But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count because the king’s command was detestable to him.

So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take your choice:

Choose thee, either three years of famine, or three months to be destroyed before thine adversaries while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee, or three days the sword of Jehovah and the pestilence in the land, and the angel of Jehovah destroying through all the borders of Israel. And now consider what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; and as he was destroying, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough; withdraw now thine hand. And the angel of Jehovah stood by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

So David went up as Gad instructed him to do in the name of the Lord.

Ornan was threshing wheat when he turned and saw the angel. His four sons, who were with him, hid themselves.

As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw him, and went out from the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground.

And Ornan said to David, Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems right to him. See, I give you the oxen for burned offerings and the grain-cleaning instruments for fire-wood, and the grain for the meal offering; I give it all.

He built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord, and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.

At that time, David offered sacrifices there when he saw that the Lord answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

Then David said, "Solomon my son [is] a boy and inexperienced, and the house built for Yahweh [must be] exceedingly great in fame and splendor throughout every land. I will make preparations for him." So David provided abundant [materials] before he died.

Then he summoned his son Solomon and instructed him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel.

But a son will be born to you; he will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign.

He himself will build a house for my name, and he himself will be to me a son, and I [will be] to him as a father, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.'

Amram’s sons: Aaron and Moses.

Aaron, along with his descendants, was set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense in the presence of Yahweh, to minister to Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever.

And Eleazar will die, and no sons were to him, but daughters: and their brethren the sons of Kish will take them.

These had their assigned duties for service when they entered the Lord’s temple, according to their regulations, which they received from their ancestor Aaron, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

And to Mahli, Eleazar; and no sons to him.

All these sons of Heman, the king’s seer, were given by the promises of God to exalt him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

And they will cast lots from the watches near, as the small so the great, he understanding with him taught

The first lot for Asaph fell to Joseph, his sons, and his brothers—12 to Gedaliah the second: him, his brothers, and his sons— 12

Ammiel the sixth,
Issachar the seventh, and Peullethai the eighth,
for God blessed him.

Furthermore, his son Shemaiah had sons born to him who wielded authority in their ancestral households, since they were mighty men of valor.

Hosah, from the Merarites, also had sons: Shimri the first (although he was not the firstborn, his father had appointed him as the first),

The lot for the east gate went to Shelemiah. They then cast lots for his son Zechariah, a wise adviser, and the lot for the north gate went to him.

The fourth commander, for the fourth month, was Joab’s brother Asahel, and his son Zebadiah was commander after him; 24,000 were in his division.

Nevertheless, the LORD God of Israel chose me from my entire ancestral household to be king over Israel forever, since he had chosen Judah as Commander-in-Chief. In my ancestor Judah's household, from my father's household, and from among my father's sons it pleased him to make me king over all of Israel.

He said to me, ‘Your son Solomon is the one who is to build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his father.

"I chose your son Solomon to be the one who will construct my Temple and my courts, because I have chosen him to be a son to me, and I will be a father to him. I will establish his kingdom forever, assuming he remains strongly committed to carry out my commandments and ordinances, as he is doing today.'

“As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands the intention of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

He gave him the blueprints of all he envisioned for the courts of the Lord's temple, all the surrounding rooms, the storehouses of God's temple, and the storehouses for the holy items.

He gave him the regulations for the divisions of priests and Levites, for all the assigned responsibilities within the Lord's temple, and for all the items used in the service of the Lord's temple.

He gave him the prescribed weight for all the gold items to be used in various types of service in the Lord's temple, for all the silver items to be used in various types of service,

and for the refined gold of the incense altar. He gave him the blueprint for the seat of the gold cherubim that spread their wings and provide shelter for the ark of the Lord's covenant.

Then King David said to all the assembly, “My son Solomon—God has chosen him alone—is young and inexperienced. The task is great because the temple will not be for man but for the Lord God.

They ate and drank with great joy in the Lord’s presence that day.

Then, for a second time, they made David’s son Solomon king; they anointed him as the Lord’s ruler, and Zadok as the priest.

Solomon sat on the Lord’s throne as king in place of his father David. He prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.

The Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been bestowed on any king over Israel before him.

He died at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth, and honor. His son Solomon succeeded him.

along with all his reign, his might, and the incidents that affected him and Israel and all the kingdoms of the surrounding lands.

Solomon son of David strengthened his hold on his kingdom. The Lord his God was with him and highly exalted him.

Solomon and the whole assembly with him went to the high place that was in Gibeon because God’s tent of meeting, which the Lord’s servant Moses had made in the wilderness, was there.

but he put the bronze altar, which Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, in front of the Lord’s tabernacle. Solomon and the assembly inquired of Him there.

That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him: “Ask. What should I give you?”

And Solomon will gather together chariots and horsemen: and there will be to him a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; and he will deposit them in the cities of the chariots, and with the king in Jerusalem.

And the horses which Solomon had, were brought him out of Egypt from Kue. The king's merchants fetched them out at Kue at a price.

Then Solomon sent word to King Hiram of Tyre:

Do for me what you did for my father David. You sent him cedars to build him a house to live in.

Now I am building a temple for the name of Yahweh my God in order to dedicate it to Him for burning fragrant incense before Him, for displaying the rows of the bread of the Presence continuously, and for sacrificing burnt offerings for the morning and the evening, the Sabbaths and the New Moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is ordained for Israel forever.

But who is able to build a temple for Him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Him? Who am I then that I should build a temple for Him except as a place to burn incense before Him?

He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your craftsmen and the craftsmen of my lord, your father David.

And now the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants.

King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel who had gathered around him were in front of the ark sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered because there were so many.

You have kept what You promised
to Your servant, my father David.
You spoke directly to him,
and You fulfilled Your promise by Your power,
as it is today.

And now, O Yahweh, God of Israel, keep for your servant David, my father, what you have spoken to him, saying, '{You shall not lack} a man to sit on the throne of Israel before me, if only your sons keep their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.'

"If a man sins against his neighbor and {makes him swear an oath} and comes [with] an oath before your altar in this house,

may You hear in heaven and act.
May You judge Your servants,
condemning the wicked man by bringing
what he has done on his own head
and providing justice for the righteous
by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

"If there is a famine in the land; if there is disease, blight, mildew, locust, and caterpillar; if it happens that his enemy lays siege to him in the land [and] his gates; any kind of plague, any kind of disease,

thou shalt hear him from heaven thy dwelling place, and shalt do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for. That all the nations of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doeth thy people Israel: and that it may be known how that this house which I have built, is called after thy name.

O Lord God, let him whom you have taken for yourself never be given up by you: keep in mind your mercies to David your servant.

So Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly, from the entrance to Hamath to the Brook of Egypt—observed the festival at that time for seven days.

Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him:

I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a temple of sacrifice.

Solomon had rebuilt the cities Hiram gave him and settled Israelites there—

and built up Baalath, all the storage cities that belonged to him, and all the cities where chariots and horses were kept. He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.

But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen in his work: but they were men of war and rulers and great lords with him, and captains over his chariots and Horsemen.

So Hiram sent ships to him by his servants along with crews of experienced seamen. They went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, took from there 17 tons of gold, and delivered it to King Solomon.

The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, so she came to test Solomon with difficult questions at Jerusalem with a very large entourage, with camels bearing spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. She came to Solomon and spoke with him about everything that was on her mind.

Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from him which he did not make clear to her.

the food set at his table, his servants who waited on him, his ministers in attendance and how they were dressed, his personal staff and how they were dressed, and even his personal stairway by which he went up to the LORD's Temple, she was breathless!

Blessed be Yahweh your God who took delight in you, to put you on his throne as king for Yahweh your God! Because your God loved Israel, he established him forever and has put you over them as king to do justice and righteousness!"

King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, more than what she had brought him. Then she left and returned to her homeland with her attendants.

All the kings of the earth wanted to visit Solomon to see him display his God-given wisdom.

And everyone took with him an offering, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and robes, and coats of metal, and spices, and horses and beasts for transport, regularly year by year.

And Solomon had horses brought him out of Egypt and out of all lands.

And Solomon slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.

So they summoned him. Then Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam:

And they said to him, "If you will be good to this people and please them, then speak good words to them. Then they will be your servants {forever}."

But he rejected the advice of the elders who had advised him, and he consulted with the young men who had grown up with him, the ones serving him.

Then the young men who had grown up with him told him, “This is what you should say to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you, make it lighter on us!’ This is what you should say to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins.

When all Israel saw that the king did not listen and pay attention to them, the people answered him,“What portion do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Every man to your tents, O Israel;
Now, [Rehoboam, descendant of] David, see to your own house.” So all Israel went to their tents.

Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. However, King Rehoboam managed to get into his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

In every city [he put] shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong. Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

Now the priests and the Levites who [were] throughout all Israel took their stand with him from all their territories.

and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the male goats, and for the calves which he had made.

Rehoboam took him a wife, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, [and of] Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;

She bore sons to him: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.

After her, he married Maacah daughter of Absalom. She bore Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith to him.

Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief, leader among his brothers, intending to make him king.

When Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power, he abandoned the law of the Lord—he and all Israel with him.

with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 cavalrymen, and countless people who came with him from Egypt—Libyans, Sukkiim, and Cushites.

but they become servants to him, and they know My service, and the service of the kingdoms of the lands.'

And whenever the king went into the house of the Lord, the armed men went with him taking the body-covers, and then took them back to their room.

When Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger turned away from him, and He did not destroy him completely. Besides that, conditions were good in Judah.

Then Rehoboam passed away and was buried in the City of David. His son Abijah replaced him as king.

Abijah set his army of warriors in order with 400,000 choice men. Jeroboam arranged his mighty army of 800,000 choice men in battle formation against him.

Do you not all know that Yahweh the God of Israel gave the kingdom to David over Israel forever, to him and to his sons [by] a covenant of salt?

Then worthless and wicked men gathered around him to resist Rehoboam son of Solomon when Rehoboam was young, inexperienced, and unable to assert himself against them.

“But as for us, Yahweh is our God. We have not abandoned Him; the priests ministering to the Lord are descendants of Aaron, and the Levites serve at their tasks.

They offer a burnt offering and fragrant incense to the Lord every morning and every evening, and they set the rows of the bread of the Presence on the ceremonially clean table. They light the lamps of the gold lampstand every evening. We are carrying out the requirements of Yahweh our God, while you have abandoned Him.

Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured some cities from him: Bethel and its villages, Jeshanah and its villages, and Ephron and its villages.