And I have prepared therein a place for the Ark wherein the covenant of the LORD is, which he made with our fathers, after he had brought them out of the land of Egypt."

"LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today.

and hast forgiven Thy people who have sinned against Thee, even all their transgressions which they have transgressed against Thee, and hast given them mercies before their captors, and they have had mercy on them --

It was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to Yahweh, he arose from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven.

And may what I've had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it,

On that day the king sanctified the middle of the court before the house of Jehovah. For there he had offered the burnt offering, and the food offering, and the fat of the peace offerings; because the bronze altar before Jehovah was too small to contain the burnt offering, and the food offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.

So Solomon and all Israel with him, a very great meeting, (for the people had come together from the way into Hamath to the river of Egypt,) kept the feast at that time before the Lord our God, for two weeks, even fourteen days.

On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.

It happened, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of Yahweh, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do,

that Yahweh appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.

and, this house which had been renowned, shall be desolate, every one that passeth by it, shall be astonished and shall whistle, - and men shall say - For what cause, hath Yahweh done, thus, unto this land, and unto this house?

It happened at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Yahweh and the king's house

(now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire), that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they didn't please him.

And Hiram had sent to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.

This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon had imposed to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.

Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it for a portion to his daughter, Solomon's wife.

and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

and whose descendants had survived them and continued to live in the land because the Israelis were unable to completely eliminate them, Solomon placed under conscripted labor, a situation that remains in effect to this day.

And these many lords that oversaw the work, had Solomon five hundred and fifty, which ruled the people that wrought in the work.

But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David to her house which [Solomon] had built for her: then did he build Millo.

And three times in the year did Solomon offer up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar that he had built to Jehovah, and he burned incense upon that which was before Jehovah. So he finished the house.

Hiram sent in the navy his servants, sailors who had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

Now the queen of Sheba had heard of the fame of Solomon regarding the name of Yahweh, and she came to test him with hard questions.

And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she had come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

However I didn't believe the words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it. Behold, the half was not told me! Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard.

And blessed be the LORD thy God which had a lust to thee, to set thee on the seat of Israel, because the LORD loved Israel for ever, and therefore made thee king, to do equity and righteousness."

The king made the almug wood into steps for the Lord’s temple and the king’s palace and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before had such almug wood come, and the like has not been seen again even to this very day.

King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, besides what he had freely offered her. Then she left and returned to her homeland with her attendants.

Besides what he had of the merchants, and of the traffic of the spice-merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.

the throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was rounded behind; and there were arms on each side at the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the arms;

Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps, one at each end. Nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom.

For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram: once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

All the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt; and the king's merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.

of the nations of which Jehovah had said to the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in to you; they would certainly turn away your heart after their gods: to these Solomon was attached in love.

He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

It happened at the time of Solomon's old age that his wives guided his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father [had been].

Solomon did evil in the Lord's sight; he did not remain loyal to the Lord, like his father David had.

Yahweh was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he didn't keep that which Yahweh commanded.

For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the army was gone up to bury the slain, and had struck every male in Edom

(for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom);

But Hadad himself had fled, and some Edomite men from the servants of his father with him, to go to Egypt, when Hadad [was] a young boy.

They had set out from Midian until they came to Paran where they took men from Paran with them and came [to] Egypt, [to] Pharaoh king of Egypt. He gave to him a house and assigned food for him and gave him land.

And the sister of Tahpenes had a son by him, Genubath, whom Tahpenes took care of in Pharaoh's house; and Genubath was living in Pharaoh's house among Pharaoh's sons.

Now Hadad heard in Egypt that David had slept with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, "Send me away that I may go to my land."

God raised up [another] adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah.

He raised an army and commanded a gang of raiders after David had eliminated those who lived in Zobah. Rezon and his army moved to Damascus, remained there, and Rezon ruled from Damascus.

Rezon was Israel’s enemy throughout Solomon’s reign, adding to the trouble Hadad had caused. He ruled over Aram, but he loathed Israel.

Solomon had a servant, Nebat's son Jeroboam, who was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His widowed mother was named Zeruah. Jeroboam rebelled against Solomon,

and this is the reason he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the supporting terraces and repaired the opening in the wall of the city of his father David.

It happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; now [Ahijah] had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field.

Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he had on, tore it into 12 pieces,

That's why Solomon tried to execute Jeroboam, but Jeroboam got up and fled to Egypt, where he lived as a guest of King Shishak and remained until Solomon had died.

Then Solomon died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

And Rehoboam went to Shechem; for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.

It happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam lived in Egypt,

King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, "What counsel do you give me to return answer to this people?"

But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you shall tell this people who spoke to you, saying, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter to us;' you shall say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.

And Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed saying, Come again to me on the third day.

The king answered the people roughly, and forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him,

So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turning of events from Yahweh in order to fulfill his word which Yahweh had spoken through the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people answered him:

What portion do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Israel, return to your tents;
David, now look after your own house!

So Israel went to their tents,

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

And it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, that they sent and called him to the assembly, and made him king over all Israel: none followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

And when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

The Lord says this: "Do not attack and make war with your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you go home, for I have caused this to happen."'" They obeyed the Lord and went home as the Lord had ordered them to do.

And the king had decided, so he made two golden calves and he said to them, "{You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough}; here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt."

Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; so did he in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.

He went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up to the altar, to burn incense.

And it came to pass when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it to him again.

The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of Yahweh.

Then the king responded to the man of God, “Plead for the favor of the Lord your God and pray for me so that my hand may be restored to me.” So the man of God pleaded for the favor of the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him and became as it had been at first.

So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he had come to Bethel.

Now there lived an old prophet in Bethel; and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.

Their father said to them, "Which way did he go?" Now his sons had seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah.

He then told his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." When they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it

So he went back with him, and had a meal in his house and a drink of water.

While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back,

and the prophet cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you rebelled against the command of the Lord and did not keep the command that the Lord your God commanded you—

It happened, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.

When he had gone, a lion met him by the way, and killed him. His body was cast in the way, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the body.

Some men came by and saw the corpse lying in the road with the lion standing beside it. They went and reported what they had seen in the city where the old prophet lived.

When the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard, he said, "It [is] the man of God who disobeyed the mouth of Yahweh, and Yahweh has given him to the lion. He tore him in pieces and killed him according to the word of Yahweh which he had spoken to him."

He went and found his body cast in the way, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body, nor mauled the donkey.

It happened, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, "When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb in which the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones.

Jeroboam's wife did as she was told. She went to Shiloh and visited Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see; he had lost his eyesight in his old age.

But the Lord had told Ahijah, "Look, Jeroboam's wife is coming to find out from you what will happen to her son, for he is sick. Tell her so-and-so. When she comes, she will be in a disguise."

They buried him and all of Israel mourned for him, according to the word of Yahweh which he had spoken by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.

Jeroboam reigned for 22 years and then died, as had his ancestors, and his son Nadab reigned in his place.

Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which Yahweh had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

Judah did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that their fathers had done.

and there were also sodomites in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed before the children of Israel.

and he took away the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

So in their place King Rehoboam had other body-covers made of brass, and gave them into the care of the captains of the armed men who were stationed at the door of the king's house.

but eventually Rehoboam died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His mother's name had been Naamah the Ammonite, and his son Abijah became king to replace him.