All the earth continued to seek audiences with Solomon so they could hear the wise things that God had put in his heart.

When he heard the man of God curse the altar in Bethel, the king pointed at the man of God from where the king was standing at the altar. "Seize him!" he ordered. But all of a sudden his hand that he had stretched out dried up, and he could not bring it back to his side!

The prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to the city where the old man lived so he could mourn and bury him.

So that's what Jeroboam's wife did. She got up, went to Shiloh, and found Ahijah's home. Ahijah was blind, because his eyes could not focus due to his age.

King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and interdicted Ramah by building fortifications around it so no one could enter or leave to join King Asa of Judah.

"What do we have in common, you man of God?" she accused Elijah. "You came to me so you could uncover my guilt! And you're responsible for the death of my son!"

So they divided the land between them so they could conduct their survey. Ahab went off by himself in one direction and Obadiah went off by himself in the other.

and ran for a day's journey deep into the wilderness. He found a juniper tree, sat down under it, and prayed that he could die. He asked God, "Enough! LORD! Take my life, because I'm not better than my ancestors!"

But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there a prophet of the LORD left here that we could talk to?"

"There is still one man left by whom we could ask the LORD what to do," the king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, "but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me. Instead, he prophesies evil. He is Imla's son Micaiah." But Jehoshaphat rebuked Ahab, "Kings should never talk like that."

When they served the men, they began to eat the stew. But they cried out, "That pot of stew is deadly, you man of God!" So they couldn't eat the stew.

Aren't the Abana and Pharpar rivers in Damascus better than all of the water in Israel? Couldn't I just bathe in them and become clean?" So he turned away and left, filled with anger.

But the royal attendant on whom the king depended responded to the man of God: "Look here! Even if the LORD were to open a window in the sky, how could this happen?" He replied, "No, you look! You'll see it with your eyes, but you won't eat any of it!"

But the royal attendant on whom the king depended responded to the man of God: "Look here! Even if the LORD were to make a window in the sky, how could this happen?" He replied, "No, you look! You'll see it with your eyes, but you won't eat any of it!"

But they were too terrified, and so they told one another, "Look! Two previous kings couldn't stand up to Jehu, so how can we?"

So King Jehoash of Judah took all of the sacred things that his ancestors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, along with his own dedicated things, and all the gold that could be located within the treasure vaults of the LORD's Temple and in the king's palace, and paid off King Hazael of Aram. Then Hazael left Jerusalem.

He confiscated all the gold and silver, all the instruments he could find in the LORD's Temple and in the palace treasuries. He also captured some hostages and then returned to Samaria.

Later, King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah, king of Israel, approached Jerusalem to attack it. They besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him.

Hezekiah gave him all the silver that could be removed from the LORD's Temple and from the treasuries in the king's palace.

Furthermore, Josiah removed the mediums, the necromancers, the household gods, the idols, and every despicable thing that could be seen in the territory of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might confirm the words of the Law that had been written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the LORD's Temple.

The bronze contained in the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had crafted for the LORD's Temple could not be inventoried for weight.

Equipped as archers, they could use both their right and left hands to shoot arrows and hurl stones. As descendants of Benjamin, they were Saul's relatives.

Later David left the presence of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD so Asaph and his fellow descendants of Levi could serve the ark there continually each day, doing whatever was required.

It was a handbreadth thick, with its brim fashioned like the brim of a cup. Similar in shape to a lily blossom, it could hold 3,000 baths.

King Solomon and all the Israelis who had assembled together proceeded ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and oxen than could be counted or recorded due to the number of sacrifices.

but the poles were long enough for their ends to extend to the front of the inner sanctuary, even though they could not be seen from outside. They remain there to this day.

The priests could not enter into the Temple because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD's Temple.

Solomon also dedicated the middle of the court in front of the LORD's Temple by offering there burnt offerings and fat from peace offerings because the bronze altar that Solomon had made could not contain the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and fat portion offerings.

Blessed be the LORD your God, who is delighted with you! He set you in place on his throne to be king for the LORD your God. He made you king over them so you could carry out justice and implement righteousness, because your God loves Israel and intends to establish them forever."

All the kings of the earth continued to seek audiences with Solomon so they could hear the wise things that God had put in his heart.

As a result, anyone from all of the tribes of Israel who was determined to seek the LORD God of Israel followed the descendants of Levi to Jerusalem so they could sacrifice to the LORD God of their ancestors,

Asa and his army pursued the Ethiopians as far as Gerar. So many Ethiopians died that their army could not recover, because it had been shattered in the LORD's presence and in the presence of his army. The Israelis carried off a lot of plunder, too.

During the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and interdicted Ramah by building fortifications around it so no one could enter or leave to join King Asa of Judah.

But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there a prophet of the LORD left here that we could talk to?"

"There is still one man left by whom we could ask the LORD what to do," the king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, "but I hate him because he won't prophesy anything good about me. Instead, he always prophesies evil. He is Imla's son Micaiah." But Jehoshaphat rebuked Ahab, "Kings should never talk like that."

Later on, when Jehoshaphat and his army arrived to collect the spoils of war, they discovered there were far more goods, garments, and other valuable items to collect than they could carry off in a single day. There was so much material that it took three days to finish their collection efforts.

He confiscated all the gold, silver, and utensils that he could find in the care of Obed-edom inside of God's Temple and inside the royal palace. Then he took some hostages and returned to Samaria.

Uzziah commanded an army of 307,500 who could fight formidably on behalf of the king against any enemy.

He also had various siege engines built by skilled designers and placed them on the towers and on the corner ramparts that could fire arrows and very large stones. His reputation spread far and wide, and he was marvelously assisted until he grew very strong.

Because there were so many in the assembly that had not consecrated themselves, therefore the descendants of Levi supervised the slaughter of the Passover sacrifices on behalf of everyone who remained unclean, so they could be consecrated to the LORD.

Hezekiah also directed the people who lived in Jerusalem to give what was due to the priests and descendants of Levi, so they could be strengthened in the LORD's Law.

They set aside in reserve the burnt offerings, so they could distribute them in proportion to the divisions of their ancestral households for presentation by the people to the LORD, as is required by the book of Moses. They did this with respect to the bulls, also.

But Josiah wouldn't turn around. In fact, he put on a disguise so he could fight Neco. He wouldn't listen to what God told him through what Neco had to say, and as a result, Josiah came to attack Neco on the Megiddo plain.

Here is a list of returnees from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer who could not prove their ancestry and lineage from Israel:

These people searched for their ancestral registrations but they couldn't be located. Accordingly, they were assigned an "unclean" status and couldn't be priests.

As a result, the people couldn't distinguish between the noise coming from the shouts of joy and the noise coming from the weeping people, because everyone was shouting loudly and could be heard a long way off.

But God watched over the Jewish leaders, who could not be forced to stop working until Darius received a report and responded in reply.

We also asked them their names so that we could certify the identities of their leaders to you.

I told them to go see Iddo, a leader of Casiphia, and tell him and his relatives (administrators of Casiphia) to bring us men who could serve in the Temple of our God.

Then I called for a fast there at the Ahava River so we could humble ourselves before our God and seek from him an appropriate way for us and our little ones to live, and how we should guard our personal wealth,

He had been hired to make me afraid so I would sin by doing what he suggested. Then they could create a slanderous report to use against me.

So my God gave me the idea to gather together the nobles, the officials, and the people so they could be registered according to their genealogies.

Here is a list of returnees from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, who could not prove their ancestry and lineage from Israel:

These people searched for their ancestral records, but they couldn't be located. Accordingly, they were considered disqualified from the priesthood.

So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought out the Law before the assembled people. Both men and women were in attendance, as well as all who could understand what they were hearing.

Ezra read from it, facing the plaza in front of the Water Gate, from early in the morning until mid-day in the presence of the men and women, as well as all who could understand. All the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

They read from the Book of the Law of God, distinctly communicating its meaning, so they could understand the reading.

So their descendants entered and took possession of the land. Before their eyes you subdued those living in the land the Canaanites putting them under their control, along with their kings and the nations of the land, so they could do with them as they pleased.

"Look! Today we are your servants, along with the land that you gave to our ancestors, so they could enjoy its fruit and its value behold, in it we are your servants!

We also determined to present the first fruits of our ground grain, our offerings, the fruit of all kinds of trees, wines, and oil to the priests, to the chambers of the Temple of our God, and the tithes of our land to the descendants of Levi, so those descendants of Levi could collect the tithes in all the towns where we worked:

At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they invited the descendants of Levi to come from wherever they lived to Jerusalem so they could celebrate the dedication with joy, thanksgiving, and songs, accompanied by cymbals, lyres, and harps.

Also at that time men were appointed over the storerooms for the contributions, for the first fruits, and for the tithes, so those portions required by the Law could be gathered from the fields adjacent to the towns to benefit the priests and descendants of Levi, for the people of Judah rejoiced over the priests and the descendants of Levi who were serving.

Later that day the book of Moses was read aloud so the people could hear it, and a written command was discovered therein permanently prohibiting the Ammonites and Moabites from coming into the congregation of God

Furthermore, their children spoke half of the time in the language of Ashdod, and could not speak in the language of Judah. Instead, they spoke in the languages of various nations.

When Esther's young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was greatly distressed. She sent clothes for Mordecai to put on so he could take off the sackcloth that he had on, but he would not take them.

That night the king could not sleep, so he gave instructions to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read to the king.

The Jewish people assembled in their towns throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike out against those who intended to harm them, and no one could oppose them because all the people had come to fear the Jews.

and sat with Job on the ground for a full week without saying a word, since they could see the great extent of his anguish.

It remained standing, but I couldn't recognize its appearance. A form appeared before my eyes; At first there was silence, and then this voice:

"If only my grief could be weighed; or my calamity piled together on a balance scale!

At least I could still take comfort and rejoice in unceasing anguish, for I didn't conceal what the Holy One has to say.

Indeed, if he snatches someone away, who could restrain him? Who can say to him, "What are you doing?'

"I could also talk like you if only you were in my place! Then I would put together an argument against you. I would shake my head at you

"I wish I could go back to how things were a few months ago; when God used to watch over me,

when his lamp used to shine over my head, so I could walk through the dark,

I smiled at them when they had no confidence, and no one could discourage me.

Furthermore, what could I have gained from men whose strength is gone?

Unproductive due to poverty and hunger, they could only scratch in parched soil, devastated and desolated.

"You spoke clearly so I could hear; I've heard what you've said:

His flesh wastes away; his bones, which once couldn't be seen, are visible.

No one could find more beautiful women in the whole land than Job's daughters. Their father gave them their inheritance along with their brothers.

Then the channels of the sea could be seen, and the foundations of the earth were uncovered because of your rebuke, LORD, because of the blast from the breath of your nostrils.

I exalt you, LORD, for you have lifted me up, and my enemies could not gloat over me.

But then he passed away; in fact, he simply was not there. When I looked for him, he could not be found.

I said, "O, who will give me the wings of a dove, so that I could fly away and live somewhere else?

For it is not an enemy who insults me I could have handled that nor is it someone who hates me and who now arises against me I could have hidden myself from him

You kept my eyes open; I was troubled and couldn't speak.

The priests fell by the sword, yet their widows couldn't weep.

They wandered in desolate wilderness; they found no road to a city where they could live.

He led them in a straight way to find a city where they could live.

LORD, if you were to record iniquities, Lord, who could remain standing?

I opened the door for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away; he was gone! My very life went out when he departed. I searched for him, but couldn't find him. I called out to him, but he didn't answer.

Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your flowing locks are like purple, and a king could be captured in the dangling tresses.

What more could I do in my vineyard, that I haven't already done? When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield wild ones?

The LORD of the Heavenly Armies has declared this so I could hear it: "Surely many houses will become desolate, great and beautiful houses, without occupants.

During the reign of Jotham's son Ahaz, Uzziah's grandson, king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Remaliah's son Pekah, king of Israel, approached Jerusalem and waged war against it, but they could not mount an attack against it.

"Come, go to this steward, to Shebna who is in charge of the household, and ask him: "What are you doing here, and who are your relatives here that you could carve out a grave for yourself here cutting out a tomb at the choicest location, chiseling out a resting place for yourself out of solid rock?

I am not angry. If only the vineyard could give me briers and thorns to battle, I would march against it, and I would burn it all up.

Who told of this from the beginning, so we could know, or beforehand, so we could ask, "Is it right?' Indeed, no one told of this, no one made an announcement, and no one heard your words:

"See, they are just like stubble; fire burns them up. They could not even save themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals for warming oneself, no fire to sit by.