Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this your people, that is so great?"

wisdom and knowledge is granted to you. I will give you riches, wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you; neither shall there any after you have the like."

The king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance.

Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, "As you dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build him a house in which to dwell, so deal with me.

Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him incense of sweet spices, and for the continual show bread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.

"The house which I build is great; for our God is great above all gods.

But who is able to build him a house, since heaven and the heaven of heavens can't contain him? Who am I then, that I should build him a house, except just to burn incense before him?

Huram continued, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, that should build a house for the LORD, and a house for his kingdom.

and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as you shall need; and we will bring it to you in floats by sea to Joppa; and you shall carry it up to Jerusalem."

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

and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold: and as for the entry of the house, the inner doors of it for the most holy place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple were of gold.

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the ancestral leaders of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the City of David, which is Zion.

The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark before the inner sanctuary; but they were not seen outside. And there it is to this day.

it happened, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, "For he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever," then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD,

"The LORD has performed his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

There I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with the children of Israel."

and he said, "LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven, or on earth; you who keep covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart;

who have kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him: yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.

"Now therefore, LORD, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, 'There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.'

"If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house;

"When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them:

"If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is;

then hear from heaven, your dwelling place and forgive, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know; (for you, even you only, know the hearts of the children of men;)

that they may fear you, to walk in your ways, so long as they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.

"Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he shall come from a far country for your great name's sake, and your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm; when they shall come and pray toward this house:

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

"If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn't sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to a land far off or near;

"Now, my God, let, I beg you, your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive, to the prayer that is made in this place.

"Now therefore arise, LORD God, into your resting place, you, and the ark of your strength: let your priests, LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in what is good.

All the children of Israel looked on, when the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD was on the house; and they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped, and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, "For he is good; for his loving kindness endures for ever."

"If I shut up the sky so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

Now my eyes shall be open, and my ears attentive, to the prayer that is made in this place.

"As for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances;

then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, according as I covenanted with David your father, saying, 'There shall not fail you a man to be ruler in Israel.'

This house, which is so high, everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall say, 'Why has the LORD done thus to this land, and to this house?'

As for all the people who were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel;

even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts, three times in the year, in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tents.

He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise, and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.

She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

The king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance.

"Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you."

He said to them, "What counsel do you give, that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, 'Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter?'"

The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you shall tell the people who spoke to you, saying, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter on us;' thus you shall say to them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king asked, saying, "Come to me again the third day."

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

'Thus says the LORD, "You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers. Return every man to his house; for this thing is of me."'" So they listened to the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

After them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

Then the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, "The LORD is righteous."

It was so, that as often as the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came and bore them, and brought them back into the guard room.

When he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to destroy him altogether: and moreover in Judah there were good things found.

Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, "Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel:

"But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and we have priests ministering to the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work:

Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. children of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers; for you shall not prosper."

Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened, that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David; and Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet ten years.

Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:

For he said to Judah, "Let us build these cities, and make walls around them, with towers, gates, and bars. The land is yet before us, because we have sought the LORD our God; we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side." So they built and prospered.

Asa had an army that bore bucklers and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bore shields and drew bows, two hundred eighty thousand: all these were mighty men of valor.

Then Asa went out to meet him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

Asa cried to the LORD his God, and said, "LORD, there is none besides you to help, between the mighty and him who has no strength. Help us, LORD our God; for we rely on you, and in your name are we come against this multitude. LORD, you are our God. Do not let man prevail against you."

So the LORD struck the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.

Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar: and there fell of the Ethiopians so many that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his army; and they carried away very much booty.

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; and if you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

When Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.

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

Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

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

There was no more war to the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent to Ben Hadad king of Syria, who lived at Damascus, saying,

"Let there be a treaty between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me."

Ben Hadad listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.

Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and its timber, with which Baasha had built; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.

At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him, "Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore is the army of the king of Syria escaped out of your hand.

For the eyes of the LORD run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein you have done foolishly; for from henceforth you shall have wars."

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

Behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet; his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but to the physicians.

Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.

He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.

Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, "Will you go with me to Ramoth Gilead?" He answered him, "I am as you are, and my people as your people. We will be with you in the war."

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 prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla." Jehoshaphat said, "Do not let the king say so."

Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, what my God says, that will I speak."

He said, "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. The LORD said, 'These have no master. Let them return every man to his house in peace.'"

It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, "It is the king of Israel." Therefore they turned around to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.

Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, "Should you help the wicked, and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, wrath is on you from before the LORD.

and said to the judges, "Consider what you do: for you do not judge for man, but for the LORD; and he is with you in the judgment.

Now therefore let the fear of the LORD be on you. Take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes."

Behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and may the LORD be with the good."

Then some came who told Jehoshaphat, saying, "A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea from Syria. Behold, they are in Hazazon Tamar" (that is, En Gedi).

and he said, "O LORD, the God of our fathers, aren't you God in heaven? Aren't you ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in your hand, so that no one is able to withstand you.

'If evil comes on us?the sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine?we will stand before this house, and before you, (for your name is in this house), and cry to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.'

behold, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit.

Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do, but our eyes are on you."

and he said, "Listen, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king Jehoshaphat. Thus says the LORD to you, 'Do not be afraid, neither be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

You will not need to fight this battle. Set yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed. Go out against them tomorrow, for the LORD is with you.'"

They rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the LORD your God, so you shall be established. Believe his prophets, so you shall prosper."

When he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and give praise in holy array, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks to the LORD; for his loving kindness endures forever.

He walked in the way of Asa his father, and did not turn aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD.

However the high places were not taken away; neither as yet had the people set their hearts to the God of their fathers.