Later, David's conscience bothered him after he had numbered the army, so David told the LORD, "I have sinned greatly by what I did. But now I am asking you, please remove the guilt of your servant, since I have acted very foolishly."

so his servants suggested to him, "Let's look for a young virgin woman to take care of you, your majesty. She will be of use to you if you have her lie down near you so that your majesty may keep warm."

but Zadok the priest, Jehoiada's son Benaiah, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David's personal elite forces would have nothing to do with Adonijah.

"Haven't you heard?" Nathan asked Solomon's mother Bathsheba. "Haggith's son Adonijah has become king and David, our true king, isn't aware of it.

and David addressed them. "Take your lord's servants, have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon.

Have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel. Then sound a trumpet and declare "Long live King Solomon!'

Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him in Gihon, and they just left from there rejoicing, and that's why the city is all in an uproar. That's the noise that you've been hearing!

In addition to all of this, the king's servants have come along to congratulate our lord King David. They've been telling David "May your God make Solomon's reputation even more famous than yours, and may he make his throne greater than yours!' The king has himself bowed in worship on his own bed

"Pay attention now! You have with you Gera's son Shimei the descendant of Benjamin from Bahurim. He cursed me violently that day when I had to leave for Mahanaim. When he visited me at the Jordan River, I made an oath to the LORD and told him, "I won't execute you with a sword.'

"Yes," he replied. "I have something to ask you about." "Talk," she told him.

So he replied, "You know that the kingdom should have come to me, and that everyone in Israel intended to place me as the next king. However, the kingdom has turned around and now belongs to my brother, because it went to him from the LORD.

So why haven't you kept the oath you made to the LORD, and why didn't you obey my personal order to you?"

"You have demonstrated abundant gracious love to your servant David, my father, as he lived in your presence truthfully, righteously, and uprightly in his heart. In addition, you have kept on showing this abundant gracious love by giving him a son to sit on his throne today. Now, LORD my God, you have set me as king to replace my father David, but I'm still young. I don't have any leadership skills.

Your servant lives in the midst of your people that you have chosen, a great people that is too numerous to be counted.

"Because you asked for this, and you didn't ask for a long life for yourself, and you didn't ask for the lives of your enemies, but instead you've asked for discernment so you can understand how to govern, look how I'm going to do precisely what you asked. I'm giving you a wise and discerning mind, so that there will have been no one like you before you and no one will arise after you like you.

I'm also giving you what you haven't requested: both riches and honor, so that no other king will be comparable to you during your lifetime.

But now the LORD has given me rest all around, since I have neither foreign adversaries nor domestic crises.

"I have read the letter that you sent me. I'll do what you've asked about the cedar and cypress timber.

My servants will transport them from Lebanon to the sea, where we'll make them into rafts and float them by sea to the port that you tell me to send them. We'll have them prepared for transport there and then you can carry them from there. You can meet my needs by providing provisions for my household."

Now I have been constructing a magnificent Temple dedicated to you that will serve as a place for you to inhabit forever."

"From the day I brought out my people Israel from Egypt I never chose a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple where my name might reside. I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.'

"The LORD has brought to fulfillment what he promised, and now here I stand, having succeeded my father David to sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the Temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

I have placed there the ark in which the covenant is stored that the LORD made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt."

"LORD God of Israel, there is no one like you, God in heaven above or on the earth below, who watches over his covenant, showing gracious love to your servants who live their lives in your presence with all their hearts. It is you, LORD God, who have kept your promise to my father, your servant David, that you made to him. Indeed, you made a commitment to my father David and then personally fulfilled what you had promised today.

"Now therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep your promise that you made to my father, your servant David, when you said, "You will not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants will watch their lives, to live in my presence just as you have lived in my presence.'

and yet, will God truly reside on earth? Look! Neither the sky nor the highest heaven can contain you! How much less this Temple that I have built!

Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said "My name will reside there.' Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction.

"If your people Israel are defeated in a battle with their enemy because they have sinned against you, when they return to you and confess to you, pray, and in this Temple they ask you to show grace to them,

"When heaven remains closed, and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray in the direction of this place, confessing your name and turning from their sin when you afflict them,

then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the best way to live and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as an inheritance.

so they will fear you every day and live on the surface of the land that you have given to our ancestors.

then hear in heaven where you reside, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the people of the earth may know your name, fear you as do your people Israel, and so they may know that this Temple that I have built is called by your name.

"When your people go out to war against their enemies, no matter what way you send them, and they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city that you have chosen and in the direction of the Temple that I have built for your name,

if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you even if they do so in the land of their captivity confessing, "We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,'

if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name,

forgiving your people who have sinned against you, along with their transgressions by which they have transgressed against you.

"Show your compassion in the presence of those who have taken them captive, so they may show compassion on them, since they are your people and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from an iron fire furnace.

because you have separated them to yourself as your heritage from all the people of the earth, as you spoke through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, Lord GOD.

The LORD told him: "I've heard your prayer and your request that you made to me. I have consecrated this Temple that you have built by placing my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there continuously.

But if you or your descendants abandon me, and do not keep my commandments and statutes that I have given to you, and if you go away, serve other gods, and worship them,

so he asked him, "What are these cities that you have given to me, my brother?" That's why these cities were named "the land of Cabal" to this day.

"Everything I heard about your wisdom and what you have to say is true!" she gasped,

"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!

The king used the algum wood to have supports 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 has ever come again or even been seen since right to this day.

so the LORD told Solomon, "Because you have done this and haven't kept my covenant and statutes that I commanded you, I'm going to tear the kingdom from you and give it to your servant.

Pharaoh asked him, "But have you lacked anything from me that would make you want to go back to your own country?" "No," he answered, "but I still really must leave."

I'm doing this because they have abandoned me and worshipped that Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They haven't lived my way by doing what I consider to be right and observing my statutes and my ordinances, like his father David did.

I'll give one tribe to his son, so my servant David will always have a light shining in my presence in Jerusalem, the city that I chose for myself and where I have placed my name.

I'm going to take you and have you reign over whatever you desire. You will be king over Israel.

This is how I'm going to afflict David's descendants because of what they have done, though I won't do it continuously.'"

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

When all of Israel saw that the king wasn't listening to them, the people responded to the king's message, "What's the point in following David? We have no inheritance in the descendants of Jesse. Let's go home, Israel! David, take care of your own household!' So Israel left for home.

"Come home with me and have a meal," he told him.

so he cried out to the man of God from Judah: "This is what the LORD says: "Because you disobeyed a command from the LORD and haven't done what the LORD your God commanded you to do,

"Come in, wife of Jeroboam. What is this pretension at being someone else? I have some harsh news. Go tell Jeroboam: "I raised you up from among the people. "I made you Commander-in-Chief over my people Israel.

"I tore the kingdom away from David's dynasty. "Then I gave it to you. But you have not lived like my servant David, who kept my commands with all his heart, and did only what I considered to be right.

"Instead, you have done more evil than everyone who lived before you. "You have gone out and crafted other gods for yourself. "You made cast images. "You have provoked me to anger. "You have thrown me behind your back.

So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance to the city, a widow was there gathering sticks. So he asked her, "Please, may I have some water in a cup so I can have a drink."

"As the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have so much as a muffin, just a handful of flour in a bowl and some oil left in a bottle. Now I'm going to find some sticks so I can cook a last meal for my son and for me. Then we're going to eat it and die."

"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!"

Then he called out to the LORD and asked him, "LORD my God, have you also brought evil to this dear widow with whom I am living as her guest? Have you caused the death of her son?"

The woman responded to Elijah, "Now at last I've really learned that you are a man of God and that what you have to say about the LORD is the truth."

Ahab had instructed Obadiah, "Go throughout the land to all of the water springs and to all of the valleys. Maybe we'll find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive. Also, maybe we won't have to kill some of our cattle."

As soon as I've left you, the Spirit of the LORD will carry you off to I don't know where! Then when I go tell Ahab and he can't find you, he'll kill me, even though I have been your servant and have feared the LORD since I was young!

But Elijah replied, "I'm no destroyer of Israel. But you and your ancestor's household have been doing that, because you have abandoned the LORD's commandments and have followed the Baals.

As the time for the evening offering arrived, Elijah the prophet approached and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I, your servant, have done all of this in obedience to your word.

After this, Elijah told Ahab, "Get up and have something to eat and drink, because there's the sound of a coming rainstorm."

Jezebel sent a messenger to tell Elijah, "May the gods do the same to me and even more if tomorrow about this time I haven't made you like one of those prophets you had killed."

"I've been very zealous for the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies," he replied. "The Israelis have abandoned your covenant, demolished your altars, executed your prophets with swords, and I that's right, just me! am the only one left. Now they're seeking my life, to get rid of me!"

"I've been very zealous for the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies," he replied. "The Israelis have abandoned your covenant, demolished your altars, executed your prophets with swords, and I that's right, just me! am the only one left. Now they're seeking my life, to get rid of me!"

Nevertheless, I've reserved 7,000 in Israel who have neither bowed their knees to Baal nor kissed him."

He abandoned the oxen, ran off to follow Elijah, and asked him, "Please, let me kiss my mother and father good-bye, and then I'll come after you." "Go back again," Elijah replied. "What have I done to you?"

Then the king of Israel called together all of the elders of the land and told them, "Please note that this man is here looking for trouble. He sent a message to me, demanding my wives, my children, and my silver and gold, and I haven't refused him."

The young men who served as officials within the provinces led the charge, and somebody informed Ben-hadad, "Some men have come out from Samaria."

so he told him, "Because you haven't obeyed the LORD's voice, as soon as you leave here, a lion will kill you." As soon as the man left, a lion found him and killed him.

Ahab addressed Naboth and asked him, "I would like to plant a vegetable garden near my house. Please exchange your vineyard with a better one from me, or if you'd rather have cash, I'll buy it for its full value."

"Aren't you the reigning king of Israel," his wife Jezebel replied. "Get up, have a meal, and get ready to be happy. I'll go get you the vineyard that Naboth the Jezreelite owns."

Later on, Ahab asked Elijah, "Have you found me, my enemy?"

"Have you noticed that Ahab has humbled himself in my presence? Because he has humbled himself in my presence, I will not bring his evil to harvest during his lifetime, but I will bring evil to his household during his son's lifetime."

When he heard this, the king asked him, "How many times do I have to make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth? Now do it in the name of the LORD!"

So Micaiah replied: "I saw all of Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD told me, "These have no master, so let them each return to his own home in peace.'"

Then they asked Elisha, "Look! We have 50 valiant men here with your servant! Please let them go out and search for your master Elijah. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up on a mountain or into a valley." Elisha responded, "Don't bother searching."

The men who lived in the city addressed Elisha. "Look now," they said, "our city's location is good, as you have been observing, but the water springs here are bad and the land isn't sustaining crops."

Elisha went out to the springs, threw the salt into them, and declared, "This is what the LORD says: "I have purified these waters. Neither death nor barrenness is to flow from them anymore.'"

Elisha asked the king of Israel, "What do I have in common with you? Go visit your parents' prophets." The king of Israel replied, "No! The LORD has summoned these three kings so he can hand them over to Moab!"

So they concluded, "This must be blood! The kings must have had one mighty big fight and each man killed the other! So let's go get the battle spoil, Moab!"

Elisha responded, "What shall I do for you? Tell me what you have in your house." She replied, "Your servant has nothing in the entire house except for a flask of oil."

Some time later, Elisha went to Shunem, where he met a prominent and wealthy woman who persuaded him to have a meal with her. As a result, whenever he was in the area, he stopped by to eat with her.

But he replied, "Distribute it to the people so they can eat, because this is what the LORD says: "They will eat and have a surplus!'" So he served them, and they ate and had some left over, just as the LORD had indicated.

But then his servants approached him and spoke with him. They said, "My father, had the prophet only asked of you something great, you would have done it, wouldn't you? Yet he told you, "Bathe, and be clean"!'"

Gehazi said, "Everything's all right. My master sent me to tell you, "Just now two men from the Guild of Prophets have arrived from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them each a talent of silver bullion and two sets of clothes.'"

so the king got up in the middle of the night and ordered his servants: "Let me explain what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we're hungry, so they've left their encampment to conceal themselves in the surrounding fields. They're telling themselves, "When they come out of the city, we'll capture them alive and enter the city!'"

When he arrived, the army commanders were seated, so he said, "I have a message for you, captain!" Jehu asked, "For which one of us?" "For you, captain!" he answered.

So Jehu got up and went inside the house, and the young man told him, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: "I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD that is, over Israel.

"That's a lie!" they said. "Tell us what's going on!" "He said "This and that' to me," he responded. ""This is what the LORD says: "I have anointed you king over Israel."'"

While the watchman was standing guard in the tower at Jezreel, he watched Jehu's entourage arrive. So he called out, "I see a group arriving." Joram ordered, "Take a horseman, send him out to meet them, and have him ask, "Have you come in peace?'"

So a horseman went out, greeted Jehu and said, "This is what the king said: "Have you come in peace?'" But Jehu responded, "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me." The watchman reported, "The messenger arrived there, but he hasn't returned."

Then Joram sent out a second horseman, who went out to them and said, "This is what the king said: "Have you come in peace?'" Jehu responded, "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me."

"This is what the LORD says, "I have certainly observed the blood of Naboth and his sons, and I will repay you on this property," declares the LORD.' "Therefore take the body and throw it in the field, just as the LORD said."

"As soon as you receive this letter (since your master's children are with you, you have chariots and horses there with you, and you are protected by a walled city and weaponry),