Bible in 90 Days
38 Hiram also made ten bronze basins. Each basin held 240 gallons. Every basin was six feet ⌞wide⌟. There was one basin on each of the ten stands. 39 He put five stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north side of the temple. He set the pool on the south side of the temple in the southeast ⌞corner⌟. 40 Hiram also made pots, shovels, and bowls.
So Hiram finished all the work for King Solomon on the Lord’s temple: 41 2 pillars, the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the 2 pillars, and 2 sets of filigree to cover the 2 bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars, 42 400 pomegranates for the 2 sets of filigree (2 rows of pomegranates for each filigree to cover the 2 bowl-shaped capitals on the pillars), 43 10 stands and 10 basins on the stands, 44 1 pool, 12 bulls under the pool, 45 pots, shovels, and bowls. Hiram made all these utensils out of polished bronze for the Lord’s temple at King Solomon’s request. 46 The king cast them in foundries in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon left all the products unweighed because so much bronze was used. No one tried to determine how much the bronze weighed.
48 Solomon made all the furnishings for the Lord’s temple: the gold altar, the gold table on which the bread of the presence was placed, 49 lamp stands of pure gold (five on the south side and five on the north in front of the inner room), flowers, lamps, gold tongs, 50 dishes, snuffers, bowls, saucers, incense burners of pure gold, the gold sockets for the doors of the inner ⌞room⌟ (the most holy place), and the doors of the temple.
51 All the work King Solomon did on the Lord’s temple was finished. He brought the holy things that had belonged to his father David—the silver, gold, and utensils—and put them in the storerooms of the Lord’s temple.
The Lord Comes to His Temple(A)
8 Then Solomon assembled the respected leaders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the Israelite families. They came to King Solomon in Jerusalem to take the ark of the Lord’s promise from the City of David (that is, Zion). 2 All the people of Israel gathered around King Solomon at the Festival ⌞of Booths⌟ in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.
3 When all the leaders of Israel had arrived, the priests picked up the Lord’s ark. 4 They brought the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils in it ⌞to the temple⌟. The priests and the Levites carried them 5 while King Solomon with the whole assembly from Israel were offering countless sheep and cattle sacrifices in front of the ark. 6 The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s promise to its place in the inner room of the temple (the most holy place) under the wings of the angels.[a]
7 When the angels’ outstretched wings were over the place where the ark ⌞rested⌟, the angels became a covering above the ark and its poles. 8 The poles were so long that their ends could be seen in the holy place by anyone standing in front of the inner room, but they couldn’t be seen outside. (They are still there today.) 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a promise to the Israelites after they left Egypt.
10 When the priests left the holy place, a cloud filled the Lord’s temple. 11 The priests couldn’t serve because of the cloud. The Lord’s glory filled his temple.
Solomon Addresses the People(B)
12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord said he would live in a dark cloud. 13 I certainly have built you a high temple, a home for you to live in permanently.”
14 Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel while they were standing. 15 “Thanks be to the Lord God of Israel. With his mouth he made a promise to my father David; with his hand he carried it out. He said, 16 ‘Ever since I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I didn’t choose any city in any of the tribes of Israel as a place to build a temple for my name. But now I’ve chosen David to rule my people Israel.’
17 “My father David had his heart set on building a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 18 However, the Lord said to my father David, ‘Since you had your heart set on building a temple for my name, your intentions were good. 19 But you must not build the temple. Instead, your own son will build the temple for my name.’ 20 The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David’s place, and I sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised. I’ve built the temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 21 I’ve made a place there for the ark which contains the Lord’s promise that he made to our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”
Solomon’s Prayer(C)
22 In the presence of the entire assembly of Israel, Solomon stood in front of the Lord’s altar. He stretched out his hands toward heaven 23 and said,
“Lord God of Israel,
there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below.
You keep your promise [b] of mercy to your servants,
who obey you wholeheartedly.
24 You have kept your promise to my father David, your servant.
With your mouth you promised it.
With your hand you carried it out as it is today.
25 “Now, Lord God of Israel,
keep your promise to my father David, your servant.
You said, ‘You will never fail to have an heir
sitting in front of me on the throne of Israel
if your descendants are faithful to me
as you have been faithful to me.’
26 “So now, God of Israel,
may the promise you made to my father David,
your servant, come true.
27 “Does God really live on earth?
If heaven itself, the highest heaven, cannot hold you,
then how can this temple that I have built?
28 Nevertheless, my Lord God, please pay attention to my prayer for mercy.
Listen to my cry for help as I pray to you today.
29 Night and day may your eyes be on this temple,
the place about which you said, ‘My name will be there.’
Listen to me as I pray toward this place.
30 Hear the plea for mercy
that your people Israel and I pray toward this place.
Hear us ⌞when we pray⌟ to heaven, the place where you live.
Hear and forgive.
31 “If anyone sins against another person
and is required to take an oath
and comes to take the oath in front of your altar in this temple,
32 then hear ⌞that person⌟ in heaven, take action, and make a decision.
Condemn the guilty person with the proper punishment,
but declare the innocent person innocent.
33 “An enemy may defeat your people Israel
because they have sinned against you.
But when your people turn to you, praise your name, pray,
and plead with you in this temple,
34 then hear ⌞them⌟ in heaven, forgive the sins of your people Israel,
and bring them back to the land that you gave to their ancestors.
35 “When the sky is shut and there’s no rain
because they are sinning against you,
and they pray toward this place, praise your name,
and turn away from their sin because you made them suffer,
36 then hear ⌞them⌟ in heaven.
Forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel.
Teach them the proper way to live.
Then send rain on the land,
which you gave to your people as an inheritance.
37 “There may be famine in the land.
Plant diseases, heat waves, funguses, locusts,
or grasshoppers may destroy crops.
Enemies may blockade Israel’s city gates.
During every plague or sickness
38 ⌞hear⌟ every prayer for mercy,
made by one person or by all the people in Israel,
whose consciences bother them,
who stretch out their hands toward this temple.
39 Hear ⌞them⌟ in heaven, where you live.
Forgive ⌞them⌟, and take action.
Give each person the proper reply.
(You know what is in their hearts,
because you alone know what is in the hearts of all people.)
40 Then, as long as they live in the land that you gave to our ancestors,
they will fear you.
41 “People will hear about your great name,
mighty hand, and powerful arm.[c]
So when people who are not Israelites
come from distant countries because of your name
42 to pray facing this temple,
43 hear ⌞them⌟ in heaven, the place where you live.
Do everything they ask you
so that all the people of the world may know your name
and fear you like your people Israel
and learn also that this temple which I built bears your name.
44 “When your people go to war against their enemies
(wherever you may send them)
and they pray to you, O Lord, toward the city you have chosen
and the temple I built for your name,
45 then hear their prayer for mercy in heaven,
and do what is right ⌞for them⌟.
46 “They may sin against you.
(No one is sinless.)
You may become angry with them and hand them over to an enemy
who takes them to ⌞another⌟ country as captives,
⌞whether it is⌟ far or near.
47 If they come to their senses,
are sorry for what they’ve done,
and plead with you in the land where they are captives,
saying, ‘We have sinned. We have done wrong.
We have been wicked,’
48 if they change their attitude toward you
in the land of their enemies where they are captives,
if they pray to you
toward the land that you gave their ancestors,
and the city you have chosen,
and the temple I have built for your name,
49 then in heaven, the place where you live, hear their prayer for mercy.
Do what is right for them.
50 Forgive your people, who have sinned against you.
⌞Forgive⌟ all their wrongs when they rebelled against you,
and cause those who captured them to have mercy on them
51 because they are your own people
whom you brought out of Egypt
from the middle of an iron smelter.
52 “May your eyes always see my plea and your people Israel’s plea
so that you will listen to them whenever they call on you.
53 After all, you, Lord God, set them apart from all the people of the world
to be your own as you promised through your servant Moses
when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”
Solomon Blesses the People
54 When Solomon finished praying this prayer for mercy to the Lord, he stood in front of the Lord’s altar, where he had been kneeling with his hands stretched out toward heaven. 55 Then he stood and in a loud voice blessed the entire assembly of Israel, 56 “Thanks be to the Lord! He has given his people Israel rest, as he had promised. None of the good promises he made through his servant Moses has failed to come true. 57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us. 58 May he bend our hearts toward him. Then we will follow him and keep his commands, laws, and rules, which he commanded our ancestors ⌞to keep⌟. 59 May these words which I have prayed to the Lord be near the Lord our God day and night. Then he will give me and his people Israel justice every day as it is needed. 60 In this way all the people of the world will know that the Lord is God and there is no other ⌞god⌟. 61 May your hearts be committed to the Lord our God. Then you will live by his laws and keep his commands as you have today.”
Solomon Offers Sacrifices(D)
62 Then the king and all Israel offered sacrifices to the Lord. 63 Solomon sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep as fellowship offerings to the Lord. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the Lord’s temple.
64 On that day the king designated the courtyard in front of the Lord’s temple as a holy place. He sacrificed the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat from the fellowship offerings because the bronze altar in front of the Lord was too small to hold all of them.
65 At that time Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival ⌞of Booths⌟. A large crowd had come from ⌞the territory between⌟ the border of Hamath and the River of Egypt to be near the Lord our God for seven days.[d] 66 On the eighth day he dismissed the people. They blessed the king and went to their tents. They rejoiced with cheerful hearts for all the blessings the Lord had given his servant David and his people Israel.
The Lord Answers Solomon’s Prayer(E)
9 Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and everything ⌞else⌟ he wanted to build. 2 Then the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him in Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him,
“I have heard your prayer for mercy that you made to me.
I have declared that this temple which you have built is holy
so that my name may be placed there forever.
My eyes and my heart will always be there.
4 “If you will be faithful to me as your father David was
(with a sincere and upright heart),
do everything I command,
and keep my laws and rules,
5 then I will establish your royal dynasty over Israel forever
as I promised your father David when I said,
‘You will never fail to have an heir on the throne of Israel.’
6 But if you and your descendants dare to turn away from me
and do not keep my commands and laws that I gave to you,
and follow and serve other gods and worship them,
7 then I will cut Israel out of the land I gave them.
I will reject this temple that I declared holy for my name.
Israel will be an example
and an object of ridicule for all the people of the world.
8 Everyone passing by this temple, as impressive as it is, will be appalled.
They will gasp and ask,
‘Why did the Lord do these things to this land and this temple?’
9 They will answer ⌞themselves⌟,
‘They abandoned the Lord their God,
who brought their ancestors out of Egypt.
They adopted other gods, worshiped, and served them.
That is why the Lord brought this disaster on them.’ ”
Solomon Completes His Construction(F)
10 It took Solomon 20 years to build the two houses (the Lord’s house and the royal palace). 11 ⌞When King Solomon had finished,⌟ he gave King Hiram of Tyre 20 cities in Galilee. (Hiram had supplied Solomon with as much cedar and cypress lumber and gold as he wanted.) 12 Hiram left Tyre to see the cities Solomon gave him. However, they didn’t please him. 13 “What kind of cities have you given me, brother?” he asked. So he named it the region of Cabul [Good for Nothing]. (⌞They’re⌟ still ⌞called⌟ that today.) 14 Hiram had sent the king 9,000 pounds of gold.
15 This is the record of the forced laborers whom King Solomon drafted to build the Lord’s house, his own house, the Millo,[e] the walls of Jerusalem, and ⌞the cities of⌟ Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (The king of Egypt captured Gezer, burned it down, and killed the Canaanites living there. Then he gave it to his daughter, Solomon’s wife, as a wedding present.) 17 So Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth Horon, 18 Baalath, Tadmor in the desert (inside the country), and 19 all the storage cities that he owned. He also built cities for his chariots, cities for his war horses, and whatever ⌞else⌟ he wanted to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or the entire territory that he governed.
20 The Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites had been left ⌞in the land⌟ because the Israelites had not been able to claim them for God by destroying them.[f] They were not Israelites, 21 but they had descendants who were still in the land. Solomon drafted them for slave labor. (They are still ⌞slaves⌟ today.) 22 But Solomon didn’t make any of the Israelites slaves. Instead, they were soldiers, officials, officers, generals, and commanders of his chariot and cavalry units.
23 These were the officers in charge of Solomon’s projects: 550 foremen for the people who did the work.
24 Pharaoh’s daughter moved from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo.
25 Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he built for the Lord. He burnt them on the altar that was in the Lord’s presence. And he finished the temple.
26 King Solomon also built a fleet near the Red Sea coast at Ezion Geber by Elath in Edom. 27 Hiram sent his own servants ⌞who were⌟ experienced seamen with the fleet. Along with Solomon’s servants 28 they went to Ophir, got 31,500 pounds of gold, and brought it to King Solomon.
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon(G)
10 The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation. (He owed his reputation to the name of the Lord.) So she came to test him with riddles. 2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a large group of servants, with camels carrying spices, a very large quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she talked to him about everything she had on her mind. 3 Solomon answered all her questions. No question was too difficult for the king to answer.
4 When the queen of Sheba saw all of Solomon’s wisdom, the palace he built, 5 the food on his table, his officers’ seating arrangement, the organization of his officials and the uniforms they wore, his cupbearers,[g] and the burnt offerings that he sacrificed at the Lord’s temple, she was breathless. 6 She told the king, “What I heard in my country about your words and your wisdom is true! 7 But I didn’t believe the reports until I came and saw it with my own eyes. I wasn’t even told half of it. Your wisdom and wealth surpass the stories I’ve heard. 8 How blessed your men must be! How blessed these servants of yours must be because they are always stationed in front of you, listening to your wisdom! 9 Thank the Lord your God, who is pleased with you. He has put you on the throne of Israel. Because of your God’s eternal love for the people of Israel, he has made you king so that you would maintain justice and righteousness.”
10 She gave the king 9,000 pounds of gold, a very large quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was such a large quantity of spices brought ⌞into Israel⌟ as those that the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.
11 Hiram’s fleet that brought gold from Ophir also brought a large quantity of sandalwood and precious stones from Ophir. 12 With the sandalwood the king made supports for the Lord’s temple and the royal palace, and lyres and harps for the singers. Never again was sandalwood like this imported ⌞into Israel⌟, nor has any been seen ⌞there⌟ to this day.
13 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba anything she wanted, whatever she asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal generosity. Then she and her servants went back to her country.
Solomon’s Wealth(H)
14 The gold that came to Solomon in one year weighed 49,950 pounds, 15 not counting ⌞the gold⌟ which came from the merchants, the traders’ profits, all the Arab kings, and the governors of the country.
16 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold, using 15 pounds of gold on each shield. 17 He also made 300 small shields of hammered gold, using four pounds of gold on each shield. The king put them in the hall ⌞which he called⌟ the Forest of Lebanon.
18 The king also made a large ivory throne and covered it with fine gold. 19 Six steps led to the throne. Carved into the back of the throne was a calf’s head. There were armrests on both sides of the seat. Two lions stood beside the armrests. 20 Twelve lions stood on six steps, one on each side. Nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.
21 All King Solomon’s cups were gold, and all the utensils for the hall ⌞which he called⌟ the Forest of Lebanon were fine gold. (Nothing was silver, because it wasn’t considered valuable in Solomon’s time.) 22 The king had a fleet headed for Tarshish with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the Tarshish fleet would bring gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.
23 In wealth and wisdom King Solomon was greater than all the ⌞other⌟ kings of the world. 24 The whole world wanted to listen to the wisdom that God gave Solomon. 25 So everyone who came brought him gifts: articles of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This happened year after year.
26 Solomon built up ⌞his army⌟ with chariots and war horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 war horses. He stationed ⌞some⌟ in chariot cities and ⌞others⌟ with himself in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as plentiful as fig trees in the foothills.
28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue. The king’s traders bought them from Kue for a fixed price. 29 Each chariot was imported from Egypt for 15 pounds of silver and each horse for 6 ounces of silver. For the same price they obtained horses to export to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.
Solomon’s Idolatry
11 King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter. He loved Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. 2 They came from the nations about which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “Never intermarry with them. They will surely tempt you to follow their gods.” But Solomon was obsessed with their love. 3 He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 wives who were concubines.[h] 4 In his old age, his wives tempted him to follow other gods. He was no longer committed to the Lord his God as his father David had been. 5 Solomon followed Astarte (the goddess of the Sidonians) and Milcom (the disgusting idol of the Ammonites). 6 So Solomon did what the Lord considered evil. He did not wholeheartedly follow the Lord as his father David had done. 7 Then Solomon built an illegal worship site on the hill east of Jerusalem for Chemosh (the disgusting idol of Moab) and for Molech (the disgusting idol of the Ammonites). 8 He did these things for each of his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
God Pronounces Judgment on Solomon
9 So the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 God had given him commands about this. ⌞He told him⌟ not to follow other gods. But Solomon did not obey God’s command. 11 The Lord told Solomon, “Because this is your attitude and you have no respect for my promises [i] or my laws that I commanded you to keep, I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you. I will give it to one of your servants. 12 But I will not do it in your lifetime because of your father David. I will tear it away from the hands of your son. 13 However, I will not tear the whole kingdom away from you. I will give your son one tribe for my servant David’s sake and for the sake of Jerusalem, ⌞the city⌟ that I chose.”
Rebellions against Solomon
14 The Lord raised up Hadad the Edomite as a rival to Solomon. Hadad was from the Edomite royal family. 15 When David had conquered Edom, Joab, the commander of the army, went to bury those killed in battle and killed every male in Edom. 16 (Joab and all Israel stayed there six months until they had destroyed every male in Edom.) 17 Hadad was a young boy at the time. He and some of his father’s Edomite servants fled to Egypt. 18 They left Midian and went to Paran. Taking some men from Paran with them, they went to Pharaoh (the king of Egypt). Pharaoh gave Hadad a home, a food allowance, and land.
19 Pharaoh approved of Hadad. So he gave Hadad his sister-in-law, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, to be Hadad’s wife. 20 Tahpenes’ sister had a son ⌞named⌟ Genubath. Tahpenes presented the boy to Pharaoh in the palace, and Genubath lived in the palace among Pharaoh’s children.
21 When Hadad heard in Egypt that David had lain down in death with his ancestors and that Joab, the commander of the army, had died, he said to Pharaoh, “Let me go to my own country.”
22 Pharaoh asked him, “What don’t you have here that makes you eager to go home?”
“Nothing,” he said. “But let me leave anyway.”
23 God also raised up Rezon, son of Eliada, as a rival to Solomon. Rezon fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah, 24 after David killed the men of Zobah. Rezon gathered men and became the leader of a troop of warriors. They went to Damascus, settled there, and ruled a kingdom in Damascus. 25 In addition to the trouble that Hadad caused, Rezon was Israel’s rival as long as Solomon lived. He ruled Aram and despised Israel.
26 There was also Jeroboam, who was the son of Nebat and an Ephrathite from Zeredah. His mother Zeruah was a widow. He was one of Solomon’s officers, but he rebelled against the king.
27 This was the situation when he rebelled against the king: Solomon was building the Millo [j] and repairing a break in the ⌞wall of⌟ the City of David. 28 Solomon saw that Jeroboam was a very able and hardworking man. So he put Jeroboam in charge of all forced labor from the tribes of Joseph.
29 At that time Jeroboam left Jerusalem. The prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him on the road. The two of them were alone in the open country, and Ahijah had on new clothes. 30 Ahijah took his new garment and tore it into 12 pieces.
31 He told Jeroboam, “Take 10 pieces because this is what the Lord God of Israel says: I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hands and give ten tribes to you. 32 He will have one tribe ⌞left⌟ because of my servant David and Jerusalem, the city I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel. 33 I will do this because he has abandoned me and worshiped Astarte (the goddess of the Sidonians), Chemosh (the god of Moab), and Milcom (the god of Ammon). He has not followed my ways. He did not do what I consider right or keep my laws and decrees as his father David did.
34 “I will not take the whole kingdom from him. Instead, I will allow him to be ruler as long as he lives because of my servant David whom I chose, who obeyed my commands and laws. 35 But I will take the kingdom away from his son and give you ten tribes. 36 I will give his son one tribe so that my servant David will always have a lamp in my presence in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to place my name.
37 “I will choose you so that you can rule everything you desire. You will be king of Israel. 38 If you will do all I command you, follow my ways, and do what I consider right by obeying my laws and commands as my servant David did, then I will be with you. I will build a permanent dynasty for you as I did for David. And I will give you Israel. 39 I will make David’s descendants suffer for this, but not always.”
40 Then Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to King Shishak of Egypt. He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.
Solomon’s Death(I)
41 Aren’t the rest of Solomon’s acts—everything he did—and his wisdom written in the records of Solomon? 42 The length of Solomon’s reign in Jerusalem over all Israel was 40 years. 43 Solomon lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.
King Rehoboam Foolishly Rejects Israel’s Request(J)
12 Rehoboam went to Shechem because all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. 2 Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon. When he heard ⌞about Rehoboam⌟, he returned from Egypt.[k] 3 ⌞Israel⌟ sent for Jeroboam and invited him back. Jeroboam and the entire assembly of Israel went to speak to Rehoboam. They said, 4 “Your father made us carry a heavy burden. Reduce the hard work and lighten the heavy burden he put on us, and we will serve you.”
5 He said to them, “Leave and come back the day after tomorrow.” So the people left.
6 King Rehoboam sought advice from the older leaders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive. He asked, “What do you advise? How should I respond to these people?”
7 They told him, “If you will serve these people today, humble yourself, and speak gently, then they will always be your servants.”
8 But he ignored the advice the older leaders gave him. He sought advice from the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we respond to these people who are asking me to lighten the burden my father put on them?”
10 The young men who had grown up with him answered, “This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is heavier than my father’s whole body. 11 If my father put a heavy burden on you, I will add to it. If my father punished you with whips, I will punish you with scorpions.’ ”
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came back to Rehoboam two days later, as the king had instructed them. 13 The king answered the people harshly. He ignored the advice the older leaders gave him. 14 He spoke to them as the young men advised. He said, “If my father made your burden heavy, I will add to it. If my father punished you with whips, I will punish you with scorpions.” 15 The king refused to listen to the people because the Lord was directing these events to carry out the promise he had made to Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) through Ahijah from Shiloh.
16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king,
“What share do we have in David’s kingdom?
We won’t receive an inheritance from Jesse’s son.
To your own tents, Israel!
Now look after your own house, David!”
So Israel went home to their own tents. 17 But Rehoboam ruled the Israelites who lived in the cities of Judah.
18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram to Israel. He was in charge of forced labor, but they stoned him to death. So King Rehoboam got on his chariot as fast as he could and fled to Jerusalem. 19 Israel has rebelled against David’s dynasty to this day.
King Jeroboam Establishes Idolatry in Israel(K)
20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent men to invite him to the assembly. They made him king of all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to David’s dynasty.
21 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he gathered all the people of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 of the best soldiers, to fight against the people of Israel and return the kingdom to Rehoboam, son of Solomon.
22 But God spoke his word to Shemaiah, the man of God. He said, 23 “Speak to Judah’s King Rehoboam, son of Solomon, and all the people of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people. 24 This is what the Lord says: Don’t wage war against your relatives from Israel. Everyone, go home. What has happened is my doing.” So they obeyed the Lord’s word. They returned ⌞home⌟, as the Lord told them.
25 Jeroboam rebuilt Shechem in the hills of Ephraim and lived there. Then he left that place and built Penuel. 26 He said to himself, “The kingdom will probably return to David’s dynasty now. 27 King Rehoboam of Judah, the former master of these people, will regain popularity if they go to sacrifice in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. Then they will kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.”
28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said, “You’ve been worshiping in Jerusalem long enough. Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.” 29 He put one in Bethel and the other in Dan. 30 Worshiping them became ⌞Israel’s⌟ sin. The people went as far as Dan to worship the one calf. 31 Jeroboam built worship sites on hilltops. He appointed men who were not descended from Levi to be priests.
32 Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the festival in Judah. He went to the altar in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had made. He appointed priests from the illegal worship sites ⌞to serve⌟ in Bethel. 33 He went to his altar in Bethel to burn an offering on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, ⌞the festival⌟ he had invented for the Israelites.
A Prophet Announces God’s Judgment
13 A man of God from Judah had come to Bethel. When he arrived, Jeroboam was standing at the altar to offer a sacrifice. 2 By a command of the Lord, this man condemned the altar. “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: There will be a son born in David’s family line. His name will be Josiah. Here on you Josiah will sacrifice the priests from the illegal worship sites who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.”
3 That day the man of God ⌞also⌟ gave ⌞them⌟ a miraculous sign, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord will give you: You will see the altar torn apart. The ashes on it will be poured ⌞on the ground⌟.”
4 When King Jeroboam heard the man of God condemning the altar in Bethel, he pointed to the man across the altar. “Arrest him,” he said. But the arm that he used to point to the man of God was paralyzed so that he couldn’t pull it back. 5 The altar was torn apart, and the ashes from the altar were poured ⌞on the ground⌟. This was the miraculous sign the man of God performed at the Lord’s command.
6 Then the king asked the man of God, “Please make an appeal to the Lord your God, and pray for me so that I can use my arm again.” So the man of God made an appeal to the Lord, and the king was able to use his arm again, as he had earlier.
7 The king told the man of God, “Come home with me; have something to eat and drink, and I will give you a gift.”
8 The man of God told the king, “Even if you gave me half of your palace, I would never go with you to eat or drink there. 9 When the Lord spoke to me, he commanded me not to eat or drink or go back on the same road I took.” 10 So the man of God left on another road and didn’t go back on the road he had taken to Bethel.
A Prophet Disobeys God
11 An old prophet was living in Bethel. His sons told him everything the man of God did in Bethel that day and the exact words he had spoken to the king. When they told their father, 12 he said to them, “Which road did he take?” (His sons had seen which road the man of God from Judah had taken.) 13 The old prophet told his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” After they had saddled the donkey for him, he got on it.
14 He went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak tree. The old prophet asked him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
“Yes,” he answered.
15 “Come home with me, and eat a meal,” the old prophet replied.
16 The man of God said, “I’m not allowed to go back with you. I’m not allowed to eat or drink with you. 17 When the Lord spoke to me, he told me not to eat or drink there or go back on the road I took to get there.”
18 The old prophet said, “I’m also a prophet, like you. An angel spoke the Lord’s word to me. He said, ‘Bring him home with you so that he may have something to eat and drink.’ ” (But the old prophet was lying.)
19 The man of God went back with him and ate and drank in his home. 20 When they were sitting at the table, the Lord spoke his word to the old prophet who had brought back the man of God. 21 The Lord also called to the man of God. He said, “This is what the Lord says: You rebelled against the words from the Lord’s mouth and didn’t obey the command that the Lord your God gave you. 22 You came back, ate, and drank at this place about which he told you, ‘Don’t eat or drink there.’ That is why your dead body will not be allowed to be placed in the tomb of your ancestors.”
23 After the old prophet had something to eat and drink, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 The man of God left. A lion found him ⌞as he traveled⌟ on the road and killed him. His dead body was thrown on the road. The donkey and the lion were standing by the body. 25 People who passed by saw the body lying on the road and the lion standing by the body. They talked about it in the city where the old prophet was living.
26 When the old prophet who had brought the man of God back from the road heard about it, he said, “It’s the man of God who rebelled against the words from the Lord’s mouth! The Lord gave him to the lion. It tore him to pieces and killed him as the Lord’s word had told him.”
27 Then the old prophet told his sons to saddle his donkey for him. So they did.
28 He found the body of the man thrown on the road. He also found the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had not eaten the body, nor had it torn the donkey to pieces. 29 The old prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back. He came to his own city to mourn for him and to bury him. 30 He laid the body of the man of God in his own tomb and mourned over the man, saying, “Oh no, my brother, my brother!” 31 After he had buried the man of God, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the tomb where the man of God was buried. Lay my bones beside his bones. 32 The things that he announced by a command of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and all the illegal worship sites in the cities of Samaria will happen.”
33 Even after this, Jeroboam didn’t change his evil ways, but he once again made some men priests for the illegal worship sites. He took all who were willing and appointed them to be priests at the worship sites. 34 Appointing illegal priests became the sin of Jeroboam’s family so that it had to be destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth.
Jeroboam’s Son Dies
14 At that time Abijah, son of Jeroboam, got sick. 2 Jeroboam told his wife, “Go to Shiloh, but disguise yourself so that people will not recognize you as my wife. The prophet Ahijah, who told me I would be king of these people, is there. 3 Take ten loaves of bread, some raisins,[l] and a jar of honey with you, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.” 4 Jeroboam’s wife did this. She left, went to Shiloh, and came to the home of Ahijah.
Ahijah couldn’t see. His eyesight had failed because he was old. 5 However, the Lord had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son who is sick. When she comes, she will pretend to be someone else.” He also told Ahijah what to say to her.
6 Ahijah heard her footsteps when she came into the room. He said, “Come in. You’re Jeroboam’s wife. Why are you pretending to be someone else? I’ve been told to give you some terrible news. 7 Tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I picked you out of the people and made you a leader over my people Israel. 8 I tore the kingdom away from David’s heirs and gave it to you. But you have not been like my servant David. He obeyed my commands and faithfully followed me by doing only what I considered right. 9 You have done more evil things than everyone before you. You made other gods, metal idols, for yourself. You made me furious and turned your back to me.
10 “ ‘That is why I will bring disaster on Jeroboam’s house. I will destroy every male [m] in his house, whether slave or freeman in Israel. I will burn down Jeroboam’s house. It will burn like manure until it is gone. 11 If anyone from Jeroboam’s house dies in the city, dogs will eat him. If anyone dies in the country, birds will eat him.’ The Lord has said this!
12 “Get up, and go home. The moment you set foot in the city the child will die. 13 All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one of Jeroboam’s family who will be ⌞properly⌟ buried. He was the only one in Jeroboam’s house in whom the Lord God of Israel found anything good. 14 The Lord will appoint a king over Israel. That king will destroy Jeroboam’s house. This will happen today. It will happen right now.
15 “The Lord will strike Israel like cattails which shake in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land which he gave their ancestors. He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River because they dedicated poles to the goddess Asherah and made the Lord furious. 16 So the Lord will desert Israel because of Jeroboam’s sins, the sins which he led Israel to commit.”
17 Jeroboam’s wife got up, left, and went to Tirzah. When she walked across the threshold of her home, the boy died. 18 All Israel buried him and mourned for him as the Lord had said through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.
19 Everything else concerning Jeroboam, his wars, and his reign is written in the official records of the kings of Israel. 20 Jeroboam ruled for 22 years. Then he lay down in death with his ancestors. His son Nadab succeeded him as king.
King Rehoboam of Judah(L)
21 Rehoboam, son of Solomon, ruled Judah. He was 41 years old when he began to rule. He ruled for 17 years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord chose from all the tribes of Israel, the city where the Lord put his name. Rehoboam’s mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah.
22 The people of Judah did what the Lord considered evil. Their sins made him more angry than anything their ancestors had done. 23 They built worship sites for themselves and ⌞put up⌟ large stones and Asherah poles to worship on every high hill and under every large tree. 24 There were even male prostitutes in the temples of idols throughout the land. The people of Judah did all the disgusting practices done by the nations that the Lord had forced out of the Israelites’ way.
King Shishak Takes the Temple Treasures(M)
25 In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26 He took the treasures from the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He took them all. He took all the gold shields Solomon had made. 27 So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and put them by the entrance to the royal palace, where the captains of the guards were stationed. 28 Whenever the king went into the Lord’s temple, guards carried the shields and then returned them to the guardroom.
29 Isn’t everything else concerning Rehoboam—everything he did—written in the official records of the kings of Judah? 30 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam as long as they lived. 31 Rehoboam lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. (His mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah.) His son Abijam succeeded him as king.
King Abijam of Judah(N)
15 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam (Nebat’s son), Abijam began to rule Judah. 2 He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Maacah, daughter of Abishalom. 3 He followed the sinful example his father had set and wasn’t committed to the Lord his God as his ancestor David had been. 4 But for David’s sake the Lord his God made Abijam a lamp in Jerusalem. He appointed David’s descendant to rule after him and protected Jerusalem. 5 The Lord did this because David did what the Lord considered right: David never failed to do anything the Lord commanded him to do his entire life (except in the matter concerning Uriah the Hittite).
6 There was war between Abijam [n] and Rehoboam throughout their lives.
7 Isn’t everything else about Abijam—everything he did—written in the official records of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 Abijam lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. His son Asa succeeded him as king.
King Asa of Judah(O)
9 In Jeroboam’s twentieth year as king of Israel, Asa began to rule as king of Judah. 10 He ruled 41 years in Jerusalem. His grandmother was named Maacah, daughter of Abishalom.
11 Asa did what the Lord considered right, as his ancestor David had done. 12 He forced the male temple prostitutes out of the land and got rid of the idols his father had made. 13 He also removed his grandmother Maacah from the position of queen mother because she made a statue of the repulsive goddess Asherah. Asa cut the statue down and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 Although the illegal worship sites were not torn down, Asa remained committed to the Lord his entire life. 15 He brought into the Lord’s temple the silver, the gold, and the utensils he and his father had set apart as holy.
King Asa’s War with King Baasha(P)
16 There was war between Asa and King Baasha of Israel as long as they lived. 17 King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah to keep anyone from going to or coming from King Asa of Judah.
18 Then Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the royal palace and turned them over to his officials. King Asa sent them to Damascus to Aram’s King Benhadad, son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion. 19 He said, “There’s a treaty between you and me ⌞as⌟ there was between your father and my father. I’m sending you a present of silver and gold. Now break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone.”
20 Benhadad did what King Asa requested. He sent his generals and their armies to attack the cities of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, and the entire area around Chinneroth with the entire territory of Naphtali. 21 When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying Ramah and lived in Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa drafted everyone in Judah and excused no one. He made them carry the stones and lumber from Ramah. Baasha had been using those to fortify the city. King Asa used the materials to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah.
23 Isn’t everything else about Asa—all his heroic acts, everything he did, and the cities he fortified—written in the official records of the kings of Judah? But when he was old, he had a foot disease. 24 Asa lay down in death with his ancestors. He was buried with his ancestors in the city of his ancestor, David. His son Jehoshaphat succeeded him as king.
King Baasha Overthrows Nadab, Son of Jeroboam
25 Nadab, son of Jeroboam, began to rule Israel in Asa’s second year as king of Judah. He ruled for two years. 26 He did what the Lord considered evil, living as his father did, leading Israel into the same sins.
27 Then Baasha, son of Ahijah from the tribe of Issachar, plotted against Nadab. Baasha assassinated him in the Philistine city of Gibbethon while Nadab and the Israelite forces were attacking it. 28 The assassination happened in Asa’s third year as king of Judah. Baasha succeeded Nadab as king of Israel. 29 As soon as he was king, he killed everyone else in Jeroboam’s family. He did not spare a soul, as the Lord had spoken through his servant Ahijah from Shiloh. 30 This was because of Jeroboam’s sins and the sins which he led Israel to commit. Those sins made the Lord God of Israel furious.
31 Isn’t everything else about Nadab—everything he did—written in the official records of the kings of Israel? 32 There was war between Asa and Baasha as long as they lived.
33 In Asa’s third year as king of Judah, Baasha, son of Ahijah, began to rule Israel in Tirzah. He ruled for 24 years. 34 He did what the Lord considered evil. He lived like Jeroboam and led Israel into committing the ⌞same⌟ sins.
The Lord Condemns King Baasha
16 The Lord spoke his word to Jehu, Hanani’s son, against Baasha. 2 He said, “I raised you from the dust and made you leader of my people Israel. But you have lived like Jeroboam. You have led my people to sin, and their sins make me furious. 3 So I will destroy Baasha and his family. I will make his family like the family of Jeroboam (Nebat’s son). 4 Dogs will eat anyone from Baasha’s ⌞family⌟ who dies in the city. Birds will eat anyone from his ⌞family⌟ who dies in the country.”
5 Isn’t everything else about Baasha—what he did and his heroic acts—written in the official records of the kings of Israel? 6 Baasha lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah succeeded him as king. 7 In addition, the Lord spoke his word to the prophet Jehu, Hanani’s son, against Baasha and his family because of all the things Baasha did which the Lord considered evil. Baasha’s actions, which made the Lord furious, were like ⌞the sin of⌟ Jeroboam’s family. The Lord was also furious because Baasha destroyed Jeroboam’s family.
Zimri Overthrows King Elah, Son of Baasha
8 Elah, son of Baasha, began to rule Israel in Asa’s twenty-sixth year as Judah’s king. He ruled in Tirzah for two years. 9 But Zimri, the general who commanded half of Elah’s chariots, plotted against him. Elah was getting drunk in Tirzah at Arza’s house. (Arza was in charge of the palace in Tirzah.) 10 Zimri entered Arza’s house, attacked Elah, and killed him in Asa’s twenty-seventh year as king of Judah. Zimri succeeded Elah as king ⌞of Israel⌟. 11 At the beginning of Zimri’s reign, as soon as he was on his throne, he killed Baasha’s entire family. He didn’t spare any of Baasha’s male [o] relatives or friends. 12 So Zimri destroyed Baasha’s entire family, as the Lord had spoken through the prophet Jehu. 13 This was for all the sins committed by Baasha and his son Elah. They sinned, led Israel to sin, and made the Lord God of Israel furious because of their worthless idols. 14 Isn’t everything else about Elah—everything he did—written in the official records of the kings of Israel?
King Zimri Rules for Seven Days
15 In Asa’s twenty-seventh year as Judah’s king, Zimri ruled for seven days in Tirzah while the army was camped near the Philistine city of Gibbethon. 16 When the army heard that Zimri had plotted ⌞against the king⌟ and killed him, the Israelite troops in the camp made Omri, the commander of the army, king of Israel.
17 Omri and the Israelite troops with him left Gibbethon and attacked Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city had been captured, he went into the stronghold in the royal palace and burned down the palace over his own head. He died 19 because of the sins he had committed—the things the Lord considered evil. Zimri lived like Jeroboam and led Israel to sin. 20 Isn’t everything else about Zimri and his plot written in the official records of the kings of Israel?
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