1 Kings 5-14

Contemporary English Version

Solomon Asks Hiram To Help Build the Temple

(2 Chronicles 2.1-16)

5 King Hiram of Tyre^[a] had always been friends with Solomon's father David. When Hiram learned that Solomon was king, he sent some of his officials to meet with Solomon.

² Solomon sent a message back to Hiram:

³ Remember how my father David wanted to build a temple where the Lord his God could be worshiped? But enemies kept attacking my father's kingdom, and he never had the chance. ⁴ Now, thanks to the Lord God, there is peace in my kingdom and no trouble or threat of war anywhere.

^5 (A) The Lord God promised my father that when his son became king, he would build a temple for worshiping the Lord. So I've decided to do that.

⁶ I'd like you to send your workers to cut down cedar trees in Lebanon for me. I will pay them whatever you say and will even have my workers help them. We both know that your workers are more experienced than anyone else at cutting lumber.

⁷ Hiram was so happy when he heard Solomon's request that he said, “I am grateful that the Lord gave David such a wise son to be king of that great nation!” ⁸ Then he sent back his answer:

I received your message and will give you all the cedar and pine logs you need. ⁹ My workers will carry them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea. They will tie the logs together and float them along the coast to wherever you want them. Then they will untie the logs, and your workers can take them from there.

To pay for the logs, you can provide the grain I need for my household.

¹⁰ Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and pine logs he needed. ¹¹ In return, Solomon gave Hiram over 2,000 tons of wheat and almost 4,000 liters of pure olive oil each year.

¹² The Lord kept his promise and made Solomon wise. Hiram and Solomon signed a treaty and never went to war against each other.

Solomon's Workers

¹³ Solomon ordered 30,000 people from all over Israel to cut logs for the temple, ^14 (B) and he put Adoniram in charge of these workers. Solomon divided them into three groups of 10,000. Each group worked one month in Lebanon and had two months off at home.

¹⁵ He also had 80,000 workers to cut stone in the hill country of Israel, 70,000 workers to carry the stones, ¹⁶ and over 3,000 assistants to keep track of the work and to supervise the workers. ¹⁷ He ordered the workers to cut and shape large blocks of good stone for the foundation of the temple.

¹⁸ Solomon's and Hiram's men worked with men from the city of Gebal,^[b] and together they got the stones and logs ready for the temple.

The Outside of the Temple Is Completed

6 Solomon's workers started building the temple during Ziv,^[c] the second month of the year. It had been 4 years since Solomon became king of Israel, and 480 years since the people of Israel left Egypt.

² The inside of the Lord's temple was 27 meters long, 9 meters wide, and 13.5 meters high. ³ A four-and-a-half-meter porch went all the way across the front of the temple. ⁴ The windows were narrow on the outside but wide on the inside.

^5-6 Along the sides and back of the temple, there were three levels of storage rooms. The rooms on the bottom level were just over two meters wide, the rooms on the middle level were over two and a half meters wide, and those on the top level were just over three meters wide. There were ledges on the outside of the temple that supported the beams of the storage rooms, so that nothing was built into the temple walls.

⁷ Solomon did not want the noise of hammers and axes to be heard at the place where the temple was being built. So he gave orders for the workers to shape the blocks of stone at the quarry.

⁸ The entrance to the bottom storage rooms was on the south side of the building, and stairs to the other rooms were also there. ⁹ The roof of the temple was made out of beams and cedar boards.

The workers finished building the outside of the temple. ¹⁰ Storage rooms just over two meters high were all around the temple, and they were attached to the temple by cedar beams.

¹¹ The Lord told Solomon:

^12-13 If you obey my commands and do what I say, I will keep the promise I made to your father David. I will live among my people Israel in this temple you are building, and I will not desert them.

¹⁴ So Solomon's workers finished building the temple.

The Inside of the Temple Is Furnished

(2 Chronicles 3.8-14)

¹⁵ The floor of the temple was made out of pine, and the walls were lined with cedar from floor to ceiling.^[d]

^16 (C) The most holy place was in the back of the temple, and it was nine meters square. Cedar boards standing from floor to ceiling^[e] separated it from the rest of the temple. ¹⁷ The temple's main room was 18 meters long, and it was in front of the most holy place.

¹⁸ The inside walls were lined with cedar to hide the stones, and the cedar was decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers.

¹⁹ The sacred chest was kept in the most holy place. ^20-22 (D) This room was nine meters long, nine meters wide, and nine meters high, and it was lined with pure gold. There were also gold chains across the front of the most holy place. The inside of the temple, as well as the cedar altar in the most holy place, was covered with gold.

^23 (E) Solomon had two statues of winged creatures^[f] made from olive wood to put in the most holy place. Each creature was four and a half meters tall ^24-26 and four and a half meters across. They had two wings, and the wings were just over two meters long. ²⁷ Solomon put them next to each other in the most holy place. Their wings were spread out and reached across the room. ²⁸ The creatures were also covered with gold.

²⁹ The walls of the two rooms were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. ³⁰ Even the floor was covered with gold.

^31-32 The two doors to the most holy place were made out of olive wood and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. The doors and the carvings were covered with gold. The door frame came to a point at the top.

^33-34 The two doors to the main room of the temple were made out of pine, and each one had two sections^[g] so they could fold open. The door frame was shaped like a rectangle and was made out of olive wood. ³⁵ The doors were covered with gold and were decorated with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures.

³⁶ The inner courtyard of the temple had walls made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams.

³⁷ Work began on the temple during Ziv,^[h] the second month of the year, four years after Solomon became king of Israel. ³⁸ Seven years later the workers finished building it during Bul,^[i] the eighth month of the year. It was built exactly as it had been planned.

Solomon's Palace Is Built

7 Solomon's palace took 13 years to build.

^2-3 Forest Hall was the largest room in the palace. It was 44 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 13.5 meters high, and was lined with cedar from Lebanon. It had 4 rows of cedar pillars, 15 in a row, and they held up 45 cedar beams. The ceiling was covered with cedar. ⁴ Three rows of windows on each side faced each other, ⁵ and there were three doors on each side near the front of the hall.

⁶ Pillar Hall was 22 meters long and 13.5 meters wide. A covered porch supported by pillars went all the way across the front of the hall.

⁷ Solomon's throne was in Justice Hall, where he judged cases. This hall was completely lined with cedar.

^8 (F) The section of the palace where Solomon lived was behind Justice Hall and looked exactly like it. He had a similar place built for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.

⁹ From the foundation all the way to the top, these buildings and the courtyard were made out of the best stones^[j] carefully cut to size, then smoothed on every side with saws. ¹⁰ The foundation stones were huge, good stones—some of them four and a half meters long and others three and a half meters long. ¹¹ The cedar beams and other stones that had been cut to size were on top of these foundation stones. ¹² The walls around the palace courtyard were made out of three layers of cut stones with one layer of cedar beams, just like the front porch and the inner courtyard of the temple.

Hiram Makes the Bronze Furnishings

(2 Chronicles 3.15-17; 4.1-10)

^13-14 Hiram was a skilled bronze worker from the city of Tyre.^[k] His father was now dead, but he also had been a bronze worker from Tyre, and his mother was from the tribe of Naphtali.

King Solomon asked Hiram to come to Jerusalem and make the bronze furnishings to use for worship in the Lord's temple, and he agreed to do it.

¹⁵ Hiram made two bronze columns eight meters tall and almost two meters across. ¹⁶ For the top of each column, he also made a bronze cap just over two meters high. ¹⁷ The caps were decorated with seven rows of designs that looked like chains,^{[l] 18} with two rows of designs that looked like pomegranates.^[m]

¹⁹ The caps for the columns of the porch were almost two meters high and were shaped like lilies.^[n]

²⁰ The chain designs on the caps were right above the rounded tops of the two columns, and there were 200 pomegranates in rows around each cap. ²¹ Hiram placed the two columns on each side of the main door of the temple. The column on the south side was called Jachin,^[o] and the one on the north was called Boaz.^[p]

²² The lily-shaped caps were on top of the columns.

This completed the work on the columns.

²³ Hiram also made a large bowl called the Sea. It was just over two meters deep, about 4.5 meters across, and 13.5 meters around. ²⁴ Two rows of bronze gourds were around the outer edge of the bowl, ten gourds to every 45 centimeters. ²⁵ The bowl itself sat on top of twelve bronze bulls with three bulls facing outward in each of four directions. ²⁶ The sides of the bowl were 75 millimeters thick, and its rim was like a cup that curved outward like flower petals. The bowl held about 40,000 liters.

²⁷ Hiram made ten movable bronze stands, each one over a meter high, almost two meters long, and almost two meters wide. ^28-29 The sides were made with panels attached to frames decorated with flower designs. The panels themselves were decorated with figures of lions, bulls, and winged creatures. ^30-31 Each stand had four bronze wheels and axles and a round frame 68 centimeters across, held up by four supports 45 centimeters high. A small bowl rested in the frame. The supports were decorated with flower designs, and the frame with carvings.

The side panels of the stands were square, ³² and the wheels and axles were underneath them. The wheels were about 68 centimeters high ³³ and looked like chariot wheels. The axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were made out of bronze.

^34-35 Around the top of each stand was a 22-centimeter strip, and there were four braces^[q] attached to the corners of each stand. The panels and the supports were attached to the stands, ³⁶ and the stands were decorated with flower designs and figures of lions, palm trees, and winged creatures. ³⁷ Hiram made the ten bronze stands from the same mold, so they were exactly the same size and shape.

^38 (G) Hiram also made ten small bronze bowls, one for each stand. The bowls were almost two meters across and could hold about 800 liters.

³⁹ He put five stands on the south side of the temple, five stands on the north side, and the large bowl at the southeast corner of the temple.

⁴⁰ Hiram made pans for hot ashes, and also shovels and sprinkling bowls.

A List of Everything inside the Temple

(2 Chronicles 4.11—5.1)

This is a list of the bronze items that Hiram made for the Lord's temple: ⁴¹ two columns; two bowl-shaped caps for the tops of the columns; two chain designs on the caps; ⁴² 400 pomegranates^[r] for the chain designs; ⁴³ ten movable stands; ten small bowls for the stands; ⁴⁴ a large bowl; twelve bulls that held up the bowl; ⁴⁵ pans for hot ashes, and also shovels and sprinkling bowls.

Hiram made these bronze things for Solomon ⁴⁶ near the Jordan River between Succoth and Zarethan by pouring melted bronze into clay molds.

⁴⁷ There were so many bronze things that Solomon never bothered to weigh them, and no one ever knew how much bronze was used.

^48 (H) Solomon gave orders to make the following temple furnishings out of gold: the altar; the table that held the sacred loaves of bread;^{[s] 49 (I)} ten lampstands that went in front of the most holy place; flower designs; lamps and tongs; ⁵⁰ cups, lamp snuffers, and small sprinkling bowls; dishes for incense; fire pans; and the hinges for the doors to the most holy place and the main room of the temple.

^51 (J) After the Lord's temple was finished, Solomon put into its storage rooms everything that his father David had dedicated to the Lord, including the gold and the silver.

Solomon Brings the Sacred Chest to the Temple

(2 Chronicles 5.2—6.2)

8 ^1-2 (K) The sacred chest had been kept on Mount Zion, also known as the city of David. But Solomon decided to have the chest moved to the temple while everyone was in Jerusalem, celebrating the Festival of Shelters during Ethanim,^[t] the seventh month of the year.

Solomon called together the important leaders of Israel. ^3-4 Then the priests and the Levites carried to the temple the sacred chest, the sacred tent, and the objects used for worship. ⁵ Solomon and a crowd of people stood in front of the chest and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted.

⁶ The priests carried the chest into the most holy place and put it under the winged creatures, ⁷ whose wings covered both the chest and the poles used for carrying it. ⁸ The poles were so long that they could be seen from right outside the most holy place, but not from anywhere else. And they stayed there from then on.

^9 (L) The only things kept in the chest were the two flat stones Moses had put there when the Lord made his agreement with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai,^[u] after bringing them out of Egypt.

^10 (M) Suddenly a cloud filled the temple as the priests were leaving the most holy place. ¹¹ The Lord's glory was in the cloud, and the light from it was so bright that the priests could not stay inside to do their work. ^12 (N) Then Solomon prayed:

Solomon Speaks to the People

(2 Chronicles 6.3-11)

¹⁴ Solomon turned toward the people standing there. Then he blessed them ^15-16 (O) and said:

Praise the Lord God of Israel! Long ago he brought his people out of Egypt. He did not choose a city from any tribe in Israel where his temple would be built, but he kept his promise to make my father David the king of Israel.

^17 (P) So when David wanted to build a temple for the Lord God of Israel, ¹⁸ the Lord said, “It's good that you want to build a temple where I can be worshiped. ^19 (Q) But you're not the one to do it. Your son will build a temple to honor me.”

²⁰ The Lord has done what he promised. I am the king of Israel like my father, and I've built a temple for the Lord our God. ²¹ I've also made a place in the temple for the sacred chest. And in that chest are the two flat stones on which is written the solemn agreement the Lord made with our ancestors when he led them out of Egypt.

Solomon Prays at the Temple

(2 Chronicles 6.12-42)

²² Solomon stood facing the altar with everyone standing behind him. Then he lifted his arms toward heaven ²³ and prayed:

Lord God of Israel, no other god in heaven or on earth is like you!

You never forget the agreement you made with your people, and you are loyal to anyone who faithfully obeys your teachings. ²⁴ My father David was your servant, and today you have kept every promise you made to him.

^25 (R)Lord God of Israel, you promised my father that someone from his family would always be king of Israel, if they do their best to obey you, just as he did. ²⁶ Please keep this promise you made to your servant David.

^27 (S) There's not enough room in all of heaven for you, Lord God. How could you possibly live on earth in this temple I have built? ²⁸ But I ask you to answer my prayer. ^29 (T) This is the temple where you have chosen to be worshiped. Please watch over it day and night and listen when I turn toward it and pray. ³⁰ I am your servant, and the people of Israel belong to you. So whenever any of us look toward this temple and pray, answer from your home in heaven and forgive our sins.

³¹ Suppose someone accuses a person of a crime, and the accused has to stand in front of the altar in your temple and say, “I swear I am innocent!” ³² Listen from heaven and decide who is right. Then punish the guilty person and let the innocent one go free.

^33 (U) Suppose your people Israel sin against you, and then an enemy defeats them. If they come to this temple and beg for forgiveness, ³⁴ listen from your home in heaven. Forgive them and bring them back to the land you gave their ancestors.

³⁵ Suppose your people sin against you, and you punish them by holding back the rain. If they turn toward this temple and pray in your name and stop sinning, ³⁶ listen from your home in heaven and forgive them. The people of Israel are your servants, so teach them to live right. And please send rain on the land you gave them to be theirs forever.

³⁷ Sometimes the crops may dry up or rot or be eaten by locusts^[v] or grasshoppers, and your people will be starving. Sometimes enemies may surround their towns, or your people will become sick with deadly diseases. ³⁸ Listen when anyone in Israel truly feels sorry and sincerely prays with arms lifted toward your temple. ³⁹ You know what is in everyone's heart. So from your home in heaven answer their prayers, according to the way they live and what is in their hearts. ⁴⁰ Then your people will worship and obey you for as long as they live in the land you gave their ancestors.

^41-42 Foreigners will hear about you and your mighty power, and some of them will come to live among your people Israel. If any of them pray toward this temple, ⁴³ listen from your home in heaven and answer their prayers. Then everyone on earth will worship you, just like your people Israel, and they will know that I have built this temple to honor you.

⁴⁴ Our Lord, sometimes you will order your people to attack their enemies. Then your people will turn toward this temple I have built for you in your chosen city, and they will pray to you. ⁴⁵ Answer their prayers from heaven and give them victory.

⁴⁶ Everyone sins. But when your people sin against you, suppose you get angry enough to let their enemies drag them away to foreign countries. ^47-49 Later, they may feel sorry for what they did and ask your forgiveness. Answer them when they pray toward this temple I have built for you in your chosen city, here in this land you gave their ancestors. From your home in heaven, listen to their sincere prayers and do what they ask. ⁵⁰ Forgive your people no matter how much they have sinned against you. Make the enemies who defeated them be kind to them. ⁵¹ Remember, they are the people you chose and rescued from Egypt that was like a blazing fire to them.

⁵² I am your servant, and the people of Israel belong to you. So listen when any of us pray and cry out for your help. ⁵³ When you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, you told your servant Moses to say to them, “From all people on earth, the Lord God has chosen you to be his very own.”

Solomon Blesses the People

⁵⁴ When Solomon finished his prayer at the altar, he was kneeling with his arms lifted toward heaven. He stood up, ⁵⁵ turned toward the people, blessed them, and said loudly:

^56 (V) Praise the Lord! He has kept his promise and given us peace. Every good thing he promised to his servant Moses has happened.

⁵⁷ The Lord our God was with our ancestors to help them, and I pray that he will be with us and never abandon us. ⁵⁸ May the Lord help us obey him and follow all the laws and teachings he gave our ancestors.

⁵⁹ I pray that the Lord our God will remember my prayer day and night. May he help everyone in Israel each day, in whatever way we need it. ⁶⁰ Then every nation will know that the Lord is the only true God.

⁶¹ Obey the Lord our God and follow his commands with all your heart, just as you are doing today.

Solomon Dedicates the Temple

(2 Chronicles 7.4-10)

^62-63 Solomon and the people dedicated the temple to the Lord by offering 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep as sacrifices to ask the Lord's blessing.^{[w] 64} On that day, Solomon dedicated the courtyard in front of the temple and made it acceptable for worship. He offered the sacrifices there because the bronze altar in front of the temple was too small.

⁶⁵ Solomon and the huge crowd celebrated the Festival of Shelters at the temple for seven days.^[x] There were people from as far away as the Egyptian Gorge in the south and Lebo-Hamath in the north. ⁶⁶ Then on the eighth day, he sent everyone home. They said goodbye and left, very happy, because of all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

The Lord Appears to Solomon Again

(2 Chronicles 7.11-22)

9 The Lord's temple and Solomon's palace were now finished, and Solomon had built everything he wanted. ^2 (W) Some time later the Lord appeared to him again in a dream, just as he had done at Gibeon. ^3 (X) The Lord said:

I heard your prayer and what you asked me to do. This temple you have built is where I will be worshiped forever. It belongs to me, and I will never stop watching over it.

⁴ You must obey me, as your father David did, and be honest and fair. Obey my laws and teachings, ^5 (Y) and I will keep my promise to David that someone from your family will always be king of Israel.

⁶ But if you or any of your descendants disobey my commands or start worshiping foreign gods, ⁷ I will no longer let my people Israel live in this land I gave them. I will desert this temple where I said I would be worshiped. Then people everywhere will think this nation is only a joke and will make fun of it. ^8 (Z) This temple will become a pile of rocks!^[y] Everyone who walks by will be shocked, and they will ask, “Why did the Lord do such a terrible thing to his people and to this temple?” ⁹ Then they will answer, “We know why the Lord did this. The people of Israel rejected the Lord their God, who rescued their ancestors from Egypt, and they started worshiping other gods.”

Other Things Solomon Did

(2 Chronicles 8.1-18)

¹⁰ It took 20 years for the Lord's temple and Solomon's palace to be built. ¹¹ Later, Solomon gave King Hiram of Tyre 20 towns in the region of Galilee to repay him for the cedar, pine, and gold he had given Solomon.

¹² When Hiram went to see the towns, he did not like them. ¹³ He said, “Solomon, my friend, are these the kind of towns you want to give me?” So Hiram called the region Cabul because he thought it was worthless.^{[z] 14} He sent Solomon only five tons of gold in return.

¹⁵ After Solomon's workers had finished the temple and the palace, he ordered them to fill in the land on the east side of Jerusalem,^[aa] to build a wall around the city, and to rebuild the towns of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.

¹⁶ Earlier, the king of Egypt had captured the town of Gezer; he burned it to the ground and killed the Canaanite people living there. Then he gave it to his daughter as a wedding present when she married Solomon. ¹⁷ So Solomon had the town rebuilt.

Solomon ordered his workers to rebuild Lower Beth-Horon, ¹⁸ Baalath, and Tamar in the desert of Judah. ¹⁹ They also built towns where he could keep his supplies and his chariots and horses. Solomon ordered them to build whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and anywhere in his kingdom.

^20-22 Solomon did not force the Israelites to do his work. They were his soldiers, officials, leaders, commanders, chariot captains, and chariot drivers. But he did make slaves of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who were living in Israel. These were the descendants of those foreigners the Israelites could not destroy, and they remained Israel's slaves.

²³ Solomon appointed 550 officers to be in charge of his workers and to watch over his building projects.

²⁴ Solomon's wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, moved from the older part of Jerusalem^[ab] to her new palace. Then Solomon had the land on the east side of Jerusalem filled in.^[ac]

^25 (AA) Three times a year, Solomon burned incense and offered sacrifices to the Lord on the altar he had built.

Solomon had now finished building the Lord's temple.

²⁶ He also had a lot of ships at Ezion-Geber, a town in Edom near Eloth on the Red Sea.^{[ad] 27-28} King Hiram let some of his experienced sailors go to the country of Ophir^[ae] with Solomon's own sailors, and they brought back about 14 tons of gold for Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon

(2 Chronicles 9.1-12)

10 ^(AB) The Queen of Sheba heard how famous Solomon was, so she went to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. ² She took along several of her officials, and she loaded her camels with gifts of spices, jewels, and gold. When she arrived, she and Solomon talked about everything she could think of. ³ He answered every question, no matter how difficult it was.

^4-5 The Queen was amazed at Solomon's wisdom. She was breathless when she saw his palace, the food on his table, his officials, his servants in their uniforms, the people who served his food, and the sacrifices he offered at the Lord's temple. ⁶ She said:

Solomon, in my own country I had heard about your wisdom and all you've done. ⁷ But I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes! And there's so much I didn't hear about. You are wiser and richer than I was told. ⁸ Your wives^[af] and officials are lucky to be here where they can listen to the wise things you say.

⁹ I praise the Lord your God. He is pleased with you and has made you king of Israel. The Lord has always loved Israel, so he has given them a king who will rule fairly and honestly.

¹⁰ The Queen of Sheba gave Solomon more than four tons of gold, many jewels, and more spices than anyone had ever brought into Israel.

^11-13 In return, Solomon gave her the gifts he would have given any other ruler, but he also gave her everything else she wanted. Then she and her officials went back to their own country.

Solomon's Wealth

(2 Chronicles 9.13-28)

King Hiram's ships brought gold, juniper wood, and jewels from the country of Ophir. Solomon used the wood to make steps^[ag] for the temple and palace, and harps and other stringed instruments for the musicians. It was the best juniper wood anyone in Israel had ever seen.

¹⁴ Solomon received almost 23 tons of gold a year. ¹⁵ The merchants and traders, as well as the kings of Arabia and rulers from Israel, also gave him gold.

¹⁶ Solomon made 200 gold shields and used almost seven kilograms of gold for each one. ¹⁷ He also made 300 smaller gold shields, using almost two kilograms for each one, and he put the shields in his palace in Forest Hall.

¹⁸ His throne was made of ivory and covered with pure gold. ^19-20 The back of the throne was rounded at the top, and it had armrests on each side. There was a statue of a lion on both sides of the throne, and there was a statue of a lion at both ends of each of the six steps leading up to the throne. No other throne in the world was like Solomon's.

²¹ Since silver was almost worthless in those days, everything was made of gold, even the cups and dishes used in Forest Hall.

²² Solomon had a lot of seagoing ships.^[ah] Every three years he sent them out with Hiram's ships to bring back gold, silver, and ivory, as well as monkeys and peacocks.^[ai]

²³ He was the richest and wisest king in the world. ²⁴ People from every nation wanted to hear the wisdom God had given him. ²⁵ Year after year people came and brought gifts of silver and gold, as well as clothes, weapons, spices, horses, or mules.

^26 (AC) Solomon had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses that he kept in Jerusalem and other towns.

^27 (AD) While he was king, there was silver everywhere in Jerusalem, and cedar was as common as ordinary sycamore trees in the foothills.

^28-29 (AE) Solomon's merchants bought his horses and chariots in the regions of Musri and Kue.^[aj] They paid 600 pieces of silver for a chariot and 150 pieces of silver for a horse. They also sold horses and chariots to the Hittite and Syrian kings.

Solomon Disobeys the Lord

11 ^1-2 (AF) The Lord did not want the Israelites to worship foreign gods, so he had warned them not to marry anyone who was not from Israel.

Solomon loved his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt. But he also loved some women from Moab, Ammon, and Edom, and others from Sidon and the land of the Hittites. ^3-4 Seven hundred of his wives were daughters of kings, but he also married 300 other women.^[ak]

As Solomon got older, some of his wives led him to worship their gods. He wasn't like his father David, who had worshiped only the Lord God. ⁵ Solomon also worshiped Astarte the goddess of Sidon, and Milcom the disgusting god of Ammon. ⁶ Solomon's father had obeyed the Lord with all his heart, but Solomon disobeyed and did what the Lord hated.

⁷ Solomon built shrines on a hill east of Jerusalem to worship Chemosh the disgusting god of Moab, and Molech the disgusting god of Ammon. ⁸ In fact, he built a shrine for each of his foreign wives, so all of them could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods.

^9-10 The Lord God of Israel had appeared to Solomon two times and warned him not to worship foreign gods. But Solomon disobeyed and did it anyway. This made the Lord very angry, ¹¹ and he said to Solomon:

You did what you wanted and not what I told you to do. Now I'm going to take your kingdom from you and give it to one of your officials. ¹² But because David was your father, you will remain king as long as you live. I will wait until your son becomes king, then I will take the kingdom from him. ¹³ When I do, I will still let him rule one tribe, because I have not forgotten that David was my servant and Jerusalem is my chosen city.

Hadad Becomes an Enemy of Solomon

¹⁴ Hadad was from the royal family of Edom, and here is how the Lord made him Solomon's enemy:

^15-16 Some time earlier, when David conquered the nation of Edom,^[al] Joab his army commander went there to bury those who had died in battle. Joab and his soldiers stayed in Edom six months, and during that time they killed every man and boy who lived there.

^17-19 Hadad was a boy at the time, but he escaped to Midian with some of his father's officials. At Paran some other men joined them, and they went to the king of Egypt. The king liked Hadad and gave him food, some land, and a house, and even let him marry the sister of Queen Tahpenes. ²⁰ Hadad and his wife had a son named Genubath, and the queen let the boy grow up in the palace with her own children.

²¹ When Hadad heard that David and Joab were dead, he said to the king, “Your Majesty, please let me go back to my own country.”

²² “Why?” asked the king. “Do you want something I haven't given you?”

“No, I just want to go home.”

Rezon Becomes an Enemy of Solomon

²³ Here is how God made Rezon son of Eliada an enemy of Solomon:

Rezon had run away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah. ^24-25 He formed his own small army and became its leader after David had defeated Hadadezer's troops.^[am] Then Rezon and his army went to Damascus, where he became the ruler of Syria and an enemy of Israel.

Both Hadad and Rezon were enemies of Israel while Solomon was king, and they caused him a lot of trouble.

The Lord Makes a Promise to Jeroboam

²⁶ Jeroboam was from the town of Zeredah in Ephraim. His father Nebat had died, but his mother Zeruah was still alive. Jeroboam was one of Solomon's officials, but even he rebelled against Solomon. ²⁷ Here is how it happened:

While Solomon's workers were filling in the land on the east side of Jerusalem^[an] and repairing the city walls, ²⁸ Solomon noticed that Jeroboam was a hard worker. So he put Jeroboam in charge of the work force from Manasseh and Ephraim.

^29-30 One day when Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, he met Ahijah, a prophet from Shiloh. No one else was anywhere around. Suddenly, Ahijah took off his new coat and ripped it into twelve pieces. ³¹ Then he said:

Jeroboam, take ten pieces of this coat and listen to what the Lord God of Israel says to you. “Jeroboam, I am the Lord God, and I am about to take Solomon's kingdom from him and give you ten tribes to rule. ³² But Solomon will still rule one tribe,^[ao] since he is the son of David my servant, and Jerusalem is my chosen city.

³³ “Solomon and the Israelites are not like their ancestor David. They will not listen to me, obey me, or do what is right. They have turned from me to worship Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of Ammon.

³⁴ “Solomon is David's son, and David was my chosen leader, who did what I commanded. So I will let Solomon be king until he dies. ³⁵ Then I will give you ten tribes to rule, ³⁶ but Solomon's son will still rule one tribe. This way, my servant David will always have a descendant ruling in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to be worshiped.

³⁷ “You will be king of Israel and will rule every nation you want. ³⁸ I'll help you if you obey me. And if you do what I say, as my servant David did, I will always let someone from your family rule in Israel, just as someone from David's family will always rule in Judah. The nation of Israel will be yours.

³⁹ “I will punish the descendants of David, but not forever.”

⁴⁰ When Solomon learned what the Lord had told Jeroboam, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But he escaped to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.

Solomon Dies

(2 Chronicles 9.29-31)

⁴¹ Everything else Solomon did while he was king is written in the book about him and his wisdom. ⁴² After he had ruled 40 years from Jerusalem, ⁴³ he died and was buried there in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam then became king.

Some of the People Rebel against Rehoboam

(2 Chronicles 10.1-19)

12 Rehoboam went to Shechem where everyone was waiting to crown him king.

² Jeroboam son of Nebat heard what was happening, and he stayed in Egypt,^[ap] where he had gone to hide from Solomon. ³ But the people from the northern tribes of Israel sent for him. Then together they went to Rehoboam and said, ⁴ “Your father Solomon forced us to work very hard. But if you make our work easier, we will serve you and do whatever you ask.”

⁵ “Give me three days to think about it,” Rehoboam replied, “then come back for my answer.” So the people left.

⁶ Rehoboam went to some leaders who had been his father's senior officials, and he asked them, “What should I tell these people?”

⁷ They answered, “If you want them to serve and obey you, then you should do what they ask today. Tell them you will make their work easier.”

⁸ But Rehoboam refused their advice and went to the younger men who had grown up with him and were now his officials. ⁹ He asked, “What do you think I should say to these people who asked me to make their work easier?”

¹⁰ His younger advisors said:

Here's what we think you should say to them: “Compared to me, my father was weak.^{[aq] 11} He made you work hard, but I'll make you work even harder. He punished you with whips, but I'll use whips with pieces of sharp metal!”

¹² Three days later, Jeroboam and the others came back. ¹³ Rehoboam ignored the advice of the older advisors. ¹⁴ He spoke bluntly and told them exactly what his own advisors had suggested: “My father made you work hard, but I'll make you work even harder. He punished you with whips, but I'll use whips with pieces of sharp metal!”

^15-19 (AG) When the people realized that Rehoboam would not listen to them, they shouted: “We don't have to be loyal to David's family. We can do what we want. Come on, people of Israel, let's go home! Rehoboam can rule his own people.”

Adoniram^[ar] was in charge of the forced labor, and Rehoboam sent him to talk to the people. But they stoned him to death. Then Rehoboam ran to his chariot and hurried back to Jerusalem.

So the people from the northern tribes of Israel went home, leaving Rehoboam to rule only the people from the towns in Judah. Ever since that day, the people of Israel have opposed David's family in Judah. All of this happened just as the Lord's prophet Ahijah had told Jeroboam.

²⁰ When the Israelites heard that Jeroboam was back, they called everyone together. Then they sent for Jeroboam and made him king of Israel. Only the people from the tribe of Judah^[as] remained loyal to David's family.

Shemaiah Warns Rehoboam

(2 Chronicles 11.1-4)

²¹ After Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem, he decided to attack Israel and take control of the whole country. So he called together 180,000 soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

²² Meanwhile, God told Shemaiah the prophet ²³ to give Rehoboam and everyone from Judah and Benjamin this warning: ²⁴ “Don't go to war against the people from Israel—they are your relatives. Go home! I am the Lord, and I made these things happen.”

Rehoboam and his army obeyed the Lord and went home.

Jeroboam Makes Religious Changes

²⁵ Jeroboam rebuilt Shechem in Ephraim and made it a stronger town, then he moved there. He also fortified the town of Penuel.

^26-27 One day, Jeroboam started thinking, “Everyone in Israel still goes to the temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the Lord. What if they become loyal to David's family again? They will kill me and accept Rehoboam as their king.”

^28 (AH) Jeroboam asked for advice and then made two gold statues of calves. He showed them to the people and said, “Listen everyone! You won't have to go to Jerusalem to worship anymore. Here are your gods^[at] who rescued you from Egypt.” ²⁹ Then he put one of the gold calves in the town of Bethel and the other in the town of Dan. ³⁰ The people sinned because they started going to these places to worship.

³¹ Jeroboam built small places of worship at the shrines^[au] and appointed men who were not from the tribe of Levi to serve as priests. ^32-33 (AI) He also decided to start a new festival for the Israelites on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the one in Judah.^[av] On that day, Jeroboam went to Bethel and offered sacrifices on the altar to the gold calf he had put there. Then he assigned the priests their duties.

A Prophet Condemns the Altar at Bethel

13 ^1-2 (AJ) One day, Jeroboam was standing at the altar in Bethel, ready to make an offering. Suddenly one of God's prophets^[aw] arrived from Judah and shouted:

The Lord sent me with a message about this altar. A child named Josiah will be born into David's family. He will sacrifice on this altar the priests who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on it.

³ You will know that the Lord has said these things when the altar splits in half, and the ashes on it fall to the ground.

⁴ Jeroboam pointed at the prophet and shouted, “Grab him!” But at once, Jeroboam's hand became stiff, and he could not move it. ⁵ The altar split in half, and the ashes fell to the ground, just as the prophet had warned.

⁶ “Please pray to the Lord your God and ask him to heal my hand,” Jeroboam begged.

The prophet prayed, and Jeroboam's hand was healed.

⁷ “Come home with me and eat something,” Jeroboam said. “I want to give you a gift for what you have done.”

⁸ “No, I wouldn't go with you, even if you offered me half of your kingdom. I won't eat or drink here either. ⁹ The Lord said I can't eat or drink anything and that I can't go home the same way I came.” ¹⁰ Then he started home down a different road.

An Old Prophet from Bethel

¹¹ At that time an old prophet lived in Bethel, and one of his sons told him what the prophet from Judah had said and done.

¹² “Show me which way he went,” the old prophet said, and his sons pointed out the road. ¹³ “Put a saddle on my donkey,” he told them. After they did, he got on the donkey ¹⁴ and rode off to look for the prophet from Judah.

The old prophet found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the prophet from Judah?”

“Yes, I am.”

¹⁵ “Come home with me,” the old prophet said, “and have something to eat.”

¹⁶ “I can't go back with you,” the prophet replied, “and I can't eat or drink anything with you. ¹⁷ The Lord warned me not to eat or drink or to go home the same way I came.”

¹⁸ The old prophet said, “I'm a prophet too. One of the Lord's angels told me to take you to my house and give you something to eat and drink.”

The prophet from Judah did not know that the old prophet was lying, ¹⁹ so he went home with him and ate and drank.

²⁰ During the meal the Lord gave the old prophet ²¹ a message for the prophet from Judah:

Listen to the Lord's message. You have disobeyed the Lord your God. ²² He told you not to eat or drink anything here, but you came home and ate with me. And so, when you die, your body won't be buried in your family tomb.

²³ After the meal the old prophet got a donkey ready, ²⁴ and the prophet from Judah left. Along the way, a lion attacked and killed him, and the donkey and the lion stood there beside his dead body.

²⁵ Some people walked by and saw the body with the lion standing there. They ran into Bethel, telling everyone what they had seen.

²⁶ When the old prophet heard the news, he said, “That must be the prophet from Judah. The Lord warned him, but he disobeyed. So the Lord sent a lion to kill him.”

²⁷ The old prophet told his sons to saddle his donkey, and when it was ready, ²⁸ he left. He found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and lion standing there. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. ²⁹ The old prophet picked up the body, put it on his own donkey, and took it back to Bethel, so he could bury it and mourn for the prophet from Judah.

³⁰ He buried the body in his own family tomb and cried for the prophet. ³¹ He said to his sons, “When I die, bury my body next to this prophet. ³² I'm sure that everything he said about the altar in Bethel and the shrines in Samaria will happen.”

³³ But Jeroboam kept on doing evil things. He appointed men to be priests at the local shrines, even if they were not Levites. In fact, anyone who wanted to be a priest could be one. ³⁴ This sinful thing led to the downfall of his kingdom.

Jeroboam's Son Dies

14 About the same time, Abijah son of Jeroboam got sick. ^2-3 Jeroboam told his wife:

Disguise yourself so no one will know you're my wife, then go to Shiloh, where the prophet Ahijah lives. Take him ten loaves of bread, some small cakes, and honey, and ask him what will happen to our son. He can tell you, because he's the one who told me I would become king.

⁴ She got ready and left for Ahijah's house in Shiloh.

Ahijah was now old and blind, ⁵ but the Lord told him, “Jeroboam's wife is coming to ask about her son. I will tell you what to say to her.”

Jeroboam's wife came to Ahijah's house, pretending to be someone else. ⁶ But when Ahijah heard her walking up to the door, he said:

Come in! I know you're Jeroboam's wife—why are you pretending to be someone else? I have some bad news for you. ⁷ Give your husband this message from the Lord God of Israel: “Jeroboam, you know that I, the Lord, chose you over anyone else to be the leader of my people Israel. ⁸ I even took David's kingdom away from his family and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David. He always obeyed me and did what was right.

⁹ “You have made me very angry by rejecting me and making idols out of gold. Jeroboam, you have done more evil things than any king before you.

^10 (AK) “Because of this, I will destroy your family by killing every man and boy in it, whether slave or free. I will wipe out your family, just as fire burns up trash. ¹¹ Dogs will eat the bodies of your relatives who die in town, and vultures will eat the bodies of those who die in the country. I, the Lord, have spoken and will not change my mind!”

¹² That's the Lord's message to your husband. As for you, go back home, and right after you get there, your son will die. ¹³ Everyone in Israel will mourn at his funeral. But he will be the last one from Jeroboam's family to receive a proper burial, because he's the only one the Lord God of Israel is pleased with.

¹⁴ The Lord will soon choose a new king of Israel, who will destroy Jeroboam's family. And I mean very soon.^{[ax] 15} The people of Israel have made the Lord angry by setting up sacred poles^[ay] for worshiping the goddess Asherah. So the Lord will punish them until they shake like grass in a stream. He will take them out of the land he gave to their ancestors, then scatter them as far away as the Euphrates River. ¹⁶ Jeroboam sinned and caused the Israelites to sin. Now the Lord will desert Israel.

¹⁷ Jeroboam's wife left and went back home to the town of Tirzah. As soon as she set foot in her house, her son died. ¹⁸ Everyone in Israel came and mourned at his funeral, just as the Lord's servant Ahijah had said.

Jeroboam Dies

¹⁹ Everything else Jeroboam did while he was king, including the battles he won, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel. ²⁰ He was king of Israel for 22 years, then he died, and his son Nadab became king.

King Rehoboam of Judah

(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.16)

²¹ Rehoboam son of Solomon was 41 years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled 17 years from Jerusalem, the city where the Lord had chosen to be worshiped. His mother Naamah was from Ammon.

²² The people of Judah disobeyed the Lord and made him even angrier than their ancestors had. ^23 (AL) They also built their own local shrines^[az] and stone images of foreign gods, and they set up sacred poles^[ba] for worshiping the goddess Asherah on every hill and in the shade of large trees. ^24 (AM) Even worse, they allowed prostitutes^[bb] at the shrines, and followed the disgusting customs of the foreign nations that the Lord had forced out of Canaan.

^25 (AN) After Rehoboam had been king for four years, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. ^26 (AO) He took everything of value from the temple and the palace, including Solomon's gold shields.

²⁷ Rehoboam had bronze shields made to replace the gold ones, and he ordered the guards at the city gates to keep them safe. ²⁸ Whenever Rehoboam went to the Lord's temple, the guards carried the shields. But they always took them back to the guardroom as soon as he was finished.

²⁹ Everything else Rehoboam did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. ³⁰ He and Jeroboam were constantly at war. ³¹ Rehoboam's mother Naamah was from Ammon, but when Rehoboam died, he was buried beside his ancestors in Jerusalem.^[bc] His son Abijam then became king.