Solomon son of David solidified his royal authority, for the Lord his God was with him and magnified him greatly.

(Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.

Solomon replied to God, "You demonstrated great loyalty to my father David and have made me king in his place.

Now, Lord God, may your promise to my father David be realized, for you have made me king over a great nation as numerous as the dust of the earth.

Solomon sent a message to King Huram of Tyre: "Help me as you did my father David, when you sent him cedar logs for the construction of his palace.

"Now send me a man who is skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, as well as purple, crimson, and violet colored fabrics, and who knows how to engrave. He will work with my skilled craftsmen here in Jerusalem and Judah, whom my father David provided.

Huram also said, "Worthy of praise is the Lord God of Israel, who made the sky and the earth! He has given David a wise son who has discernment and insight and will build a temple for the Lord, as well as a royal palace for himself.

whose mother is a Danite and whose father is a Tyrian. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stones, and wood, as well as purple, violet, white, and crimson fabrics. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and understands any design given to him. He will work with your skilled craftsmen and the skilled craftsmen of my lord David your father.

Solomon took a census of all the male resident foreigners in the land of Israel, after the census his father David had taken. There were 153,600 in all.

Solomon began building the Lord's temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David prepared at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

When Solomon had finished constructing the Lord's temple, he put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and all the other articles) in the treasuries of God's temple.

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).

He said, "The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled what he promised my father David.

He told David, 'Since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. Nor did I choose a man as leader of my people Israel.

But now I have chosen Jerusalem as a place to live, and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.'

Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel.

The Lord told my father David, 'It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me.

The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David's place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the Lord God of Israel

You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; this very day you have fulfilled what you promised.

Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, 'You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.'

Now, O Lord God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized.

O Lord God, do not reject your chosen ones! Remember the faithful promises you made to your servant David!"

The priests stood in their assigned spots, along with the Levites who had the musical instruments used for praising the Lord. (These were the ones King David made for giving thanks to the Lord and which were used by David when he offered praise, saying, "Certainly his loyal love endures.") Opposite the Levites, the priests were blowing the trumpets, while all Israel stood there.

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.

You must serve me as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations.

Then I will establish your dynasty, just as I promised your father David, 'You will not fail to have a successor ruling over Israel.'

Solomon moved Pharaoh's daughter up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, "My wife must not live in the palace of King David of Israel, for the places where the ark of the Lord has entered are holy."

As his father David had decreed, Solomon appointed the divisions of the priests to do their assigned tasks, the Levitical orders to lead worship and help the priests with their daily tasks, and the divisions of the gatekeepers to serve at their assigned gates. This was what David the man of God had ordered.

Then Solomon passed away and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam replaced him as king.

When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king, "We have no portion in David -- no share in the son of Jesse! Return to your homes, O Israel! Now, look after your own dynasty, O David!" So all Israel returned to their homes.

They supported the kingdom of Judah and were loyal to Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years; they followed the edicts of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam married Mahalath the daughter of David's son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse's son Eliab.

Then Rehoboam passed away and was buried in the City of David. His son Abijah replaced him as king.

Don't you realize that the Lord God of Israel has given David and his dynasty lasting dominion over Israel by a formal agreement?

Jeroboam son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master.

Abijah passed away and was buried in the City of David. His son Asa replaced him as king. During his reign the land had rest for ten years.

He was buried in the tomb he had carved out in the City of David. They laid him to rest on a bier covered with spices and assorted mixtures of ointments. They made a huge bonfire to honor him.

The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed in his ancestor David's footsteps at the beginning of his reign. He did not seek the Baals,

Jehoshaphat passed away and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Jehoram replaced him as king.

But the Lord was unwilling to destroy David's dynasty because of the promise he had made to give David a perpetual dynasty.

Jehoram received this letter from Elijah the prophet: "This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: 'You have not followed in the footsteps of your father Jehoshaphat and of King Asa of Judah,

Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. No one regretted his death; he was buried in the City of David, but not in the royal tombs.

and the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in the temple of God. Jehoiada said to them, "The king's son will rule, just as the Lord promised David's descendants.

Jehoiada the priest gave to the officers of the units of hundreds King David's spears and shields that were kept in God's temple.

Jehoiada then assigned the duties of the Lord's temple to the priests, the Levites whom David had assigned to the Lord's temple. They were responsible for offering burnt sacrifices to the Lord with joy and music, according to the law of Moses and the edict of David.

He was buried in the City of David with the kings, because he had accomplished good in Israel and for God and his temple.

When they withdrew, they left Joash badly wounded. His servants plotted against him because of what he had done to the son of Jehoiada the priest. They murdered him on his bed. Thus he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

His body was carried back by horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the City of David.

Jotham passed away and was buried in the City of David. His son Ahaz replaced him as king.

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what pleased the Lord, in contrast to his ancestor David.

Ahaz passed away and was buried in the City of David; they did not bring him to the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king.

He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done.

King Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the Lord's temple with cymbals and stringed instruments, just as David, Gad the king's prophet, and Nathan the prophet had ordered. (The Lord had actually given these orders through his prophets.)

The Levites had David's musical instruments and the priests had trumpets.

Hezekiah ordered the burnt sacrifice to be offered on the altar. As they began to offer the sacrifice, they also began to sing to the Lord, accompanied by the trumpets and the musical instruments of King David of Israel.

King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to praise the Lord, using the psalms of David and Asaph the prophet. So they joyfully offered praise and bowed down and worshiped.

There was a great celebration in Jerusalem, unlike anything that had occurred in Jerusalem since the time of King Solomon son of David of Israel.

Hezekiah energetically rebuilt every broken wall. He erected towers and an outer wall, and fortified the terrace of the City of David. He made many weapons and shields.

Hezekiah dammed up the source of the waters of the Upper Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in all that he did.

Hezekiah passed away and was buried on the ascent of the tombs of the descendants of David. All the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem buried him with great honor. His son Manasseh replaced him as king.

He put an idolatrous image he had made in God's temple, about which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, "This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.

After this Manasseh built up the outer wall of the City of David on the west side of the Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate and all around the terrace; he made it much higher. He placed army officers in all the fortified cities in Judah.

He did what the Lord approved and followed in his ancestor David's footsteps; he did not deviate to the right or the left.

In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor David. In his twelfth year he began ridding Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherah poles, idols, and images.

He told the Levites, who instructed all Israel about things consecrated to the Lord, "Place the holy ark in the temple which King Solomon son of David of Israel built. Don't carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel!

Prepare yourselves by your families according to your divisions, as instructed by King David of Israel and his son Solomon.

The musicians, the descendants of Asaph, manned their posts, as prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's prophet. The guards at the various gates did not need to leave their posts, for their fellow Levites made preparations for them.