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

Wisdom and knowledge are granted to thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.

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

And now I have sent a skillful man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father's,

But I have built a house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever.

But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.

The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken; for I am raised up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

And in it have I put the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel.

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

Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken to the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:

And if thy people Israel shall be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;

When the heaven is shut, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray towards this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;

Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray to thee towards this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;

Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray to thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;

If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray towards their land which thou gavest to their fathers, and towards the city which thou hast chosen, and towards the house which I have built for thy name:

Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling-place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people who have sinned against thee.

And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.

For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and my eyes and my heart shall be there 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 establish 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.

But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a by-word among all nations.

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

And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken to them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: and now, David, see to thy own house. So all Israel went to their tents.

Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were assembled at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, Thus saith the LORD, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.

And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

And there are gathered to him vain men, the children of Belial, and they have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tender-hearted, and could not withstand them.

Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made for you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.

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

And they burn to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt-sacrifices and sweet incense: the show-bread also they set in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with its lamps to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him.

Therefore he said to 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 cried to 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.

There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent thee silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him. In this thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

Then he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace.

And they dwelt in it, and have built thee a sanctuary in it for thy name, saying,

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

And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.

Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said to them, Have her forth without the ranges: and whoever followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the LORD.

And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.

And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The LORD is able to give thee much more than this.

But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said to them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth to heaven.

Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you.

And said to them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.

For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.

Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt-offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel.

For lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt-offering, with all its vessels, and the show-bread table, with all its vessels.

Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.

Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves to the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank-offerings; and, as many as were of a free heart, burnt-offerings.

So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you that have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.

And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great abundance.

Know ye not what I and my fathers have done to all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of my hand?

He wrote also letters to rail at the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of my hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of my hand.

And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers; provided they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.

And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.

And they have collected the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.

Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel, and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.

Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon its inhabitants, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:

Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.

Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou didst hear his words against this place, and against its inhabitants, and didst humble thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.

But he sent embassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house with which I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he may not destroy thee.

And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am severely wounded.

And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women have spoken of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and behold, they are written in the lamentations.