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

Moreover the brazen altar, that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the LORD: and Solomon and the congregation sought to it.

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:

But who is able to build him a house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then that I should build him a house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?

The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skillful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to engrave any manner of engraving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy skillful men, and with the skillful men of my lord David thy father.

And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.

He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt-offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

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 instruments, he put among the treasures of the house of God.

And they drew out the staffs of the ark, that the ends of the staffs were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without. And there it is to this day.

There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put in it at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

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.

But the LORD said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thy heart to build a house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thy heart;

Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son who shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.

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!

That thy eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place of which thou hast said, that thou wouldst put thy name there; to hearken to the prayer which thy servant prayeth towards this place.

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;

Moreover concerning the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, but hath come from a distant country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy out-stretched arm; if they come and pray in this house;

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;

But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.

But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.

And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

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

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.

But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before him.

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

For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

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

Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram that was over the tribute; and the children of Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. But king Rehoboam made speed to get into his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.

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

And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of provisions, and of oil and wine.

And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.

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.

So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

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.

But Jeroboam caused an ambush to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambush was behind them.

But Abijah became mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.

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

But when they in their trouble returned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.

And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.

And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.

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

But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.

And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceedingly severe: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.

And they buried him in his own sepulchers which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him.

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

These waited on the king, besides those whom the king put in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.

But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we may inquire of him?

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

And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the LORD?

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

Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee.

And say, Thus saith the king, Put this man in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace.

And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and will go to the battle; but put thou on thy robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went to the battle.

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

And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.

And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldst not let Israel invade, when they came from the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;

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

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

And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fortified cities in Judah: but the kingdom he gave to Jehoram; because he was the first-born.

But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit idolatry, like the idolatries of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, who were better than thyself:

Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem, eight years, and departed without being desired: yet they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchers of the kings.

But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose, and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah.

But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bed chamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not.

But let none come into the house of the LORD, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.

And the Levites shall encompass the king, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever else cometh into the house, he shall be put to death: but be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out.

Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.

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

But Jehoiada grew old, and was full of days when he died; a hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again to the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.

Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.

And when they had departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchers of the kings.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.

But he slew not their children, but did as it is written in the law of the book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin.

But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the LORD is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim.

But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God will make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down.

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 the soldiers of the army whom Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even to Beth-horon, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil.

But Amaziah would not hear; for it came from God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.

Now after the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent to Lachish after him, and slew him there.

But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said to him, It appertaineth not to thee, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither will it be for thy honor from the LORD God.

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father:

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.

And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bond-men and bond-women to you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God?

And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came to him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.

For Ahaz took away a portion from the house of the LORD, and from the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.

For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchers of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

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.

But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt-offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites helped them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

Now be ye not stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.

So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even to Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.

For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon every one,