"Go, tell David, 'This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three forms of judgment. Pick one of them and I will carry it out against you.'"

When he saw the angel who was destroying the people, David said to the Lord, "Look, it is I who have sinned and done this evil thing! As for these sheep -- what have they done? Attack me and my family."

For today he has gone down and sacrificed many cattle, steers, and sheep and has invited all the king's sons, the army commanders, and Abiathar the priest. At this moment they are having a feast in his presence, and they have declared, 'Long live King Adonijah!'

Has my master the king authorized this without informing your servants who should succeed my master the king on his throne?"

and said this: 'The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because today he has placed a successor on my throne and allowed me to see it.'"

King Solomon then swore an oath by the Lord, "May God judge me severely, if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life!

Solomon replied, "You demonstrated great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served you faithfully, properly, and sincerely. You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne.

So give your servant a discerning mind so he can make judicial decisions for your people and distinguish right from wrong. Otherwise no one is able to make judicial decisions for this great nation of yours."

The Lord was pleased that Solomon made this request.

One of the women said, "My master, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was with me in the house.

Then three days after I had my baby, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one else in the house except the two of us.

This woman's child suffocated during the night when she rolled on top of him.

Solomon then sent this message to Hiram:

When Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was very happy. He said, "The Lord is worthy of praise today because he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation."

Hiram then sent this message to Solomon: "I received the message you sent to me. I will give you all the cedars and evergreens you need.

"As for this temple you are building, if you follow my rules, observe my regulations, and obey all my commandments, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David.

He made a colonnade 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch in front of this and pillars and a roof in front of the porch.

The palace where he lived was constructed in a similar way. He also constructed a palace like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married.

He made the ten stands in this way. All of them were cast in one mold and were identical in measurements and shape.

The poles were so long their ends were visible from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. They have remained there to this very day.

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.

"God does not really live on the earth! Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built!

Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. May you answer your servant's prayer for this place.

Respond to the request of your servant and your people Israel for this place. Hear from inside your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably.

"When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false.

"The time will come when your people Israel are defeated by an enemy because they sinned against you. If they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, and pray for your help in this temple,

"The time will come when the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, and turn away from their sin because you punish them,

When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, as they acknowledge their pain and spread out their hands toward this temple,

When they hear about your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds, they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple.

Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.

"When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, and they direct their prayers to the Lord toward his chosen city and this temple I built for your honor,

At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival before the Lord our God for two entire weeks. This great assembly included people from all over the land, from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt in the south.

The Lord said to him, "I have answered your prayer and your request for help that you made to me. I have consecrated this temple you built by making it my permanent home; I will be constantly present there.

then I will remove Israel from the land I have given them, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed among all the nations.

This temple will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss out their scorn, saying, 'Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?'

Others will then answer, 'Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who led their ancestors out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. That is why the Lord has brought all this disaster down on them.'"

Hiram asked, "Why did you give me these cities, my friend?" He called that area the region of Cabul, a name which it has retained to this day.

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

With the timber the king made supports for the Lord's temple and for the royal palace and stringed instruments for the musicians. No one has seen so much of this fine timber to this very day.)

and had warned him about this very thing, so that he would not follow other gods. But he did not obey the Lord's command.

However, for your father David's sake I will not do this while you are alive. I will tear it away from your son's hand instead.

This is what prompted him to rebel against the king: Solomon built a terrace and he closed up a gap in the wall of the city of his father David.

Then he told Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces, for this is what the Lord God of Israel says: 'Look, I am about to tear the kingdom from Solomon's hand and I will give ten tribes to you.

I will humiliate David's descendants because of this, but not forever."

They said to him, "Today if you show a willingness to help these people and grant their request, they will be your servants from this time forward."

The young advisers with whom Rehoboam had grown up said to him, "Say this to these people who have said to you, 'Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.' Say this to them: 'I am a lot harsher than my father!

The king refused to listen to the people, because the Lord was instigating this turn of events so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

So Israel has been in rebellion against the Davidic dynasty to this very day.

"Say this to King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah, and to all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the rest of the people,

The Lord says this: "Do not attack and make war with your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you go home, for I have caused this to happen."'" They obeyed the Lord and went home as the Lord had ordered them to do.

This caused Israel to sin; the people went to Bethel and Dan to worship the calves.

With the authority of the Lord he cried out against the altar, "O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says, 'Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.'"

That day he also announced a sign, "This is the sign the Lord has predetermined: The altar will be split open and the ashes on it will fall to the ground."

But the prophet said to the king, "Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I could not go with you and eat and drink in this place.

But he replied, "I can't go back with you or eat and drink with you in this place.

and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, "This is what the Lord says, 'You have rebelled against the Lord and have not obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you.

You went back and ate and drank in this place, even though he said to you, "Do not eat or drink there." Therefore your corpse will not be buried in your ancestral tomb.'"

After this happened, Jeroboam still did not change his evil ways; he continued to appoint common people as priests at the high places. Anyone who wanted the job he consecrated as a priest.

This sin caused Jeroboam's dynasty to come to an end and to be destroyed from the face of the earth.

Jeroboam told his wife, "Disguise yourself so that people cannot recognize you are Jeroboam's wife. Then go to Shiloh; Ahijah the prophet, who told me I would rule over this nation, lives there.

Go, tell Jeroboam, 'This is what the Lord God of Israel says: "I raised you up from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel.

The Lord will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water. He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles.

He did this because David had done what he approved and had not disregarded any of his commandments his entire lifetime, except for the incident involving Uriah the Hittite.

Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord's temple and of the royal palace and handed it to his servants. He then told them to deliver it to Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message:

Baasha son of Ahijah, from the tribe of Issachar, conspired against Nadab and assassinated him in Gibbethon, which was in Philistine territory. This happened while Nadab and all the Israelite army were besieging Gibbethon.

This happened because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he made Israel commit. These sins angered the Lord God of Israel.

Jehu son of Hanani received from the Lord this message predicting Baasha's downfall:

Zimri came in and struck him dead. (This happened in the twenty-seventh year of Asa's reign over Judah.) Zimri replaced Elah as king.

This happened because of all the sins which Baasha and his son Elah committed and which they made Israel commit. They angered the Lord God of Israel with their worthless idols.

While deployed there, the army received this report: "Zimri has conspired against the king and assassinated him." So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day in the camp.

This happened because of the sins he committed. He did evil in the sight of the Lord and followed in Jeroboam's footsteps and encouraged Israel to continue sinning.

For this is what the Lord God of Israel says, 'The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the Lord makes it rain on the surface of the ground.'"

After this the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. His illness was so severe he could no longer breathe.

Then he called out to the Lord, "O Lord, my God, are you also bringing disaster on this widow I am staying with by killing her son?"

He stretched out over the boy three times and called out to the Lord, "O Lord, my God, please let this boy's breath return to him."

Then you will invoke the name of your god, and I will invoke the name of the Lord. The god who responds with fire will demonstrate that he is the true God." All the people responded, "This will be a fair test."

When all the people saw this, they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said, "The Lord is the true God! The Lord is the true God!"

Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this warning, "May the gods judge me severely if by this time tomorrow I do not take your life as you did theirs!"

He said to him, "This is what Ben Hadad says, 'Your silver and your gold are mine, as well as the best of your wives and sons.'"

The messengers came again and said, "This is what Ben Hadad says, 'I sent this message to you, "You must give me your silver, gold, wives, and sons."

But now at this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you and they will search through your palace and your servants' houses. They will carry away all your valuables."

The king of Israel summoned all the leaders of the land and said, "Notice how this man is looking for trouble. Indeed, he demanded my wives, sons, silver, and gold, and I did not resist him."

So he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, "Say this to my master, the king, 'I will give you everything you demanded at first from your servant, but I am unable to agree to this latest demand.'" So the messengers went back and gave their report.

When Ben Hadad received this reply, he and the other kings were drinking in their quarters. He ordered his servants, "Get ready to attack!" So they got ready to attack the city.

Now a prophet visited King Ahab of Israel and said, "This is what the Lord says, 'Do you see this huge army? Look, I am going to hand it over to you this very day. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

Ahab asked, "By whom will this be accomplished?" He answered, "This is what the Lord says, 'By the servants of the district governors.'" Ahab asked, "Who will launch the attack?" He answered, "You will."

So do this: Dismiss the kings from their command, and replace them with military commanders.

The prophet visited the king of Israel and said, "This is what the Lord says: 'Because the Syrians said, "The Lord is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys," I will hand over to you this entire huge army. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

The men took this as a good omen and quickly accepted his offer, saying, "Ben Hadad is your brother." Ahab then said, "Go, get him." So Ben Hadad came out to him, and Ahab pulled him up into his chariot.

When the king passed by, he called out to the king, "Your servant went out into the heat of the battle, and then a man turned aside and brought me a prisoner. He told me, 'Guard this prisoner. If he ends up missing for any reason, you will pay with your life or with a talent of silver.'

Well, it just so happened that while your servant was doing this and that, he disappeared." The king of Israel said to him, "Your punishment is already determined by your own testimony."

The prophet then said to him, "This is what the Lord says, 'Because you released a man I had determined should die, you will pay with your life and your people will suffer instead of his people.'"

After this the following episode took place. Naboth the Jezreelite owned a vineyard in Jezreel adjacent to the palace of King Ahab of Samaria.

This is what she wrote: "Observe a time of fasting and seat Naboth in front of the people.

Say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: "Haven't you committed murder and taken possession of the property of the deceased?"' Then say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: "In the spot where dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will also lick up your blood -- yes, yours!"'"

The Lord says this about Jezebel, 'Dogs will devour Jezebel by the outer wall of Jezreel.'

Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made iron horns and said, "This is what the Lord says, 'With these you will gore Syria until they are destroyed.'"

The Lord said, 'Who will deceive Ahab, so he will attack Ramoth Gilead and die there?' One said this and another that.

Say, 'This is what the king says, "Put this man in prison. Give him only a little bread and water until I safely return."'"