May Yahweh our God be with us as he was with our ancestors, and may he not leave us or abandon us,

Let these my words which I pleaded before Yahweh [be] near to Yahweh our God, by day and by night, to maintain the justice of his servant and the justice of his people Israel {as each day requires}

Let your heart be completely with Yahweh our God by walking in his statutes, by keeping his commands as this day."

It happened that as Solomon finished the building of the house of Yahweh, the king's house, and all the things Solomon desired to do,

Yahweh appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him in Gibeon.

As for you, if you walk before me as David your father walked, with {integrity of heart} and with uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, [and if] you keep my ordinances and my judgments,

then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, 'A man will not be cut off for you from upon the throne of Israel.'

Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had gone up and captured Gezer and burnt it with fire. He had also killed the Canaanites who were living in the city and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, the wife of Solomon.

[as well as] Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness in the land;

As soon as the daughter of Pharaoh went up from the city of David to her house which he built for her, then he built the Millo.

Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, abundant spices, and precious stones. Spices as these did not come again in such abundance [as that which] the queen of Sheba brought to King Solomon.

The king made a raised structure for the house of Yahweh and for the house of the king out of the almug wood, as well as lyres and harps for the singers. [This much] almug wood has not come nor been seen [again] up to this day.

All of the drinking vessels of King Solomon [were] gold, and all the vessels for the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver; [it was] not considered as something valuable in the days of Solomon.

The king made the silver in Jerusalem as the stones, and the cedars he made as the sycamore fig trees which are in the Shephelah in abundance.

It happened at the time of Solomon's old age that his wives guided his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father [had been].

So Solomon did evil in the eyes of Yahweh and did not fully [follow] after Yahweh as David his father.

Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, and he gave him the sister of his wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen, as wife.

God had [also] raised Rezon the son of Eliada as an adversary against him, who had fled from Hadadezer the king of Zobah, his master.

because he has forsaken me, and they bowed down to Ashtoreth, the god of [the] Sidonians, to Chemosh, the god of Moab, and to Molech, the god of the {Ammonites}. They did not walk in my ways to do right in my eyes, my ordinances, or my judgments, as [did] David his father.

It shall be that if you listen to all that I command you and you walk in my ways and you do right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, then I will be with you, and I will build an enduring house for you as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.

Jeroboam and all of the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had spoken: "Return to me on the third day."

Then the king answered all the people harshly, [as] he had rejected the advice of the old men that they had offered.

This thing became a sin, and the people walked before the one as far as Dan.

Then the king responded and said to the man of God, "Please entreat the favor of Yahweh your God, and pray for me that my hand may return to me." So the man of God entreated the face of Yahweh, and the hand of the king returned to him, as it was in the beginning.

As men [were] passing by and they saw the dead body thrown in the road and the lion standing beside the dead body, they came and told it in the city where the old prophet [was] living.

For surely, the thing which he proclaimed by the word of Yahweh against the altar which [is] in Bethel will happen, [as it will] against all the houses of the high places which [are] in the cities of Samaria."

Therefore, look, I am about to bring disaster upon the house of Jeroboam, and I will cut off {males} from Jeroboam, bond or free, in Israel. I will burn after the house of Jeroboam as one burns after the manure, until it is finished.

As for you, get up. Go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child will die.

Yahweh will strike Israel as one shakes the reed plant in the water, and he will root Israel up from this good land that he gave to their ancestors. He will scatter them beyond the River because they have made their sacred poles [which are] provoking Yahweh.

Then the wife of Jeroboam got up, went, and came to Tirzah. [As] she [was] coming to the threshold of the house, the boy died.

He walked in all the sins of his father that he had done before him, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father.

Abijam slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David, and Asa his son became king in his place.

In the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa became the king of Judah.

Asa did right in the eyes of Yahweh, like David his ancestor.

Also, he had Maacah his mother removed from the office of queen mother, [as] she had made a repulsive image for the Asherah. Asa also cut down her repulsive image and burned it in the Wadi Kidron.

But the high places he did not remove. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was completely with Yahweh all of his days.

There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all of their days.

Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and he built Ramah {to hinder the coming and going of anyone to Asa} king of Judah.

Asa took all of the silver and gold remaining in the storerooms of the house of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the house of the king, and he gave them into the hand of his servants; so King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tabrimmon the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying,

Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa, and he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and he attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-Beth-Maacah, and all of Kinnereth, in addition to all the land of Naphtali.

Then King Asa proclaimed among all of Israel that there was no one free from obligation, so they carried the stones of Ramah and its wood with which Baasha had built, and King Asa rebuilt Geba in Benjamin with them, and the Mizpah.

The remainder of the acts of Asa, all of his achievements, all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? But at the time of his old age, {he developed a foot disease}.

Asa slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David his ancestor; Jehoshaphat his son became king in his place.

Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.

and Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa the king of Judah, and he reigned in his place.

It happened that as soon as he became king, he killed all of the house of Jeroboam. There was no one left of Jeroboam who breathed, until he had destroyed him according to the word of Yahweh that he had spoken by the hand of his servant, Ahijah the Shilonite,

There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah had become king over all of Israel; [he lived] in Tirzah twenty-four years.

In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel for two years.

Zimri came and struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah and became king in his place.

It happened that as soon as he became king, at the moment he sat on his throne, he killed all of the house of Baasha. He left {no males} [among] his kindred or [any of] his friends.

In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the army was encamping against Gibbethon which belonged to the Philistines.

In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel [for] twelve years. He reigned in Tirzah six years,

Now Ahab son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah. Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.

{If it wasn't enough that he went} after the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he also took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal the king of the Sidonians. He went and served Baal and bowed down to him.

Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbe of Gilead said to Ahab, "{As Yahweh lives}, the God of Israel before whom I stand, there shall surely not be dew nor rain these years {except by my command}."

She said, "{As Yahweh your God lives}, surely I do not have a cake, {but only a handful of flour} in the jar and a little olive oil in the jug. Here I [am] gathering a few pieces of wood, and I will go and prepare it for me and my son, that we might eat it and die."

Then he called to Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh my God, are you also causing evil to come upon the widow with whom I [am] dwelling as an alien by causing her son to die?"

{As Yahweh your God lives}, surely there is not a nation or a kingdom to which my lord has not sent me to seek you. [If] they would say, 'He is not here,' then he would make the kingdom or the nation swear that it could not find you.

Elijah said, "{As Yahweh of hosts lives}, before whom I stand, I will certainly show myself to him today."

So they called out with a loud voice, and they cut themselves with swords and with spears as was their custom, until the blood poured out over them.

It happened as noon passed, they raged until the [time of] the evening offering, but there was no voice, there was no answer, and no [one] paid attention.

It happened that at the seventh time, he said, "Look, there is a small cloud, as [the] hand of a man, coming up from the sea." Then [Elijah] said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Harness [your horses] and go down, lest the rain stop you.'"

but the hand of Yahweh was on Elijah; he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab as one comes to Jezreel.

Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "Thus may the gods do [to me], and may they add [to it], surely at this time tomorrow I will make your life as the life of one of them!"

Then Yahweh said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. Go and anoint Hazael as king over Aram;

and Jehu son of Nimshi you shall anoint as king over Israel. You shall also anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-Meholah as prophet in your place.

Then the king of Israel answered and said, "As your word, my master the king; I [am] yours, and all that is mine [is yours]."

The king of Israel answered and said, "Tell [him], 'Let not him who girds on his armor boast as one who takes off his armor.'"

You must muster an army for yourself as the army {you have lost}, and horses and chariots as the horses and chariots [you lost], then we will fight them in the plain. Surely we will be stronger than they." So he listened to their voice and did so.

The {Israelites} had been mustered and provisioned, and they went to engage them. The {Israelites} encamped opposite them as two flocks of goats, but the Arameans filled the land.

The men took this as a good omen and they quickly accepted [it] as true from him, and they said, "Your brother Ben-Hadad [lives]." So he said, "Go, get him." Ben-Hadad came out to him, and [Ahab] pulled him up on the chariot.

[Ben-Hadad] said to him, "The cities which my father took from your father I shall return. You may set up streets with stalls for yourself in Damascus just as my father set up in Samaria." [Then Ahab said], "{On these terms} I will let you go," So he made a covenant with him and let him go.

He said to him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, look, as you now are going from me, a lion will kill you." When he went from beside him, the lion found him and killed him.

As the king [was] passing by, he called to the king and said, "Your servant went out in the thick of the battle, and suddenly a man turned and brought a man to me and said, 'Guard this man. If by any means he should be missed, it will be your life in his place, or you shall pay a talent of silver.'

The men of his city and the elders and nobles who were living in his city did according to what Jezebel had sent to them, as [was] written in the letters which she had sent to them.

Then the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Please now, the words of the prophet are {unanimously} favorable to the king. Please let your words be as one word with them, and speak favorably."

Then Micaiah said, "{As Yahweh lives}, surely only as Yahweh speaks to me, that will I speak."

Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.

He walked in all of the way of Asa his father, and he did not turn aside from it, doing right in the eyes of Yahweh. Only he did not remove the high places; the people [were] still sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.

The remainder of the male shrine prostitutes who were left over in the days of Asa his father he exterminated from the land.

There was not a king in Edom; a governor [served] as king.

Elijah said to Elisha, "Please stay here, for Yahweh has sent me up to Bethel." Elisha said, "{As Yahweh lives} and {as your soul lives}, I will certainly not leave you!" So they went down [to] Bethel.

Elijah said to him, "Elisha, please stay here because Yahweh has sent me to Jericho." And he said, "{As Yahweh lives} and {as your soul lives}, I will certainly not leave you!" So they came to Jericho.

Then Elijah said to him, "Please stay here, because Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan." He said, "{As Yahweh lives} and {as your soul lives}, I will certainly not leave you!" So the two of them went on.

After they crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I may do for you before I am taken away from you." Then Elisha said, "Please let there come to me a double portion of your spirit."

He said, "What you ask is difficult. If you see me being taken from you, it will be so for you, but if not, it will not happen."

Then they [were] walking, talking as they went. Suddenly a fiery chariot with horses of fire [appeared] and separated between the two of them. Elijah went up in the storm [to] the heavens

The men of the city said to Elisha, "Please now, the location of the city [is] good, as my master can see, but the water [is] bad and the land unproductive."

Then he went up from there [to] Bethel; as he [was] going up along the way, young boys came out from the city and mocked at him and said to him, "Go up, baldhead; go up, baldhead!"

and did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, yet not as his father or his mother, as he removed the stone pillars of Baal that his father had made.

Then Elisha said, "{As Yahweh of hosts lives}, before whom I stand, surely if I was not {regarding the face} of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would have not looked at you nor even glanced at you.

When they arose early in the morning, the sun shone on the waters, and Moab saw the waters from the opposite [side] as red as blood.

He took his firstborn son who was to become king in his place and offered him [as] a burnt offering on the wall. Great wrath came upon Israel, and they withdrew from him and returned to the land.

A certain woman from the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead. Now you know that your servant was a fearer of Yahweh, but the creditor came to take two of my children for himself as slaves.

Then he said to her, "Go, ask for yourself [some] containers from the streets, from all your neighbors. {You must collect as many empty containers as you can}!

Now, please run to meet her and ask her, 'Is it peace for you? Is it peace for your husband? Is it peace for the boy?'" She said, "Peace."

Then she said, "Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say that you must not mislead me?"

Then the mother of the boy said, "{As Yahweh lives} and {as your soul lives}, I will surely not leave you." So he got up and went after her.

Then he went up and lay upon the child and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his palms on his palms. As he bent down over him, the flesh of the boy became warm.