's daughter Taphath: the whole region of Dor. Baana son of Ahilud: the cities of Taanach, Megiddo, and all the region near Beth Shan, near the town of Zarethan, south of the town of Jezreel, as far as the city of Abel Meholah and the city of Jokmeam. Bengeber: the city of Ramoth in Gilead, and the villages in Gilead belonging to the clan of Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, and the region of Argob in Bashan, sixty large towns in all, fortified with walls and with bronze bars on the gates. Ahinadab son of Iddo: the district of Mahanaim. Ahimaaz, who was married to Basemath, another of Solomon's daughters: the territory of Naphtali. Baana son of Hushai: the region of Asher and the town of Bealoth. Jehoshaphat son of Paruah: the territory of Issachar. Shimei son of Ela: the territory of Benjamin. Geber son of Uri: the region of Gilead, which had been ruled by King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan. Besides these twelve, there was one governor over all the land.

David went to Saul and worked for him. Saul liked him so much that he put David in charge of carrying his weapons.

Righteous lips are the delight of kings. They love the man who speaks what is right.

Do you see a man diligent in his business? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before unknown men.

The king speaks divine words. He does not transgress justice.

A wise king sifts out the wicked. He rolls the threshing wheel over them.

The mouth of the adulterous is a deep pit. The one who is cursed by Jehovah will fall into it.

It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness for the throne is established by righteousness.

The king's favor is toward a wise servant. His anger is against the one who causes shame.

My son, respect Jehovah and the king. Do not associate with those who want to change things.

Samuel explained the laws concerning kingship to the people. He wrote the laws on a scroll, which he placed in front of Jehovah. Then Samuel sent the people back to their homes.

The ruler who lacks understanding is a great oppressor. He who hates covetousness will prolong his days.

The ruler who lacks understanding is a great oppressor. He who hates covetousness will prolong his days.

In the multitude of people is the king's honor, but the lack of people is the destruction of the prince.

And from Jesus Christ, who is the Faithful Witness, and the firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood.

This was in addition to what came to him from the business of the traders, and from all the kings of the Arabians, and from the rulers of the country.

Do not give your strength to women. Do not give your ways to that which destroys kings.

Excellent speech does not fit a fool; much less do lying lips a prince.

Shallum, the son of Jabesh conspired against him. He attacked him in Ibleam and killed him. Shallum became king in his place.

Adonijah, son of Haggith, was very handsome. His mother gave birth to him after Maacah had Absalom. Adonijah boasted about himself, saying, I will be king. He got a chariot and horses and fifty men to run ahead of him. His father never confronted him by asking: Why have you done this? But Adonijah had discussed his actions with Joab (son of Zeruiah) and with the priest Abiathar, so they supported him.

Then Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah to Samaria. He attacked Shallum, son of Jabesh, in Samaria. He killed him and made himself king in his place.

Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, became king over Israel in the second year that Asa was king of Judah; and he was king of Israel for two years.

And Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the family of Issachar, made a secret design against him, attacking him at Gibbethon, a town of the Philistines. Nadab and the armies of Israel were making war on Gibbethon.

Then Omri went up from Gibbethon, with all the army of Israel, and they attacked Tirzah, Israel's capital.

Like his father Asa before him, he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah. However the places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

Jotham did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah, as his father Uzziah had done.

So David ruled all Israel. He did what was fair and right for all his people.

Asa did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah, as David his father did.

When a king sits on the throne of judgment he scatters away evil with his eyes.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.

They will drink and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.

Listen you kings, be wise (show discernment) and be warned you rulers of the earth. Serve Jehovah with deep respect and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed (happy) are all who take refuge (put trust) in him.

The God of Israel has spoken. The protector of Israel said to me: 'The king who rules with justice, who rules in obedience to God.

Kings reign by me, and princes decree justice.

Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, and do not stand in the place of great men.

All the elders of Israel came to King David at Hebron. He made a sacred alliance with them. They anointed him, and he became king of Israel.

So Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, plotted against Joram. Joram and all the army of Israel were keeping watch on Ramoth-gilead against Hazael, king of Aram:

He did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah as David his father had done.

He did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah. He walked in the ways of David his father, without turning to the right hand or to the left.

Kings will be your guardians. Their princesses will be your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth. They will lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am Jehovah. Those who hopefully wait for me will not be put to shame.

They said: You are an old man. You set a good example for your sons. But they have not followed it. Now we want a king to be our leader like all the other nations. Choose one for us!

Do what Jehovah your God orders you to do. Obey all his laws and commands, as written in the Law of Moses. That way wherever you go you may prosper in everything you do.

Whoever opposes the authority resists the ordinance of God. Those who resist will receive judgment.

Whoever opposes the authority resists the ordinance of God. Those who resist will receive judgment.

I gave you a king when I was angry, and I took him away when I was furious.

A mighty army does not save the king. A warrior is not delivered by great strength.

Let every person be subject to superior authorities. For there is no authority except by God. God allows the authorities to serve in their positions.

Buckle on your sword, mighty king in your splendor and majesty.

The strength of the King loves justice. You have established equity. You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

If the temper of the ruler rises up against you do not withdraw from him for gentleness can put a stop to great offenses.

Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. They brought these men before the king.

The king's anger is like the roaring of a lion but his favor is like dew upon the grass.

Fear of a king is like the roar of a lion. Provoke him to anger and sin against yourself.

This caused the king to be angry. In fact he became furious! He commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.

Who then is the faithful, thoughtful, and wise servant, whom his lord put in charge of his other servants, to give them their food at the proper time?

The king's anger is like the roaring of a lion but his favor is like dew upon the grass.

The light of the king's face causes life. His favor is like a gentle rain in spring.

Many seek favor from the ruler; but every man's judgment comes from Jehovah.

They should be made for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of all the inhabited earth.

So the men went out on the quick-running horses used on the king's business. They wasted no time and forced on by the king's order; and the order was given out in Shushan, the king's town.

When the order made by the king was made public a number of girls were placed in the care of Hegai in the king's house in Shushan. Esther was taken to the king's house and put in the care of Hegai, the keeper of the women.

I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble with respect before the God of Daniel. He is the living God, and steadfast forever! His kingdom will not be destroyed. His dominion will be even unto the end.

Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut into pieces. Their houses shall be made a dunghill. There is no other god that is able to deliver like this.

Then Jehoiada led Joash out and placed the crown on his head. He gave him a copy of the laws governing kingship. Then Jehoash was anointed and proclaimed king. The people clapped their hands and shouted: Long live the king!

All the elders of Israel came to King David at Hebron. He made a sacred alliance with them. They anointed him, and he became king of Israel.

Then they brought out the king's son and put the crown on him. They gave him the testimony and made him king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed him. They said: Long live the king!

So all the people went to Gilgal. In Gilgal they made Saul king before Jehovah. Peace offerings were offered before Jehovah. Saul and all the men of Israel were glad with great joy.

When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they requested a meeting of the people. At that meeting they made him king over Israel. There was none who followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah.

The news reached the king of Nineveh. He left his throne, and took off his robe and covered himself with sackcloth. Then he sat in ashes.

Dressed in royal apparel, Herod delivered a public address to the people on a special day.

They dressed in their royal robes and sat on their thrones at the threshing place near the gate of Samaria. The two kings listened to all the prophets prophesy in front of them.

The king made a great ivory throne plated with the best gold.

Jehoiada the priest, the officers, the royal bodyguard, and the palace guards escorted the king from the Temple to the palace. All the people followed them. Jehoash entered by the Guard Gate and took his place on the royal throne.

If the temper of the ruler rises up against you do not withdraw from him for gentleness can put a stop to great offenses.

Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. They brought these men before the king.

The king's anger is like the roaring of a lion but his favor is like dew upon the grass.

Fear of a king is like the roar of a lion. Provoke him to anger and sin against yourself.

This caused the king to be angry. In fact he became furious! He commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.

But he says to the Son: God is your throne forever and ever. (Your throne, Oh God-like one, is forever.) A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. (Psalm 45:6, 7)

I see him, but not now! I behold him, but not near! A star shall come forth from Jacob. A scepter shall rise from Israel and shall crush through the forehead of Moab. It will tear down all the sons of Sheth.

It is common knowledge among all the king's servants and the people of every part of the kingdom, that if anyone, man or woman, comes to the king in his inner room without being sent for, there is only one law for him, that he is to be put to death. Only those to whom the king's rod of gold is stretched out may keep their lives. I have not been sent for to come before the king in the past thirty days.

The royal scepter shall not depart from Judah. His descendants will always rule. Nations will bring him tribute and bow in obedience before him. This, until Shiloh comes and all will obey him.

Jehovah has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers.

Who then is the faithful, thoughtful, and wise servant, whom his lord put in charge of his other servants, to give them their food at the proper time?