\id 1KI The First Book of Kings 
\h 1 Kings 
\toc1 The First Book of the Kings, Commonly Called the Third Book of the Kings 
\toc2 1 Kings 
\toc3 1Ki 
\mt1 The First Book of the Kings  
\mt2 Commonly Called the Third Book of the Kings  
\c 1
\p
\v 1 Now king David was old, stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he could not become warm.  
\v 2 Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let them seek out for my lord the king a young virgin, and let her stand before the king, and let her be an attendant on him; and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may become warm.  
\v 3 So they sought for a fair maiden throughout all the territory of Israel; and they found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.  
\v 4 And the maiden was exceedingly fair; and she became an attendant on the king, and ministered to him; but the king knew her not.  
\v 5 And Adoniyah the son of Chaggith exalted himself, saying, I shall be king: and he procured himself a chariot and horsemen, and fifty men who ran before him.  
\v 6 And his father had never grieved him in all his life by saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was of a very goodly form; and his mother had born him after Abshalom.  
\v 7 And he had conferences with Joab the son of Zeruyah, and with Ebyathar the priest: and they, following Adoniyah, helped him.  
\v 8 But Zadok the priest, and Benayahu the son of Yehoyada', and Nathan the prophet, and Shim'i, and Re'i, and the mighty men that belonged to David, were not with Adoniyah.  
\v 9 And Adoniyah slaughtered sheep and oxen and fatted cattle by the stone Zocheleth, which is by 'En-rogel; and he invited all his brothers the king's sons, and all the men of Judah the king's servants;  
\v 10 But Nathan the prophet, and Benayahu, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he invited not.  
\v 11 And Nathan spoke unto Bath-sheba' the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adoniyah the son of Chaggith is become king, and [that] David our lord knoweth it not?  
\v 12 And now come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thy own life, and the life of thy son Solomon.  
\v 13 Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thy hand-maid, saying, Assuredly, Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and only he shall sit upon my throne? why then is Adoniyah become king?  
\v 14 And, lo, while thou shalt be yet speaking there with the king, I myself will come in after thee, and confirm thy words.  
\v 15 And Bath-sheba' went in unto the king into the chamber, and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering unto the king.  
\v 16 And Bath-sheba' bowed, and prostrated herself unto the king: and the king said, What wouldst thou?  
\v 17 And she said unto him, My lord, thou thyself didst swear by the Lord thy God unto thy hand-maid, Assuredly, Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and only he shall sit upon my throne.  
\v 18 And now, behold, Adoniyah is become king; and now, my lord, O king, thou knowest it not:  
\v 19 And he hath slaughtered oxen and fatted cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath invited all the sons of the king, and Ebyathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the army; but Solomon thy servant hath he not invited.  
\v 20 And as for thee, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, to tell them, who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.  
\v 21 Otherwise it would come to pass, when my lord the king sleepeth with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon may be counted offenders.  
\v 22 And, lo, while she was yet speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in.  
\v 23 And they told the king, saying, Behold, here is Nathan the prophet: and when he was come in before the king, he prostrated himself before the king with his face to the ground.  
\v 24 And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou then said, Adoniyah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?  
\v 25 For he is gone down this day, and hath slaughtered oxen and fatted cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath invited all the king's sons, and the captains of the army, and Ebyathar the priest: and, behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and they say, Long live king Adoniyah.  
\v 26 But as for me, me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benayahu the son of Yehoyada', and thy servant Solomon, hath he not invited.  
\v 27 Can it be that this hath been done by order of my lord the king, and thou hast not informed thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?  
\v 28 Then answered king David, and said, Call me Bath-sheba'; and she came into the king's presence, and stood before the king.  
\v 29 And the king swore and said, As the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress,  
\v 30 Even as I have sworn unto thee by the Lord the God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and only he shall sit upon my throne in my stead: even so will I certainly do this day.  
\v 31 Then did Bath-sheba' bow herself with her face to the earth, and prostrate herself unto the king; and she said, May my lord, the king David, live for ever!  
\v 32 And king David said, Call unto me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benayahu the son of Yehoyada'. And they came before the king.  
\v 33 And the king said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon my own mule, and conduct him down to Gichon:  
\v 34 And let Zadok the priest with Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel; and blow ye with the cornet, and say, Long live king Solomon.  
\v 35 Then shall ye go up after him, and he shall come and sit upon my throne; and he shall be king in my stead: and him have I ordained to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.  
\v 36 And Benayahu the son of Yehoyada' answered the king, and said, Amen: May thus say the Eternal the God of my lord the king.  
\v 37 As the Eternal hath been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and may he make his throne greater than the throne of my lord the king David.  
\v 38 Thereupon Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benayahu the son of Yehoyada', and the Kerethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and conducted him to Gichon.  
\v 39 And Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew with the cornet; and all the people said, Long live king Solomon.  
\v 40 And all the people went up after him, and the people blew on flutes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth was rent at their noise.  
\v 41 And Adoniyah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had just finished eating: and when Joab heard the sound of the cornet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city in an uproar?  
\v 42 And while he was yet speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Ebyathar the priest came in: and Adoniyah said [unto him], Come in; for thou art a worthy man, and must bring good tidings.  
\v 43 And Jonathan answered and said to Adoniyah, Alas, no; our lord king David hath made Solomon king;  
\v 44 And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benayahu the son of Yehoyada', and the Kerethites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule;  
\v 45 And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him as king on the Gichon; and they are come up from there rejoicing, and the city hath been set in commotion. This is the noise that ye have heard.  
\v 46 And Solomon hath also sat on the kingly throne.  
\v 47 And also the king's servants are come to bless our lord king David, saying, May God make the name of Solomon more famous than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne: and the king hath bowed himself upon the bed.  
\v 48 And also thus hath the king said, Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who hath given [me] this day one who sitteth on my throne, while my eyes see it.  
\v 49 And all the guests that were with Adoniyah were terrified, and rose up, and went, every man, on his own way.  
\v 50 And Adoniyah was afraid because of Solomon; and he arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.  
\v 51 And it was told unto Solomon, saying, Behold, Adoniyah feareth king Solomon; and, behold, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me today that he will not slay his servant with the sword.  
\v 52 And Solomon said, If he will become a worthy man, there shall not a hair of his fall to the earth; but if any wrong shall be found on him, then shall he die.  
\v 53 So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar; and he came and bowed himself to king Solomon; and Solomon said unto him, Go to thy house.   
\c 2
\p
\v 1 And when the days of David drew near that he should die, he charged Solomon his son, saying,  
\v 2 I am going the way of all the earth; but be thou strong, and become a man;  
\v 3 And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses; in order that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself;  
\v 4 In order that the Lord may fulfill his word which he hath spoken concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall never fail thee, said he, a man on the throne of Israel.  
\v 5 And thou also knowest well what Joab the son of Zeruyah hath done to me, what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto 'Amassa the son of Yether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and on his shoes that were on his feet.  
\v 6 Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoary head go down in peace to the grave.  
\v 7 But unto the sons of Barzillai the Gil'adite show thou kindness, and let them be of those that eat at thy table; for so they came near to me when I fled from before Abshalom thy brother.  
\v 8 And, behold, thou hast with thee Shim'i the son of Gera, the Benjamite of Bachurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went to Machanayim; but who came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.  
\v 9 But now leave him not unpunished; for thou art a wise man; know then what thou oughtest to do unto him, and bring thou down his hoary head with blood to the grave.  
\v 10 And David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.  
\v 11 And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: in Hebron he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years.  
\v 12 Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly.  
\v 13 And Adoniyah the son of Chaggith came to Bath-sheba' the mother of Solomon: and she said, Is thy coming for peace? And he said, For peace.  
\v 14 He said moreover, I have a word for thee. And she said, Speak.  
\v 15 And he said, Thou well knowest that mine was the kingdom, and that on me all Israel had set their faces, that I should reign: nevertheless the kingdom was turned about, and became my brother's; for from the Lord was it [made] his.  
\v 16 And now there is one petition I am going to ask of thee, do not turn me away. And she said unto him, Speak.  
\v 17 And he said, Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king, [for he will not turn thee away,] that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite for wife.  
\v 18 And Bath-sheba' said, Well: I will speak for thee unto the king.  
\v 19 Bath-sheba' thereupon went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adoniyah; and the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and then sat down on his throne, and placed a chair for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand.  
\v 20 Then said she, There is one small petition I am going to ask of thee; do not turn me away. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother; for I will not turn thee away.  
\v 21 And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adoniyah thy brother for wife.  
\v 22 And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adoniyah? rather ask for him the kingdom; for he is my elder brother;— even for him, and for Ebyathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruyah.  
\v 23 Then swore king Solomon by the Lord, saying, May God do so to me, and may he thus continue, if Adoniyah have not spoken this word against his own life.  
\v 24 And now, as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and seated me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me a house, as he hath spoken, this very day shall Adoniyah be put to death.  
\v 25 And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benayahu the son of Yehoyada'; and he fell upon him so that he died.  
\v 26 And unto Ebyathar the priest said the king, Go to 'Anathoth, unto thy own fields; for thou art a man worthy of death; but on this day will I not put thee to death; because thou hast borne the ark of the Lord Eternal before David my father, and because thou was afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.  
\v 27 So Solomon banished Ebyathar that he should not be priest unto the Lord, to fulfill the word of the Lord, which he had spoken concerning the house of 'Eli in Shiloh.  
\v 28 And the report came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adoniyah, though he had not turned after Abshalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.  
\v 29 And it was told to king Solomon that Joab had fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord; and that, behold, he was close by the altar. Then sent Solomon Benayahu the son of Yehoyada,' saying, Go, fall upon him.  
\v 30 And Benayahu came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said unto him, Thus hath said the king, Come forth. And he said, No; but here will I die. And Benayahu brought the king word again, saying, Thus hath Joab spoken, and thus hath he answered me.  
\v 31 Then said the king unto him, Do as he hath spoken, and fall upon him, and bury him; and remove [thus] the innocent blood, which Joab hath shed, from me, and from the house of my father.  
\v 32 And may the Lord bring back his blood-guiltiness upon his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, while my father David knew it not, Abner the son of Ner, the captain of the army of Israel, and 'Amassa the son of Yether, the captain of the army of Judah.  
\v 33 And their blood shall return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever; but unto David, and unto his seed, and unto his house, and unto his throne, may there be peace for ever from the Lord.  
\v 34 So Benayahu the son of Yehoyada' went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.  
\v 35 And the king appointed Benayahu the son of Yehoyada' in his place over the army; and Zadok the priest did the king appoint in the place of Ebyathar.  
\v 36 And the king sent and called for Shim'i, and said unto him, Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and thou shalt not go forth from there hither or thither.  
\v 37 And it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thy own head.  
\v 38 And Shim'i said unto the king, It is well: as my Lord the king hath spoken, so will thy servant do. And Shim'i dwelt in Jerusalem many days.  
\v 39 And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two servants of Shim'i ran away unto Achish the son of Ma'achah the king of Gath: and they told unto Shim'i, saying, Behold, thy servants are in Gath.  
\v 40 And Shim'i arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants; and Shim'i went, and brought his servants from Gath.  
\v 41 And it was told to Solomon that Shim'i had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had returned.  
\v 42 And the king sent and called for Shim'i, and said unto him, Did I not make thee swear by the Lord, and warned thee, saying, On that day thou goest out, and walkest abroad hither or thither, know for certain that thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst unto me, It is well, I have heard?  
\v 43 Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment with which I charged thee?  
\v 44 The king said moreover to Shim'i, Thou well knowest all the wickedness of which thy heart is conscious, that thou hast done to David my father: and the Lord bringeth back thy wickedness upon thy own head;  
\v 45 But king Solomon will be blessed, and the throne of David will be established before the Lord for ever.  
\v 46 So the king commanded Benayahu the son of Yehoyada', who went out, and fell upon him, so that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.   
\c 3
\p
\v 1 And Solomon intermarried with Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and took the daughter of Pharaoh, and brought her into the city of David, until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.  
\v 2 But the people sacrificed still on the high-places; because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord, until those days.  
\v 3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father: only that he sacrificed and burnt incense on the high-places.  
\v 4 And the king went to Gib'on to sacrifice there; for that was the great high-place: one thousand burnt-offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.  
\v 5 In Gib'on the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream of the night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.  
\v 6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shown unto thy servant David my father great kindness, just as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, and thou hast given him a son who sitteth on his throne, as it is this day.  
\v 7 And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king in the place of David my father: and I am but a young lad; I know not how to go out or come in.  
\v 8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot he numbered nor counted for multitude.  
\v 9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, to discern between good and bad; for who would [otherwise] be able to judge this thy great people?  
\v 10 And the speech was pleasing in the eyes of the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.  
\v 11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; and hast not asked for thyself riches, nor hast asked the life of thy enemies; but hast asked for thyself discernment to understand [how to give] judgment:  
\v 12 Behold, I have done according to thy word; lo, I have given thee a wise and a discerning heart; so that like unto thee there was none before thee, nor after thee shall any one arise like unto thee.  
\v 13 And also what thou hast not asked have I given thee, both riches and honor: so that like unto thee there shall not have been any one among the kings all thy days.  
\v 14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then will I lengthen thy days.  
\v 15 And Solomon awoke, and, behold, it was a dream; and he went to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt-offerings, and prepared peace-offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.  
\v 16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and placed themselves before him.  
\v 17 And the one woman said, Pardon, my Lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.  
\v 18 And it came to pass on the third day after I was delivered, that also this woman was delivered: and we were together, there was no stranger with us in the house, only we two were in the house.  
\v 19 And this woman's son died in the night; because she had overlaid him.  
\v 20 And she arose in the midst of the night, and took my son from beside me, while thy hand-maid slept, and laid him in her bosom, and her dead son she laid in my bosom.  
\v 21 And when I rose in the morning to give my son suck, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I had born.  
\v 22 And the other woman said, It is not so; my son is the living one, and thy son is the dead; and this one said, It is not so; thy son is the dead, and my son is the living: thus they spoke before the king.  
\v 23 Then said the king, This one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is dead: and the other saith, It is not so; thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.  
\v 24 And the king said, Fetch me a sword: and they brought the sword before the king.  
\v 25 And the king said, Hew the living child in two, and give the one half to one, and the other half to the other.  
\v 26 Then spoke the woman whose son was the living unto the king, for her love had become enkindled for her son, and she said, O pardon, my Lord, give her the living child, and only do not slay it; but the other said, Neither mine nor thine shall it be, hew it asunder.  
\v 27 The king then answered and said, Give her the living child, and do not slay it: she is its mother.  
\v 28 And when all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had given, they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to exercise justice.   
\c 4
\p
\v 1 Thus was king Solomon king over all Israel.  
\v 2 And these were the princes whom he had: 'Azaryahu the son of Zadok the priest;  
\v 3 Elichoreph and Achiyah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Achilud, the recorder;  
\v 4 And Benayahu the son of Yehoyada' over the army; and Zadok and Ebyathar priests;  
\v 5 And Azaryahu the son of Nathan was over the superintendents; and Zabud the son of Nathan was an officer of state and the king's friend;  
\v 6 And Achishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of 'Abda was over the tribute.  
\v 7 And Solomon had twelve superintendents over all Israel, who provided for the king and his household: one month in the year had the particular one to procure provisions.  
\v 8 And these are their names: Ben-chur on the mountain of Ephraim;  
\v 9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, and in Sha'albim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-chanan;  
\v 10 Ben-chessed, in Arubboth; to him pertained Sochoh and all the land of Chepher;  
\v 11 Ben-abinadab, in all the district of Dor; he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon for wife;  
\v 12 Ba'ana the son of Achilud in Tha'anach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zarethanah beneath Yizre'el, from Beth-shean to Abel-mecholah, as far as beyond Yokme'am;  
\v 13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gil'ad; to him pertained the villages of Ya'ir the son of Menasseh, which are in Gil'ad; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and brazen bars;  
\v 14 Achinadab the son of 'Iddo in Machanayim;  
\v 15 Achima'az in Naphtali; he also took Bahsemath the daughter of Solomon for wife;  
\v 16 Ba'anah the son of Chushai in Asher and in Be'aloth;  
\v 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruach, in Issachar;  
\v 18 Shim'i the son of Ela, in Benjamin;  
\v 19 Geber the son of Uri in the country of Gil'ad, the country of Sichon the king of the Emorites, and of 'Og the king of Bashan; besides the one superintendent who was in the land.  
\v 20 Judah and Israel were numerous, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude; and they ate and drank, and made merry.  
\v 21 (5:1) And Solomon was ruling over all the kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and as far as the boundary of Egypt, which brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.  
\v 22 (5:2) And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty kors of fine flour, and sixty kors of meal,  
\v 23 (5:3) Ten fatted oxen, and twenty pasture oxen, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and roebucks, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowl.  
\v 24 (5:4) For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Thiphsach even to Gazzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.  
\v 25 (5:5) And Judah and Israel dwelt in safety, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba', all the days of Solomon.  
\v 26 (5:6) And Solomon had forty thousand stalls for the horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.  
\v 27 (5:7) And those superintendents provided for king Solomon, and for all that came near unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they let nothing be wanting.  
\v 28 (5:8) The barley also and the straw for the horses and the runners did they bring unto the place where he might be, every man according to his prescription.  
\v 29 (5:9) And God gave unto Solomon wisdom and understanding exceedingly much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore.  
\v 30 (5:10) And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.  
\v 31 (5:11) And he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrachite, and Heman, and Kalkol, and Darda', the sons of Machol: and his name was [spread] among all the nations round about.  
\v 32 (5:12) And he spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five.  
\v 33 (5:13) And he spoke concerning the trees, from the cedar-tree that is on the Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; he spoke also concerning the beasts, and concerning the fowl, and concerning the creeping things, and concerning the fishes.  
\v 34 (5:14) And men came from all the people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.   
\c 5
\p
\v 1 (5:15) And Hiram the king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father; for Hiram had all the time been a lover of David.  
\v 2 (5:16) And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,  
\v 3 (5:17) Thou well knowest of David my father, that he was not able to build a house unto the name of the Lord his God, on account of the war wherewith his enemies encompassed him, until the Lord had put them under the soles of his feet.  
\v 4 (5:18) But now hath the Lord my God given me rest on every side, there is neither adversary nor evil hinderance.  
\v 5 (5:19) And, behold, I purpose to build a house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord hath spoken unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will place in thy room upon thy throne, he it is that shall build the house unto my name.  
\v 6 (5:20) And now command thou that they hew me cedar-trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and the wages of thy servants will I give unto thee in accordance with all that thou wilt say; for thou well knowest that there is not among us a man that hath the skill to hew timber like unto the Zidonians.  
\v 7 (5:21) And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly; and he said, Blessed be the Lord this day, who hath given unto David a wise son over this numerous people.  
\v 8 (5:22) And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard what thou hast sent to me for: I will gladly execute all thy desire in respect of timber of cedar, and in respect of timber of fir.  
\v 9 (5:23) My servants shall bring them down from the Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place of which thou wilt send me word, and I will cause them to be taken apart there, and thou shalt take them away; and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving the food for my household.  
\v 10 (5:24) So Hiram gave Solomon cedar-trees and fir-trees, all his desire.  
\v 11 (5:25) And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat as provision for his household, and twenty kors of beaten oil: thus did Solomon give to Hiram year by year.  
\v 12 (5:26) And the Lord gave wisdom unto Solomon, as he had spoken to him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they made a covenant with each other.  
\v 13 (5:27) And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.  
\v 14 (5:28) And he sent them into the Lebanon, ten thousand in each month by turns; one month they used to be in the Lebanon, two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy.  
\v 15 (5:29) And there belonged to Solomon seventy thousand bearers of burdens, and eighty thousand stone-cutters in the mountains;  
\v 16 (5:30) Besides the chiefs who were appointed by Solomon over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who ruled over the people that wrought on the work.  
\v 17 (5:31) And when the king commanded, they quarried out great stones, heavy stones, to lay the foundation of the house, and hewn stones.  
\v 18 (5:32) And the builders of Solomon, and the builders of Hiram, and the Giblites hewed them; and so they prepared the wood and the stones to build the house.   
\c 6
\p
\v 1 And it came to pass, in the four hundred and eightieth year after the going forth of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, of the reign of Solomon over Israel, that he built the house unto the Lord.  
\v 2 And the house which king Solomon built unto the Lord, was sixty cubits in length, and twenty in breadth, and thirty cubits in height.  
\v 3 And the porch before the temple of the house, was twenty cubits in length, in front of the breadth of the house; and ten cubits in breadth at the east side of the house.  
\v 4 And he made for the house windows wide without and narrow within.  
\v 5 And he built on the wall of the house a gallery round about, on the walls of the house round about, of the temple and of the most holy place: and he made side-chambers round about.  
\v 6 The nethermost gallery was five cubits in breadth, and the middle was six cubits in breadth, and the third was seven cubits in breadth; for projections had he made to the house round about on the outside, so as to fasten nothing in the walls of the house.  
\v 7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of entire stones as they had been prepared at the quarry: so that neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron was heard in the house, while it was in building.  
\v 8 The door for the middle [gallery] sidechamber was in the right side of the house: and with winding stairs they went up into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.  
\v 9 So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with hollow tiles, and with boards of cedar.  
\v 10 And he built the gallery against all the house, [each] five cubits in height; and it was fastened on to the house with timber of cedar.  
\v 11 And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying,  
\v 12 This house which thou art building—if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my ordinances, and keep all my commandments to walk in them: then will I perform my word with thee, which I have spoken unto David thy father.  
\v 13 And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel.  
\v 14 So did Solomon build the house, and finish it.  
\v 15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house to where the walls touched the ceiling did he overlay it on the inside with wood; and he overlaid the floor of the house with boards of fir.  
\v 16 And he built the twenty cubits on the lower side of the house with boards of cedar, from the floor to the battlements; and he built it within, for the debir, for the holy of holies.  
\v 17 And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty cubits long.  
\v 18 And the cedar on the house within was carved with colocynths and opening flowers; all was cedar, no stone was seen.  
\v 19 And the debir in the house within did he prepare, to set therein the ark of the covenant of the Lord.  
\v 20 And the interior of the debir was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits was its height: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and he overlaid the altar with cedar-wood.  
\v 21 And Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he barred by means of chains of gold the front of the debir; and he overlaid it with gold.  
\v 22 And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished: also the whole altar that was before the debir did he overlay with gold.  
\v 23 And within the debir he made two cherubims of oleaster-wood, each ten cubits high.  
\v 24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: [there were] ten cubits from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other.  
\v 25 And the other cherub was also ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one form.  
\v 26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so that of the other cherub.  
\v 27 And he set the cherubim within the innermost part of the house: and they spread forth the wings of the cherubim, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings toward the middle of the house touched one another.  
\v 28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.  
\v 29 And on all the wall of the house round about he carved figures of cherubim and palm-trees and opening flowers, in the debir and in the temple.  
\v 30 And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold for the debir and for the temple.  
\v 31 And for the entrance of the debir he made doors of oleaster-wood: the lintel with the side-posts forming five sides.  
\v 32 And also upon the two doors of oleaster-wood he carved figures of cherubim and palm-trees and opening flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread the gold, by beating, upon the cherubim, and upon the palm-trees.  
\v 33 So also made he for the entrance of the temple door-posts of oleaster-wood in shape of a square;  
\v 34 And two doors of fir-wood: the one door having two leaves which were folding, and the other door having two leaves which were folding.  
\v 35 And he carved thereon cherubim, and palm-trees and opening flowers: and he overlaid them with gold fitting upon the carved work.  
\v 36 And he built the inner court of three rows of hewn stone, and one row of cedar beams.  
\v 37 In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid, in the month Ziv;  
\v 38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all its parts, and according to all its requirements. So was he building it seven years.   
\c 7
\p
\v 1 But his own house was Solomon building thirteen years, and then he finished all his house.  
\v 2 He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon: a hundred cubits was its length, and fifty cubits was its breadth, and thirty cubits was its height, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.  
\v 3 And it was covered with cedar above over the beams, that lay on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row.  
\v 4 And there were window-spaces in three rows, and windows were opposite each other in three ranks.  
\v 5 And all the entrances and door-posts formed a square in shape: and windows were opposite windows in three ranks.  
\v 6 And he made a porch of pillars: fifty cubits was its length, and thirty cubits its breadth; and the porch was before them; and the other pillars with an entablature before them.  
\v 7 Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.  
\v 8 And his house where he dwelt in another court within the porch, was of the like work: and Solomon made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken for wife, like unto this porch.  
\v 9 All these were of heavy stones, hewn after a fixed measure, sawed with the saw inside and outside, even from the foundation unto the coping, and from the outside unto the great court.  
\v 10 And the foundation was of heavy stones, large stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.  
\v 11 And above were heavy stones, hewn after a fixed measure, and cedars.  
\v 12 And the great court round about was of three rows of hewn stones, and one row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the Lord, and for the porch of the house.  
\v 13 And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.  
\v 14 He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in copper: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and knowledge, to make every work in copper; and he came to king Solomon, and did all his work.  
\v 15 And he cast two pillars of copper, eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar; and a line of twelve cubits did encompass the second pillar.  
\v 16 And he made two capitals, to set upon the tops of the pillars, of molten copper; five cubits was the height of the one capital, and five cubits was the height of the other capital;  
\v 17 And nets of checker-work, and wreaths of chain-work, for the capitals which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital.  
\v 18 And he made the pillars, so that two rows of pomegranates were round about upon the one net-work, to cover the capitals that were upon the top: and the same he made for the other capital.  
\v 19 And the capitals, that were upon the top of the pillars, furnished with lily-work, [as] those in the porch, were four cubits.  
\v 20 And the capitals upon the two pillars rose also above, close by the rounding which was on the side of the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows round about, upon either capital.  
\v 21 And he set up the pillars for the porch of the temple; and he set up the right pillar, and called its name Yachin; and he set up the left pillar, and called its name Boaz.  
\v 22 And upon the top of the pillars there was lily-work: and so was finished the work of the pillars.  
\v 23 And he made the molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other, rounded all about, and it was five cubits in height: and a line of thirty cubits did encompass it round about.  
\v 24 And colocynth-shaped knobs were under its brim round about encompassing it, ten in a cubit, encircling the sea round about: the colocynths were in two rows, and were cast [with it] when it was cast.  
\v 25 It was standing upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was resting above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.  
\v 26 And its thickness was a hand's breadth, and its brim was wrought like the brim of a cup, with lily-buds: it could contain two thousand baths.  
\v 27 And he made ten bases of copper: four cubits was the length of each one base, and four cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height.  
\v 28 And this was the workmanship of the bases: They had borders, and the borders were between the corner ledges;  
\v 29 And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and upon the corner ledges it was thus also above; and likewise beneath the lions and oxen were pendant wreaths of plated work.  
\v 30 And every base had four copper wheels, and axles of copper; and its four corners had undersetters; under the laver were the undersetters cast on; at the side of each were pendants.  
\v 31 And its mouth was within the capital and above a cubit in height; but the mouth of this was rounded after the work of the base, a cubit and a half cubit; and also upon its mouth were carvings; and their borders were square, not rounded.  
\v 32 And the four wheels were under the borders; and the axletrees of the wheels were joined to the base: and the height of each one wheel was a cubit and a half cubit.  
\v 33 And the workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot-wheel: their axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes, were all cast.  
\v 34 And there were four undersetters to the four corners of each one base; the undersetters were of one piece with the base itself.  
\v 35 And on the top of the base was a rounded compass of half a cubit high: and on the top of the base were its side-ledges; and its borders were of one piece with itself.  
\v 36 And he engraved on the plates of its side-ledges and on its borders, cherubim, lions, and palm-trees: and in the open space of every one were pendant wreaths round about.  
\v 37 After this manner did he make the ten bases: one casting, one measure, one form, was there for all of them.  
\v 38 Then made he ten lavers of copper; forty baths could each one laver contain; every laver was four cubits: each one laver was upon each one base of the ten bases.  
\v 39 And he put the bases, five on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and the sea he set on the right side of the house eastward opposite the south.  
\v 40 And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins; so Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made for king Solomon for the house of the Lord.  
\v 41 The two pillars, and the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the top of the two pillars; and the two net-works, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals which were upon the top of the pillars;  
\v 42 And the four hundred pomegranates for the two net-works, two rows of pomegranates for each one net-work, to cover the two bowl-shaped, capitals that were upon the front of the pillars;  
\v 43 And the ten bases, and the ten lavers upon the bases;  
\v 44 And the one sea, and the twelve oxen under the sea;  
\v 45 And the pots, and the shovels, and the basins; and all these vessels, which Hiram had made for king Solomon for the house of the Lord, were of polished copper.  
\v 46 In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay-ground between Succoth and Zarethan.  
\v 47 And Solomon set down all the vessels [unweighed], because they were exceedingly many: the weight of the copper was not inquired into.  
\v 48 And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the Lord: The altar of gold, and the table whereupon the show-bread was, of gold,  
\v 49 And the candlesticks, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the debir, of pure gold, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold,  
\v 50 And the bowls, and the knives, and the basins, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges, for the doors of the inner house, for the holy of holies, for the doors of the house, and for the temple, [were] of gold.  
\v 51 And so was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the Lord: and Solomon brought in the things sanctified by David his father, the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, [and] he placed [these] in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.   
\c 8
\p
\v 1 Then did Solomon assemble the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the divisions of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.  
\v 2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.  
\v 3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.  
\v 4 And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle: even these did the priests and the Levites bring up.  
\v 5 And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.  
\v 6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto its place, into the debir of the house, into the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim.  
\v 7 For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its staves from above.  
\v 8 And they had made the staves so long, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place in the front of the debir, but they were not seen without; and they have remained there until this day.  
\v 9 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses had placed therein at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.  
\v 10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord:  
\v 11 And the priests were not able to stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.  
\v 12 Then said Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.  
\v 13 I have indeed built a dwelling-house for thee, a settled place for thy abode for ever.  
\v 14 And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel; and all the congregation of Israel was standing;  
\v 15 And he said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, when he said,  
\v 16 Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I did not make choice of any city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be therein; but I made choice of David to be over my people Israel.  
\v 17 And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.  
\v 18 But the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thy heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thy heart:  
\v 19 Nevertheless, thou shalt not thyself build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.  
\v 20 And the Lord hath fulfilled his word that he hath spoken: and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord hath spoken, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord the God of Israel.  
\v 21 And I have assigned there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt.  
\v 22 And Solomon now placed himself before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;  
\v 23 And he said, O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no god like thee, in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath, thou who keepest the covenant and the kindness for thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart;  
\v 24 Who hast kept for thy servant David my father what thou hadst promised him; and thou spokest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day.  
\v 25 And now, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep for thy servant David my father what thou hast spoken concerning him, saying, There shall never fail thee a man in my sight who sitteth on the throne of Israel; if thy children but take heed to their way to walk before me, as thou hast walked before me.  
\v 26 And now, O God of Israel, I pray thee, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David my father.  
\v 27 For in truth will God then dwell on the earth? behold, the heavens and the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee: how much less then this house that I have built!  
\v 28 Yet wilt thou turn thy regard unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen unto the entreaty and unto the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee today;  
\v 29 That thy eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there; that thou mayest listen unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray at this place.  
\v 30 And listen thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they will pray at this place: and oh, do thou hear in heaven thy dwelling-place; and hear, and forgive.  
\v 31 If any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thy altar in this house:  
\v 32 Then do thou hear in heaven, and act, and judge thy servants, by condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and by justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.  
\v 33 When thy people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and they return then to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:  
\v 34 Then do thou hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and cause them to return unto the land which thou hast given unto their fathers.  
\v 35 When the heavens be shut up, and there be no rain, because they have sinned against thee, and they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, because thou hast afflicted them:  
\v 36 Then do thou hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel; for thou wilt teach them the good way wherein they should walk; and give then rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.  
\v 37 If there be a famine in the land, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, or if there be locust, caterpillar, if their enemy besiege them in the land of their gates; at whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness;  
\v 38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, of all thy people Israel, when they shall be conscious every man of the plague of his own heart, and he then spread forth his hands toward this house:  
\v 39 Then do thou hear in heaven the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and act, and give to every man in accordance with all his ways, as thou mayest know his heart; for thou, thyself alone, knowest the heart of all the children of men;  
\v 40 In order that they may fear thee all the days that they live on the face of the land which thou hast given unto our fathers.  
\v 41 But also to the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far-off country for the sake of thy name;  
\v 42 For they will hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy outstretched arm; when he will come and pray at this house:  
\v 43 Mayest thou listen in heaven the place of thy dwelling, and do according to all that the stranger will call on thee for; in order that all the nations of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as [do] thy people Israel; and that they may understand that this house, which I have built, is called by thy name.  
\v 44 If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, on the way on which thou mayest send them, and they do pray unto the Lord in the direction of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the house that I have built for thy name:  
\v 45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and procure them justice.  
\v 46 If they sin against thee, [for there is no man that may not sin,] and thou be angry with them, and give them up before the enemy, so that their captors carry them away captive unto the land of the enemy, [be it] far or near;  
\v 47 And if they then take it to their heart in the land whither they have been carried captive, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly;  
\v 48 And they return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, who have led them away captive, and they pray unto thee in the direction of their land, which thou hast given unto their fathers, of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the house which I have built for thy name:  
\v 49 Then hear thou in heaven the place of thy dwelling their prayer and their supplication, and procure them justice;  
\v 50 And forgive thy people for what they have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions whereby they have transgressed against thee, and cause them to find mercy before their captors, that they may have mercy on them;  
\v 51 For they are thy people, and thy heritage, whom thou hast brought forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace;  
\v 52 That thy eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to listen unto them in all for which they call unto thee;  
\v 53 For thou hast separated them unto thee as a heritage from all the people of the earth, as thou spokest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest forth our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Eternal.  
\v 54 And it happened, that, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord from kneeling on his knees, with his hands spread out toward heaven.  
\v 55 And he stood up, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,  
\v 56 Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest unto his people Israel, in accordance with all that he hath spoken: [so that] there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he spoke by the hand of Moses his servant.  
\v 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; oh may he not leave us, nor forsake us;  
\v 58 That he may incline our heart unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers.  
\v 59 And may these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel in their daily requirements;  
\v 60 In order that all the nations of the earth may know that the Lord is the [true] God, and none else.  
\v 61 Let your heart therefore be entire with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.  
\v 62 And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifices before the Lord.  
\v 63 And Solomon offered [as] the sacrifice of peace-offering which he offered unto the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. And thus did the king and all the children of Israel dedicate the house of the Lord.  
\v 64 On the same day did the king hallow the interior of the court that was before the house of the Lord; for he prepared there the burnt-offerings, and the meat-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings; because the copper altar that was before the Lord was too small to contain the burnt-offerings, and the meat-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings.  
\v 65 And Solomon held at that time the feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Chamath unto the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.  
\v 66 On the eighth day he dismissed the people, and they blessed the king; and they went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart, because of all the good that the Lord had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.   
\c 9
\p
\v 1 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to execute:  
\v 2 That the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gib'on.  
\v 3 And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast offered before me; I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there at all times.  
\v 4 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in rectitude, to do in accordance with all that I have commanded thee, [and] wilt keep my statutes and my ordinances:  
\v 5 Then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever; as I have spoken concerning David thy father, saying, There shall never fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.  
\v 6 But if ye will at all turn away, ye or your children, from following me, and will not keep my commandments [and] my statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down to them:  
\v 7 Then will I cut off Israel from the face of the land which I have given them; and the house, which I have hallowed unto my name, will I cast away from my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a by-word among all the nations;  
\v 8 And at this house, [which] should be so exalted, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and men will say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and unto this house?  
\v 9 And they shall say, For the cause that they forsook the Lord their God, who had brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and took hold of other gods, and bowed down to them, and served them: therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil.  
\v 10 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord, and the king's house,  
\v 11 (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar-trees and fir-trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that king Solomon then gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.  
\v 12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; but they were not right in his eyes.  
\v 13 And he said, What kind of cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them, The land of Cabul, until this day.  
\v 14 And Hiram sent to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.  
\v 15 And this is the manner of the levy which king Solomon raised, to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and the Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Chazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.  
\v 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and captured Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it as a marriage-present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife.  
\v 17 And Solomon built Gezer, and lower Beth-choron,  
\v 18 And Ba'alath, and Thadmor in the wilderness, in the land,  
\v 19 And all the treasure-cities that Solomon had, and the cities for the chariots, and the cities for the horsemen, and the [other] desire of Solomon which he desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.)  
\v 20 All the people that were left of the Emorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel,  
\v 21 Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel had not been able utterly to destroy, these did Solomon levy as tributary laborers until this day.  
\v 22 Yet of the children of Israel did Solomon make no one a bond-man; but they were the men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and the officers of his chariots, and of his horsemen.  
\v 23 These [also] were the chiefs of the superintendents that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people that wrought on the work.  
\v 24 But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which he had built for her: then did he build the Millo.  
\v 25 And Solomon did offer three times in every year burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar which he had built unto the Lord, and he burnt incense upon the one that was before the Lord. So he finished the house.  
\v 26 And king Solomon made a ship in 'Ezyon-geber, which is near Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.  
\v 27 And Hiram sent in the ship his servants, seamen, that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.  
\v 28 And they came to Ophir, and fetched from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.   
\c 10
\p
\v 1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon in connection with the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with riddles.  
\v 2 And she came to Jerusalem with an exceedingly great train, with camels bearing spices, and gold in great abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she spoke with him of all that was on her heart.  
\v 3 And Solomon solved [for] her all her questions: nothing remained hidden from the king, which he did not tell her.  
\v 4 And when the queen of Sheba saw all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built,  
\v 5 And the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cup-bearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord: there was no more spirit in her.  
\v 6 And she said to the king, The truth only was the word that I heard in my own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.  
\v 7 And I believed not in the words, until I came, and my eyes saw [all]: and, behold, the half hath not been told me; thou excellest in wisdom and prosperity the report which I have heard.  
\v 8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, who stand before thee continually, who hear thy wisdom.  
\v 9 Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath had delight in thee, to place thee on the throne of Israel; because the Lord loveth Israel for ever, therefore hath he made thee king, to do justice and righteousness.  
\v 10 And she gave to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices a very great store, and precious stones: there came no more spices in such abundance as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.  
\v 11 And also the ship of Hiram, that fetched gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir in great abundance sandal-wood and precious stones.  
\v 12 And the king made of the sandal-wood a railing for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, and harps and psalteries for the singers: there came no such sandal-wood, nor was it seen [again] until this day.  
\v 13 And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her pleasure, whatsoever she asked, beside what Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned about and went to her own country, she and her servants.  
\v 14 Now the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty and six talents of gold,  
\v 15 Beside [what he had] of the traveling tradesmen, and of the traffic of the merchants, and of the kings of confederate nations, and of the governors of the country.  
\v 16 And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold he used for each one target.  
\v 17 And [he made] three hundred shields of beaten gold; three manehs of gold he used for each one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.  
\v 18 The king also made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold.  
\v 19 The throne had six steps, and there was a round top on the throne behind; and there were arms on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the arms.  
\v 20 And twelve lions stood there upon the six steps on both sides: there was not the like made in any other kingdom.  
\v 21 And all king Solomon's drinking-vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver; it was not valued in the days of Solomon at the least.  
\v 22 For the king had a Tharshish-ship at sea with the ship of Hiram: once in three years the Tharshish-ship used to come home, laden with gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.  
\v 23 And king Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.  
\v 24 And [men of] all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.  
\v 25 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armor, and spices, horses, and mules: and so year by year.  
\v 26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he quartered in the cities for chariots, and near the king at Jerusalem.  
\v 27 And the king rendered the silver in Jerusalem like stones, and the cedars he rendered like the sycamore-trees that are in the lowlands, for abundance.  
\v 28 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt; and a company of the king's merchants bought a quantity at a price.  
\v 29 And a chariot-team came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.   
\c 11
\p
\v 1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, beside the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, 'Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites.  
\v 2 From the nations concerning which the Lord had said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in among them, nor shall they come in among you; surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: unto these Solomon did cleave to love them.  
\v 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.  
\v 4 And it came to pass, at the time that Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not undivided with the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father.  
\v 5 And Solomon went after 'Ashtoreth the divinity of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the 'Ammonites.  
\v 6 And Solomon did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, like David his father.  
\v 7 Then did Solomon build a high-place for Kemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mount that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of 'Ammon.  
\v 8 And so did he for all his strange wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.  
\v 9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon; because his heart was turned away from the Lord the God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice;  
\v 10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep that which the Lord had commanded.  
\v 11 And the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is in thy mind, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I commanded concerning thee: I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.  
\v 12 Nevertheless in thy days will I not do it, for the sake of David thy father; [but] out of the hand of thy son will I rend it.  
\v 13 Still all the kingdom will I not rend away: one tribe will I give to thy son on account of David my servant, and on account of Jerusalem which I have chosen.  
\v 14 And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom.  
\v 15 It came to pass, namely, when David was in Edom, when Joab the captain of the army was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom;  
\v 16 (For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom:)  
\v 17 That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt; but Hadad was then yet a young lad.  
\v 18 And they arose from Midian, and came to Paran; and they took [some] men with them from Paran, and came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt; who gave him a house, and decreed him a support, and gave him land.  
\v 19 And Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, so that he gave him for wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Thachpeness the queen.  
\v 20 And the sister of Thachpeness bore him Genubath his son, whom Thachpeness brought up in Pharaoh's house; and Genubath remained in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh.  
\v 21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the army was dead: Hadad said to Pharaoh, Dismiss me, that I may go to my own country.  
\v 22 Then said Pharaoh unto him, But what dost thou lack with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thy own country? And he answered, Nothing: nevertheless thou must let me go away.  
\v 23 And God stirred him up [another] adversary, Rezon the son of Elyada', who had fled from Hadad'ezer the king of Zobah his lord;  
\v 24 And he gathered around him some men, and became captain over a band, when David slew those [of Zobah]; and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus.  
\v 25 And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.  
\v 26 Also Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zeredah, the name of whose mother was Zeru'ah, a widow woman, was a servant of Solomon, and he lifted up his hand against the king.  
\v 27 And this was the occasion that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built up the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of David his father.  
\v 28 And the man Jerobo'am was a mighty man of valor: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was [also] an industrious worker, he appointed him over all the charge of the house of Joseph.  
\v 29 And it came to pass at that time when Jerobo'am went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Achiyah the Shilonite found him on the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and these two were alone by themselves in the field;  
\v 30 And Achiyah caught hold of the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces;  
\v 31 And he said to Jerobo'am, Take thee ten pieces; for thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give to thee the ten tribes;  
\v 32 But the one tribe shall remain for him, on account of my servant David, and on account of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel;  
\v 33 For the cause that they have forsaken me, and have bowed down to 'Ashtoreth the divinity of the Zidonians, to Kemosh the god of Moab, and to Milcom the god of the children of 'Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do what is right in my eyes, and my statutes and my ordinances, like David his father.  
\v 34 Nevertheless will I not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will let him remain prince all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes;  
\v 35 But I will take the kingdom out of the hand of his son, and I will give it unto thee, even the ten tribes.  
\v 36 And unto his son will I give one tribe; so that there may remain a government for David my servant at all times before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for me, to put my name there.  
\v 37 But thee will I take, and thou shalt reign over all that thy soul may long for; and thou shalt be king over Israel.  
\v 38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I shall command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did: that I will be with thee, and build thee a permanent house, as I have built for David, and I will give Israel unto thee.  
\v 39 And I will afflict the seed of David for this; but not for all times.  
\v 40 Solomon thereupon sought to put Jerobo'am to death; but Jerobo'am arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak the king of Egypt, and remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon.  
\v 41 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did and his wisdom, behold, they are written in the book of the history of Solomon.  
\v 42 And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel were forty years.  
\v 43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father; and Rehobo'am his son became king in his stead.   
\c 12
\p
\v 1 And Rehobo'am went to Shechem; for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.  
\v 2 And it came to pass, when Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, heard of it, (but he was yet in Egypt, whither he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jerobo'am dwelt in Egypt;  
\v 3 And they had sent and called him;) that Jerobo'am and all the congregation of Israel came, and spoke unto Rehobo'am, saying,  
\v 4 Thy father made our yoke hard; but do thou now make lighter the hard service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.  
\v 5 And he said unto them, Go away yet for three days, and then return to me. And the people went away.  
\v 6 Then consulted king Rehobo'am with the old men, that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I should give an answer to this people?  
\v 7 And they spoke unto him, saying, If thou wilt this day be a servant unto this people, and wilt serve them, and be attentive to them, and speak to them good words; then will they be servants unto thee for all times.  
\v 8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, those who stood before him:  
\v 9 And he said unto them, What do you counsel how we should give an answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make lighter the yoke which thy father did put upon us?  
\v 10 Then spoke unto him the young men that were grown up with him, saying, Thus must thou say unto this people that have spoken unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but do thou make it lighter unto us: thus must thou speak unto them, My little finger is thicker than my father's loins.  
\v 11 And now, if my father hath burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will even add to your yoke; if my father hath chastised you with whips, then will I chastise you with scorpion-thorns.  
\v 12 When now Jerobo'am and all the people came to Rehobo'am on the third day, as the king had spoken, saying, Return to me on the third day.  
\v 13 The king answered the people harshly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they had advised him;  
\v 14 And he spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will even add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpion-thorns.  
\v 15 Thus the king hearkened not unto the people; for it was so brought about from the Lord, in order that he might fulfill his word, which the Lord had spoken by means of Achiyah the Shilonite unto Jerobo'am the son of Nebat.  
\v 16 So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people gave the king an answer saying, What portion have we in David? nor have we an inheritance in the son of Jesse; to your tents, O Israel: now see to thy own house, David. So did Israel go away unto their tents.  
\v 17 But as for the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah, over them did Rehobo'am reign.  
\v 18 Then sent king Rehobo'am Adoram, who was over the tribute; but all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehobo'am made speed with all his might to get up into his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.  
\v 19 So did Israel rebel against the house of David unto this day.  
\v 20 And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jerobo'am was returned, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, save the tribe of Judah alone.  
\v 21 And when Rehobo'am was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring back the kingdom to Rehobo'am the son of Solomon.  
\v 22 But the word of God came unto Shema'yah the man of God, saying,  
\v 23 Say unto Rehobo'am, the son of Solomon, the king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,  
\v 24 Thus hath said the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight with your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for from me hath this thing been brought about. And they hearkened to the word of the Lord, and returned to go home, according to the word of the Lord.  
\v 25 And Jerobo'am built Shechem in the mountain of Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and he went out from there and built Penuel.  
\v 26 And Jerobo'am said in his heart, Now may the kingdom return to the house of David:  
\v 27 If this people go up to prepare sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then may the heart of this people turn again unto their Lord, even unto Rehobo'am the king of Judah, and they might kill me, and return to Rehobo'am the king of Judah.  
\v 28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and he made two calves of gold, and said unto the people, You have been long enough going up to Jerusalem: behold, here are thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.  
\v 29 And he placed the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.  
\v 30 And this thing became a sin; and the people went before the one, as far as Dan.  
\v 31 And he made a house of the high-places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.  
\v 32 And Jerobo'am made a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar; so did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he stationed at Beth-el the priests of the high-places whom he had made.  
\v 33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had falsely devised of his own heart; and he ordained a feast unto the children of Israel, and he went up to the altar, to burn incense.   
\c 13
\p
\v 1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth-el: while Jerobo'am was standing upon the altar to burn incense.  
\v 2 And he called out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and he said, O altar, altar, thus hath said the Lord, Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice upon thee the priests of the high-places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.  
\v 3 And he gave on the same day a token, saying, This is the token that the Lord hath spoken, Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes which are upon it shall be spilled about.  
\v 4 And it came to pass, when the king heard the word of the man of God, which he had called out against the altar in Beth-el, that Jerobo'am stretched forth his hand from off the altar, saying, Seize him. And his hand, which he had put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself.  
\v 5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes were spilled about from the altar, according to the token which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.  
\v 6 And the king commenced and said unto the man of God, Offer but entreaty before the Lord thy God, and pray in behalf of me, that my hand may return to me again. And the man of God offered his entreaty before the Lord, and the king's hand returned to him again, and became as it was before.  
\v 7 And the king spoke unto the man of God, Come home with me, and take some refreshment, and I will give thee a present.  
\v 8 But the man of God said unto the king, If thou wert to give me the half of thy house, I would not go in with thee, neither would I eat bread nor drink water in this place;  
\v 9 For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Thou shalt not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way that thou camest.  
\v 10 So he went by another way, and returned not by the way on which he was come to Beth-el.  
\v 11 Now there dwelt a certain old prophet in Beth-el; and his son came and told him all the deed that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el: the words [also] which he had spoken unto the king, these too they told to their father.  
\v 12 And their father spoke unto them, What way did he go? His sons however had seen what way had gone the man of God, who had come from Judah.  
\v 13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass, and he rode away thereon,  
\v 14 And he went after the man of God, and found him sitting under the oak; and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.  
\v 15 Then said he unto him, Come with me home, and eat bread.  
\v 16 And he said, I cannot return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place;  
\v 17 For a command came to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt not eat bread nor drink water there; thou shalt not return to go by the way [also] by which thou camest.  
\v 18 And he said unto him, I also am a prophet like thee; and an angel spoke unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee unto thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.  
\v 19 So he returned with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.  
\v 20 And it came to pass, as they were sitting at the table, That the word of the Lord came unto the prophet who had brought him back;  
\v 21 And he called unto the man of God that was come from Judah, saying, Thus hath said the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the order of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God had commanded thee;  
\v 22 But didst return, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of which he had spoken to thee, Thou shalt not eat bread, nor drink water: thy dead body shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.  
\v 23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, [to wit,] for the prophet whom he had brought back.  
\v 24 And when he was gone, a lion met him on the way, and slew him; and his corpse remained cast down on the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the corpse.  
\v 25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the corpse cast down on the way, and the lion standing by the corpse; and they came and spoke of it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.  
\v 26 And when the prophet that had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, It is the man of God who was disobedient unto the order of the Lord; wherefore the Lord hath given him up unto the lion, who hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him.  
\v 27 And he spoke to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.  
\v 28 And he went and found his corpse cast down on the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the corpse: the lion had not eaten the corpse, nor torn the ass.  
\v 29 And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back; and he came to the city of the old prophet, to lament for, and to bury him.  
\v 30 And he laid his corpse in his own sepulchre; and they lamented over him, “Alas, my brother!”  
\v 31 And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; beside his bones lay ye my bones;  
\v 32 For the thing which he called out by the word of the Lord against the altar which is in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high-places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass.  
\v 33 After this event Jerobo'am returned not from his evil way; but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high-places: whosoever desired it, he consecrated, that he might become one of the priests of the high-places.  
\v 34 And he became through this thing the cause of sin unto the house of Jerobo'am, and to cause that it was blotted out, and destroyed from off the face of the earth.   
\c 14
\p
\v 1 At that time Abiyah the son of Jerobo'am fell sick.  
\v 2 And Jerobo'am said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that people may not know that thou art the wife of Jerobo'am; and go to Shiloh: behold, there is Achiyahu the prophet, who spoke of me that [I should become] king over this people.  
\v 3 And take with thee ten loaves of bread and spice-cakes, and a cruise of honey, and go to him: he will tell thee what is to become of the lad.  
\v 4 And Jerobo'am's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Achiyahu. But Achiyahu was not able to see; for his eyes were set by reason of his high age.  
\v 5 And the Lord had said unto Achiyahu, Behold the wife of Jerobo'am is coming to inquire a word of thee about her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou speak unto her; for it will be, when she cometh in, that she will feign to be another.  
\v 6 And it happened, when Achiyahu heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jerobo'am; why is this, that thou feignest to be another? but I am sent to thee with a hard message.  
\v 7 Go, say to Jerobo'am, Thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from the midst of the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,  
\v 8 And I rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it unto thee; whereas thou hast not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed after me with all his heart, to do only what is right in my eyes;  
\v 9 And thou hast done more evil than all that were before thee; and thou art gone and hast made unto thyself other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and me hast thou cast behind thy back:  
\v 10 Therefore, behold, will I bring evil upon the house of Jerobo'am, and will cut off from Jerobo'am every male, [also] the guarded and fortified in Israel; and I will sweep out after the house of Jerobo'am as one sweepeth away the dung till there be nothing left of it.  
\v 11 Him that dieth of Jerobo'am in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the heavens eat; for the Lord hath spoken it.  
\v 12 But thou, arise now, go to thy own house: when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.  
\v 13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for this one alone shall come of Jerobo'am's [family] to the grave; because there hath been found in him some good thing toward the Lord the God of Israel in the house of Jerobo'am.  
\v 14 And the Lord will raise up unto himself a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jerobo'am what is here this day, and what will be after this.  
\v 15 And the Lord will smite Israel, as the reed is shaken in the water, and he will pull up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them on the other side of the river; because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger.  
\v 16 And he will give Israel up for the sake of the sins of Jerobo'am, who did sin, and who induced Israel to sin.  
\v 17 And Jerobo'am's wife arose, and departed, and came to Thirzah; [and] as she came to the threshold of the door, the lad died:  
\v 18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the hand of his servant Achiyahu the prophet.  
\v 19 And the rest of the acts of Jerobo'am, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.  
\v 20 And the days which Jerobo'am reigned were two and twenty years; and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son became king in his stead.  
\v 21 And Rehobo'am the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehobo'am was forty and one years old when he became king, and seventeen years did he reign in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Na'amah the 'Ammonitess.  
\v 22 And Judah did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, and they moved him to wrath more than all that their fathers had done, with their sins which they committed.  
\v 23 And they also built themselves high-places, and standing images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.  
\v 24 And sodomites also were in the land: they acted in accordance with all the abominable deeds of the nations which the Lord had driven out before the children of Israel.  
\v 25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehobo'am, that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:  
\v 26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; yea, every thing did he take away; and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.  
\v 27 And king Rehobo'am made in their stead shields of copper, and committed them for keeping into the hand of the chiefs of the runners, who kept guard at the door of the king's house.  
\v 28 And it happened whenever the king went into the house of the Lord, that the runners used to bear them, and carried them then back into the apartment of the runners.  
\v 29 And the rest of the acts of Rehobo'am, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.  
\v 30 And there was war between Rehobo'am and Jerobo'am all the days.  
\v 31 And Rehobo'am slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Na'amah the 'Ammonitess. And Abiyam his son became king in his stead.   
\c 15
\p
\v 1 Now in the eighteenth year of king Jerobo'am the son of Nebat became Abiyam king over Judah.  
\v 2 Three years he reigned in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Ma'achah, the daughter of Abishalom.  
\v 3 And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not entire with the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father.  
\v 4 Nevertheless for the sake of David did the Lord his God give him a rule in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to allow Jerusalem to exist.  
\v 5 Because David did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from all that he had commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriyah the Hittite.  
\v 6 And there had been war between Rehobo'am and Jerobo'am all the days of his life.  
\v 7 And the rest of the acts of Abiyam, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. And there was [also] war between Abiyam and Jerobo'am.  
\v 8 And Abiyam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Assa his son became king in his stead.  
\v 9 And in the twentieth year of Jerobo'am the king of Israel became Assa king over Judah.  
\v 10 And forty and one years did he reign in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Ma'achah, the daughter of Abishalom.  
\v 11 And Assa did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father.  
\v 12 And he put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols which his fathers had made.  
\v 13 And also Ma'achah his mother, even her he removed from being queen; because she had made a scandalous image for the grove; and Assa cut down her scandalous image, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.  
\v 14 But the high-places were not removed; nevertheless Assa's heart was entire with the Lord all his days.  
\v 15 And he brought the things which his father had sanctified, and his own sanctified things, into the house of the Lord, silver, and gold, and vessels.  
\v 16 And there was war between Assa and Ba'sha the king of Israel all their days.  
\v 17 And Ba'sha the king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, in order not to suffer any one to go out or come in to Assa the king of Judah.  
\v 18 Then did Assa take all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and gave them into the hand of his servants; and king Assa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Chesyon, the king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying,  
\v 19 A covenant is between me and thee, [as] between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold; go and do break thy covenant with Ba'sha the king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.  
\v 20 And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Assa, and sent the captains of the armies which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote 'Iyon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-ma'achah, and the whole of Kinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.  
\v 21 And it came to pass, when Ba'sha heard this, that he left off the building of Ramah, and remained in Tirzah.  
\v 22 Then king Assa called together by proclamation all Judah, none being exempted: and they took away the stones of Ramah, and its timber, wherewith Ba'sha had built; and king Assa built with them Geba' of Benjamin, and Mizpah.  
\v 23 And the rest of all the acts of Assa, and all his mighty deeds, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. Nevertheless in the time of his old age he became diseased in his feet.  
\v 24 And Assa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son became king in his stead.  
\v 25 And Nadab the son of Jerobo'am became king over Israel in the second year of Assa the king of Judah; and he reigned over Israel two years.  
\v 26 And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, and he walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he had induced Israel to sin.  
\v 27 And Ba'sha the son of Achiyah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Ba'sha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines: while Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon.  
\v 28 And Ba'sha slew him in the third year of Assa the king of Judah, and became king in his stead.  
\v 29 And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jerobo'am; he left not any that breathed unto Jerobo'am, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by his servant Achiyah the Shilonite;  
\v 30 Because of the sins of Jerobo'am which he had sinned, and through which he had induced Israel to sin, by his provoking wherewith he provoked the Lord the God of Israel to anger.  
\v 31 And the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.  
\v 32 And there was war between Assa and Ba'sha the king of Israel all their days.  
\v 33 In the third year of Assa the king of Judah became Ba'sha the son of Achiyah king over all Israel, in Thirzah, [for] twenty and four years.  
\v 34 And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jerobo'am, and in his sin wherewith he had induced Israel to sin.   
\c 16
\p
\v 1 Then came the word of the Lord to Jehu the son of Chanani against Ba'sha, saying,  
\v 2 Forasmuch as I lifted thee up out of the dust, and I set thee as prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jerobo'am, and hast induced my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins:  
\v 3 Behold, I will sweep out after Ba'sha, and after his house; and I will render thy house like the house of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat;  
\v 4 Him that dieth of Ba'sha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the field shall the fowls of the heavens eat.  
\v 5 And the rest of the acts of Ba'sha, and what he did, and his mighty deeds, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.  
\v 6 And Ba'sha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Thirzah: and Elah his son became king in his stead.  
\v 7 And also by the hand of Jehu the son of Chanani, the prophet, came the word of the Lord against Ba'sha, and against his house, both for all the evil that he did in the eyes of the Lord, to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, thus being like the house of Jerobo'am; and because he had killed him.  
\v 8 In the twenty and sixth year of Assa the king of Judah became Elah the son of Ba'sha king over Israel in Thirzah, [for] two years.  
\v 9 And there conspired against him his servant Zimri, captain of half the chariots, as he was in Thirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was set over the house in Thirzah.  
\v 10 And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Assa the king of Judah, and became king in his stead.  
\v 11 And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Ba'sha: he left him not a single male, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends.  
\v 12 Thus did Zimri exterminate all the house of Ba'sha, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken against Ba'sha by the agency of Jehu the prophet,  
\v 13 For all the sins of Ba'sha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they had sinned, and by which they had induced Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord the God of Israel to anger with their vanities.  
\v 14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.  
\v 15 In the twenty and seventh year of Assa the king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Thirzah: and the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.  
\v 16 And when the people that were encamped heard it said, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: all Israel made 'Omri, the captain of the army, king over Israel on that day in the camp.  
\v 17 And 'Omri went up, and all Israel with him from Gibbethon, and they besieged Thirzah.  
\v 18 And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was captured, that he went into the strong-hold of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and he died;  
\v 19 For his sins which he had sinned, in doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, to walk in the way of Jerobo'am, and in his sin which he did, to induce Israel to sin.  
\v 20 And the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his conspiracy that he contrived, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.  
\v 21 At that time were the people of Israel divided into two parts: one half of the people followed Thibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and the other half followed 'Omri.  
\v 22 But the people that followed 'Omri prevailed against the people that followed Thibni the son of Ginath: and Thibni [also] died, and 'Omri became king.  
\v 23 In the thirty and first year of Assa the king of Judah became 'Omri king over Israel, [for] twelve years; in Thirzah he reigned six years.  
\v 24 And he bought the mount Samaria, of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the mount, and called the name of the city which he had built, after the name of Shemer, the Lord of the mount, Samaria.  
\v 25 And 'Omri did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him.  
\v 26 And he walked in all the way of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he induced Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities.  
\v 27 Now the rest of the acts of 'Omri which he did, and his mighty deeds that he displayed, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.  
\v 28 And 'Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Achab his son became king in his stead.  
\v 29 And Achab the son of 'omri became king over Israel in the thirty and eighth year of Assa the king of Judah; and Achab the son of 'Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.  
\v 30 And Achab the son of 'Omri did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord more than all that had been before him.  
\v 31 And it came to pass, as if it had been too light a thing for him to walk in the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, that he took for wife Izebel the daughter of Ethba'al the king of the Zidonians, and went and served Ba'al, and worshipped him.  
\v 32 And he erected an altar for Ba'al in the house of Ba'al, which he had built in Samaria.  
\v 33 And Achab made a grove; and Achab did yet more, so as to provoke the Lord the God of Israel to anger, than all the kings of Israel that had been before him.  
\v 34 In his days did Chiel the Beth-elite build Jericho: with Abiram his first-born laid he the foundation thereof, and with Segub his youngest son set he up the gates thereof, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by means of Joshua the son of Nun.   
\c 17
\p
\v 1 Then said Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gil'ad, unto Achab, As the Lord the God of Israel liveth, before whom I have stood, there shall not be in these years dew or rain, except according to my word.  
\v 2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,  
\v 3 Go away from here, and turn thyself eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Kerith, which is to the east of the Jordan.  
\v 4 And it shall be, that out of the brook shalt thou drink; and the ravens have I ordained to sustain thee there.  
\v 5 And he went and did according to the word of the Lord; and he went and remained by the brook Kerith, that is to the east of the Jordan.  
\v 6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening: and out of the brook he used to drink.  
\v 7 And it came to pass after a while that the brook dried up; because there had been no rain in the land.  
\v 8 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,  
\v 9 Arise, go unto Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and remain there: behold, I have ordained there a widow-woman to sustain thee.  
\v 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, there was there a widow-woman gathering sticks of wood: and he called her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.  
\v 11 And as she went to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand.  
\v 12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have nothing baked, but a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a cruise: and, behold, I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son; and when we have eaten it, we shall have to die.  
\v 13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said; but make me thereof a little cake at first, and bring it out unto me, and for thee and for thy son shalt thou prepare [something] afterward.  
\v 14 For thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, The jar of meal shall not fail, neither shall the cruise of oil diminish, until the day that the Lord giveth rain upon the face of the earth.  
\v 15 And she went and did according to the word of Elijah: and she, and he, and her household, did eat [many] days.  
\v 16 The jar of meal failed not, nor did the cruise of oil diminish, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken through means of Elijah.  
\v 17 And it came to pass after these events, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness became very severe, until that at length there was no breath left in him.  
\v 18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O man of God? thou art come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son!  
\v 19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the upper chamber, in which he abode, and he laid him upon his own bed.  
\v 20 And he called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?  
\v 21 And he stretched himself out over the child three times, and called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, let, I pray thee, the soul of this child return again within him.  
\v 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah: and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived.  
\v 23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the upper chamber into the house, and gave him unto his mother; and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.  
\v 24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this do I know, that thou art a man of God, and the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.   
\c 18
\p
\v 1 And it lasted many days, when the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Achab; and I will give rain upon the face of the earth.  
\v 2 And Elijah went to show himself unto Achab; and the famine was grievous in Samaria.  
\v 3 And Achab called 'Obadiah, who was the superintendent of the house;—(now 'Obadiah feared the Lord greatly;  
\v 4 And it happened, when Izebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that 'Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them fifty each in one cave, and provided them with bread and water;)  
\v 5 And Achab said unto 'Obadiah, Go through the land, unto all the springs of water, and unto all the brooks, peradventure we may find grass and keep alive horse and mule, that we lose not all the cattle.  
\v 6 So they divided between them the land to pass through it: Achab went one way by himself alone, and 'Obadiah went another way by himself alone.  
\v 7 And as 'Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah came toward him; and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou here indeed, my Lord Elijah?  
\v 8 And he said unto him, I am: go, say unto thy Lord, Behold, Elijah is here.  
\v 9 And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver thy servant into the hand of Achab, to slay me?  
\v 10 As the Lord thy God liveth, there is not a nation or kingdom whither my Lord hath not sent to seek thee; and when they said, He is not here: he caused that kingdom and nation to take an oath, that no one could find thee.  
\v 11 And now thou sayest, Go, say unto thy Lord, Behold, here is Elijah.  
\v 12 And it may come to pass, that, when I go from thee, the spirit of the Lord may carry thee whither I know not; and when I come to inform Achab, and he cannot find thee, he will slay me; but I thy servant have feared the Lord from my youth.  
\v 13 Hath it not been told unto my Lord what I did when Izebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, fifty each in one cave, and provided them with bread and water?  
\v 14 And now thou sayest, Go say to thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he will slay me.  
\v 15 Then said Elijah, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I have stood, surely today will I show myself unto him.  
\v 16 So 'Ohadiah went to meet Achab, and he told it to him; and Achab went to meet Elijah.  
\v 17 And it came to pass, when Achab saw Elijah, that Achab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?  
\v 18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, through your forsaking the commandments of the Lord, and because thou hast followed the Be'alim.  
\v 19 And now send, assemble unto me all Israel at Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Ba'al four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the grove four hundred, who eat at the table of Izebel.  
\v 20 And Achab sent round among all the children of Israel, and he assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel.  
\v 21 And Elijah approached unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between the two opinions? if the Lord be the God, follow him; and if Ba'al—follow him. And the people answered him not a word.  
\v 22 And Elijah said unto the people, I have been left a prophet of the Lord by myself alone; but the prophets of Ba'al are four hundred and fifty men.  
\v 23 Therefore let there be given unto us two bullocks; and let them choose for themselves the one bullock, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire to it: and I will prepare the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire to it.  
\v 24 And do ye call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and it shall be that the God who answereth by fire, he shall be the [true] God. And all the people answered and said, The proposal is good.  
\v 25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Ba'al, Choose you for yourselves the one bullock, and prepare it first; for ye are the many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.  
\v 26 And they took the bullock which he had given to them, and they prepared it; and they called on the name of Ba'al from morning even until noon, saying, O Ba'al, answer us; but there was no voice, nor any answer: and they danced about the altar which had been made.  
\v 27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked at them, and said, Call with a loud voice; for he is a god; either he is holding council, or he is busy in some pursuit, or he is on a journey; or peradventure he sleepeth, and may thus awaken.  
\v 28 And they called with a loud voice and cut themselves after their custom with knives and spears, till the blood gushed out over them.  
\v 29 And it came to pass, when midday was past, that they practised their follies until near [the time of] the offering of the evening-sacrifice; but there was neither voice, nor any answer, nor any perceptible sound.  
\v 30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me: and all the people came near unto him; and he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down.  
\v 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord was come, saying, Israel shall be thy name.  
\v 32 And he built of the stones an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench as great as would contain two seahs of seed round about the altar.  
\v 33 And he put in order the wood, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid them on the wood,  
\v 34 And he said. Fill four jars with water; and they had to pour it on the burnt-offering, and on the wood: and he said, Do it the second time: and they did it the second time: and he said, Do it the third time; and they did it the third time.  
\v 35 And the water ran round about the altar; and the trench also he filled with water.  
\v 36 And it came to pass, at [the time of] the offering of the evening-sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, O Lord, God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, this day let it be known that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that at thy word I have done all these things.  
\v 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, and let all this people know that thou, O Lord, art the [true] God, and thou wilt [then] have turned their heart back again.  
\v 38 And there fell a fire of the Lord, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; and the water also that was in the trench did it lick up.  
\v 39 And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces; and they said, the Lord—he is the God; the Lord—he is the God.  
\v 40 And Elijah said unto them, Seize the prophets of Ba'al; not one of them must escape; and they seized them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slaughtered them there.  
\v 41 And Elijah said unto Achab, Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.  
\v 42 So Achab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down toward the earth, and put his face between his knees;  
\v 43 And he said to his servant, Go up, I pray thee, look in the direction of the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, Not the least [is visible]. And he said, Go again, seven times.  
\v 44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there is a little cloud like a man's hand arising out of the sea. And he said, Go up, say unto Achab, Harness up [thy chariot], and come down, that the rain may not detain thee.  
\v 45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heavens were blackened with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Achab rode, and went to Yizre'el.  
\v 46 And the inspiration of the Lord came over Elijah, and he girded up his loins; and he ran before Achab up to the entrance of Yizre'el.   
\c 19
\p
\v 1 And Achab told Izebel all that Elijah had done, and withal that he had slain all the prophets with the sword.  
\v 2 Then sent Izebel a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So may the gods do to me, and may they thus continue, if about this time tomorrow I do not render thy life as the life of any one of them.  
\v 3 And when he saw this, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba', which belongeth to Judah, and he left his young man there.  
\v 4 But he himself went forward into the wilderness a day's journey, and he came and sat down under a certain broom-bush: and he requested for himself to die; and he said, It is enough, now, O Lord, take away my soul; for I am not better than my fathers.  
\v 5 And he laid himself down and slept under a certain broom-bush, and, behold then, an angel was touching him, and said unto him, Arise, eat.  
\v 6 And he looked about, and, behold, there was at his head a cake baked on coals, and a cruise of water; and he ate and drank, and laid himself down again.  
\v 7 And the angel of the Lord came again, the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise, eat; because the journey is yet far for thee.  
\v 8 And he arose, and ate and drank; and he went on the strength of that eating forty days and forty nights unto the mount of God, Horeb.  
\v 9 And he came there unto a cave, and remained there over night: and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and said unto him, What dost thou here, Elijah?  
\v 10 And he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thy altars have they thrown down, and thy prophets have they slain with the sword: and I am left by myself alone, and they have sought my life, to take it away.  
\v 11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord: and, behold, the Lord passed by, and a wind, great and strong, rending the mountains, and breaking in pieces the rocks [went] before the Lord; but not in the wind was the Lord: and after the wind was an earthquake: but not in the earthquake was the Lord;  
\v 12 And after the earthquake was a fire; but not in the fire was the Lord; and after the fire was the sound of a soft whisper.  
\v 13 And it came to pass, when Elijah heard it, that he concealed his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave: and, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What dost thou here, Elijah?  
\v 14 And he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thy altars have they thrown down, and thy prophets have they slain with the sword: and I am left by myself alone, and they have sought my life, to take it away.  
\v 15 And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus; and go, anoint Chazael to be king over Syria;  
\v 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha' the son of Shaphat of Abel-mecholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy stead.  
\v 17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Chazael shall Jehu slay; and him that escapeth the sword of Jehu shall Elisha' slay.  
\v 18 And I will leave in Israel seven thousand, all the knees which have not been bent unto Ba'al, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.  
\v 19 And he departed thence, and found Elisha' the son of Shaphat, who was ploughing; twelve yoke of oxen were before him, and he was with the twelfth: and Elijah passed up to him, and cast his mantle toward him.  
\v 20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss but my father and my mother, and I will [then] follow thee: and he said unto him, Go, return; for what have I done to thee?  
\v 21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and with the instruments of the oxen he boiled the flesh for them, and he gave it unto the people, and they did eat; and then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.   
\c 20
\p
\v 1 And Ben-hadad the king of Syria assembled all his host together: and thirty and two kings were with him, and horses, and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and made war against it.  
\v 2 And he sent messengers to Achab the king of Israel into the city;  
\v 3 And he said unto him, Thus hath said Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold are mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the best, are mine.  
\v 4 And the king of Israel answered and said, According to thy word, my Lord, O king, thine am I, and all that I have.  
\v 5 And the messengers returned, and said, Thus hath said Ben-hadad, to say [to thee], I have indeed sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt give unto me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;  
\v 6 Nevertheless, about this time tomorrow will I send my servants unto thee, and they shall search through thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thy eyes, they shall place it in their hand, and take it away.  
\v 7 Then did the king of Israel call for all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see that this man seeketh mischief; for he hath sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I have not refused them to him.  
\v 8 And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Thou must not hearken, nor consent.  
\v 9 Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben-hadad, Say to my lord the king, all that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first will I do; but this thing I am not able to do. And the messengers went away, and brought him word again.  
\v 10 And Ben-hadad then sent unto him, and said, May the gods do so unto me, and continue to do so, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that are in my train.  
\v 11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Speak, Let him that girdeth on the armor not boast himself as he that putteth it off.  
\v 12 And it came to pass, when he heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Get ready for the attack. And they got ready for the attack against the city.  
\v 13 And, behold, there approached a certain prophet unto Achab the king of Israel, and said, Thus hath said the Lord, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thy hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.  
\v 14 And Achab said, By whom? And he said, Thus hath said the Lord, By means of the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then said he, Who shall order the battle? And he said, Thou.  
\v 15 He then numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two: and after them he numbered all the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand strong.  
\v 16 And they went out at midday; while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.  
\v 17 And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out at first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, Some men are come out of Samaria.  
\v 18 And he said, If they be come out for peace, catch them alive; and if they be come out for war, alive must ye catch them.  
\v 19 So these, the young men of the princes of the provinces, came out of the city, with the army which followed them.  
\v 20 And they slew every one his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with the horsemen.  
\v 21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and inflicted on the Syrians a great defeat.  
\v 22 And the prophet approached unto the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou hast to do; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.  
\v 23 And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Gods of the mountains are their gods; therefore they prevailed over us; but let us fight against them in the plain, [and see] whether we shall not prevail over them.  
\v 24 But do this thing, Remove the kings, every one from his place, and appoint governors in their rooms;  
\v 25 And thou, number for thyself an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, [and see] whether we shall prevail over them. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.  
\v 26 And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to the war with Israel.  
\v 27 And the children of Israel were numbered, and provisioned, and went [out] against them: and the children of Israel encamped opposite to them like two little flocks of goats; but the Syrians filled the country.  
\v 28 And there approached the man of God, and spoke unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus hath said the Lord, Forasmuch as the Syrians have said, “A God of the hills is the Lord, but he is not God of the valleys”: will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hand; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.  
\v 29 And they encamped one opposite the other for seven days. And it happened, that on the seventh day the battle took place: and the children of Israel smote the Syrians a hundred thousand men on foot in one day.  
\v 30 But those that were left fled to Aphek, into the city; but the city-wall fell upon the twenty and seven thousand men that had been left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an innermost chamber.  
\v 31 And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are kindly kings; let us, we pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; peradventure he may save thy life.  
\v 32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad hath said, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.  
\v 33 Now the men took it for a good sign, and hastened and caught at his word, whether it was his earnest; and they said, Thy brother Ben-hadad! But he said, Go ye, bring him. Then came Ben-hadad forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.  
\v 34 And he said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, will I restore; and thou canst lay out for thyself streets in Damascus, as my father laid out in Samaria. “And I for my part will send thee away with this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.  
\v 35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his companion, By the word of the Lord, smite me, I pray thee. But the man refused to smite him.  
\v 36 Then said he unto him, Forasmuch as thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, when thou goest away from me, a lion shall slay thee. And he went away from him, when a lion found him, and slew him.  
\v 37 Then he met with another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, smiting and wounding [him].  
\v 38 And the prophet then went, and placed himself before the king on the way, and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes.  
\v 39 And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king, and said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought unto me a man, and said, Guard this man; if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be [forfeit] for his life, or else thou shalt weigh me down a talent of silver.  
\v 40 But it happened as thy servant was Busy here and there, that he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So is thy sentence: thou thyself hast decided it.  
\v 41 And he hastened, and removed the bandage from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized him that he was one of the prophets.  
\v 42 And he said unto him, Thus hath said the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man whom I had caught in my net, therefore shall thy life be the forfeit for his life, and thy people for his people.  
\v 43 And the king of Israel went to his house low-spirited and displeased, and he came to Samaria.   
\c 21
\p
\v 1 And it came to pass after these events, that Naboth the Yizre'elite had a vineyard, which was in Yizre'el, near the palace of Achab the king of Samaria.  
\v 2 And Achab spoke unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that it may serve me for a herb-garden, because it is near unto my house; and I will give thee in its stead a vineyard better than it; [or,] if it seem good in thy eyes, I will give thee the money, the value of the same.  
\v 3 And Naboth said to Achab, Far be it from me before the Lord, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.  
\v 4 And Achab came into his house low-spirited and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Yizre'elite had spoken to him, when he said, I will not give unto thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid himself down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food.  
\v 5 But Izebel his wife came to him, and spoke unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad! and why eatest thou no food?  
\v 6 And he said unto her, Because I spoke unto Naboth the Yizre'elite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee a vineyard in its stead; but he hath said, I will not give unto thee my vineyard.  
\v 7 Then said unto him Izebel his wife, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, eat bread, and let thy heart be merry: I will myself give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Yizre'elite.  
\v 8 So she wrote letters in Achab's name, and sealed them with his seal; and she sent the letters unto the elders and unto the nobles who were in his city, and who dwelt near Naboth.  
\v 9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and cause Naboth to sit at the head of the people;  
\v 10 And seat two men, worthless fellows, opposite to him, and let them bear witness against him, saying, Thou hast blasphemed God and the king; and then lead him forth, and stone him, that he may die.  
\v 11 And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles, those who dwelt in his city, did as Izebel had sent unto them, as was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.  
\v 12 They proclaimed a fast, and caused Naboth to sit at the head of the people.  
\v 13 And there came in two men, worthless fellows, and seated themselves opposite to him; and these worthless men testified against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth hath blasphemed God and the king. Then they led him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.  
\v 14 And they sent to Izebel, saying, Naboth hath been stoned, and is dead.  
\v 15 And it came to pass, when Izebel heard that Naboth had been stoned, and was dead, that Izebel said to Achab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Yizre'elite, which he refused to give thee for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.  
\v 16 And it came to pass, when Achab heard that Naboth was dead, that Achab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Yizre'elite, to take possession of it.  
\v 17 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,  
\v 18 Arise, go down to meet Achab the king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to take possession of it.  
\v 19 And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus hath said the Lord, Hast thou murdered, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus hath said the Lord, In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall the dogs lick thy blood, yes, thine also.  
\v 20 And Achab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O my enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to do what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.  
\v 21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and I will sweep out after thee, and will cut off from Achab every male, and the guarded and fortified in Israel,  
\v 22 And I will make thy house like the house of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, and like the house of Ba'sha the son of Achiyah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked [me] to anger, and induced Israel to sin.  
\v 23 And also concerning Izebel hath the Lord spoken, saying, The dogs shall eat Izebel in the valley of Yizre'el.  
\v 24 Him that dieth of Achab in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the heavens eat.  
\v 25 But indeed there was none like unto Achab, who sold himself to do what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, to which Izebel his wife incited him.  
\v 26 And he acted very abominably in following the idols, in all things just as had done the Emorites, whom the Lord had driven out from before the children of Israel.  
\v 27 And it came to pass, when Achab heard these words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and slept in the sackcloth, and walked about barefooted.  
\v 28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,  
\v 29 Hast thou seen how Achab hath humbled himself before me? therefore, because he hath humbled himself before me, will I not bring the evil in his days: in the days of his son will I bring the evil upon his house.   
\c 22
\p
\v 1 And they remained [at rest] three years, there being no war between Syria and Israel.  
\v 2 And it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.  
\v 3 And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gil'ad is ours, and we remain idle, without taking it out of the hand of the king of Syria?  
\v 4 And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to the battle against Ramoth-gil'ad? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I [will be] like thee, my people like thy people, my horses like thy horses.  
\v 5 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, today [first] of the word of the Lord.  
\v 6 Then assembled the king of Israel the prophets, about four hundred men, and said unto them, shall I go against Ramoth-gil'ad to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; and the Lord will deliver [it] into the hand of the king.  
\v 7 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Eternal besides, that we might inquire of him?  
\v 8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we might inquire of the Lord; but I hate him; for he will never prophesy good concerning me, but evil: [it is] Michayhu the son of Yimlah. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.  
\v 9 Then called the king of Israel a certain officer, and said, Hasten hither Michayhu the son of Yimlah.  
\v 10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, dressed in their regal garments, in a threshing-floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.  
\v 11 And Zedekiah the son of Kena'anah had made himself horns of iron; and he said, Thus hath said the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have made an end of them.  
\v 12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gil'ad, and prosper; and the Lord will deliver it into the king's hand.  
\v 13 And the messenger that went to call Michayhu spoke unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets are with one voice good for the king: do let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of any one of them, and speak something good.  
\v 14 And Michayhu said, As the Lord liveth, truly, what the Lord may say unto me, that will I speak.  
\v 15 And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Michayhu, shall we go against Ramoth-gil'ad to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go up, and prosper; and may the Lord deliver it into the hand of the king.  
\v 16 And the king said unto him, How many times yet must I adjure thee that thou shalt not speak to me anything but the truth in the name of the Lord?  
\v 17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered over the mountains, as flocks that have not a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in peace.  
\v 18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not say unto thee that he would not prophesy concerning me any good, but [only] evil?  
\v 19 And he said, Therefore hear thou the word of the Lord, I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right and on his left.  
\v 20 And the Lord said, Who will persuade Achab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gil'ad! And one said, In this manner, and another said, In that manner.  
\v 21 And there came forth a spirit, and placed himself before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith?  
\v 22 And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou wilt persuade him, and also prevail: go forth, and do so.  
\v 23 And now, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets; but the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.  
\v 24 And Zedekiah, the son of Kena'anah, went near, and struck Michayhu on the cheek, and said, Which way passed the Spirit of the Lord away from me to speak with thee!  
\v 25 And Michayhu said, Behold, thou shalt see it on that day, when thou shalt go into the innermost chamber to hide thyself.  
\v 26 And the king of Israel said, Take Michayhu, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and unto Joash the king's son;  
\v 27 And say, Thus hath said the king, Put this man in the prison, and feed him with sparing bread and with sparing water, until I come home in peace.  
\v 28 And Michayhu said, If thou return at all in peace, then hath the Lord not spoken through me. And he said, Hear it, O all ye nations!  
\v 29 So the king of Israel went up with Jehoshaphat the king of Judah to Ramoth-gil'ad.  
\v 30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but do thou put on thy regal garments. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.  
\v 31 And the king of Syria had commanded the captains over his chariots, thirty-two [in number], saying, Fight neither with a small nor a great one, save only with the king of Israel alone.  
\v 32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely this is the king of Israel. And they turned aside against him to fight: and Jehoshaphat cried out.  
\v 33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from following him.  
\v 34 But a man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the joints and the armor; wherefore he said unto his chariot-driver. Turn about, and carry me out of the camp; for I am wounded.  
\v 35 And the battle increased on that day; and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians; but he died in the evening: and the blood of the wound flowed down into the hollow of the chariot.  
\v 36 And there went a proclamation throughout the camp at the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own land.  
\v 37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.  
\v 38 And the chariot was washed out at the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood, as they washed his armor: according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken.  
\v 39 Now the rest of the acts of Achab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities that he built, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.  
\v 40 So Achab slept with his fathers: and Achazyahu his son became king in his stead.  
\v 41 And Jehoshaphat the son of Assa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Achab the king of Israel.  
\v 42 Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he became king, and twenty and five years did he reign in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was 'Azubah the daughter of Shilchi.  
\v 43 And he walked in all the ways of Assa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord: (22:44) Nevertheless the high-places were not removed; for the people still offered, and burnt incense on the high-places.  
\v 44 (22:45) And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.  
\v 45 (22:46) Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his mighty deeds that he showed, and how he warred, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.  
\v 46 (22:47) And the remnant of the sodomites, that had been left in the days of his father Assa, did he put away out of the land.  
\v 47 (22:48) There was then no king in Edom: a deputy was king.  
\v 48 (22:49) Jehoshaphat made Tharshish-ships to go to Ophir for gold; but they went not; for the ships were wrecked at 'Ezyon-geber.  
\v 49 (22:50) Then said Achazyahu the son of Achab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.  
\v 50 (22:51) And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoram his son became king in his stead.  
\v 51 (22:52) Achazyahu the son of Achab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah; and he reigned over Israel two years.  
\v 52 (22:53) And he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, who had induced Israel to sin.  
\v 53 (22:54) And he served Ba'al, and bowed down to him, and he provoked to anger the Lord the God of Israel, all just as his father had done.