The girl was very beautiful; and she became the king’s nurse and served him, but the king was not intimate with her.

His father [David] had never rebuked him at any time by asking, “Why have you done this?” Adonijah was also a very handsome man, and he was born after Absalom.

so that the Lord may fulfill His promise concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful regarding their way [of life], to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and mind and with all their soul, you shall not fail to have a man (descendant) on the throne of Israel.’

So act in accordance with your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in peace.

But now do not let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man; and you will know what to do to him, and you will bring his gray head down to Sheol [covered] with blood.”

Now the news reached Joab, for Joab had supported and followed Adonijah, although he had not followed Absalom. So Joab fled to the [sacred] tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar [to seek asylum].

King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord and was at that moment beside the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.”

The Lord will return his bloody deeds upon his own head, because he struck down two men more righteous and honorable than he and killed them with the sword, without my father David knowing: Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.

So shall their blood return on the head of Joab and the heads of his descendants forever. But for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, may there be peace from the Lord forever.”

For on the day you leave and cross over the Brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall surely die; your blood shall be on your own head.”

Now Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned.

The king also said to Shimei, “You are aware in your own heart of all the evil you did to my father David; so the Lord shall return your evil on your own head.

Now Solomon became a son-in-law to Pharaoh king of Egypt [and formed an alliance] by taking Pharaoh’s daughter [in marriage]. He brought her to the City of David [where she remained temporarily] until he had finished building his own house (palace) and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem.

Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.

Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.

When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead. But when I examined him carefully in the morning, behold, it was not my son, the one whom I had borne.”

When all [the people of] Israel heard about the judgment which the king had made, they [were in awe and reverently] feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was within him to administer justice.

Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who secured provisions for the king and his household; each man had to provide for a month in the year.

Ben-abinadab, in all the hills of Dor (Taphath, Solomon’s daughter, was his wife);

Ahimaaz, in [the tribe of] Naphtali (he also married Basemath, Solomon’s daughter);

For he was ruling over everything west of the [Euphrates] River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the [Euphrates] River; and he had peace on all sides around him.

Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.

People came from all the peoples (nations) to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Solomon had 70,000 burden bearers (transporters) and 80,000 stonemasons in the hill country [of Judah],

The length of the house which King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits (90 ft.), its width twenty (30 ft.), and its height thirty cubits (45 ft.).

The Holy of Holies was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height (a cube), and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the cedar altar [with gold].

the height of the one cherub was ten cubits, as was the other.

He also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was a hundred cubits (150 ft.), its width fifty cubits (75 ft.), and its height thirty cubits (45 ft.), upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.

His house where he was to live, the other courtyard behind the hall, was of similar workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

So the great courtyard all around had three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams like the inner courtyard of the house of the Lord, and the porch of the house.

He also made two capitals (crowns) of cast bronze to put on the tops of the pillars; the height of one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.

Then Hiram made ten bronze stands [for smaller basins]; the length of each stand was four cubits, its width was four cubits and its height was three cubits.

This was the design of the stands: they had borders between the frames.

Now each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and its four feet had supports [for a basin]. Beneath the basin were cast supports with borders at each side.

Underneath the borders were four wheels, and the axles of the wheels were on the stand. And the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.

He made the ten stands like this: they all had one casting, one measure, and one form.

So all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was completed. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the utensils—and he put them in the treasuries of the Lord’s house.

King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, so many that they could not be counted or numbered.

Now it happened that when the priests had come out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Lord’s house,

so the priests could not stand [in their positions] to minister because of the cloud, for the glory and brilliance of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house (temple).

Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep for Your servant my father David that which You promised him when You said, ‘You shall not be without a man (descendant) to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way [of life] to walk before Me [according to my laws] as you have done.’

then hear from heaven and act and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his guilt on his own head, and justifying the righteous by rewarding him in accordance with his righteousness.

When Solomon finished offering this entire prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the Lord’s altar, where he had knelt down with his hands stretched toward heaven.

On the eighth (fifteenth) day he sent the people away and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents joyful and in good spirits because of all the goodness which the Lord had shown to David His servant and Israel His people.

that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, just as He had appeared to him at Gibeon.

Now at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the temple of the Lord and the palace of the king

(Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with as much cedar and cypress timber [from Lebanon] and gold as he desired), at that time King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee (northern Israel).

So Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him.

For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, burned it with fire and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and he had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.

and all the storage cities [for surplus provisions] which Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen, and whatever it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.

These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people doing the work.

As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, then he built the Millo (fortification).

And Hiram [king of Tyre] sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon.

So she came to Jerusalem with a very large caravan (entourage), with camels carrying spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything that was on her mind [to discover the extent of his wisdom].

When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house (palace) which he had built,

I did not believe the report until I came and saw it with my own eyes. Behold, the half of it was not told to me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard.

The throne had six steps, and a round top was attached to the throne from the back. On either side of the seat were armrests, and two lions stood beside the armrests.

For the king had at sea the [large cargo] ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.

All the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his mind.

Now Solomon collected chariots and horsemen; he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away [from God].

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

and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not follow other gods; but he did not observe (remember, obey) what the Lord had commanded.

(for Joab and all [the army of] Israel stayed there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom),

God also stirred up another adversary for Solomon, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah.

It came about at that time, when Jeroboam left Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road. Now Ahijah had covered himself with a new cloak; and the two of them were alone in the field.

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

Now when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard about it, he was living in Egypt (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon).

Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had instructed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.”

The king answered the people harshly and ignored the advice which the elders had given him,

So when all [the ten northern tribes of] Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people replied to the king, saying,“What portion do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;
To your tents, O Israel!
Look now after your own house, David!” Then Israel went back to their tents.

It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent word and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. None followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah [including Benjamin].

Now when Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he assembled all the [fighting men from the] house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel to bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

Jeroboam held a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast which is kept in Judah, and he went up to the altar; he did this in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

So he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart [in defiance of God’s commandments]; and he held a feast for the Israelites and he went up to the altar to burn incense [in defiance of God’s law.]

The altar also was split apart and the ashes were poured out from the altar in accordance with the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel; and his sons came and told him everything 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 asked them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen which way the man of God who came from Judah had gone.

After the prophet of the house had eaten bread and after he had drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.

Now when he had gone, a lion met him by the road and killed him, and his body was thrown in the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion was also standing beside the body.

And he went and found the body thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion [miraculously] had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey.

Then after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I am dead, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.

And [the people of] Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord. They provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with their sins which they had committed.

He took away the treasures of the house (temple) of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything, he even took all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

He expelled the male cult prostitutes (sodomites) from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers [Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijam] had made.

He also deposed his [great-grand]mother Maacah from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid (obscene, vulgar) image for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa cut down her horrid image, and burned it by the Brook Kidron.

He brought the things which his father had dedicated and the things which he had dedicated into the house of the Lord—silver, gold, and utensils and accessories.

Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah—none was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had built [the fortifications]. And King Asa built with them [border fortresses at] Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

As soon as he was king, Baasha struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave for Jeroboam anyone alive, but he destroyed them in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servant Ahijah the Shilonite—

It came about, as if it had been a trivial thing for Ahab to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him.

“Go from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan [River].

for when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.)

As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent messengers to seek you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ Ahab made the kingdom or nation swear that they had not found you.

Has it not been told to my lord [Elijah] what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water?

So they took the bull that was given to them and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, hear and answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they had made.

Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him. And he repaired and rebuilt the [old] altar of the Lord that had been torn down [by Jezebel].

Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets [of Baal] with the sword.

He looked, and by his head there was a bread cake baked on hot coal, and a pitcher of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.

All the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or consent [to this additional demand].”

He said to the king, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have released from your hand the man [Ben-hadad] whom I had devoted to destruction, your life shall be required for his life, and your people for his people.’”