Now, give to me wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can judge this, your great people?"

And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.

And when the priests came out of the sanctuary (for all the priests who were present sanctified themselves without keeping their divisions)

And when Solomon finished praying, then fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of Yahweh filled the house.

When all the {Israelites} saw the fire come down and the glory of Yahweh upon the house, they knelt down [with their] faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to Yahweh, for [he is] good, for his loyal love [is] everlasting.

And Solomon finished the house of Yahweh and the house of the king. And all that came into the heart of Solomon to do with respect to the house of Yahweh and his own house he accomplished.

And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, for those [places] to which the ark of Yahweh has come [are] holy.

Now the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, and she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, with much wealth and camels, bearing spices and much gold and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and told him all that [was] {on her mind}.

but I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes. And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not reported to me; you surpass the rumors that I had heard.

And it happened [that] the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year [was] six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,

For the ships of the king went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram. Once {every three years} the ships of Tarshish came carrying gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

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

Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had spoken, saying, "Return to me on the third day."

When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand {chosen warriors}, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

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

'Thus says Yahweh: "Do not go up, and do not fight against your brothers. Return, each man to his house, for this matter has come from me." '" So they obeyed the words of Yahweh and turned back from going against Jeroboam.

For the Levites left their pasturelands and their property and came to Judah and to Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to Yahweh.

Then after them, from all the tribes of Israel, those who set their heart to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to offer to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.

And it happened [that] in the fifth year of King Rehoboam (for they had acted unfaithfully against Yahweh), Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem

with one thousand two hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And there was no number to the people who came up with him from Egypt--Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites.

And he took the fortified cities that belonged to Judah, and he came up to Jerusalem.

Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem from before Shishak. And he said to them, "Thus says Yahweh: 'You yourselves have abandoned me, and I myself have surely abandoned you into the hand of Shishak.'"

And when Yahweh saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah, saying, "They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy. I will give to them some way of escape, that my anger not be poured out against Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

Then Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and he took the treasures out of the house of Yahweh and the treasures out of the king's house. He took everything. He also took the small shields of gold that Solomon had made.

And whenever the king went into the house of Yahweh, the guards came and carried them, and then they returned them to the alcove of the guards.

Did you not drive out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, the Levites? Have you [not] made for yourselves priests like all the peoples of the lands? All who come {to be consecrated for priestly service} with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of [what is] not a god.

Then Jeroboam sent around an ambush to come behind them. So they were in front of Judah, but the ambush [was] behind them.

Zerah the Cushite came out against them with an army of a thousand thousands and three hundred chariots. And he came to Mareshah.

Then Asa cried out to Yahweh his God. And he said, "O Yahweh, there is none with you to help between the great and the powerless. Help us, O Yahweh our God, for we rely upon you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Yahweh, you [are] our God! Let no man prevail against you!"

Now Azariah the son of Oded--the Spirit of God came upon him.

In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha the king of Israel went up against Judah. And he built Ramah in order not to allow [anyone] to go out or come in to Asa, king of Judah.

And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, "On account of your reliance upon the king of Aram, and [since] you did not rely on Yahweh your God, therefore the troops of the king of Aram escaped from your hand.

And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to war or shall I cease?" And he said, "Go up and triumph! They shall be given into your hand."

Then a spirit came forth and stood before Yahweh and said, 'I will entice him.' Then Yahweh said to him, 'By what means?'

Then Zedekiah the son of Kenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "{Which way} did the Spirit of Yahweh come from me to speak to you?"

And Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him. And he said to King Jehoshaphat, "Should you [be] a help to the wicked and love those who hate Yahweh? On account of this, wrath [has come] against you from Yahweh.

Any legal dispute that comes before you from your brothers who live in their cities concerning bloodguilt, law, commandment, statutes, and justice, you must warn them, so that they do not incur guilt before Yahweh, and that wrath may not come upon you and your brothers. Thus you must do that you do not incur guilt.

And it happened [that] afterward, the {Moabites}, the {Ammonites}, and some of the Meunites came against Jehoshaphat for war.

And they came and reported [it] to Jehoshaphat, saying, "A great multitude from beyond the sea, from Aram, is coming against you. Now behold, [they are] in Hazazon Tamar" (that [is], En Gedi).

And Judah assembled to seek after Yahweh; even from all the cities of Judah they came to seek Yahweh.

'If disaster, a sword, punishment, disease, or famine come upon us, we shall stand before this house and before you--for your name [is] in this house--and cry out to you out of our trouble, then you will hear and save [us].'

And now, look, the people of Moab and Ammon and Mount Seir whom you did not allow Israel to come against when they came from Egypt, from whom they turned aside and did not destroy,

Then the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite from the descendants of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.

And Judah came against the watchtower of the wilderness. And they looked at the crowd, and behold, corpses were lying on the ground. There was none [who had] escaped.

When Jehoshaphat came with his people to plunder their booty, they found among them in abundance possessions, corpses, and precious items. And they took plunder for themselves {until they could carry no more}. And they were three days in plundering the booty, for it [was] abundant.

And they came to Jerusalem with harps, stringed instruments, and trumpets to the house of Yahweh.

And the fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the earth when they heard that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel.

Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all the chariots with him, and when night came he struck Edom who [was] all around him and the commanders of his chariots.

And a letter from Elijah the prophet came to him, saying, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father: 'Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father or in the ways of Asa, the king of Judah,

and you yourself [will be afflicted] with great illness, with sickness in your bowels, until your bowels come out on account of the illness, day by day.'"

And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions found in the house of the king, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz his youngest son.

And it happened [that] {after many days, at the end of two years}, his bowels came out because of his illness, and he died in terrible agony. And his people did not make a fire for him like the fire for his ancestors.

And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his place, for the band of men who had come with the Arabs to the camp had murdered all the older sons. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram, the king of Judah, reigned.

But the downfall of Ahaziah was from God, [and intended] to come to Joram. And when he came, he went out with Jehoram to Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom Yahweh had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.

And they went around in Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of the {families} of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

When Athaliah heard the sound of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people [at] the house of Yahweh.

And he took the commanders of hundreds, the noblemen, the governors over the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of Yahweh. And they came through the upper gate [to] the house of the king, and they set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

And whenever he brought the chest to the appointee of the king by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that [there was] much money [in it], then the secretary of the king and the officer of the chief priest came and emptied the chest, then they took it and returned it to its place. Thus they did day by day and gathered money in abundance.

Now after the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came and bowed down to the king. Then the king listened to them.

And they forsook the house of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors and served the Asherahs and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem on account of this guilt.

And it happened at the turn of the year [that] the army of Aram went up against him, and they came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the commanders of the people from among the people, and all the war booty they sent to the king of Damascus.

Though the army of Aram came with few men, Yahweh gave a very large army into their hand, for they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their ancestors. And they inflicted punishment on Joash.

But a man of God came to him, saying, "O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for Yahweh is not with Israel, all the Ephraimites.

Then Amaziah dismissed the troops that came to him from Ephraim to go to their home. And {they became very angry} with Judah, and they returned to their home {in great anger}.

And it happened [that] after Amaziah came [back] from killing the Edomites, he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, and he stood them up to himself as gods and bowed down before them and make smoke offerings for them.

Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel, and he sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come, {let us face one another}.

since again the Edomites came and struck against Judah and took captives.

Then Tiglath-Pileser the king of Assyria came against him and brought trouble for him, {instead of helping him},

And they began to sanctify themselves on the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of Yahweh. And they sanctified the house of Yahweh for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

Then Hezekiah answered and said, "Now {you have consecrated yourselves} to Yahweh. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of Yahweh!" And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all [who were] willing in heart [brought] burnt offerings.

Then Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel.

So they let the decree stand, {to make a proclamation} throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, to come to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel.

Now, do not stiffen your neck as your fathers, but give a hand to Yahweh and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve Yahweh your God that his fierce anger may turn away from you.

Only men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

And the whole assembly of Judah, the priests and the Levites, all the assembly who had come from the land of Israel, and those living in Judah rejoiced.

Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy dwelling place in the heavens.

When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed Yahweh and his people Israel.

besides their enrollment by genealogy, to males from three years old and upward, to all who came into the house of Yahweh, {as each day required} for their service in their posts according to their working groups.

After these things and these [acts of] faithfulness, Sennacherib the king of Assyria came, and he came against Judah. And he encamped against the fortified cities and planned to break them down for himself.

When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and [that] his face [was set] for battle against Jerusalem,

he took counsel with his commanders and his mighty warriors to block off the waters of the springs that [came] from outside the city, and they helped him.

Then many people were gathered, and they blocked off all the springs and the river that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?"

But Hezekiah humbled himself with respect to the arrogance of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Yahweh did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

And they came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave the money that was brought for the house of God, which the Levites, the guardians of the threshold, had gathered from the hand of Manasseh, Ephraim, and from the whole remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.