Solomon and the entire assembly went to the worship center in Gibeon, for the tent where they met God was located there, which Moses the Lord's servant had made in the wilderness.

wisdom and knowledge, are granted unto thee, - moreover, riches and wealth and honour, will I give thee, such as the kings who were before thee did not possess, neither shall they who come after thee possess the like.

And they fetched up and brought forth out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and so they brought them by their means, for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Syria.

And Solomon will number seventy thousand men to carry, and eighty thousand men to hew in the mountain; and they superintending over them three thousand six hundred.

that they may prepare me timber enough. For the house which I build is great and wonderful.

So Solomon numbered all the men that were sojourners, who were in the land of Israel, after the numbering, wherewith David his father had numbered them, - and they were found to be - a hundred and fifty-three thousand and six hundred.

And in the house of the most holy place he made two cherubim of image work, and they overlaid them with gold.

The wings of these cherubim spread forth were twenty cubits; and they stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house.

And under it was a design of flowers all round it, ten to a cubit, circling the water-vessel in two lines; they were made from liquid metal at the same time as the water-vessel.

"The Sea" stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. "The Sea" was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward.

And he made ten lavers, and put five on the right and five on the left, to wash in them: they rinsed in them what they prepared for the burnt-offering; and the sea was for the priests to wash in.

Solomon made so many of these items they did not weigh the bronze.

and the lamp-holders and their lamps, that they should burn according to the regulation before the shrine, of purified gold;

Then Solomon convened Israel's elders -- all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families -- in Jerusalem, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David (that is, Zion).

And they brought up the ark, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent: the priests, the Levites, brought them up.

And, King Solomon, and all the assembly of Israel who assembled themselves unto him, before the ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor could they be counted, for multitude.

And the staves were long, so that the ends of the staves were seen outside the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without. And there they are to this day.

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

And it came to pass, when the priests, came forth, out of the holy place, - for, all the priests who were present, had hallowed themselves, they had no need to observe the courses;

and the Levites the singers, all they of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, clad in byssus, with cymbals and lutes and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets),

it came to pass when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one voice to be heard in praising and thanking Jehovah; and when they lifted up their voice with trumpets, and cymbals, and instruments of music, and praised Jehovah: For he is good,

Then the king turned around and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there.

And he said, O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth; keeping faith and mercy unchanging for your servants, while they go in your ways with all their hearts;

And hearken unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall pray toward this place, and hear thou from thy dwelling-place, from the heavens, and when thou hearest, forgive.

listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants' claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve.

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

When the heavens are shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, because thou hast afflicted them;

then hear thou in the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou teachest them the good way wherein they should walk; and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

Famine, when it is in the land, pestilence, when it is, blasting, and mildew, locust, and caterpillar, when they are, when its enemies have distressed it in the land -- its gates, any plague and any sickness;

what prayer, what supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, when they shall know every man his own plague, and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands toward this house;

that they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, all the days that they live upon the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

And as to the stranger also, who is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand and thy stretched-out arm; when they shall come and pray toward this house,

then hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, and fear You as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.

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

If they have sinned against thee (for there is no man that sinneth not), and thou be angry with them, and give them up to the enemy, and they have carried them away captives unto a land far off or near;

and if they shall take it to heart in the land whither they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done iniquity and have dealt perversely;

and if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land which thou gavest unto their fathers, and the city that thou hast chosen, and the house that I have built unto thy name;

then wilt thou hear out of the heavens - out of the settled place of thine abode - their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, - and forgive thy people, that wherein they sinned against thee?

and, all the sons of Israel, seeing the descending of the fire and the glory of Yahweh upon the house, then knelt they down with their faces toward the ground, upon the pavement, and bowed themselves in prostration, and gave thanks unto Yahweh, For he is good, For, age-abiding, is his lovingkindness.

And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly; for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.

On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon sent the people home. They left happy and contented because of the good the Lord had done for David, Solomon, and his people Israel.

And as for this house, which was so exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’

And they shall say, Because they forsook Jehovah the God of their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and have attached themselves to other gods, and have worshipped them and served them; therefore he has brought upon them all this evil.

All the people being left from the Hittites and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which they were not from Israel,

Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews and they continue in that role to this very day.

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

And the daughter of Pharaoh, Solomon brought up from the city of David to the house which he built for her: for he said, The wife to me shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, for they are holiness which to them came the ark of Jehovah.

and they did not depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and the Levites concerning any matter, nor concerning the treasures.

And Huram sent him by his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and fetched thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.

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!

But I had no faith in what was said about you, till I came and saw for myself; and truly, word was not given me of half your great wisdom; you are much greater than they said.

And the king will make the almug trees stair-cases to the house of Jehovah, and to the house of the king, and harps and lyres for those singing: and none were seen as they in the land of Judah.

and six steps are to the throne, and a footstool of gold, to the throne they are fastened, and hands are on this side and on that on the place of the sitting, and two lions are standing near the hands,

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.

And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and clothing, armour, and spices, horses and mules, a rate year by year.

And they brought to Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.

And the rest of the acts of Solomon first and last, are they not written in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

And Solomon slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David his father; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

And they sent and called him; and Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam saying,

And they spoke to him saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants for ever.

But he forsook the advice of the old men which they had given him, and consulted with the young men, who had grown up with him, that stood before him.

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."

When all Israel saw that the king did not listen and pay attention to them, the people answered him,“What portion do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Every man to your tents, O Israel;
Now, [Rehoboam, descendant of] David, see to your own house.” So all Israel went to their tents.

Thus saith Jehovah: Go not up, nor fight with your brethren; return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. And they hearkened to the words of Jehovah, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

The priests and Levites who lived throughout Israel supported him, no matter where they resided.

For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest's office to Yahweh;

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 strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong three years; for during three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.

And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, because they had transgressed against Jehovah, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem,

And they took the strong cities that were in Judah and came to Jerusalem.

And the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, Jehovah is righteous.

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

Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.

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.

And the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the words of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer, in the genealogical registers? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

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.

and they are making a perfume unto Yahweh, with ascending-sacrifices morning by morning, and evening by evening and an incense of sweet spices, and are putting in order bread upon the pure table, and the lampstand of gold with the lamps thereof, for lighting up evening by evening, for, observant, are we of the charge of Yahweh our God, - whereas, ye, have forsaken him.

But, Jeroboam, sent round an ambush, to come up from behind them, - so they were before Judah and, the ambush, did come up from behind them.

And, when Judah turned and lo! as for them, the battle was before and behind, then made they outcry unto Yahweh, - and, the priests, kept on blowing with the trumpets.

Then the men of Judah raised a war cry; and as they shouted, God struck Jeroboam and all Israel [with defeat] before Abijah and Judah.

Thus were the sons of Israel subdued at that time, - and the sons of Judah prevailed, because they leaned upon Yahweh the God of their fathers.

So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Asa his son reigned in iris stead, - in his days, the land rested ten years.

Therefore said he to Judah, Let us build these cities, and let us surround them with walls and towers, doors and bars, while the land is yet before us, for we have sought Yahweh our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built, and prospered.

Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah, equipped with large shields and spears. He also had 280,000 men from Benjamin who carried small shields and were adept archers; they were all skilled warriors.

Then Zerah the Cushite came against them with an army of one million men and 300 chariots. They came as far as Mareshah.

And Asa went out to meet him, - and they set in array for battle, in the valley of Zaphonah, at Mareshah.

Asa prayed to the Lord his God: "O Lord, there is no one but you who can help the weak when they are vastly outnumbered. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you and have marched on your behalf against this huge army. O Lord our God, don't let men prevail against you!"

And the LORD smote the black Moors before Asa and Judah, that they fled.

And Asa and the people that were with him pursued as far as to Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell, so that there was no way for them to recover, for they were routed before Yahweh, and before him host, - and they carried away exceeding much spoil.

And they smote all the cities round shout Gerar, for the dread of Yahweh was upon them, - and they plundered all the cities, for, great plunder, was there in them.

Moreover also, the tents of the cattle, they smote, - and carried off sheep in abundance, and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.

But they turned, in their distress, unto Yahweh God of Israel, - and sought him, and he was found of them.

and they were beaten in pieces-nation against nation, and city against city, - for, God, discomfited them with all manner of distress.

And he gathered together all Judah and Benjamin, and the sojourners with them, out of Ephraim and out of Manasseh, and out of Simeon, - for they fell unto him out of Israel, in great numbers, because they saw that, Yahweh his God, was with him.

So they gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem, in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

And they sacrificed unto Yahweh, on that day, out of the spoil they had brought in, - oxen, seven hundred, and sheep, seven thousand.

And they entered into a covenant, to seek Yahweh, God of their fathers, - with all their heart, and with all their soul;

Anyone who would not seek the Lord God of Israel would be executed, whether they were young or old, male or female.

So they bound themselves by oath unto Yahweh, with a loud voice, and with shouting, - and with trumpets and with horns.

And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for, with all their heart, had they sworn, and, with all their good will, had they sought him, and he was found of them, - and Yahweh gave them rest round about.