As David's son Solomon consolidated his administration, the LORD his God was with him to make him very successful.

Solomon, along with the whole assembly with him, met at the high place in Gibeon because that's where God's Tent of Meeting that the LORD's servant Moses had constructed in the wilderness was located.

Also, the bronze altar that Uri's son Bezalel, Hur's grandson had erected, was in place in front of the LORD's tent. Solomon and the assembly sought the LORD there.

Give me wisdom now, so I may go in and out among this people, because who can rule this great people that belongs to you?

God told Solomon, "Since you had this in mind, to ask neither to focus on riches, wealth, honor, or the lives of those who hate you, nor have you requested a long life, but instead you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself, so that you may rule my people over whom I have established you as king,

So Solomon returned from the Tent of Meeting at the high place in Gibeon to Jerusalem, where he reigned over Israel.

Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue; the king's procurement officials obtained them from Kue at great price.

So Solomon conscripted 70,000 men to do heavy work, 80,000 men to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 to supervise them.

"Just as you did with my father David, sending him cedars to build him a palace to live in, do the same for me. Look, I'm building a temple dedicated to the name of the LORD my God, to his glory, so we can burn fragrant incense in his presence, display rows of the bread of his presence continuously, and make burnt offerings in the morning, evening, on Sabbath days, during New Moon festivals, and during appointed festivals scheduled by the LORD our God. This is mandated forever in Israel.

But who can build a temple for him, since neither heaven nor the highest of the heavens can contain him? So who am I, that I should build a temple to him, except to burn incense in his presence?

"At any rate, send me an individual who is a skilled craftsman in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, as well as in purple, crimson, and blue materials, who knows how to craft engravings, so he may work with the craftsmen whom I have assembled in Judah and Jerusalem, as provided for by my father David.

He is the son of a mother from the tribe of Dan, and his father is from Tyre. He's skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and timber, as well as in purple, blue, linen, and crimson materials. He is skilled in engravings, and can craft any design to which he may be assigned. He will work with your skilled artisans and with all of your craftsmen who have been assigned by my lord David, your father.

"So then, may my lord send to his servants the wheat, barley, oil, and wine about which he has spoken.

We'll cut down the timber you need from Lebanon and transport it to you on rafts by sea to Joppa, so you can move it to Jerusalem."

So Solomon began construction of the LORD's Temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah where the LORD had appeared to his father David, that is, where David had prepared Ornan the Jebusite's threshing floor.

These are the foundations that Solomon set in place for God's Temple. The length in terms of the former standard measurements: 60 cubits; its width: 20 cubits.

He crafted a circular sea of cast metal 10 cubits from rim to rim and five cubits tall. A line 30 cubits long surrounded it.

Underneath, figurines resembling oxen encircled the circular sea beneath it, ten oxen every cubit, and encircling the sea completely. The oxen were in two rows, cast all at the same time.

The sea stood on top of twelve oxen, three of which faced to the north, three of which faced to the west, three of which faced to the south, and three of which faced toward the east. The sea was placed on top of the oxen, with all of their hindquarters turned inwards.

Solomon also made ten wash basins, placing five on the right side and five on the left. The basins were intended for use to rinse burnt offerings, and the sea was intended for use by the priests to wash in.

He set the sea at the southeast corner of the Temple.

the large bronze basin called the Sea with the twelve oxen underneath,

along with its pots, shovels, forks, and all of its other implements that Hiram-abi made from polished bronze for King Solomon and the LORD's Temple.

Solomon made so many utensils in such great quantities that the weight of the bronze was never fully recorded.

Solomon also made these items for God's Temple: the golden altar, the tables for the Bread of the Presence,

As soon as Solomon had completed the LORD's Temple, he installed the holy items that had belonged to his father David, including the silver, gold, and all the other items in the treasure rooms of God's Temple.

Then Solomon called Israel's elders together, including all the leaders of the tribes and families of Israel. They met in Jerusalem to transfer the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from Zion, the City of David.

As soon as all of Israel's elders had arrived, the descendants of Levi lifted the ark

the trumpeters and musicians played in union, praising and giving thanks to the LORD. They praised the LORD loudly and sang, "He is good, and his gracious love is eternal," accompanied by the trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments.) As they did this, a cloud filled the Temple, that is, the LORD's Temple,

and the priests were unable to complete their duties because of the cloud, since the glory of the LORD had filled God's Temple.

"Therefore, since you determined to build a temple for my name, you acted well, because it was your choice to do so. Nevertheless, you are not to build the Temple, but your son who will be born to you is to build a temple for my name.'

Then Solomon took his place in front of the LORD's altar in the presence of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands.

whatever prayer or request is made, no matter whether it's made by a single man or by all of your people Israel, each praying out of his own illness and anguish and stretching out their hands toward this Temple,

so they will fear you and live life your way as long as they live in the land that you have given to our ancestors.

then hear from heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name.

"When they sin against you because there isn't a single human being who doesn't sin and you become angry with them and deliver them over to their enemy, who takes them away captive to a land that's near or far away,

if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land where they have been taken captive confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,'

The priests could not enter into the Temple because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD's Temple.

When all of the Israelis saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD resting on the Temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement, worshipped, and gave thanks to the LORD, "Because he is good; because his gracious love is eternal."

King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, which is how the king and all of the people dedicated God's Temple.

Solomon also dedicated the middle of the court in front of the LORD's Temple by offering there burnt offerings and fat from peace offerings because the bronze altar that Solomon had made could not contain the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and fat portion offerings.

And so Solomon completed the LORD's Temple, bringing to completion everything that he had planned on doing for the LORD's Temple and for his own palace.

"I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for a sacrificial temple to me. Whenever I close the skies so there is no rain, or whenever I command locusts to lay waste to the land, or whenever I send epidemics among my people,

"Furthermore, even though this Temple seems so exalted, everyone who passes by it will be so astounded that they will ask, "Why did the LORD do this to this land and to this Temple?'

It took Solomon 20 years to build the LORD's Temple and his own palace.

Later, Solomon moved Pharaoh's daughter from the City of David to the palace that he had constructed to house her, because he reasoned, "My wife isn't going to live in the palace where King David of Israel lived, because wherever the ark of the LORD entered is holy."

Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the LORD's altar that he had built in front of the porch of the Temple,

And so Solomon completed all of the work, from the day that the foundation stone of the LORD's Temple was laid until the LORD's Temple was completely finished.

Hiram sent Solomon ships and servants who were expert mariners, and they sailed with Solomon's servants to Ophir, where they brought back 450 talents of gold for Solomon.

When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon's reputation, she traveled to Jerusalem and tested him with difficult questions. She brought along a large retinue, camels laden with spices, and lots of gold and precious stones. Upon her arrival, she spoke with Solomon about everything that was on her mind.

When the queen of Sheba had seen Solomon's wisdom for herself, the palace that he had built,

the food set at his table, his servants who waited on him, his ministers in attendance and how they were dressed, his personal staff and how they were dressed, and even his personal stairway by which he went up to the LORD's Temple, she was breathless!

"Everything I heard about your wisdom and what you have to say is true!" she gasped,

"but I didn't believe it at first! But then I came here and I've seen it for myself! It's amazing! I wasn't told half of what's really great about your wisdom. You're far better in person than what the reports have said about you!

Blessed be the LORD your God, who is delighted with you! He set you in place on his throne to be king for the LORD your God. He made you king over them so you could carry out justice and implement righteousness, because your God loves Israel and intends to establish them forever."

Hiram's servants and Solomon's servants, who brought gold from Ophir, also presented algum wood and other precious stones.

The king used the algum wood to have steps made for the LORD's Temple and for the royal palace, as well as lyres and harps for the choir, and nothing like that wood had been seen before in the territory of Judah.

All of King Solomon's drinking vessels were made of gold, and all the vessels in his palace in the Lebanon forest were made of pure gold. Silver was never considered to be valuable during the lifetime of Solomon,

because the king had ships that sailed to Tarshish accompanied by Hiram's servants. Once every three years ships from Tarshish returned, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

All the kings of the earth continued to seek audiences with Solomon so they could hear the wise things that God had put in his heart.

Now the rest of Solomon's accomplishments, from first to last, are written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer pertaining to Nebat's son Jeroboam, are they not?

Nebat's son Jeroboam heard about it in Egypt, where he had fled to get away from Solomon the king. Jeroboam returned from Egypt

"Your father made our burdens unbearable. Therefore you must lighten your father's requirements and his heavy burden that he placed on us, and we'll serve you."

"Come back again in three days," Rehoboam told them. So the people left

As a result, he asked them, "What's your advice, so we can give an answer to these people who have asked me, "Please lighten the burden that your father put on us'?"

"This is what you should tell the people who asked you: "Your father made our burden heavy, but you must make it lighter for us!'" the young men who had grown up with Rehoboam replied. "Tell them "My little finger will be thicker than my father's whole body!

Not only that, but since my father loaded you down heavily, I'm going to add to that burden. If my father disciplined you with whips, I'm going to do so with scorpions!'"

So Jeroboam and all the people went back to Rehoboam on the third day, just as they had been directed when the king said, "Come back again in three days."

The king would not listen to the people because the turn of events was from God, so that the LORD might fulfill his prediction that he spoke through Nebat's son Ahijah the Shilonite.

All of Israel since the king wasn't going to listen to them the people responded to the king, "What's the point in following David? We have no inheritance in the descendants of Jesse. Let's go home, Israel! David, take care of your own household!" So all of Israel left for home.

And so Rehoboam ruled over the Israelis who lived in the cities of Judah.

That's how Israel came to be in rebellion against David's dynasty to this day.

"Tell Solomon's son Rehoboam, king of Judah and all of Israel in Judah and Benjamin:

"This is what the LORD says: "You are not to fight or even to approach your relatives in battle. Every soldier is to return to his own home, for this development comes from me."'" So they listened to what the LORD had to say and called off their attack on Jeroboam.

As a result, anyone from all of the tribes of Israel who was determined to seek the LORD God of Israel followed the descendants of Levi to Jerusalem so they could sacrifice to the LORD God of their ancestors,

and they continued to strengthen the kingdom of Judah, supporting Solomon's son Rehoboam for three years, by living the way David and Solomon did for three years.

Rehoboam married Mahalath, the daughter of David's son Jerimoth, along with Abihail, the daughter of Jesse's son Eliab,

After this he married Absalom's daughter Maacah, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.

Rehoboam loved Absalom's daughter Maacah more than he did all of his wives and mistresses. (He married eighteen wives and 60 concubines, fathering 28 sons and 60 daughters.)

At the height of his power, after he had consolidated his rule, Rehoboam abandoned the LORD's Law, along with all of Israel with him.

Because he had been unfaithful to the LORD, during the fifth year of King Rehoboam's reign, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem

Right then, Shemaiah the prophet approached Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he told them, "This is what the LORD says: "You abandoned me, so I've abandoned you to Shishak.'"

When the LORD observed that they had humbled themselves, the LORD spoke to Shemaiah, "They have humbled themselves, so I won't destroy them. Instead, I'll grant them some deliverance by not pouring out my indignation on Jerusalem, using Shishak to do it.

Nevertheless, they will become his slaves so they may learn to differentiate between what it means to serve me and to serve the kingdoms of these nations."

So King Shishak of Egypt invaded Jerusalem and looted the treasure stores in the LORD's Temple and in the royal palace. He took everything, including the golden shields that Solomon had made.

As often as the king entered the LORD's Temple, the guards came and transported the shields to the Temple and then brought them back to the guard's quarters.

King Rehoboam consolidated his reign in Jerusalem. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that that LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to establish his name. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah from Ammon.

Now Rehoboam's accomplishments, from first to last, are written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, enrolled by genealogy, are they not?

Then Abijah died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in the City of David. Abijah's son Asa reigned in his place, and during his lifetime the land enjoyed rest for ten years.

He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Uriel's daughter Micaiah from Gibeah.

Even so, Nebat's son Jeroboam, who used to serve David's son Solomon, rose in rebellion against his own master!

"So now you think you'll be able to withstand the LORD's kingdom as controlled by David's descendants, just because you have a large crown and have brought with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods.

Haven't you already driven away the LORD's priests, the descendants of Aaron and the descendants of Levi? Haven't you established your own priests like the people of other lands?

Every morning and evening, they're offering burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the LORD, the showbread is set out on the pure table, and they take care of the golden lamp stand so its lamps can continue to burn every evening. We continue to be faithful over what the LORD our God entrusted to us, but you have abandoned him.

But Jeroboam had sent an ambush to attack from the rear, so Israel was in front of Judah, with the ambush set in place behind them.

When the army of Judah turned around to look, they were being attacked from both front and rear, so they cried out to the LORD while the priests sounded their trumpets.

And so the descendants of Israel were defeated at that time. The descendants of Judah were victorious because they trusted in the LORD God of their ancestors.

Jeroboam never recovered his strength for the rest of Abijah's life. The LORD struck Jeroboam, and he died,

The rest of Abijah's accomplishments, his lifestyle and his memoirs are recorded in the Midrash of the Prophet Iddo.

He also removed the high places and incense altars from all of the cities of Judah. As a result, the kingdom enjoyed rest under Asa's leadership.