'King' in the Bible

Solomon replied to God, "You showed great gracious love to my father David, and have established me as king in his place.

Now, LORD God, your promise to my father David is fulfilled, because you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.

God told Solomon, "Since you had this in mind, to ask neither to focus on riches, wealth, honor, or the lives of those who hate you, nor have you requested a long life, but instead you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, so that you may rule my people over whom I have established you as king,

Solomon amassed both chariots and horsemen: he owned 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, stationing them in armories and with the king in Jerusalem.

The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and made cedar trees as plentiful as sycamore trees that grow in the Shephelah.

Solomon also sent this message to King Hiram of Tyre:

In a letter that he sent to Solomon, King Hiram of Tyre wrote, "Because he loves his people, the LORD has placed you as king over them."

Hiram also wrote: "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth. He gave King David a wise son, who is acquainted with discretion and understanding, and who is building a temple to the LORD, as well as a royal palace for himself.

Hiram-abi crafted the pots, shovels, and basins, thus completing the work that he did for King Solomon on the Temple of God;

along with its pots, shovels, forks, and all of its other implements that Hiram-abi made from polished bronze for King Solomon and the LORD's Temple.

The king had them forged in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah in the Jordan plain.

All the men of Israel assembled in front of the king during the Festival of Tents that takes place in the seventh month of the year.

King Solomon and all the Israelis who had assembled together proceeded ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and oxen than could be counted or recorded due to the number of sacrifices.

Then the king turned to face the entire congregation of Israel while the congregation of Israel remained standing.

Then the king and all the people kept on offering sacrifices in the presence of the LORD.

King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, which is how the king and all of the people dedicated God's Temple.

The priests stood in waiting at their assigned places, along with the descendants of Levi who carried musical instruments used in service to the LORD that King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD because his gracious love is eternal whenever David, accompanied by priests sounding trumpets, offered praises while all of Israel stood in the assembly.

On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, King Solomon sent the people back home, and they returned rejoicing and in good spirits because of the goodness that the LORD had shown to David, to Solomon, and to his people Israel.

King Solomon appointed 250 chief officers to command his army.

Later, Solomon moved Pharaoh's daughter from the City of David to the palace that he had constructed to house her, because he reasoned, "My wife isn't going to live in the palace where King David of Israel lived, because wherever the ark of the LORD entered is holy."

They scrupulously adhered to the orders issued by the king to the priests and descendants of Levi in everything, including matters pertaining to operation of the treasuries.

Blessed be the LORD your God, who is delighted with you! He set you in place on his throne to be king for the LORD your God. He made you king over them so you could carry out justice and implement righteousness, because your God loves Israel and intends to establish them forever."

Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a vast quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were no spices comparable to those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

The king used the algum wood to have steps made for the LORD's Temple and for the royal palace, as well as lyres and harps for the choir, and nothing like that wood had been seen before in the territory of Judah.

In return, King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and requested in addition to what she had brought for the king. Afterward, she returned to her own land, accompanied by her servants.

King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, overlaying each shield with the gold from 600 gold pieces,

and 300 shields from beaten gold, overlaying each shield with the gold from 300 gold pieces. The king put them in his palace in the Lebanon forest.

The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold.

All of King Solomon's drinking vessels were made of gold, and all the vessels in his palace in the Lebanon forest were made of pure gold. Silver was never considered to be valuable during the lifetime of Solomon,

because the king had ships that sailed to Tarshish accompanied by Hiram's servants. Once every three years ships from Tarshish returned, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

As a result, King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in regards to wealth and wisdom.

Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, along with 12,000 cavalry soldiers. He stationed them in various chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

King Solomon ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River west to the land of the Philistines and as far south as the boundary with Egypt.

The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and made cedar trees as abundant as sycamore trees in the Shephelah.

Rehoboam traveled to Shechem, because all of Israel went there to install him as king.

Nebat's son Jeroboam heard about it in Egypt, where he had fled to get away from Solomon the king. Jeroboam returned from Egypt

while King Rehoboam conferred with his advisors who had worked with his father Solomon during his administration. He asked them, "What is your advice as to what response I should return to these people?"

So Jeroboam and all the people went back to Rehoboam on the third day, just as they had been directed when the king said, "Come back again in three days."

But the king answered them strictly and ignored the counsel of his elders.

The king would not listen to the people because the turn of events was from God, so that the LORD might fulfill his prediction that he spoke through Nebat's son Ahijah the Shilonite.

All of Israel since the king wasn't going to listen to them the people responded to the king, "What's the point in following David? We have no inheritance in the descendants of Jesse. Let's go home, Israel! David, take care of your own household!" So all of Israel left for home.

King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of conscripted labor, but the Israelis stoned him to death, and King Rehoboam had to jump in his chariot and flee back in a hurry to Jerusalem.

"Tell Solomon's son Rehoboam, king of Judah and all of Israel in Judah and Benjamin:

Later, Rehoboam appointed Abijah, his son from Maacah, as senior family leader among his brothers, since he intended to establish Abijah as king.

Because he had been unfaithful to the LORD, during the fifth year of King Rehoboam's reign, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem

In response, the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and declared, "The LORD is righteous."

So King Shishak of Egypt invaded Jerusalem and looted the treasure stores in the LORD's Temple and in the royal palace. He took everything, including the golden shields that Solomon had made.

After this, King Rehoboam made shields out of bronze to take their place, committing them to the care and custody of the commanders of those who guarded the entrance to the royal palace.

As often as the king entered the LORD's Temple, the guards came and transported the shields to the Temple and then brought them back to the guard's quarters.

King Rehoboam consolidated his reign in Jerusalem. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that that LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to establish his name. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah from Ammon.

Later, Rehoboam died, as had his ancestors, and his son Abijah became king to replace him.

During the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah.

King Asa removed his mother Maacah from her position as Queen Mother because she had made a detestable image dedicated to Asherah. He cut down his mother's idol, crushed it, and burned it at the Kidron Brook.

During the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and interdicted Ramah by building fortifications around it so no one could enter or leave to join King Asa of Judah.

But Asa removed some silver and gold from the treasuries of the LORD's Temple and from his royal palace and sent them to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who lived in Damascus.

"Let's make a treaty between you and me," he said, "just like the one between my father and your father. Notice that I've sent you silver and gold to break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he'll retreat from his attack on me."

So King Ben-hadad did just what King Asa had asked: he sent his commanding officers to attack the cities of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Bel-maim, and all of the storage centers in Naphtali.

Then King Asa brought his entire army of Judah to carry away the building stones and the timber that Baasha had been using to surround Ramah, and he used those materials to fortify Geba and Mizpah.

Right about then, Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and rebuked him. "Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram and have not relied on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your control.

Asa's son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king, and he consolidated his authority over Israel

These men served the king, and there were others whom the king garrisoned inside fortified cities throughout all of Judah.

King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah, "Will you join me in attacking Ramoth-gilead?"

"I'm with you," Jehoshaphat replied. "and my army is with you. We'll join you in the battle." But then Jehoshaphat asked the king of Israel, "Please ask for a message from the LORD, first."

So the king of Israel gathered together 400 prophets and asked them, "Should we go attack Ramoth-gilead, or should I call off the attack?" "Go attack them," they all said, "because God will drop them right in the king's hand."

"There is still one man left by whom we could ask the LORD what to do," the king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, "but I hate him because he won't prophesy anything good about me. Instead, he always prophesies evil. He is Imla's son Micaiah." But Jehoshaphat rebuked Ahab, "Kings should never talk like that."

Nevertheless, the king of Israel called an officer and ordered him, "Bring me Imla's son Micaiah quickly."

Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were each sitting on their own thrones, arrayed in their robes, and sitting on the threshing floor at the entrance to the city gate of Samaria, and all of the prophets were prophesying in front of them.

All the other prophets were saying similar things, like "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and you will be successful, because the LORD will hand it over to the king!"

Meanwhile, the messenger who had gone off to summon Micaiah advised him, "Look, everything that the other prophets were saying has been unanimously favorable to the king. So please, cooperate with them and speak favorably."

When Micaiah approached the king, the king asked him, "Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I not?" "Go to war," Micaiah replied, "and you will be successful, because the LORD will hand it over to the king!"

When he heard this, the king asked him, "How many times do I have to ask you? Tell me nothing but the truth, and do it in the name of the LORD!"

Then the king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he wouldn't prophesy anything good about me, but only evil?"

"The LORD asked, "Who will tempt King Ahab of Israel to attack Ramoth-gilead, so that he will die there?' And one was saying one thing and one was saying another.

Then the king of Israel ordered, "Take Micaiah and place him in the custody of Amon, the city governor. Hand him over to Joash, the king's son.

So the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah both attacked Ramoth-gilead.

The king of Israel suggested to Jehoshaphat, "I'll go into battle in disguise, but you keep your royal uniform on." So the king of Israel disguised himself and they both went into the battle.

Meanwhile, the king of Aram had issued these orders to his chariot commanders: "Don't attack unimportant soldiers or ranking officers. Go after only the king of Israel."

So when the chariot commanders observed Jehoshaphat, they said by mistake, "It's the king of Israel!" and they turned aside to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out to the LORD, who helped him, and God diverted them from him.

When the chariot commanders saw that their target was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him.

Meanwhile, somebody drew his bow and struck the king of Israel at a weak spot where his armor plates joined, so he instructed his chariot driver, "Turn around and take me out of the battle, because I've been severely wounded."

The battle continued on for the rest of the day while the king of Israel propped himself up in front of the Arameans until the sun set, at which time he died.

After this, King Jehoshaphat of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem,

where Hanani's son Jehu, the seer, went out to meet him. He asked King Jehoshaphat, "Should you be helping those who are wicked, yes or no? Should you love those who hate the LORD? Wrath is headed your way directly from the LORD because of this.

"Pay attention, everyone in Judah, in Jerusalem, and you, too, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says to you: "Stop being afraid, and stop being discouraged because of this vast invasion force, because the battle doesn't belong to you, but to God.

Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah, having become king at the age of 35. He reigned in Jerusalem for 25 years. His mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

Sometime later, King Jehoshaphat of Judah entered into a military alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, acting wickedly by doing so.

He also agreed with King Ahaziah to build ships to sail toward Tarshish, which they built in Ezion-geber.

Jehoshaphat died, as had his ancestors, and was buried in the City of David alongside his ancestors. His son Jehoram became king in his place.

Jehoshaphat's sons, Jehoram's brothers, included Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. All of these were sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel.

Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem.

Nevertheless, Edom revolted against Judah's rule and set up their own king to rule them during Jehoram's reign.

"This is what the LORD God of your ancestor David says: "You haven't lived like your father Jehoshaphat and like King Asa of Judah. Instead, you have lived like the kings of Israel by causing Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit cultic sexual immorality just like Ahab's dynasty did! And you've killed your brothers who were better than you your own father's dynasty!

Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. He left this earth to nobody's regret and they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

The residents of Jerusalem made Jehoram's son Ahaziah king in his place after the raiding party that had invaded the city with the Arabs had killed all of the older sons. That's how Jehoram's son Ahaziah became king of Judah.

Ahaziah was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, Omri's granddaughter.

He followed their counsel and accompanied Ahab's son Joram, king of Israel, to wage war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. But the Arameans wounded Joram,

so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that he had received at Ramah in the battle against King Hazael of Aram. King Ahaziah of Judah, Jehoram's son, went to visit Ahab's son Joram, because he was wounded.

However, the king's daughter Jehoshabeath took Ahaziah's son Joash away from the king's children who were about to be assassinated and hid him and his nurse in a bedroom. That's how King Jehoram's daughter Jehoshabeath, who was also the priest Jehoiada's wife and Ahaziah's sister, hid him from Athaliah. As a result, she was not able to kill him.

Everybody went to Jerusalem, and the whole group made a covenant with the king in God's Temple, where Jehoiada addressed them:

The descendants of Levi will surround the king, brandishing weapons in their hands, and anybody who enters the Temple will be killed. Stay near the king wherever he enters and leaves."