Nevertheless, thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come out of thy loins, he shall build a house for my name.'

And the LORD hath made good his word that he spake. For I stood up in the room of David my father, and sat on the seat of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

and said, "LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven above or in the earth beneath, that keepest appointment and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their hearts:

which also hast kept with thy servants David my father, that thou promisedest him. Thou spakest with thy mouth and hast fulfilled with thine hand, as it is come to pass this day.

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.'

But indeed can God dwell on the earth? Behold: neither heaven, nor heaven above all heavens are able to contain thee - how much less then this house that I have built?

that thine eyes may be open upon this house night and day; and upon the place, of which thou hast said, my name shall be there: that thou hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray in this place.

then hearken thou up to heaven, and work and judge thy servants, that thou condemn the wicked to bring his way upon his head, and justify the righteous to give him according to his righteousness.

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:

then hear thou up to heaven, and be merciful unto the sin of thy servants and of thy people Israel, that thou show them a good way to walk in, and give rain upon thy land that thou hast given unto thy people to inherit.

If there chance dearth in the land, pestilence, blasting or withering of corn, or that the fruits be devoured of grasshoppers or caterpillars, or if their enemies besiege them in the land and in their own cities, or whatsoever plague or sickness chance:

then hear thou up to heaven thy dwelling place, all the prayers and supplications that shall be made of all men throughout all thy people Israel, which shall knowledge every man the plague of his own heart, and stretch forth his hands unto this house.

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

And likewise, if a stranger that is not of thy people Israel come out of a far country for thy name's sake

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

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.

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.

"Blessed be the LORD that hath given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he promised: so that there is not one word escaped of all the good promises which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.

but that he bow our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, ordinances and customs which he commanded our fathers.

And these my words which I have prayed before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he defend the cause of his servant and of his people Israel evermore,

that all nations of the earth may know that the LORD, he is God and there is none other.

And I pray God that your hearts may be sound with the LORD our God, to walk in his ordinances and to keep his laws as we do this day."

And the peace offerings that Solomon offered unto the LORD, were twenty two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep: And so the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.

And the same day the king hallowed the middle of the court that is before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings and meat offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the brazen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings and meat offerings and the fat of the peace offerings.

And Solomon held that same time a high feast and all Israel with him, a mighty congregation, even from the coasts of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and yet seven days, that is, fourteen days.

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 when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD and of the king's palace, and of all that his desire and lust was to make:

And the LORD said unto him, "I have heard thy prayer and intercession that thou madest before me, and have hallowed this house which thou hast built, to put my name there forever and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in pureness of heart and plainness, to do all that I have commanded thee, and shalt keep mine ordinances and customs:

And this house which is so high, all that pass by it shall be astonished and shall hiss and say, 'Why hath the LORD dealt on this manner with this land and with this house?'

Then at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, that is to wete, the house of the LORD and the king's palace -

For Pharaoh, king of Egypt, went up and took Gezer and burnt it with fire, and slew the Cananites that dwelt in the city, and gave it for a present unto his daughter that was Solomon's wife.

and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness that is in the land;

and all the store cities that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen and all that his lust was to build in Jerusalem and Lebanon and in all the land of his kingdom.

And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel,

the children of the said nations that were left in the land, because the children of Israel were not able to destroy them, did Solomon make tributaries unto this day.

And these many lords that oversaw the work, had Solomon five hundred and fifty, which ruled the people that wrought in the work.

And Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto the house which Solomon had built for her. And after that he built Mello.

And Hiram sent by ship also of his servants, that were shipmen and expert in the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

And she came to Jerusalem with a mighty great multitude of Camels that bare sweet odours and gold exceeding much, and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

And Solomon expounded her all her questions, that there was not one thing hid from the king which he expounded her not.

And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom and the house that he had built,

and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the standing of his servitors and their apparel, and his butlers and his sacrifice that he offered in the house of the LORD, she was astonished.

And thereto the ships of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir great plenty of almug trees and precious stones.

And king Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire that she asked of him: besides that he gave her with his own hand. And so she returned unto her own country with her servants.

The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred three score and six talents of gold,

besides that he had of chapmen and merchants of apothecaries and of all the kings of Arabia and of the lords of the country.

And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: so that he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he bestowed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.

And the king made silver in Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and Cedar as plenteous as mulberry trees that grow in the valleys.

For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart after other gods: so that his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

After that, Solomon built an altar for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites in the hill that standeth before Jerusalem, and unto Moloch the abomination of the children of Ammon.

and gave him a charge of this thing that he should not follow other gods. But he kept not that which the LORD commanded him:

For when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury them that were slain, he smote all the males in Edom -

for Joab remained six months, and all Israel, till he had rooted out all the males that were in Edom.

And Hadad gat great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the Queen.

And when Hadad heard say in Egypt that David was laid to sleep with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead also, he said to Pharaoh, "Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country."

Then said Pharaoh unto him, "What lackest thou here with me, that thou wouldest go to thine own country?" And he said, "Nothing: howbeit, let me go."

And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, with the evil that Hadad did, which abhorred Israel and reigned in Syria.

And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zeredah - whose mother was called Zeruah and was a widow and Solomon's servant - lifted up his hand against the king. And hereof came it, that he lifted up his hand against the king.

And this fellow Jeroboam was an active man. And when Solomon saw the young man, that he wrought so lustily in the work, he made him ruler over all the charges of the house of Joseph.

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.

And Ahijah caught the new mantle that was on him and rent it in twelve pieces,

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 will give his son one, that David my servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me, to put my name there.

And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign upon all that thy soul desireth and shalt be king over Israel.

And if thou shalt hearken unto all that I command thee, and shalt walk in my ways and do that is right in my sight, that thou keep mine ordinances and commandments as David my servant did: then will I be with thee and build thee a house that shall continue, as I built for my servant David, and will give Israel unto thee.

And the rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did, and his wisdom, are written in the book of the Acts of Solomon.

And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem upon all Israel, was forty years.

And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that stood before Solomon his father, while he yet lived, and said, "What counsel give ye to answer this people withal?"

But he forsook the counsel that the old men had given him, and counselled with the young men that were nourished up with him and had waited on him.

And the young men that were brought up with him, answered him, saying, "This people that have said unto thee, 'Thy father made our yoke heavy, make thou it us lighter' - thus answer them: 'My little finger shall be weightier than my father's loins!

the king answered the people churlishly and left the advice that old men gave him:

And when all Israel saw that the king regarded them not, the people answered the king again saying, "We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents therefore Israel, and now see to thine own house David." And so Israel departed unto their tents.

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.

And that doing was a cause of sin. And the people went before the one as far as Dan.

And Jeroboam made a feast the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like unto the feast that was in Judah, and offered on the altar. And so did he in Bethel, to offer unto the calves that he had made. And he put in Bethel the priests of the hill altars, which he had made.

and cried against the altar at the commandment of the LORD and said, "Altar, altar, thus sayeth the LORD: 'Behold, a child shall be born of the house of David, Josiah by name, which upon thee shall offer the priests of the hill altars that sacrifice upon thee, and shall burn men's bones upon thee.'"

And he gave them the same time a sign, saying, "This is the sign, of that the LORD hath promised: Behold, the altar shall rent and the ashes that are in it shall fall out."

And when the king heard the saying of the man of God which he cried against the altar in Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar saying, "Hold him." And his hand, which he put forth toward him, dried up that he could not pull it in again to him;

And the king answered and said unto the man of God, "Oh pray unto the LORD thy God and make intercession for me, that my hand may be restored me again." And the man of God besought the LORD, and his hand came to him again as well as before.

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.

And he gat him up thereon and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an Oak and said unto him, "Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah?" And he said, "Yea."

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

And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, "Thus sayeth the LORD: 'Because thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,

but camest back again and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place in which he bade that thou shouldest eat no bread nor drink water: therefore thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.'"

And men that passed by, saw the carcass cast along in the way and the lion standing thereby, and went and told it in the town where the old prophet dwelt.

And when the prophet that brought him back again from the way, heard thereof, he said, "It is the man of God which disobeyed the mouth of the LORD. And therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion which hath rent him and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he said to him."

And when he had buried him, he spake to his sons, saying, "When I am dead, see that ye bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried, and lay my bones by his.

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.

At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

And Jeroboam said unto his wife, "Up, a fellowship, and change thine apparel that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and get thee to Shiloh. For there is Ahijah the prophet which told me that I should be king over this people.

and did rent the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it thee - and thou hast not been as was my servant David, which kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, to do that only which seemeth right in mine eyes -

but hast done evil above all that were before thee, and hast gone and made the other gods and images of metal, to provoke me, and hast cast me behind thy back.

Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam and will strike from Jeroboam all that pisseth against the wall, and whatsoever is in prison or forsaken in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as men take away a dung hill, till it be consumed.

And whosoever of Jeroboam's house die in the town, him shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth in the field, shall the fowls of the air eat': for the LORD hath said it.

Moreover, the LORD shall stir him up a king over Israel which shall destroy the house of Jeroboam in that day. And what is that, that is now in hand?

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.