And he bowed the hearts of all the men of Judah, as a man would bow the heart of one man: so that they sent word to the king, that he should return with all his servants.

and a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul and his fifteen sons and twenty servants with him. And they whipt over Jordan before the king.

And when David was come to his house to Jerusalem, he took the ten wives his concubines that he had left behind him to keep the house, and put them in ward and ministered all things unto them: but lay no more with them. And so they were enclosed unto the day of the death of them, and lived a widow's life.

And there went out after him Joab's men and the Cherethites and the Pelethites and the men of might. And they departed out of Jerusalem to follow after Sheba the son of Bichri.

And when they were come to the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa met them. And Joab had his garment that he had about him, gird unto him, and had girded thereon a knife joined fast to his loins, in such a sheath that as he went it fell sometimes out.

And they came and besieged him in Abel-Bethmaacah. And they cast up a bank against the city, and it was besieged: All the people that was with Joab laboured busily to overthrow the wall.

And then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they smote off the head of Sheba son of Bichri, and cast it to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they scattered from the city every man to his tent, and Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.

And they said unto the king, "The man that consumed and imagined to bring us to nought, him we ought to destroy, that nought of him continue in any of the coasts of Israel.

and delivered them unto the hands of the Gibeonites, which hanged them in the hill before the LORD. And they fell all seven together in the first days of harvest: even in the beginning of barley harvest.

he went and took the bones of Saul, and of Jonathan his son, and of the men of Jabesh in Gilead, which they had stolen from the street of Bet-Shean, where the Philistines had hanged them in the days when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa.

And he brought thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son, and they fetched away the bones of them that were hanged,

and buried them with the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin, in Zela, in the sepulchre of Kish his father. And when they had performed all that the king commanded, God was then at one with the land.

When they had compassed me in the day of my tribulation, the LORD stayed me up.

I wasted them and so clouted them, that they could not arise: but fell under my feet.

They looked for help, but none came to save them: unto the LORD they cried, but he heard them not.

But the man that shall touch them must be armed with iron on a long helve. And then shall they be burned with fire to sit thereby."

And next to him, Eleazar the son of Dodi the son of Ahohi, one of the three principal that were with David, which - when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together in battle, and the men of Israel were gone up -

And Joab said unto the king, "I beseech that the LORD thy God make the people as many more as they be: yea and a hundred times so many more, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see them. But how is it that my lord the king hath a lust in this thing?"

And they passed over Jordan and pitched in Aroer on the right side of the city that lieth in the midst of the valley of Gad and so forth to Jazer.

And then they went to Gilead and to the nether land of Hodshi, and from thence to Dan-Jaan, and about to Sidon,

And so when they had been abroad throughout all the land they returned to Jerusalem again at the end of nine months and twenty days.

And Gad came to David and showed him and said unto him, "Whether wilt thou have seven years hunger in thy land, or that thou flee three months before thine enemies and they following thee, or that there be three days pestilence in thy land? Now understand, and see what word I shall bring again to him that sent me."

Then spake David unto the LORD when he saw the Angel that smote the people, and said, "Lo, it is I that have sinned, and I that have done wickedly. But these sheep what have they done? Let I pray thee thine hand be on me and on my father's house."

When king David was waxen old and stricken in years, though they covered him with clothes, yet he caught no heat.

And so they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel and found one Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.

And he communed with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest. And they helped Adonijah.

And they told the king, saying, "Here cometh Nathan the prophet." And when he was come before the king, he made obeisance unto the king upon his face unto the ground,

For he is gone down this day and hath offered oxen, fatlings and sheep abundantly, and hath called all the king's sons and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest. And see, they eat and drink before him and say, 'God save king Adonijah.'

Then said king David, "Call me Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." And when they came before the king,

And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew a trumpet, and they all said, "God save king Solomon!"

And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him, heard it even as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, "How happeneth it there is such a noise in the city?"

And the king sent with him, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and they have set him upon the king's mule.

And Zadok the priest and Nathan the Prophet have anointed him king in Gihon. And as they came up again they rejoiced that the city did sound again. And that is the noise that ye have heard.

That the LORD may make good his promise which he hath promised me, saying, 'If thy children shall take heed to their ways, that they walk before me in truth, with all their hearts and with all their souls; then thou shalt never be without one sitting on the seat of Israel.'

And show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among them that eat at thine own table, because they so clave to me when I fled from Absalom thy brother.

And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a people that are so many that they can not be told nor numbered for multitude.

And the other woman said, "It is not so: But the living is my son, and the dead thine." And she said again, "Thou sayest untrue, for the dead is thy son, and the living mine." And thus they pleaded before the king.

Then said the king, "Bring me a sword." And they brought a sword before the king.

And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged and feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river throughout all the land of the Philistines unto the borders of Egypt, and they brought presents and served Solomon all days of his life.

And as for barley and straw for the horses and beasts they brought unto the places where the officers were, every man in his office.

And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father. And thereto Hiram was ever a lover of David's.

Now then, command that they hew me Cedar trees in Lebanon. And let my servants be with thine, and I will give the hire of thy servants in all such things as thou shalt appoint, for thou knowest that there are not among us that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians."

And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon and they were confedered together.

which he sent to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by course, so that they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home. And Adoniram was over the tribute.

And at the commandment of the king, they brought great stones, and that free stones, and hewed thereto, to lay in the foundation of the house.

And Solomon's masons and the masons of Hiram did hew them, with them of the borders. And so they prepared both in timber and stone to build the house.

And the nethermost gallery was five cubits broad and the middle gallery six. And the third, seven cubits broad. For he made the walls without, whereon the beams lay, ever thinner and thinner, so that they were not fastened in the walls of the house.

Then he made ten lavers of brass containing forty baths apiece, and they were of four cubits apiece, for every one of the bottoms a laver.

Howbeit the staves were so long that the ends of them appeared out of the holy place before the quyre, but were not seen without. And there they be unto this day.

And there was nothing in the Ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel after they were come out of Egypt.

And now LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father, that thou promisedest him, saying, 'Thou shalt not be without one or other before me, sitting on the seat of Israel: Howbeit, if thy children shall take heed to their ways that they walk before me, as thou hast walked before me.'

And hearken unto the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel which they shall pray in this place. And hear thou, up unto heaven thy dwelling place, and when thou hearest have mercy.

When thy people Israel be put to the worse before their enemies, because they have sinned against thee, and afterward turn again to thee and praise thy name, and pray and make supplication unto thee in this house:

If heaven be shut up, that there be no rain, because they have sinned against thee: yet if they pray in this place and praise thy name and turn from their sins, through thy scourging of them:

that they may fear thee as long as they live upon the earth which thou gavest unto their fathers.

- for they shall hear of thy great name and of thy mighty hand and stretched-out arm - and therefore if he come and pray at this place,

And when they go out to battle against their enemies whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen and toward the house that I have built for thy name:

And finally, when they shall have sinned against thee - for there is no man that sinneth not - and thou art angry with them and hast delivered them to their enemies, that they be carried away prisoners unto the land of their enemies, whether far or near;

yet if they turn again unto their hearts in the land where they be in captivity, and return and pray unto thee in the land of them that hold them captive, saying, 'We have sinned and have done wickedly and have trespassed,'

and be merciful unto thy people that have sinned against thee, and unto all their trespass that they have trespassed against thee, and get them favour in the sight of them that hold them captive that they may have compassion on them.

For they be thy people and thine inheritance which thou broughtest out of Egypt, from the furnace of iron.

And let thine eyes be open unto the prayer of thy servant and unto the prayer of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them, in all that they call unto thee for.

And the eighth day he sent the people away. And they blessed the king and went unto their tents joyous and glad in heart for all the goodness that the LORD had showed unto David his servant and to Israel his people.

And it shall be answered then, 'Because they forsook the LORD their God which brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods and have stooped unto him and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.'"

And when Hiram was come from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, they pleased him not.

And of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen. But they were men of war and his servants and his lords and Captains and rulers of his chariots and of his Horsemen.

And they went to Ophir and fetched from thence gold, to the sum of four hundred and twenty two talents, and brought it to Solomon.

even of nations of which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, "See ye come not at them, nor let them come to you: for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless to such Solomon clave and fell in love with them.

And they arose out of Midian and went to Paran, and took men with them out of Paran and came to Egypt unto Pharaoh king thereof, which gave him a house, and appointed him victuals and gave him lands.

Which Rezon gathered men unto him and became captain over the company, when David slew them. And they went to Damascus and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus.

And it chanced, at that season, as Jeroboam was gone out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him by the way, having a new mantle on him, and they two alone in the field.

because they have forsaken me, and have bowed themselves unto Ashtaroth the God of the Sidonians, and to Chemosh the God of the Moabites and to Milcom the God of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that pleaseth me, and mine ordinances and customs, as David his father.

And they sent and called him: and so Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,

And they said unto him, "If thou shalt be a servant unto this people this day and serve them and answer them and speak kind words to them: they will be thy servants forever."

And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, they sent and called him unto the congregation and made him king over Israel: and no man followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

'Thus sayeth the LORD: Go not, nor yet fight against your brethren the children of Israel, but return every man to his house, for this doing is of the LORD.'" And they obeyed the word of the LORD and returned and departed according to the word of the LORD.

For if this people shall go up and do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall their hearts turn again unto their lord Rehoboam king of Judah. And so shall they kill me and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah."

And there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel, and the words which he spake unto the king they told their father also.

Then said he to his sons, "Saddle mine ass." And they saddled him an ass.

And as they sat at the table, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him again.

And he said to his sons, "Saddle me an ass." So they did.

Howbeit, for all that, Jeroboam turned not from his wicked way: but turned away and made of the lowest of the people priests of the hill altars. Whosoever would, he filled their hands, and they became priests of the hill altars.

And the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed that groweth in the water is shaken, and will weed Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond Euphrates, because they have made them groves to anger the LORD.

And Judah wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD and angered him above all that their fathers did, with their sin which they sinned.

For they also made them hill altars and images and groves on every high hill and under every green tree.

And thereto there was a stews of male children in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

And as oft as the king went in to the house of the LORD, they of his guard bare them, and ever brought them again into the guard chamber.

And Abijam rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his stead.

Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah, that none should be excused. And they took the stones of Ramah and the timber wherewith Baasha had built, and king Asa built therewith Geba in Benjamin and Mizphah.

for all the sins of Baasha and sins of Elah his son, wherewith they sinned and made Israel sin, to anger the LORD of Israel with their vanities.

And they divided the land between them to walk through it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another by himself.

As surely as the LORD thy God liveth there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent, to seek thee. And when they said thou wast not there, he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, because he found thee not.

And they took the ox that was given them and dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning to noon saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice nor answer. And they leapt about the altar that they had made.

And they cried loud and cut themselves, as their manner was, with knives and lances, till the blood flowed on them.

And when midday was passed, they prophesied until it was time to offer. But there was neither voice nor answer nor any that regarded them.

and said, "Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the sacrifice and on the wood." And he said, "Do so again." And they did so again. Then he said, "Do it the third time." And they did so the third time.

And when all the people saw that, they fell on their faces and said, "The LORD, he is God, the LORD, he is God."

Then said Elijah unto them, "Lay hands on the Prophets of Baal - let not one of them escape." And when they had taken them, Elijah brought them down unto the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab, till they came to Jezreel.