Absalom would then say to him, "Look, your claims are legitimate and appropriate. But there is no representative of the king who will listen to you."

It seems like you arrived just yesterday. Today should I make you wander around by going with us? I go where I must go. But as for you, go back and take your men with you. May genuine loyal love protect you!"

But Ittai replied to the king, "As surely as the Lord lives and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king is, whether dead or alive, there I will be as well!"

But you will be able to counter the advice of Ahithophel if you go back to the city and say to Absalom, 'I will be your servant, O king! Previously I was your father's servant, and now I will be your servant.'

But the king said, "What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he curses because the Lord has said to him, 'Curse David!', who can say to him, 'Why have you done this?'"

So David and his men went on their way. But Shimei kept going along the side of the hill opposite him, yelling curses as he threw stones and dirt at them.

But Absalom said, "Call for Hushai the Arkite, and let's hear what he has to say."

But a young man saw them on one occasion and informed Absalom. So the two of them quickly departed and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. There was a well in his courtyard, and they got down in it.

When the servants of Absalom approached the woman at her home, they asked, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman replied to them, "They crossed over the stream." Absalom's men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

But the soldiers replied, "You should not do this! For if we should have to make a rapid retreat, they won't be too concerned about us. Even if half of us should die, they won't be too concerned about us. But you are like ten thousand of us! So it is better if you remain in the city for support."

They took Absalom, threw him into a large pit in the forest, and stacked a huge pile of stones over him. In the meantime all the Israelite soldiers fled to their homes.

But Joab said to him, "You will not be a bearer of good news today. You will bear good news some other day, but not today, for the king's son is dead."

Ahimaaz the son of Zadok again spoke to Joab, "Whatever happens, let me go after the Cushite." But Joab said, "Why is it that you want to go, my son? You have no good news that will bring you a reward."

But he said, "Whatever happens, I want to go!" So Joab said to him, "Then go!" So Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Jordan plain, and he passed the Cushite.

The king replied, "How is the young man Absalom?" Ahimaaz replied, "I saw a great deal of confusion when Joab was sending the king's servant and me, your servant, but I don't know what it was all about."

But the Israelite soldiers had all fled to their own homes.

All the people throughout all the tribes of Israel were arguing among themselves saying, "The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies. He rescued us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom.

But Absalom, whom we anointed as our king, has died in battle. So now why do you hesitate to bring the king back?"

Abishai son of Zeruiah replied, "For this should not Shimei be put to death? After all, he cursed the Lord's anointed!"

But David said, "What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? You are like my enemy today! Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? Don't you realize that today I am king over Israel?"

But my servant has slandered me to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like an angel of God. Do whatever seems appropriate to you.

After all, there was no one in the entire house of my grandfather who did not deserve death from my lord the king. But instead you allowed me to eat at your own table! What further claim do I have to ask the king for anything?"

But Barzillai was very old -- eighty years old, in fact -- and he had taken care of the king when he stayed in Mahanaim, for he was a very rich man.

I am presently eighty years old. Am I able to discern good and bad? Can I taste what I eat and drink? Am I still able to hear the voices of male and female singers? Why should I continue to be a burden to my lord the king?

Let me return so that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. But look, here is your servant Kimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him whatever seems appropriate to you."

Then all the men of Israel began coming to the king. They asked the king, "Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, sneak the king away and help the king and his household cross the Jordan -- and not only him but all of David's men as well?"

The men of Israel replied to the men of Judah, "We have ten shares in the king, and we have a greater claim on David than you do! Why do you want to curse us? Weren't we the first to suggest bringing back our king?" But the comments of the men of Judah were more severe than those of the men of Israel.

So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bicri. But the men of Judah stuck by their king all the way from the Jordan River to Jerusalem.

So Amasa went out to call Judah together. But in doing so he took longer than the time that the king had allotted him.

So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke with them. (Now the Gibeonites were not descendants of Israel; they were a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had made a promise to them, but Saul tried to kill them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)

He turned them over to the Gibeonites, and they executed them on a hill before the Lord. The seven of them died together; they were put to death during harvest time -- during the first days of the beginning of the barley harvest.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David's aid, striking the Philistine down and killing him. Then David's men took an oath saying, "You will not go out to battle with us again! You must not extinguish the lamp of Israel!"

They confronted me in my day of calamity, but the Lord helped me.

You prove to be reliable to one who is blameless, but you prove to be deceptive to one who is perverse.

You deliver oppressed people, but you watch the proud and bring them down.

I wipe them out and beat them to death; they cannot get up; they fall at my feet.

They cry out, but there is no one to help them; they cry out to the Lord, but he does not answer them.

But evil people are like thorns -- all of them are tossed away, for they cannot be held in the hand.

But he made a stand in the middle of that area. He defended it and defeated the Philistines; the Lord gave them a great victory.

So the three elite warriors broke through the Philistine forces and drew some water from the cistern in Bethlehem near the gate. They carried it back to David, but he refused to drink it. He poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord

He received honor from the thirty warriors, though he was not one of the three elite warriors. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

Joab replied to the king, "May the Lord your God make the army a hundred times larger right before the eyes of my lord the king! But why does my master the king want to do this?"

But the king's edict stood, despite the objections of Joab and the leaders of the army. So Joab and the leaders of the army left the king's presence in order to muster the Israelite army.

But the king said to Araunah, "No, I insist on buying it from you! I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt sacrifices that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty pieces of silver.

The young woman was very beautiful; she became the king's nurse and served him, but the king did not have sexual relations with her.

But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David's elite warriors did not ally themselves with Adonijah.

But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the elite warriors, or his brother Solomon.

But now, look, Adonijah has become king! But you, my master the king, are not even aware of it!

He has sacrificed many cattle, steers, and sheep and has invited all the king's sons, Abiathar the priest, and Joab, the commander of the army, but he has not invited your servant Solomon.

But he did not invite me -- your servant -- or Zadok the priest, or Benaiah son of Jehoiada, or your servant Solomon.

and he told them, "Take your master's servants with you, put my son Solomon on my mule, and lead him down to Gihon.

So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites went down, put Solomon on King David's mule, and led him to Gihon.

The king sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites and they put him on the king's mule.

The king's servants have even come to congratulate our master King David, saying, 'May your God make Solomon more famous than you and make him an even greater king than you!' Then the king leaned on the bed

Solomon said, "If he is a loyal subject, not a hair of his head will be harmed, but if he is found to be a traitor, he will die."

Do to him what you think is appropriate, but don't let him live long and die a peaceful death.

But now don't treat him as if he were innocent. You are a wise man and you know how to handle him; make sure he has a bloody death."

He said, "You know that the kingdom was mine and all Israel considered me king. But then the kingdom was given to my brother, for the Lord decided it should be his.

The king then told Abiathar the priest, "Go back to your property in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times."

When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, "The king says, 'Come out!'" But he replied, "No, I will die here!" So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab's reply.

May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, and his dynasty."

Next the king summoned Shimei and told him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there -- but you may not leave there to go anywhere!

But King Solomon will be empowered and David's dynasty will endure permanently before the Lord."

She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your servant was sleeping. She put him in her arms, and put her dead son in my arms.

I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby."

The other woman said, "No! My son is alive; your son is dead!" But the first woman replied, "No, your son is dead; my son is alive." Each presented her case before the king.

The real mother spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were aroused. She said, "My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don't kill him!" But the other woman said, "Neither one of us will have him! Let them cut him in two!"

Solomon ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms paid tribute as Solomon's subjects throughout his lifetime.

But now the Lord my God has made me secure on all fronts; there is no adversary or dangerous threat.

So I have decided to build a temple to honor the Lord my God, as the Lord instructed my father David, 'Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, is the one who will build a temple to honor me.'

He put the cherubs in the inner sanctuary of the temple. Their wings were spread out. One of the first cherub's wings touched one wall and one of the other cherub's wings touched the opposite wall. The first cherub's other wing touched the second cherub's other wing in the middle of the room.

He put five basins on the south side of the temple and five on the north side. He put "The Sea" on the south side, in the southeast corner.

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

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.

He told David, 'Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. But I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.'

But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.'

But respond favorably to your servant's prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer the desperate prayer your servant is presenting to you today.

"But if you or your sons ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, and decide to serve and worship other gods,

They paid 600 silver pieces for each chariot from Egypt and 150 silver pieces for each horse. They also sold chariots and horses to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria.

They came from nations about which the Lord had warned the Israelites, "You must not establish friendly relations with them! If you do, they will surely shift your allegiance to their gods." But Solomon was irresistibly attracted to them.

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.

But I will not tear away the entire kingdom; I will leave your son one tribe for my servant David's sake and for the sake of my chosen city Jerusalem."

Pharaoh said to him, "What do you lack here that makes you want to go to your homeland?" Hadad replied, "Nothing, but please give me permission to leave."

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

Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt and found refuge with King Shishak of Egypt. He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.

But Rehoboam rejected their advice and consulted the young advisers who served him, with whom he had grown up.

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!

King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, the supervisor of the work crews, out after them, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to jump into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem.

But God told Shemaiah the prophet,

He put one in Bethel and the other in Dan.

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.

The old prophet then said, "I too am a prophet like you. An angel told me with the Lord's authority, 'Bring him back with you to your house so he can eat and drink.'" But he was lying to him.

The old prophet picked up the corpse of the prophet, put it on the donkey, and brought it back. The old prophet then entered the city to mourn him and to bury him.

He put the corpse into his own tomb, and they mourned over him, saying, "Ah, my brother!"

After he buried him, he said to his sons, "When I die, bury me in the tomb where the prophet is buried; put my bones right beside his bones,

But the Lord had told Ahijah, "Look, Jeroboam's wife is coming to find out from you what will happen to her son, for he is sick. Tell her so-and-so. When she comes, she will be in a disguise."

When Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, "Come on in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have been commissioned to give you bad news.

I tore the kingdom away from the Davidic dynasty and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me wholeheartedly by doing only what I approve.

As if following in the sinful footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat were not bad enough, he married Jezebel the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians. Then he worshiped and bowed to Baal.