If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

and My people on whom My name is called be humbled, and pray, and seek My face, and turn back from their evil ways, then I -- I hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin, and heal their land.

Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.

For now I have chosen and sanctified and set apart for My purpose this house that My Name may be here forever, and My eyes and My heart will be here perpetually.

And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments;

Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.

then I will tear them up by the roots from the ground that I had given them! And as for this Temple that I have set apart for my name, I will throw it out of my sight and make it the butt of jokes and a means of ridicule among people worldwide!

And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?

And their answer will be, Because they were turned away from the Lord, the God of their fathers, who took them out of the land of Egypt, and took for themselves other gods and gave them worship and became their servants: that is why he has sent all this evil on them.

As to the cities that Huram hath given to Solomon, Solomon hath built them, and there he causeth the sons of Israel to dwell.

He also built upper and lower Beth-horon as fortified cities, installing walls, gates, and bars,

As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel,

from the descendants who were left over after them in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed, Solomon conscripted them as forced labor until this day.

But from the {Israelites} Solomon did not give as servants for his work, but they [were] men of war, his commanders of his officers, and commanders of his chariots and his horses.

These men worked for Solomon as supervisors; there were a total of 250 of them who were in charge of the people.

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."

even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.

neither departed they from the commandment of the king, concerning the priests and the Levites as to any duty, or as to the treasuries.

And all the work of Solomon is prepared till the day of the foundation of the house of Jehovah, and till its completion; perfect is the house of Jehovah.

And, the queen of Sheba, heard the report of Solomon, so she came to prove Solomon with abstruse questions, in Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels bearing spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones, - and, when she was come to Solomon, she spake with him, as to all that was near her heart.

And she saith unto the king, 'True is the word that I heard in my land concerning thy matters and concerning thy wisdom,

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

Blessed be Yahweh your God who took delight in you, to put you on his throne as king for Yahweh your God! Because your God loved Israel, he established him forever and has put you over them as king to do justice and righteousness!"

And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.

(Huram's servants, aided by Solomon's servants, brought gold from Ophir, as well as fine timber and precious gems.

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.

And the weight of the gold that is coming to Solomon in one year is six hundred and sixty and six talents of gold,

And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon are of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon are of refined gold -- silver is not reckoned in the days of Solomon for anything;

And so King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth, - as to riches, and wisdom.

All the kings of the earth continued to seek audiences with Solomon so they could hear the wise things that God had put in his heart.

And each of them brought his gifts, objects of silver, objects of gold, cloaks, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, [as] an amount year by year.

And he ruled over all the kings from the river as far as the land of the Philistines, and up to the border of Egypt.

And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.

As for the remainder of the words of Solomon [from] the first to the last, are they not written in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer, concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

Then Solomon died, as had his ancestors, and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

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

And it cometh to pass, at Jeroboam son of Nebat's -- who is in Egypt because he hath fled from the face of Solomon the king -- hearing, that Jeroboam turneth back out of Egypt;

Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

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?"

And he said unto them, What advice give ye that we may return answer to this people, which have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that thy father did put upon us?

And the young men that were brought up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou answer the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it somewhat lighter for us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the third day.

And all Israel have seen that the king hath not hearkened to them, and the people send back to the king, saying, 'What portion have we in David? yea, there is no inheritance in a son of Jesse; each to thy tents, O Israel; now, see thy house -- David,' and all Israel go to their tents.

But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

And king Rehoboam sendeth Hadoram, who is over the tribute, and the sons of Israel cast at him stones, and he dieth; and king Rehoboam hath strengthened himself to go up into a chariot to flee to Jerusalem;

Israel is in rebellion against the house of David until today.

And a word of Jehovah is unto Shemaiah, a man of God, saying,

Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

And Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities as strongholds in Judah.

as Bethlehem, Etam and Tekoa;

and Zorah, and Aijalon and Hebron, which are in Judah and Benjamin, - as fortified cities.

He fortified these cities and placed officers in them, as well as storehouses of food, olive oil, and wine.

for the Levites have left their suburbs and their possession, and they come to Judah and to Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons have cast them off from acting as priests to Jehovah,

And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.

And Rehoboam took Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David as wife, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse.

And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief and crown prince over his brothers, in order to make him king.

Rehoboam was wise to distribute some of his children throughout all of the territories of Judah and Benjamin, placing them in all of the fortified cities. He allotted them abundant supplies of food and sought many wives for them.

Now when Rehoboam's position as king had been made certain, and he was strong, he gave up the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.

with a thousand and two hundred chariots, and with sixty thousand horsemen, and there is no number to the people who have come with him out of Egypt -- Lubim, Sukkiim, and Cushim --

He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

Then Shemaiah the prophet went to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who were gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them: “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have abandoned Me; therefore, I have abandoned you into the hand of Shishak.’”

Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The LORD is righteous.

And when Jehovah seeth that they have been humbled, a word of Jehovah hath been unto Shemaiah, saying, 'They have been humbled; I do not destroy them, and I have given to them as a little thing for an escape, and I pour not out My fury in Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak;

But still they will become his servants, so that they may see how different my yoke is from the yoke of the kingdoms of the lands.

And it was so, that, as oft as the king entered into the house of Jehovah, the guard came and bare them, and brought them back into the guard-chamber.

And when he humbled himself, the wrath of Jehovah turned from him, so as not to destroy him altogether: and moreover in Judah there were good things found .

And king Rehoboam strengtheneth himself in Jerusalem, and reigneth; for a son of forty and two years is Rehoboam in his reigning, and seventeen years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, the city that Jehovah hath chosen to put His name there, out of all the tribes of Israel, and the name of his mother is Naamah the Ammonitess,

Now the words of Rehoboam [from] the first to the last, are they not written in the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and Iddo the seer as a record? And [there were] battles [between] Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.

and Rehoboam lieth with his fathers, and is buried in the city of David, and reign doth Abijah his son in his stead.

Then Abijah died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in the City of David. Abijah's son Asa reigned in his place, and during his lifetime the land enjoyed rest for ten years.

three years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, (and the name of his mother is Michaiah daughter of Uriel, from Gibeah,) and war hath been between Abijah and Jeroboam.

And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel;

Is it not for you to know that Jehovah, God of Israel, hath given the kingdom to David over Israel to the age, to him and to his sons -- a covenant of salt?

Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord.

and worthless (unprincipled, unethical) men gathered around him, useless and wicked men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam the son of Solomon when Rehoboam was young and timid, and could not assert himself against them.

“And now you intend to assert yourselves against the kingdom of the Lord which is in the hands of the sons of David, since you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves (idols) which Jeroboam made for you as gods.

Have ye not cast out the priests of Jehovah, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made you priests as the peoples of the lands? whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, he becomes a priest of what is not God.

But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:

and are making perfume to Jehovah, burnt-offerings morning by morning, and evening by evening, and perfume of spices, and the arrangement of bread is on the pure table, and the candlestick of gold, and its lamps, to burn evening by evening, for we are keeping the charge of Jehovah our God, and ye -- ye have forsaken Him.

And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

And Jeroboam hath brought round the ambush to come in from behind them, and they are before Judah, and the ambush is behind them.

And Judah turneth, and lo, against them is the battle, before and behind, and they cry to Jehovah, and the priests are blowing with trumpets,

Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.

And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:

And he commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers [to inquire of and for Him and seek Him as a vital necessity], and to observe the law [given to Moses] and the commandment.

and he turneth aside out of all cities of Judah the high places and the images, and the kingdom is quiet before him.

And he buildeth cities of bulwarks in Judah, for the land hath quiet, and there is no war with him in these years, because Jehovah hath given rest to him.

Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.

And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.

Now Zerah the Ethiopian (Cushite) came out against Judah with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came as far as Mareshah.

Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.

So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.

And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they carried away very much spoil.

Now, as for Azariah son of Oded, there came upon him, the spirit of God.

And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

"Listen to me, Asa, Judah, and Benjamin! The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will allow you to find him, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you. Israel lived for years without the true God, priests to teach them, and the Law,

and it turneth back in its distress unto Jehovah, God of Israel, and they seek Him, and He is found of them,