The priests stood in waiting at their assigned places, along with the descendants of Levi who carried musical instruments used in service to the LORD that King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD because his gracious love is eternal whenever David, accompanied by priests sounding trumpets, offered praises while all of Israel stood in the assembly.

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.

At that time Solomon also held a week-long festival attended by all of Israel. The assembly was very large, and included people from as far away as Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt.

On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, King Solomon sent the people back home, and they returned rejoicing and in good spirits because of the goodness that the LORD had shown to David, to Solomon, and to his people Israel.

And so Solomon completed the LORD's Temple, bringing to completion everything that he had planned on doing for the LORD's Temple and for his own palace.

"Now therefore my eyes will remain open and my ears will remain listening to the prayers that are offered in this place.

Now as for you, if you commune with me like your father did, doing everything that I have commanded you, including obeying my statutes and my legal decisions,

"But if you turn away and abandon my statutes and my commands that I have given you, and if you walk away to serve other gods and worship them,

then I will tear them up by the roots from the ground that I had given them! And as for this Temple that I have set apart for my name, I will throw it out of my sight and make it the butt of jokes and a means of ridicule among people worldwide!

"Furthermore, even though this Temple seems so exalted, everyone who passes by it will be so astounded that they will ask, "Why did the LORD do this to this land and to this Temple?'

During this time, he also rebuilt the towns that Hiram had restored to him, and he settled Israelis in them.

Then he rebuilt Tadmor in the desert, along with supply centers that he had built in Hamath.

and he rebuilt Baalath and its supply centers that belonged to Solomon, along with all the cities that he utilized to garrison his chariots and cavalry forces. Solomon was pleased also to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in every territory that he controlled.

Later, Solomon moved Pharaoh's daughter from the City of David to the palace that he had constructed to house her, because he reasoned, "My wife isn't going to live in the palace where King David of Israel lived, because wherever the ark of the LORD entered is holy."

Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the LORD's altar that he had built in front of the porch of the Temple,

And so Solomon completed all of the work, from the day that the foundation stone of the LORD's Temple was laid until the LORD's Temple was completely finished.

When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon's reputation, she traveled to Jerusalem and tested him with difficult questions. She brought along a large retinue, camels laden with spices, and lots of gold and precious stones. Upon her arrival, she spoke with Solomon about everything that was on her mind.

When the queen of Sheba had seen Solomon's wisdom for herself, the palace that he had built,

"but I didn't believe it at first! But then I came here and I've seen it for myself! It's amazing! I wasn't told half of what's really great about your wisdom. You're far better in person than what the reports have said about you!

Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a vast quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were no spices comparable to those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

The king used the algum wood to have steps made for the LORD's Temple and for the royal palace, as well as lyres and harps for the choir, and nothing like that wood had been seen before in the territory of Judah.

because the king had ships that sailed to Tarshish accompanied by Hiram's servants. Once every three years ships from Tarshish returned, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

As a result, King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in regards to wealth and wisdom.

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.

"Your father made our burdens unbearable. Therefore you must lighten your father's requirements and his heavy burden that he placed on us, and we'll serve you."

But Rehoboam ignored the counsel that his elder advisors had given him. Instead, he consulted the younger men who had grown up with him and worked for him.

As a result, he asked them, "What's your advice, so we can give an answer to these people who have asked me, "Please lighten the burden that your father put on us'?"

"This is what you should tell the people who asked you: "Your father made our burden heavy, but you must make it lighter for us!'" the young men who had grown up with Rehoboam replied. "Tell them "My little finger will be thicker than my father's whole body!

Not only that, but since my father loaded you down heavily, I'm going to add to that burden. If my father disciplined you with whips, I'm going to do so with scorpions!'"

Instead, Rehoboam spoke to them along the lines of what the younger men suggested. He told them, "My father burdened you heavily, but I will add to that burden. If my father disciplined you with whips, I will, too with scorpions!"

The king would not listen to the people because the turn of events was from God, so that the LORD might fulfill his prediction that he spoke through Nebat's son Ahijah the Shilonite.

That's how Israel came to be in rebellion against David's dynasty to this day.

Jeroboam had appointed his own priests to serve at the high places and to serve the satyrs and calves that he had made.

Rehoboam loved Absalom's daughter Maacah more than he did all of his wives and mistresses. (He married eighteen wives and 60 concubines, fathering 28 sons and 60 daughters.)

When the LORD observed that they had humbled themselves, the LORD spoke to Shemaiah, "They have humbled themselves, so I won't destroy them. Instead, I'll grant them some deliverance by not pouring out my indignation on Jerusalem, using Shishak to do it.

So King Shishak of Egypt invaded Jerusalem and looted the treasure stores in the LORD's Temple and in the royal palace. He took everything, including the golden shields that Solomon had made.

King Rehoboam consolidated his reign in Jerusalem. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that that LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to establish his name. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah from Ammon.

"Listen to me, Jeroboam and Israel! Don't you know that the LORD God of Israel assigned the kingship over Israel to David and his descendants forever by a salt covenant?

"So now you think you'll be able to withstand the LORD's kingdom as controlled by David's descendants, just because you have a large crown and have brought with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods.

Abijah and his army defeated them in a tremendous slaughter that resulted in 500,000 special forces from Israel being slain.

And so the descendants of Israel were defeated at that time. The descendants of Judah were victorious because they trusted in the LORD God of their ancestors.

Asa built fortified cities throughout Judah while the land lay undisturbed, because the LORD had given him peace so that no one went to war against him during those years.

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.

They attacked all the cities that surrounded Gerar, because fear of the LORD had overwhelmed them. The Israelis spoiled all the cities, because there was a lot to plunder in them.

Encouraged by what Oded's son Azariah the prophet had said in his prophecy, Asa removed the detestable idols from throughout the entire territories of Judah and Benjamin, and from the cities that he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He repaired the LORD's altar that stood in front of the vestibule of the LORD's Temple.

Then he gathered together all of Judah, Benjamin, and people from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were living among them, since many people had defected to him from Israel when they learned that the LORD his God was with him.

They sacrificed to the LORD that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil that they had brought with them.

and they further agreed that whoever would refuse to seek the LORD God of Israel was to be executed, whether important or unimportant, man or woman.

Asa brought into God's Temple the things that his father had dedicated, as well as his own dedicated gifts such as silver, gold, and temple service implements.

"Let's make a treaty between you and me," he said, "just like the one between my father and your father. Notice that I've sent you silver and gold to break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he'll retreat from his attack on me."

Then King Asa brought his entire army of Judah to carry away the building stones and the timber that Baasha had been using to surround Ramah, and he used those materials to fortify Geba and Mizpah.

The LORD's eyes keep on roaming throughout the earth, looking for those whose hearts completely belong to him, so that he may strongly support them. But because you have acted foolishly in this, from now on you will have wars."

In response, Asa flew into a rage and locked up the seer in stocks in the palace prison because of what Hanani had told him. Asa also tortured some of the people of Israel at that time.

and he was buried in his own tomb that he had prepared for himself in the City of David. He was laid out on a bier that had been filled with various spices prepared by morticians, and the mourners built a massive bonfire to honor his memory.

by placing troops in all of the fortified citadels through Judah and by establishing garrisons throughout the land of Judah and in the cities that his father Asa had captured.

They taught throughout Judah from a copy of the Book of the Law of the LORD that they took with them as they passed through all the cities of Judah, teaching among all the people.

Because they were afraid of the LORD, none of the kingdoms of the lands that surrounded Judah dared go to war against Jehoshaphat.

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."

Meanwhile, the messenger who had gone off to summon Micaiah advised him, "Look, everything that the other prophets were saying has been unanimously favorable to the king. So please, cooperate with them and speak favorably."

Then the king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he wouldn't prophesy anything good about me, but only evil?"

"The LORD asked, "Who will tempt King Ahab of Israel to attack Ramoth-gilead, so that he will die there?' And one was saying one thing and one was saying another.

Micaiah replied, "You'll learn the answer to that question when the day comes that you run away to hide yourself in a closet!"

When the chariot commanders saw that their target was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him.

Nevertheless, a few good things have been found in you, in that you have removed the Asheroth from the land and you have disciplined yourself to seek God."

"You are to carry out your duties in the fear of the LORD, serving him faithfully with your whole heart. No matter what case comes before you from your fellow citizens who live in their own cities, whether it's a dispute between blood relatives or a dispute regarding the Law and the commands, statutes, or verdicts, you are to warn the parties so that they do not become guilty in the LORD's presence and so that anger does not come upon you and your fellow citizens.

Take notice, please, that Amariah the Chief Priest is presiding over all cases that pertain to the LORD, Ishmael's son Zebadiah is presiding as ruler of the household of Judah with respect to all cases that pertain to the national government, and the descendants of Levi will preside over your other civil cases. Serve courageously, and the LORD will be with the upright."

Look how they're rewarding us! They're coming to drive us from your property that you gave us to be our inheritance.

Our God, you are going to punish them, aren't you? We have no strength to face this vast multitude that has come against us, nor do we know what to do, except that our eyes are on you."

Tomorrow you are to go down to attack them. Pay attention, now they'll be coming up near the ascent of Ziz. You'll find them at the end of the valley that looks out over the Jeruel wilderness.

Descendants of Levi from the descendants of Kohath and from the descendants of Korah stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel in a very loud voice that ascended to heaven.

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.

Three days later, they assembled together in the Beracah Valley, where they blessed the LORD, which is why the name of that place is called Beracah Valley to this day.

Fear of God seized all of the kingdoms in the surrounding territories when they heard that the LORD had battled Israel's enemies.

Nevertheless, the Lord was unwilling to destroy David's dynasty because of the covenant that he had made with David, especially since he had promised to give him and to his sons the reigning presence of an heir forever.

"This is what the LORD God of your ancestor David says: "You haven't lived like your father Jehoshaphat and like King Asa of Judah. Instead, you have lived like the kings of Israel by causing Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit cultic sexual immorality just like Ahab's dynasty did! And you've killed your brothers who were better than you your own father's dynasty!

The residents of Jerusalem made Jehoram's son Ahaziah king in his place after the raiding party that had invaded the city with the Arabs had killed all of the older sons. That's how Jehoram's son Ahaziah became king of Judah.

So he practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, just like Ahab's dynasty had done, because after his father died, he was given advice that resulted in his destruction.

so he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that he had received at Ramah in the battle against King Hazael of Aram. King Ahaziah of Judah, Jehoram's son, went to visit Ahab's son Joram, because he was wounded.

And that's exactly what happened. While Jehu was punishing Ahab's dynasty, he located the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers who were ministering to Ahaziah, and he put them to death.

As soon as Ahaziah's mother Athaliah learned that her son had died, she set out to destroy the entire royal family of Judah.

However, the king's daughter Jehoshabeath took Ahaziah's son Joash away from the king's children who were about to be assassinated and hid him and his nurse in a bedroom. That's how King Jehoram's daughter Jehoshabeath, who was also the priest Jehoiada's wife and Ahaziah's sister, hid him from Athaliah. As a result, she was not able to kill him.

and Jehoiada the priest issued the spears and shields that King David had placed in storage in God's Temple to the officers in charge of the units of hundreds.

After this, Jehoiada drew up a covenant between himself as an individual with all the people, and between himself as king, that they would be the LORD's people.

Jehoiada also stationed inspectors at the LORD's Temple so that no one would enter who was ritually unclean in any manner.

so he assembled the priests and descendants of Levi and ordered them, "Go throughout the cities of Judah and take up a collection from all of Israel for the annual upkeep of the Temple of your God. And make sure that you act quickly." But the descendants of Levi did not act quickly,

Because that wicked woman Athaliah's family members had broken into the Temple of God and used the consecrated implements of the LORD's Temple for service to the Baals,

A public notice was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in the tax that Moses the servant of the LORD had levied on Israel when they were in the wilderness.

When they had completed the work, they brought what was left of the money to the king and to Jehoiada, and it was used to cast utensils for the LORD's Temple that were to be utilized for daily service and for burnt offerings, for incense vessels, and for both gold and silver vessels. Burnt offerings were offered on a regular basis in the LORD's Temple throughout Jehoiada's lifetime.

This is how King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah's father Jehoiada had shown him: he killed his son. As he lay dying, Zechariah cried out, "May the LORD watch this and avenge."

At the end of that year, the Aramean army attacked Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed every senior official among the people, and sent all of their possessions to the king of Damascus.

Amaziah gathered Judah together and organized them according to their ancestral households under commanders of thousands and hundreds throughout Judah and Benjamin. He then mustered an army from those who were 20 years old and older. He discovered that there were 300,000 elite soldiers qualified for war duty and capable of handling spears and shields.

Amaziah asked the man of God, "What are we to do about the 100 talents that I have paid to the army of Israel?"

The man of God answered, "The LORD has a lot more than that to give you!" So Amaziah sent the troops home who had arrived from Ephraim. They flew into a rage against Judah but left for home very angry.

Meanwhile, the troops that Amaziah had sent home from the battle raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth-horon, killing 3,000 people and taking a large amount of war booty.

Later, Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, but he brought back the gods that had belonged to the men of Seir, set them up as his own gods, worshipped them, and sacrificed offerings to them.

But King Joash of Israel replied to King Amaziah of Judah, "There once was a thorn bush in Lebanon that sent an invitation to the cedar of Lebanon that read "Give your daughter to my son in marriage.' Right about then, a wild animal in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn bush.

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.

From the time that Amaziah abandoned his seeking the LORD, some people conspired against him in Jerusalem, so he ran away to Lachish, but they pursued him to Lachish and killed him there.

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.