Bible in 90 Days

³⁸ He made ten basins of bronze. One basin contained forty baths;^[a] and every basin was four cubits; and on every one of the ten bases one basin. ³⁹ He set the bases, five on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house. He set the sea on the right side of the house eastward and toward the south. ⁴⁰ Hiram made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished doing all the work that he worked for king Solomon in Yahweh’s house: ⁴¹ the two pillars; the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; ⁴² the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; ⁴³ the ten bases; the ten basins on the bases; ⁴⁴ the one sea; the twelve oxen under the sea; ⁴⁵ the pots; the shovels; and the basins: even all these vessels, which Hiram made for king Solomon, in Yahweh’s house, were of burnished bronze. ⁴⁶ The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them. The weight of the bronze could not be determined. ⁴⁸ Solomon made all the vessels that were in Yahweh’s house: the golden altar and the table that the show bread was on, of gold; ⁴⁹ and the lamp stands, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the inner sanctuary, of pure gold; and the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; ⁵⁰ the cups, the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold; and the hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, of the temple, of gold. ⁵¹ Thus all the work that king Solomon did in Yahweh’s house was finished. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of Yahweh’s house.

8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, with all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel, to king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Yahweh’s covenant out of David’s city, which is Zion. ² All the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ All the elders of Israel came, and the priests picked up the ark. ⁴ They brought up Yahweh’s ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. The priests and the Levites brought these up. ⁵ King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle, that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. ⁶ The priests brought in the ark of Yahweh’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even under the cherubim’s wings. ⁷ For the cherubim spread their wings out over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above. ⁸ The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary; but they were not seen outside. They are there to this day. ⁹ There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when Yahweh made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ It came to pass, when the priests had come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled Yahweh’s house, ¹¹ so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for Yahweh’s glory filled Yahweh’s house. ¹² Then Solomon said, “Yahweh has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. ¹³ I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever.”

¹⁴ The king turned his face around, and blessed all the assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel stood. ¹⁵ He said, “Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David your father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying, ¹⁶ ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.’

¹⁷ “Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But Yahweh said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come out of your body, he shall build the house for my name.’ ²⁰ Yahweh has established his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ²¹ There I have set a place for the ark, in which is Yahweh’s covenant, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

²² Solomon stood before Yahweh’s altar in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven; ²³ and he said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keeps covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart; ²⁴ who has kept with your servant David my father that which you promised him. Yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is today. ²⁵ Now therefore, may Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’

²⁶ “Now therefore, God of Israel, please let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David my father. ²⁷ But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built! ²⁸ Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant, and for his supplication, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you today; ²⁹ that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there;’ to listen to the prayer which your servant prays toward this place. ³⁰ Listen to the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Yes, hear in heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.

³¹ “If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house; ³² then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

³³ “When your people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; if they turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray and make supplication to you in this house; ³⁴ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to their fathers.

³⁵ “When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, ³⁶ then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.

³⁷ “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight, mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is; ³⁸ whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and spread out his hands toward this house, ³⁹ then hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men); ⁴⁰ that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.

⁴¹ “Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he comes out of a far country for your name’s sake ⁴² (for they shall hear of your great name, and of your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house; ⁴³ hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.

⁴⁴ “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to Yahweh toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name; ⁴⁵ then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. ⁴⁶ If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; ⁴⁷ yet if they repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done perversely; we have dealt wickedly;’ ⁴⁸ if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name; ⁴⁹ then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause; ⁵⁰ and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them ⁵¹ (for they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron furnace); ⁵² that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you. ⁵³ For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord Yahweh.”

⁵⁴ It was so, that when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to Yahweh, he arose from before Yahweh’s altar, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward heaven. ⁵⁵ He stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, ⁵⁶ “Blessed be Yahweh, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant. ⁵⁷ May Yahweh our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us or forsake us; ⁵⁸ that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before Yahweh, be near to Yahweh our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day requires; ⁶⁰ that all the peoples of the earth may know that Yahweh himself is God. There is no one else.

⁶¹ “Let your heart therefore be perfect with Yahweh our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as it is today.”

⁶² The king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Yahweh. ⁶³ Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Yahweh, twenty two thousand head of cattle, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated Yahweh’s house. ⁶⁴ The same day the king made the middle of the court holy that was before Yahweh’s house; for there he offered the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too little to receive the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings. ⁶⁵ So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before Yahweh our God, seven days and seven more days, even fourteen days. ⁶⁶ On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad in their hearts for all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.

9 When Solomon had finished the building of Yahweh’s house, the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do, ² Yahweh appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ Yahweh said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me. I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. ⁴ As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances; ⁵ then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man on the throne of Israel.’ ⁶ But if you turn away from following me, you or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them; ⁷ then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight; and Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ⁸ Though this house is so high, yet everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this land, and to this house?’ ⁹ and they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned Yahweh their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them, and served them. Therefore Yahweh has brought all this evil on them.’”

¹⁰ At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, Yahweh’s house and the king’s house ¹¹ (now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and cypress trees, and with gold, according to all his desire), King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. ¹² Hiram came out of Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they didn’t please him. ¹³ He said, “What cities are these which you have given me, my brother?” He called them the land of Cabul^[b] to this day. ¹⁴ Hiram sent to the king one hundred twenty talents^[c] of gold.

¹⁵ This is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised, to build Yahweh’s house, his own house, Millo, Jerusalem’s wall, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. ¹⁶ Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, taken Gezer, burned it with fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it for a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. ¹⁷ Solomon built in the land Gezer, Beth Horon the lower, ¹⁸ Baalath, Tamar in the wilderness, ¹⁹ all the storage cities that Solomon had, the cities for his chariots, the cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. ²⁰ As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel; ²¹ their children who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, of them Solomon raised a levy of bondservants to this day. ²² But of the children of Israel Solomon made no bondservants; but they were the men of war, his servants, his princes, his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen. ²³ These were the five hundred fifty chief officers who were over Solomon’s work, who ruled over the people who labored in the work. ²⁴ But Pharaoh’s daughter came up out of David’s city to her house which Solomon had built for her. Then he built Millo. ²⁵ Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he built to Yahweh three times per year, burning incense with them, on the altar that was before Yahweh. So he finished the house. ²⁶ King Solomon made a fleet of ships in Ezion Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. ²⁷ Hiram sent in the fleet his servants, sailors who had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. ²⁸ They came to Ophir, and fetched from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents,^[d] and brought it to king Solomon.

10 When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning Yahweh’s name, she came to test him with hard questions. ² She came to Jerusalem with a very great caravan, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was in her heart. ³ Solomon answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything hidden from the king which he didn’t tell her. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁵ the food of his table, the sitting of his servants, the attendance of his officials, their clothing, his cup bearers, and his ascent by which he went up to Yahweh’s house; there was no more spirit in her. ⁶ She said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom. ⁷ However I didn’t believe the words until I came and my eyes had seen it. Behold, not even half was told me! Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard. ⁸ Happy are your men, happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, who hear your wisdom. ⁹ Blessed is Yahweh your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because Yahweh loved Israel forever, therefore he made you king, to do justice and righteousness.” ¹⁰ She gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was there such an abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

¹¹ The fleet of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir, also brought in from Ophir great quantities of almug trees^[e] and precious stones. ¹² The king made of the almug trees pillars for Yahweh’s house, and for the king’s house, harps also and stringed instruments for the singers; no such almug trees came or were seen, to this day. ¹³ King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, in addition to that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants. ¹⁴ Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents^[f] of gold, ¹⁵ in addition to that which the traders brought, and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mixed people, and of the governors of the country. ¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels^[g] of gold went to one buckler. ¹⁷ he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas^[h] of gold went to one shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁸ Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold. ¹⁹ There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests. ²⁰ Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps. Nothing like it was made in any kingdom. ²¹ 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, because it was considered of little value in the days of Solomon. ²² For the king had a fleet of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the fleet of Tarshish came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. ²³ So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. ²⁴ All the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. ²⁵ Year after year, every man brought his tribute, vessels of silver, vessels of gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules. ²⁶ Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he kept in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and cedars as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland. ²⁸ The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt. The king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price. ²⁹ A chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels^[i] of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty shekels; and so they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites, and to the kings of Syria.

11 Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites; ² of the nations concerning which Yahweh said to the children of Israel, “You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon joined to these in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. His wives turned his heart away. ⁴ When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father was. ⁵ For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and didn’t go fully after Yahweh, as David his father did. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the mountain that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon. ⁸ So he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. ⁹ Yahweh was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he didn’t keep that which Yahweh commanded. ¹¹ Therefore Yahweh said to Solomon, “Because this is done by you, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. ¹² Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for David your father’s sake; but I will tear it out of your son’s hand. ¹³ However I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.”

¹⁴ Yahweh raised up an adversary to Solomon: Hadad the Edomite. He was one of the king’s offspring in Edom. ¹⁵ For when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the army had gone up to bury the slain, and had struck every male in Edom ¹⁶ (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom); ¹⁷ Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, to go into Egypt, when Hadad was still a little child. ¹⁸ They arose out of Midian, and came to Paran; and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, and appointed him food, and gave him land. ¹⁹ Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. ²⁰ The sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh. ²¹ 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, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”

²² Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you seek to go to your own country?”

He answered, “Nothing, however only let me depart.”

²³ God raised up an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴ He gathered men to himself, and became captain over a troop, when David killed them of Zobah. They went to Damascus, and lived there, and reigned in Damascus. ²⁵ He was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, in addition to the mischief of Hadad. He abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria. ²⁶ Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king. ²⁷ This was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breach of his father David’s city. ²⁸ The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon saw the young man that he was industrious, and he put him in charge of all the labor of the house of Joseph. ²⁹ At that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the way. Now Ahijah had clad himself with a new garment; and the two of them were alone in the field. ³⁰ Ahijah took the new garment that was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces. ³¹ He said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you ³² (but he shall have one tribe, for my servant David’s sake and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel); ³³ because they have forsaken me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon. They have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my ordinances, as David his father did.

³⁴ “‘However I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand; but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant’s sake whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes; ³⁵ but I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give it to you, even ten tribes. ³⁶ I will give one tribe to his son, that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there. ³⁷ I will take you, and you shall reign according to all that your soul desires, and shall be king over Israel. ³⁸ It shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do that which is right in my eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with you, and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you. ³⁹ I will afflict the offspring of David for this, but not forever.’”

⁴⁰ Therefore Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. ⁴¹ Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, aren’t they written in the book of the acts of Solomon? ⁴² The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. ⁴³ Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in his father David’s city; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

12 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam lived in Egypt, ³ and they sent and called him), Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came, and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made our yoke difficult. Now therefore make the hard service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you.”

⁵ He said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.”

So the people departed.

⁶ King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, “What counsel do you give me to answer these people?”

⁷ They replied, “If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them, and answer them with good words, then they will be your servants forever.”

⁸ But he abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. ⁹ He said to them, “What counsel do you give, that we may answer these people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter?’”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Tell these people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter to us;’ tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. ¹¹ Now my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.’”

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king asked, saying, “Come to me again the third day.” ¹³ The king answered the people roughly, and abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him, ¹⁴ and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”

¹⁵ So the king didn’t listen to the people; for it was a thing brought about from Yahweh, that he might establish his word, which Yahweh spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king didn’t listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, “What portion have we in David? We don’t have an inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, Israel! Now see to your own house, David.” So Israel departed to their tents.

¹⁷ But as for the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the men subject to forced labor; and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam hurried to get himself up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel rebelled against David’s house to this day. ²⁰ When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was no one who followed David’s house, except for the tribe of Judah only. ²¹ When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²² But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ²³ “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, ²⁴ ‘Yahweh says, “You shall not go up or fight against your brothers, the children of Israel. Everyone return to his house; for this thing is from me.”’” So they listened to Yahweh’s word, and returned and went their way, according to Yahweh’s word.

²⁵ Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived in it; and he went out from there, and built Penuel. ²⁶ Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to David’s house. ²⁷ If this people goes up to offer sacrifices in Yahweh’s house at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” ²⁸ So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look and behold your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” ²⁹ He set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. ³⁰ This thing became a sin; for the people went even as far as Dan to worship before the one there. ³¹ He made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi. ³² Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar. He did so in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made, and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. ³³ He went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up to the altar, to burn incense.

13 Behold, a man of God came out of Judah by Yahweh’s word to Bethel; and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. ² He cried against the altar by Yahweh’s word, and said, “Altar! Altar! Yahweh says: ‘Behold, a son will be born to David’s house, Josiah by name. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and they will burn men’s bones on you.’” ³ He gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which Yahweh has spoken: Behold, the altar will be split apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.”

⁴ When the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” His hand, which he put out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to himself. ⁵ The altar was also split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by Yahweh’s word. ⁶ The king answered the man of God, “Now intercede for the favor of Yahweh your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again.”

The man of God interceded with Yahweh, and the king’s hand was restored to him again, and became as it was before.

⁷ The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”

⁸ The man of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half of your house, I would not go in with you, neither would I eat bread nor drink water in this place; ⁹ for so was it commanded me by Yahweh’s word, saying, ‘You shall eat no bread, drink no water, and don’t return by the way that you came.’” ¹⁰ So he went another way, and didn’t return by the way that he came to Bethel.

¹¹ Now an old prophet lived in Bethel, and one of his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.

¹² Their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” Now his sons had seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah. ¹³ He said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it. ¹⁴ He went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

He said, “I am.” ¹⁵ Then he said to him, “Come home with me, and eat bread.”

¹⁶ He said, “I may not return with you, nor go in with you. I will not eat bread or drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ For it was said to me by Yahweh’s word, ‘You shall eat no bread or drink water there, and don’t turn again to go by the way that you came.’”

¹⁸ He said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are; and an angel spoke to me by Yahweh’s word, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” He lied to him.

¹⁹ So he went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water. ²⁰ As they sat at the table, Yahweh’s word came to the prophet who brought him back; ²¹ and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Yahweh says, ‘Because you have been disobedient to Yahweh’s mouth, and have not kept the commandment which Yahweh your God commanded you, ²² but came back, and have eaten bread and drank water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread, and drink no water;” your body will not come to the tomb of your fathers.’”

²³ After he had eaten bread, and after he drank, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ When he had gone, a lion met him by the way and killed him. His body was thrown on the path, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the body. ²⁵ Behold, men passed by, and saw the body thrown on the path, and the lion standing by the body; and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived. ²⁶ When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to Yahweh’s mouth. Therefore Yahweh has delivered him to the lion, which has mauled him and slain him, according to Yahweh’s word, which he spoke to him.” ²⁷ He said to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they saddled it. ²⁸ He went and found his body thrown on the path, and the donkey and the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body, nor mauled the donkey. ²⁹ The prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. He came to the city of the old prophet to mourn, and to bury him. ³⁰ He laid his body in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!”

³¹ After he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, bury me in the tomb in which the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones. ³² For the saying which he cried by Yahweh’s word against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely happen.”

³³ After this thing Jeroboam didn’t return from his evil way, but again made priests of the high places from among all the people. Whoever wanted to, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places. ³⁴ This thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the surface of the earth.

14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please get up and disguise yourself, so that you won’t be recognized as Jeroboam’s wife. Go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said that I would be king over this people. ³ Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the child.”

⁴ Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to Ahijah’s house. Now Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age. ⁵ Yahweh said to Ahijah, “Behold, Jeroboam’s wife is coming to inquire of you concerning her son; for he is sick. Tell her such and such; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend to be another woman.”

⁶ So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, Jeroboam’s wife! Why do you pretend to be another? For I am sent to you with heavy news. ⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: “Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you prince over my people Israel, ⁸ and tore the kingdom away from David’s house, and gave it you; and yet you have not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in my eyes, ⁹ but have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods, molten images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back; ¹⁰ therefore, behold, I will bring evil on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam everyone who urinates on a wall,^[j] he who is shut up and he who is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweeps away dung, until it is all gone. ¹¹ The dogs will eat he who belongs to Jeroboam who dies in the city; and the birds of the sky will eat he who dies in the field: for Yahweh has spoken it.”’ ¹² Arise therefore, and go to your house. When your feet enter into the city, the child will die. ¹³ All Israel will mourn for him and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam will come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. ¹⁴ Moreover Yahweh will raise up a king for himself over Israel, who will cut off the house of Jeroboam. This is the day! What? Even now. ¹⁵ For Yahweh will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River,^[k] because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking Yahweh to anger. ¹⁶ He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin.”

¹⁷ Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed, and came to Tirzah. As she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. ¹⁸ All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to Yahweh’s word, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet. ¹⁹ The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ²⁰ The days which Jeroboam reigned were twenty two years, then he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

²¹ Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which Yahweh had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. ²² Judah did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that their fathers had done. ²³ For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. ²⁴ There were also sodomites in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which Yahweh drove out before the children of Israel. ²⁵ In the fifth year of king Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, ²⁶ and he took away the treasures of Yahweh’s house, and the treasures of the king’s house. He even took away all of it, including all the gold shields which Solomon had made. ²⁷ King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. ²⁸ It was so, that as often as the king went into Yahweh’s house, the guard bore them, and brought them back into the guard room.

²⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ³⁰ There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. ³¹ Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in David’s city. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam his son reigned in his place.

15 Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ³ He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father. ⁴ Nevertheless for David’s sake, Yahweh his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem; ⁵ because David did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, and didn’t turn away from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ⁶ Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. ⁷ The rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. ⁸ Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in David’s city; and Asa his son reigned in his place.

⁹ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah. ¹⁰ He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹ Asa did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, as David his father did. ¹² He put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. ¹³ He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁴ But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with Yahweh all his days. ¹⁵ He brought into Yahweh’s house the things that his father had dedicated, and the things that he himself had dedicated: silver, gold, and utensils. ¹⁶ There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. ¹⁷ Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that was left in the treasures of Yahweh’s house, and the treasures of the king’s house, and delivered it into the hand of his servants. Then King Asa sent them to Ben Hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived at Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ “There is a treaty between me and you, between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.”

²⁰ Ben Hadad listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel, and struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel Beth Maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ When Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and lived in Tirzah. ²² Then king Asa made a proclamation to all Judah. No one was exempted. They carried away the stones of Ramah, and its timber, with which Baasha had built; and king Asa used it to build Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah. ²³ Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. ²⁴ Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in his father David’s city; and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

²⁵ Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah; and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin. ²⁷ Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha struck him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon. ²⁸ Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha killed him, and reigned in his place. ²⁹ As soon as he was king, he struck all the house of Jeroboam. He didn’t leave to Jeroboam any who breathed, until he had destroyed him; according to the saying of Yahweh, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite; ³⁰ for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and with which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger. ³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ³² There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel in Tirzah for twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin.

16 Yahweh’s word came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, ² “Because I exalted you out of the dust, and made you prince over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins; ³ behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house; and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ⁴ The dogs will eat Baasha’s descendants who die in the city; and he who dies of his in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.”

⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁶ Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his place.

⁷ Moreover Yahweh’s word came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and against his house, both because of all the evil that he did in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he struck him.

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah for two years. ⁹ His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah; ¹⁰ and Zimri went in and struck him, and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

¹¹ When he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, he attacked all the house of Baasha. He didn’t leave him a single one who urinates on a wall^[l] among his relatives or his friends. ¹² Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to Yahweh’s word, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, ¹³ for all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned, and with which they made Israel to sin, to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities. ¹⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶ The people who were encamped heard that Zimri had conspired, and had also killed the king. Therefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷ Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the fortified part of the king’s house, and burned the king’s house over him with fire, and died, ¹⁹ for his sins which he sinned in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin. ²⁰ Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he committed, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?