And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.

So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.

But the ark of God had David brought up from Kiriath-jearim to the place which David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.

In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give you.

And Solomon said unto God, You have shown great mercy unto David my father, and have made me to reign in his stead.

Now, O LORD God, let your promise unto David my father be established: for you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.

And God said to Solomon, Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of your enemies, neither yet have asked long life; but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge my people, over whom I have made you king:

Behold, I build a house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual showbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.

And the house which I build will be great: for great is our God above all gods.

Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with your servants,

And, behold, I will give to your servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand cors of ground wheat, and twenty thousand cors of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

Huram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, that might build a house for the LORD, and a house for his kingdom.

And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as you shall need: and we will bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa; and you shall carry it up to Jerusalem.

Now these are the things in which Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits according to the old cubit was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.

And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basins. And Huram finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God;

And Solomon made all the articles that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables on which the showbread was set;

Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the furnishings, put he in the treasuries of the house of God.

It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endures forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;

So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.

And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who has with his hands fulfilled that which he spoke with his mouth to my father David, saying,

Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

The LORD therefore has performed his word that he has spoken: for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heaven, nor in the earth; who keeps covenant, and shows mercy unto your servants, that walk before you with all their hearts:

Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; if only your children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as you have walked before me.

Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let your word be verified, which you have spoken unto your servant David.

But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house which I have built!

Have respect therefore to the prayer of your servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which your servant prays before you:

Then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you have taught them the good way, in which they should walk; and send rain upon your land, which you have given unto your people for an inheritance.

Now, my God, let, I beseech you, your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive unto the prayer that is made in this place.

Now therefore arise, O LORD God, to your resting place, you, and the ark of your strength: let your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in goodness.

O LORD God, turn not away the face of your anointed: remember the mercies of David your servant.

And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshiped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endures forever.

And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them, and served them: therefore has he brought all this evil upon them.

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

Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you to set you on his throne, to be king for the LORD your God: because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore he made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.

And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.

And they spoke unto him, saying, If you are kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.

So the king hearkened not unto the people: for the turn of events was from God, that the LORD might perform his word, which he spoke by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram who was over the forced labor; and the children of Israel stoned him with stones, so that he died. But king Rehoboam made haste to get himself up into his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

And he ordained himself priests for the high places, and for the goat idols, and for the calf idols which he had made.

And after that, 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.

Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, who minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their service:

And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the showbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the lampstand of gold with its lamps, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but you have forsaken him.

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

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

And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.

Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of their fathers.

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:

For he took away the altars of the foreign gods, and the high places, and broke down the images, and cut down the idol poles:

And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.

Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars: and the kingdom was quiet under 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 has given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.

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

And the spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:

Now for a long time Israel has been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.

But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

And nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city: for God did trouble them with all adversity.

And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the sojourners with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they came over to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;

That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an abominable image on an idol pole: and Asa cut down her idol, and crushed it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the LORD your God, therefore has the army of the king of Syria escaped out of your hand.

But sought to the LORD God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.

Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the king's hand.

And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may inquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat each of them on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.

And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent; let your word therefore, I pray you, be like one of theirs, and speak you good.

And Micaiah said, As the LORD lives, even what my God says, that will I speak.

And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?

And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they surrounded him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God led them to depart from him.

Nevertheless there are good things found in you, in that you have taken away the idol poles out of the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God.

And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beer-sheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers.

Therefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes.

And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king's matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and the LORD shall be with the good.

And said, O LORD God of our fathers, are not you God in heaven? and rule you not over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in your hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand you?

Are not you our God, who did drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever?

O our God, will you not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon you.

And he said, Hearken you, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king Jehoshaphat, Thus says the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall you prosper.

And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.

So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.

However the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand; because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.

And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says the LORD God of David your father, Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

And the downfall of Ahaziah was of God by his coming to Joram: for when he had come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

And he was hid with them in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.

And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as the LORD has said of the sons of David.

And a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD.

Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and large, and small shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God.

So they laid hands on her; and when she had come to the entrance of the horse gate by the king's house, they killed her there.

And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of the LORD: and they came through the high gate into the king's house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after they had slain Athaliah with the sword.

And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you hasten the matter. But the Levites hastened it not.

For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they dedicate to Baalim.