Solomon the son of David established himself securely over his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.

Then Solomon and all the assembly went to the high place at Gibeon [to offer sacrifices, where the Canaanites had habitually worshiped], for God’s Tent of Meeting was there, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness.

Now the bronze altar, which Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was there before the tabernacle of the Lord, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out.

Then Solomon said to God, “You have shown great lovingkindness and mercy to my father David, and have made me king in his place.

Now, O Lord God, Your promise to my father David is fulfilled, for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.

God replied to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart and you did not ask for riches, possessions or honor and personal glory, or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself so that you may rule and administer justice to My people over whom I have made you king,

The king made silver and gold as plentiful and common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore-fig trees in the lowland.

Then Hiram, king of Tyre replied in a letter sent to Solomon: “Because the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.”

Hiram said also, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, who will build a house for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

He overlaid the main room [the Holy Place] with cypress wood and overlaid it with fine gold, and decorated it with palm trees and chains.

Now he made the room of the Holy of Holies: its length equaling the width of the house was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with 600 talents of fine gold.

And in the Holy of Holies he made two sculptured cherubim, and overlaid them with gold.

He made the veil [between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies] of blue, purple, and crimson colors, and fine linen, and embroidered cherubim on it.

He also made two pillars for the front of the house, thirty-five cubits high, and the capital on the top of each one was five cubits.

He made chains [like a necklace] in the inner sanctuary and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains.

Then Solomon made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and ten cubits in height.

He also made the Sea [that is, the large basin used for ceremonial washing] of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and five cubits in height, and its circumference was thirty cubits.

He also made ten [portable] basins in which to wash, and he put five on the right (south) side and five on the left (north). They would rinse things for the burnt offering in them, but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.

And he made ten golden lampstands just as directed and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left.

He made also ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left side, and he made a hundred [ceremonial] basins of gold.

Moreover, he made the courtyard of the priests, and the great courtyard [for the people] and doors for the courtyard, and he overlaid their doors with bronze.

And Huram also made the pails [for ashes], the shovels, and the basins. So Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon in the house of God:

He also made the stands and he made the basins on the stands;

The pails, the shovels, and the meat-forks, and all the utensils Huram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.

Solomon made all these utensils in such great quantity that the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

Solomon also made all the articles that were in the house of God: the golden altar, and the tables for the bread of the Presence (showbread),

There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets [of the Ten Commandments] which Moses put there at Mount Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, when they came out of Egypt.

‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city among all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name (Presence) might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a leader over My people Israel;

but I have chosen Jerusalem that My Name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

There I have placed the ark [the symbol of His Presence] in which is the covenant of the Lord [the Ten Commandments], which He made with the people (descendants) of Israel.”

For Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits square and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the courtyard; and he stood on it, and he knelt down on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven,

The priests stood at their posts [ready for service], and the Levites also, with the musical instruments of the Lord which King David had made to praise the Lord, saying, “For His lovingkindness and mercy endure forever,” whenever David offered praise through their ministry. The priests were opposite the Levites blowing the trumpets and all Israel was standing.

Moreover, Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the house of the Lord, for it was there that he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings because the bronze altar which he had made was not sufficient to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat [all together].

On the eighth day they held a celebration, for they had observed the dedication of the altar for seven days, and the feast for seven days.

but were descendants of those who were left in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed—Solomon brought them up as forced laborers to this day.

But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites for his work; they were men of war, his chief captains, and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen.

Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the Lord your God; because your God loved Israel, establishing them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”

From the almug timber the king made stairways for the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and lyres and harps for the singers; none like that was seen before in the land of Judah.

King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, using six hundred shekels of beaten gold on each large shield.

And he made three hundred [smaller] shields of beaten gold, using three hundred shekels of gold on each shield; and the king put them in the house of the Forest of Lebanon.

Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.

Also, twelve lions were standing there, one on each side of the six steps. Nothing like it had ever been made for any [other] kingdom.

The king made silver in Jerusalem as common as stones, and cedar wood as plentiful as the sycamore-fig trees that are in the lowland.

“Your father [King Solomon] made our yoke hard (heavy, difficult); so now lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

The young men who grew up with him told him, “Tell the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us’: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins!

He spoke to them in accordance with the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”

So the king did not listen to the people, for the turn of events was from God that the Lord might fulfill His word, which He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

And in each city he put [large] shields and spears, and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places, for the satyrs (goat demons) and calves (idols) which he had made.

Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah the chief leader among his brothers, because he intended to make him king.

So Shishak king of Egypt went up against Jerusalem; he took the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house (palace). He took everything. He even took the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

In their place King Rehoboam made shields of bronze and entrusted them to the care of the officers of the guard who guarded the door of the king’s house.

“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 you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? So whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, even he may become a priest of non-existent gods (idols).

and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him [inquiring for and of Him, as your soul’s first necessity], He will let you find Him; but if you abandon (turn away from) Him, He will abandon (turn away from) you.

He also removed Maacah, King Asa’s mother, from the position of queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa cut down her idol, crushed it, and burned it at the Brook Kidron.

They buried him in his own tomb which he had cut out for himself in the City of David, and they laid him on a bier which he had filled with various kinds of spices blended by the perfumers’ art; and they made a very great fire in his honor.

Now the dread of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.

Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these you shall gore the Arameans (Syrians) until they are destroyed.’”

Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the ungodly and love those who hate the Lord and in doing so bring wrath from the Lord on yourself?

and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, there is no one able to take a stand against You.

O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless against this great multitude which is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

For the sons of Ammon and Moab [suspecting betrayal] rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, completely destroying them; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

Then they returned to Jerusalem with joy, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, led by Jehoshaphat, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.

Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the covenant which He had made with David, and because He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

Moreover, he made [idolatrous] high places in the hill country of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful [to God], and he led Judah astray [compelling the people’s cooperation].

but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful [to God] as the house of Ahab was unfaithful, and you have also murdered your brothers, your father’s house (your own family), who were better than you,

Now it came about in the course of time, at the end of two years, that his intestines came out because of his disease and he died in excruciating pain. And his people did not make a funeral fire to honor him, like the fire for his fathers.

Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, because the band of men (raiders) who came with the Arabs to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.

It came about that when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the leaders of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s [murdered] brothers ministering to Ahaziah, and he killed them.

In the seventh year Jehoiada [the priest] summoned his courage and took the captains of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Johanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, and they entered into a covenant with him.

Then all the assembly made a covenant in the house of God with the king [that is, with the child Joash, to overthrow Athaliah by proclaiming his sovereignty]. And Jehoiada [the priest] said to them, “Behold, the king’s son [Joash] shall reign, as the Lord has said in regard to the sons of David.

Then they brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony [a copy of the Mosaic Law] and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and said, “Long live the king!”

So they seized Athaliah, and when she arrived at the entrance of the Horse Gate of the king’s house (palace), they put her to death there.

Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, all the people, and the king, that they would be the Lord’s people.

So at the king’s command they made a chest and set it outside by the gate of the house of the Lord.

Then they made a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God imposed on Israel in the wilderness.

When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; and it was [melted down and] made into utensils for the house of the Lord, utensils for ministering and for burnt offerings, and bowls and utensils of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.

Now after the death of Jehoiada [the priest, who had hidden Joash], the officials of Judah came and bowed down to King Joash; then the king listened to them.

As he was talking, the king said to him, “Have we made you the king’s counselor? Stop! Why should you be put to death?” Then the prophet stopped and said, “I know that God has decided to destroy you because you have done this and have ignored my advice.”

But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, so that He might hand Judah over to Joash because they had desired the gods of Edom.

Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there.

Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah.

He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought (inquired of, longing for) the Lord, God caused him to prosper.

In Jerusalem he made machines of war invented by skillful men to be put on the towers and on the [corner] battlements for the purpose of shooting arrows and large stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.

As Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked toward him, behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he also hurried to get out because the Lord had stricken him.

Instead he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and even made cast images for the Baals.

But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out to meet the army that was returning to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, He handed them over to you; but you have killed them in a rage that has reached as far as heaven.

Then Ahaz collected the utensils of the house of God and he cut them in pieces; and he shut the doors of the house of the Lord and made altars for himself in every corner of Jerusalem.

In every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers.

Moreover, we have prepared and consecrated all the utensils which King Ahaz had discarded during his reign in his unfaithfulness; and behold, they are in front of the altar of the Lord.”

The priests slaughtered them and cleansed the altar from sin with their blood to atone for all Israel, because the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering be made for all Israel.

He also told (ordered) the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion that was due to the priests and Levites, so that they might [be free to] devote themselves to the Law of the Lord.

Also Hezekiah resolutely set to work and rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down, and erected towers on it, and he built another wall outside and strengthened the Millo (fortification) in the City of David, and made a great number of weapons and shields.

They shouted it loudly in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city [without a long siege].

Now Hezekiah had immense wealth and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of delightful articles,

And so in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, in order to know everything that was in his heart.

For he rebuilt the [idolatrous] high places which his father Hezekiah had torn down; and he set up altars for the Baals and made the Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven [the sun, the moon, stars and planets] and served them.

Then he set the carved image of 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 from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My Name [and the symbol of my Presence] forever;

But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them.