1 {1:1} Now king David was old [and] stricken in years;
and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. {1:2}
Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought
for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before
the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy
bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. {1:3} So they
sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel,
and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the
king. {1:4} And the damsel [was] very fair, and cherished
the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.
{1:5} Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself,
saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and
horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. {1:6} And his
father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why
hast thou done so? and he also [was a] very goodly [man;]
and [his mother] bare him after Absalom. {1:7} And he
conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar
the priest: and they following Adonijah helped [him. ]{1:8}
But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and
Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty
men which [belonged] to David, were not with Adonijah.
{1:9} And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by
the stone of Zoheleth, which [is] by En-rogel, and called all
his brethren the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah the
king’s servants: {1:10} But Nathan the prophet, and
Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he
called not.
{1:11} Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bath-sheba the
mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that
Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord
knoweth [it] not? {1:12} Now therefore come, let me, I pray
thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own
life, and the life of thy son Solomon. {1:13} Go and get
thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou,
my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying,
Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he
shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign?
{1:14} Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I
also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words.
{1:15} And Bath-sheba went in unto the king into the
chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the
Shunammite ministered unto the king. {1:16} And Bathsheba
bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king
said, What wouldest thou? {1:17} And she said unto him,
My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine
handmaid, [saying,] Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign
after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. {1:18} And now,
behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the king, thou
knowest [it] not: {1:19} And he hath slain oxen and fat
cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons
of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of
the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called. {1:20}
And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel [are] upon
thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the
throne of my lord the king after him. {1:21} Otherwise it
shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with
his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted
offenders.
{1:22} And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan
the prophet also came in. {1:23} And they told the king,
saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come
in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with
his face to the ground. {1:24} And Nathan said, My lord, O
king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he
shall sit upon my throne? {1:25} For he is gone down this
day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in
abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the
captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold,
they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king
Adonijah. {1:26} But me, [even] me thy servant, and Zadok
the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant
Solomon, hath he not called. {1:27} Is this thing done by
my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed [it] unto thy
servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king
after him?
{1:28} Then king David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba.
And she came into the king’s presence, and stood
before the king. {1:29} And the king sware, and said, [As]
the LORD liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all
distress, {1:30} Even as I sware unto thee by the LORD
God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall
reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead;
even so will I certainly do this day. {1:31} Then Bath-sheba
bowed with [her] face to the earth, and did reverence to the
king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.
{1:32} And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest,
and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.
And they came before the king. {1:33} The king also said
unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and
cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and
bring him down to Gihon: {1:34} And let Zadok the priest
and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel:
and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king
Solomon. {1:35} Then ye shall come up after him, that he
may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in
my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel
and over Judah. {1:36} And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada
answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD God of my
lord the king say so [too.] {1:37} As the LORD hath been
with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and
make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king
David. {1:38} So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet,
and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and
the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon
king David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon. {1:39} And
Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle,
and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all
the people said, God save king Solomon. {1:40} And all the
people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes,
and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the
sound of them.
{1:41} And Adonijah and all the guests that [were] with
him heard [it] as they had made an end of eating. And when
Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore [is
this] noise of the city being in an uproar? {1:42} And while
he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest
came: and Adonijah said unto him, Come in; for thou [art] a
valiant man, and bringest good tidings. {1:43} And
Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord
king David hath made Solomon king. {1:44} And the king
hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the
prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the
Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to
ride upon the king’s mule: {1:45} And Zadok the priest and
Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and
they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang
again. This [is] the noise that ye have heard. {1:46} And
also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom. {1:47}
And moreover the king’s servants came to bless our lord
king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better
than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne.
And the king bowed himself upon the bed. {1:48} And also
thus said the king, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel,
which hath given [one] to sit on my throne this day, mine
eyes even seeing [it.] {1:49} And all the guests that [were]
with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man
his way.
{1:50} And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and
arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
{1:51} And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah
feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the
horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me
to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword.
{1:52} And Solomon said, If he will shew himself a worthy
man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if
wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die. {1:53} So
king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the
altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon:
and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.

2 {2:1} Now the days of David drew nigh that he should
die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, {2:2} I go the
way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew
thyself a man; {2:3} And keep the charge of the LORD thy
God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his
commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as
it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in
all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:
{2:4} That the LORD may continue his word which he
spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to
their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and
with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man
on the throne of Israel. {2:5} Moreover thou knowest also
what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, [and] what he did to
the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of
Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and
shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war
upon his girdle that [was] about his loins, and in his shoes
that [were] on his feet. {2:6} Do therefore according to thy
wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in
peace. {2:7} But shew kindness unto the sons of Barzillai
the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table:
for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy
brother. {2:8} And, behold, [thou hast] with thee Shimei the
son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with
a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but
he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by
the LORD, saying, I will not put thee to death with the
sword. {2:9} Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou
[art] a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto
him; but his hoar head bring thou down to the grave with
blood. {2:10} So David slept with his fathers, and was
buried in the city of David. {2:11} And the days that David
reigned over Israel [were] forty years: seven years reigned
he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in
Jerusalem.
{2:12} Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his
father; and his kingdom was established greatly.
{2:13} And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba
the mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou
peaceably? And he said, Peaceably. {2:14} He said
moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she said,
Say on. {2:15} And he said, Thou knowest that the
kingdom was mine, and [that] all Israel set their faces on
me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is turned
about, and is become my brother’s: for it was his from the
LORD. {2:16} And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me
not. And she said unto him, Say on. {2:17} And he said,
Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king, (for he will not
say thee nay,) that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to
wife. {2:18} And Bath-sheba said, Well; I will speak for
thee unto the king.
{2:19} Bath-sheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to
speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet
her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his
throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother;
and she sat on his right hand. {2:20} Then she said, I desire
one small petition of thee; [I pray thee,] say me not nay.
And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will
not say thee nay. {2:21} And she said, Let Abishag the
Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.
{2:22} And king Solomon answered and said unto his
mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite
for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he [is]
mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the
priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah. {2:23} Then king
Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and
more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against
his own life. {2:24} Now therefore, [as] the LORD liveth,
which hath established me, and set me on the throne of
David my father, and who hath made me an house, as he
promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day. {2:25}
And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.
{2:26} And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get
thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou [art]
worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death,
because thou barest the ark of the Lord GOD before David
my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all
wherein my father was afflicted. {2:27} So Solomon thrust
out Abiathar from being priest unto the LORD; that he
might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spake
concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
{2:28} Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned
after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And
Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold
on the horns of the altar. {2:29} And it was told king
Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the
LORD; and, behold, [he is] by the altar. Then Solomon sent
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.
{2:30} And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD,
and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he
said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king
word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered
me. {2:31} And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said,
and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take
away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and
from the house of my father. {2:32} And the LORD shall
return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men
more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the
sword, my father David not knowing [thereof, to wit,]
Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and
Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.
{2:33} Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of
Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon
David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his
throne, shall there be peace for ever from the LORD. {2:34}
So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him,
and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the
wilderness.
{2:35} And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in
his room over the host: and Zadok the priest did the king put
in the room of Abiathar.
{2:36} And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said
unto him, Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there,
and go not forth thence any whither. {2:37} For it shall be,
[that] on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook
Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely
die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head. {2:38} And
Shimei said unto the king, The saying [is] good: as my lord
the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt
in Jerusalem many days. {2:39} And it came to pass at the
end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran
away unto Achish son of Maachah king of Gath. And they
told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants [be] in Gath.
{2:40} And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to
Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and
brought his servants from Gath. {2:41} And it was told
Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and
was come again. {2:42} And the king sent and called for
Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear by
the LORD, and protested unto thee, saying, Know for a
certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad any
whither, that thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst unto me,
The word [that] I have heard [is] good. {2:43} Why then
hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the
commandment that I have charged thee with? {2:44} The
king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the
wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to
David my father: therefore the LORD shall return thy
wickedness upon thine own head; {2:45} And king
Solomon [shall be] blessed, and the throne of David shall be
established before the LORD for ever. {2:46} So the king
commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; which went out,
and fell upon him, that he died. And the kingdom was
established in the hand of Solomon.

3 {3:1} And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of
Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into
the city of David, until he had made an end of building his
own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of
Jerusalem round about. {3:2} Only the people sacrificed in
high places, because there was no house built unto the name
of the LORD, until those days. {3:3} And Solomon loved
the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only
he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. {3:4} And
the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that [was] the
great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon
offer upon that altar.
{3:5} In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a
dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
{3:6} And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy
servant David my father great mercy, according as he
walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in
uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him
this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on
his throne, as [it is] this day. {3:7} And now, O LORD my
God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my
father: and I [am but] a little child: I know not [how] to go
out or come in. {3:8} And thy servant [is] in the midst of
thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that
cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. {3:9} Give
therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy
people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is
able to judge this thy so great a people? {3:10} And the
speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
{3:11} And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked
this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither
hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine
enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern
judgment; {3:12} Behold, I have done according to thy
words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding
heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither
after thee shall any arise like unto thee. {3:13} And I have
also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches,
and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings
like unto thee all thy days. {3:14} And if thou wilt walk in
my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as
thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
{3:15} And Solomon awoke; and, behold, [it was] a dream.
And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the
covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and
offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.
{3:16} Then came there two women, [that were] harlots,
unto the king, and stood before him. {3:17} And the one
woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one
house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
{3:18} And it came to pass the third day after that I was
delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we
[were] together; [there was] no stranger with us in the
house, save we two in the house. {3:19} And this woman’s
child died in the night; because she overlaid it. {3:20} And
she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me,
while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and
laid her dead child in my bosom. {3:21} And when I rose in
the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but
when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not
my son, which I did bear. {3:22} And the other woman
said, Nay; but the living [is] my son, and the dead [is] thy
son. And this said, No; but the dead [is] thy son, and the
living [is] my son. Thus they spake before the king. {3:23}
Then said the king, The one saith, This [is] my son that
liveth, and thy son [is] the dead: and the other saith, Nay;
but thy son [is] the dead, and my son [is] the living. {3:24}
And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a
sword before the king. {3:25} And the king said, Divide the
living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the
other. {3:26} Then spake the woman whose the living child
[was] unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son,
and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no
wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor
thine, [but] divide [it.] {3:27} Then the king answered and
said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she
[is] the mother thereof. {3:28} And all Israel heard of the
judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the
king: for they saw that the wisdom of God [was] in him, to
do judgment.

4 {4:1} So king Solomon was king over all Israel. {4:2}
And these [were] the princes which he had; Azariah the son
of Zadok the priest, {4:3} Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of
Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder.
{4:4} And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was] over the host:
and Zadok and Abiathar [were] the priests: {4:5} And
Azariah the son of Nathan [was] over the officers: and
Zabud the son of Nathan [was] principal officer, [and] the
king’s friend: {4:6} And Ahishar [was] over the household:
and Adoniram the son of Abda [was] over the tribute. {4:7}
And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which
provided victuals for the king and his household: each man
his month in a year made provision. {4:8} And these [are]
their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim: {4:9} The
son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh,
and Elon-beth-hanan: {4:10} The son of Hesed, in
Aruboth; to him [pertained] Sochoh, and all the land of
Hepher: {4:11} The son of Abinadab, in all the region of
Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife:
{4:12} Baana the son of Ahilud; [to him pertained] Taanach
and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zartanah
beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, [even]
unto [the place that is] beyond Jokneam: {4:13} The son of
Geber, in Ramoth-gilead; to him [pertained] the towns of
Jair the son of Manasseh, which [are] in Gilead; to him [also
pertained] the region of Argob, which is in Bashan,
threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars: {4:14}
Ahinadab the son of Iddo [had] Mahanaim: {4:15} Ahimaaz
[was] in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of
Solomon to wife: {4:16} Baanah the son of Hushai [was] in
Asher and in Aloth: {4:17} Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah,
in Issachar: {4:18} Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin:
{4:19} Geber the son of Uri [was] in the country of Gilead,
[in] the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og
king of Bashan; and [he was] the only officer which [was]
in the land.
{4:20} Judah and Israel [were] many, as the sand which
[is] by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making
merry. {4:21} And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms
from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the
border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon
all the days of his life.
{4:22} And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty
measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,
{4:23} Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures,
and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and
fallowdeer, and fatted fowl. {4:24} For he had dominion
over all [the region] on this side the river, from Tiphsah
even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and
he had peace on all sides round about him. {4:25} And
Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and
under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days
of Solomon.
{4:26} And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses
for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. {4:27} And
those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all
that came unto king Solomon’s table, every man in his
month: they lacked nothing. {4:28} Barley also and straw
for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place
where [the officers] were, every man according to his
charge.
{4:29} And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding
exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the
sand that [is] on the sea shore. {4:30} And Solomon’s
wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east
country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. {4:31} For he was
wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman,
and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame
was in all nations round about. {4:32} And he spake three
thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.
{4:33} And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that [is] in
Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall:
he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things,
and of fishes. {4:34} And there came of all people to hear
the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which
had heard of his wisdom.

5 {5:1} And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto
Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king
in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of
David. {5:2} And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, {5:3}
Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an
house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars
which were about him on every side, until the LORD put
them under the soles of his feet. {5:4} But now the LORD
my God hath given me rest on every side, [so that there is]
neither adversary nor evil occurrent. {5:5} And, behold, I
purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my
God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy
son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall
build an house unto my name. {5:6} Now therefore
command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of
Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and
unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all
that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that [there is] not
among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the
Sidonians.
{5:7} And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words
of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed [be]
the LORD this day, which hath given unto David a wise son
over this great people. {5:8} And Hiram sent to Solomon,
saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to
me for: [and] I will do all thy desire concerning timber of
cedar, and concerning timber of fir. {5:9} My servants shall
bring [them] down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will
convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt
appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and
thou shalt receive [them:] and thou shalt accomplish my
desire, in giving food for my household. {5:10} So Hiram
gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees [according to] all his
desire. {5:11} And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand
measures of wheat [for] food to his household, and twenty
measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by
year. {5:12} And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he
promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and
Solomon; and they two made a league together.
{5:13} And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel;
and the levy was thirty thousand men. {5:14} And he sent
them to Lebanon ten thousand a month by courses: a month
they were in Lebanon, [and] two months at home: and
Adoniram [was] over the levy. {5:15} And Solomon had
threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and
fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains; {5:16} Beside
the chief of Solomon’s officers which [were] over the work,
three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the
people that wrought in the work. {5:17} And the king
commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones,
[and] hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
{5:18} And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did
hew [them,] and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber
and stones to build the house.

6 {6:1} And it came to pass in the four hundred and
eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of
the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign
over Israel, in the month Zif, which [is] the second month,
that he began to build the house of the LORD. {6:2} And
the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the
length thereof [was] threescore cubits, and the breadth
thereof twenty [cubits,] and the height thereof thirty cubits.
{6:3} And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty
cubits [was] the length thereof, according to the breadth of
the house; [and] ten cubits [was] the breadth thereof before
the house. {6:4} And for the house he made windows of
narrow lights.
{6:5} And against the wall of the house he built chambers
round about, [against] the walls of the house round about,
[both] of the temple and of the oracle: and he made
chambers round about: {6:6} The nethermost chamber
[was] five cubits broad, and the middle [was] six cubits
broad, and the third [was] seven cubits broad: for without
[in the wall] of the house he made narrowed rests round
about, that [the beams] should not be fastened in the walls
of the house. {6:7} And the house, when it was in building,
was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither:
so that there was neither hammer nor axe [nor] any tool of
iron heard in the house, while it was in building. {6:8} The
door for the middle chamber [was] in the right side of the
house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle
[chamber,] and out of the middle into the third. {6:9} So he
built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with
beams and boards of cedar. {6:10} And [then] he built
chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they
rested on the house [with] timber of cedar.
{6:11} And the word of the LORD came to Solomon,
saying, {6:12} [Concerning] this house which thou art in
building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my
judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in
them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake
unto David thy father: {6:13} And I will dwell among the
children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.
{6:14} So Solomon built the house, and finished it. {6:15}
And he built the walls of the house within with boards of
cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the
cieling: [and] he covered [them] on the inside with wood,
and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. {6:16}
And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both
the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built
[them] for it within, [even] for the oracle, [even] for the
most holy [place ] {6:17} And the house, that [is,] the
temple before it, was forty cubits [long.] {6:18} And the
cedar of the house within [was] carved with knobs and open
flowers: all [was] cedar; there was no stone seen. {6:19}
And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there
the ark of the covenant of the LORD. {6:20} And the oracle
in the forepart [was] twenty cubits in length, and twenty
cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof:
and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar
[which was of] cedar. {6:21} So Solomon overlaid the
house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the
chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with
gold. {6:22} And the whole house he overlaid with gold,
until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that
[was] by the oracle he overlaid with gold.
{6:23} And within the oracle he made two cherubims [of]
olive tree, [each] ten cubits high. {6:24} And five cubits
[was] the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other
wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing
unto the uttermost part of the other [were] ten cubits. {6:25}
And the other cherub [was] ten cubits: both the cherubims
[were] of one measure and one size. {6:26} The height of
the one cherub [was] ten cubits, and so [was it] of the other
cherub. {6:27} And he set the cherubims within the inner
house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims,
so that the wing of the one touched the [one] wall, and the
wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their
wings touched one another in the midst of the house. {6:28}
And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. {6:29} And he
carved all the walls of the house round about with carved
figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers,
within and without. {6:30} And the floor of the house he
overlaid with gold, within and without.
{6:31} And for the entering of the oracle he made doors
[of] olive tree: the lintel [and] side posts [were] a fifth part
[of the wall.] {6:32} The two doors also [were of] olive
tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and
palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid [them] with gold,
and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm
trees. {6:33} So also made he for the door of the temple
posts of olive tree, a fourth part [of the wall.] {6:34} And
the two doors [were of] fir tree: the two leaves of the one
door [were] folding, and the two leaves of the other door
[were] folding. {6:35} And he carved [thereon] cherubims
and palm trees and open flowers: and covered [them] with
gold fitted upon the carved work.
{6:36} And he built the inner court with three rows of
hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.
{6:37} In the fourth year was the foundation of the house
of the LORD laid, in the month Zif: {6:38} And in the
eleventh year, in the month Bul, which [is] the eighth
month, was the house finished throughout all the parts
thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he
seven years in building it.

7 {7:1} But Solomon was building his own house thirteen
years, and he finished all his house.
{7:2} He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the
length thereof [was] an hundred cubits, and the breadth
thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits,
upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the
pillars. {7:3} And [it was] covered with cedar above upon
the beams, that [lay] on forty five pillars, fifteen [in] a row.
{7:4} And [there were] windows [in] three rows, and light
[was] against light [in] three ranks. {7:5} And all the doors
and posts [were] square, with the windows: and light [was]
against light [in] three ranks.
{7:6} And he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof
[was] fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits: and
the porch was before them: and the [other] pillars and the
thick beam [were] before them.
{7:7} Then he made a porch for the throne where he
might judge, [even] the porch of judgment: and [it was]
covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.
{7:8} And his house where he dwelt [had] another court
within the porch, [which] was of the like work. Solomon
made also an house for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had
taken [to wife,] like unto this porch. {7:9} All these [were
of] costly stones, according to the measures of hewed
stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the
foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward
the great court. {7:10} And the foundation [was of] costly
stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones
of eight cubits. {7:11} And above [were] costly stones, after
the measures of hewed stones, and cedars. {7:12} And the
great court round about [was] with three rows of hewed
stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of
the house of the LORD, and for the porch of the house.
{7:13} And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of
Tyre. {7:14} He [was] a widow’s son of the tribe of
Naphtali, and his father [was] a man of Tyre, a worker in
brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding,
and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to
king Solomon, and wrought all his work. {7:15} For he cast
two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a
line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.
{7:16} And he made two chapiters [of] molten brass, to set
upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter
[was] five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter [was]
five cubits: {7:17} [And] nets of checker work, and wreaths
of chain work, for the chapiters which [were] upon the top
of the pillars; seven for the one chapiter, and seven for the
other chapiter. {7:18} And he made the pillars, and two
rows round about upon the one network, to cover the
chapiters that [were] upon the top, with pomegranates: and
so did he for the other chapiter. {7:19} And the chapiters
that [were] upon the top of the pillars [were] of lily work in
the porch, four cubits. {7:20} And the chapiters upon the
two pillars [had pomegranates] also above, over against the
belly which [was] by the network: and the pomegranates
[were] two hundred in rows round about upon the other
chapiter. {7:21} And he set up the pillars in the porch of the
temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name
thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and he called the
name thereof Boaz. {7:22} And upon the top of the pillars
[was] lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished.
{7:23} And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one
brim to the other: [it was] round all about, and his height
[was] five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it
round about. {7:24} And under the brim of it round about
[there were] knobs compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing
the sea round about: the knobs [were] cast in two rows,
when it was cast. {7:25} It stood upon twelve oxen, three
looking toward the north, and three looking toward the
west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking
toward the east: and the sea [was set] above upon them, and
all their hinder parts [were] inward. {7:26} And it [was] an
hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like
the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two
thousand baths.
{7:27} And he made ten bases of brass; four cubits [was]
the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof,
and three cubits the height of it. {7:28} And the work of the
bases [was] on this [manner:] they had borders, and the
borders [were] between the ledges: {7:29} And on the
borders that [were] between the ledges [were] lions, oxen,
and cherubims: and upon the ledges [there was] a base
above: and beneath the lions and oxen [were] certain
additions made of thin work. {7:30} And every base had
four brasen wheels, and plates of brass: and the four corners
thereof had undersetters: under the laver [were] undersetters
molten, at the side of every addition. {7:31} And the mouth
of it within the chapiter and above [was] a cubit: but the
mouth thereof [was] round [after] the work of the base, a
cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it [were]
gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round. {7:32}
And under the borders [were] four wheels; and the axletrees
of the wheels [were joined] to the base: and the height of a
wheel [was] a cubit and a half a cubit. {7:33} And the work
of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their
axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their
spokes, [were] all molten. {7:34} And [there were] four
undersetters to the four corners of one base: [and] the
undersetters [were] of the very base itself. {7:35} And in
the top of the base [was there] a round compass of half a
cubit high: and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and
the borders thereof [were] of the same. {7:36} For on the
plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he
graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the
proportion of every one, and additions round about. {7:37}
After this [manner] he made the ten bases: all of them had
one casting, one measure, [and] one size.
{7:38} Then made he ten lavers of brass: one laver
contained forty baths: [and] every laver was four cubits:
[and] upon every one of the ten bases one laver. {7:39} And
he put five bases on the right side of the house, and five on
the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side
of the house eastward over against the south.
{7:40} And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and
the basons. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work
that he made king Solomon for the house of the LORD:
{7:41} The two pillars, and the [two] bowls of the chapiters
that [were] on the top of the two pillars; and the two
networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which
[were] upon the top of the pillars; {7:42} And four hundred
pomegranates for the two networks, [even] two rows of
pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowls of
the chapiters that [were] upon the pillars; {7:43} And the
ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases; {7:44} And one sea,
and twelve oxen under the sea; {7:45} And the pots, and the
shovels, and the basons: and all these vessels, which Hiram
made to king Solomon for the house of the LORD, [were
of] bright brass. {7:46} In the plain of Jordan did the king
cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.
{7:47} And Solomon left all the vessels [unweighed,]
because they were exceeding many: neither was the weight
of the brass found out. {7:48} And Solomon made all the
vessels that [pertained] unto the house of the LORD: the
altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the
shewbread [was,] {7:49} And the candlesticks of pure gold,
five on the right [side,] and five on the left, before the
oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs [of]
gold, {7:50} And the bowls, and the snuffers, and the
basons, and the spoons, and the censers [of] pure gold; and
the hinges [of] gold, [both] for the doors of the inner house,
the most holy [place, and] for the doors of the house, [to
wit,] of the temple. {7:51} So was ended all the work that
king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And
Solomon brought in the things which David his father had
dedicated; [even] the silver, and the gold, and the vessels,
did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD.

8 {8:1} Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and
all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the
children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that
they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD
out of the city of David, which [is] Zion. {8:2} And all the
men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at
the feast in the month Ethanim, which [is] the seventh
month. {8:3} And all the elders of Israel came, and the
priests took up the ark. {8:4} And they brought up the ark
of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and
all the holy vessels that [were] in the tabernacle, even
those did the priests and the Levites bring up. {8:5} And
king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that
[were] assembled unto him, were with him before the ark,
sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor
numbered for multitude. {8:6} And the priests brought in
the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the
oracle of the house, to the most holy [place, even] under the
wings of the cherubims. {8:7} For the cherubims spread
forth [their] two wings over the place of the ark, and the
cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
{8:8} And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the
staves were seen out in the holy [place] before the oracle,
and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this
day. {8:9} [There was] nothing in the ark save the two
tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the
LORD made [a covenant] with the children of Israel, when
they came out of the land of Egypt. {8:10} And it came to
pass, when the priests were come out of the holy [place,]
that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, {8:11} So that
the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud:
for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.
{8:12} Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he
would dwell in thick darkness. {8:13} I have surely built
thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide
in for ever. {8:14} And the king turned his face about, and
blessed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the
congregation of Israel stood;) {8:15} And he said, Blessed
[be] the LORD God of Israel, which spake with his mouth
unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled [it,]
saying, {8:16} Since the day that I brought forth my people
Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of
Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but
I chose David to be over my people Israel. {8:17} And it
was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the
name of the LORD God of Israel. {8:18} And the LORD
said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to
build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in
thine heart. {8:19} Nevertheless thou shalt not build the
house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he
shall build the house unto my name. {8:20} And the LORD
hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in
the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel,
as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the
name of the LORD God of Israel. {8:21} And I have set
there a place for the ark, wherein [is] the covenant of the
LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought
them out of the land of Egypt.
{8:22} And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD
in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread
forth his hands toward heaven: {8:23} And he said, LORD
God of Israel, [there is] no God like thee, in heaven above,
or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with
thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:
{8:24} Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that
thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and
hast fulfilled [it] with thine hand, as [it is] this day. {8:25}
Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant
David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There
shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of
Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they
walk before me as thou hast walked before me. {8:26} And
now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified,
which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
{8:27} But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the
heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how
much less this house that I have builded? {8:28} Yet have
thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his
supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and
to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:
{8:29} That thine eyes may be open toward this house night
and day, [even] toward the place of which thou hast said,
My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the
prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.
{8:30} And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant,
and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this
place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when
thou hearest, forgive.
{8:31} If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an
oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath
come before thine altar in this house: {8:32} Then hear thou
in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the
wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the
righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
{8:33} When thy people Israel be smitten down before the
enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall
turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and
make supplication unto thee in this house: {8:34} Then hear
thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and
bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their
fathers.
{8:35} When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain,
because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward
this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin,
when thou afflictest them: {8:36} Then hear thou in heaven,
and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel,
that thou teach them the good way wherein they should
walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to
thy people for an inheritance.
{8:37} If there be in the land famine, if there be
pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, [or] if there be
caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their
cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness [there be;]
{8:38} What prayer and supplication soever be [made] by
any man, [or] by all thy people Israel, which shall know
every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his
hands toward this house: {8:39} Then hear thou in heaven
thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every
man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for
thou, [even] thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children
of men;) {8:40} That they may fear thee all the days that
they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
{8:41} Moreover concerning a stranger, that [is] not of thy
people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name’s
sake; {8:42} (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of
thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he
shall come and pray toward this house; {8:43} Hear thou in
heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the
stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may
know thy name, to fear thee, as [do] thy people Israel; and
that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is
called by thy name.
{8:44} If thy people go out to battle against their enemy,
whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the
LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and [toward]
the house that I have built for thy name: {8:45} Then hear
thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and
maintain their cause. {8:46} If they sin against thee, (for
[there is] no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with
them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry
them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
{8:47} [Yet] if they shall bethink themselves in the land
whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make
supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them
captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely,
we have committed wickedness; {8:48} And [so] return
unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the
land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and
pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto
their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house
which I have built for thy name: {8:49} Then hear thou
their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling
place, and maintain their cause, {8:50} And forgive thy
people that have sinned against thee and all their
transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee,
and give them compassion before them who carried them
captive, that they may have compassion on them: {8:51}
For they [be] thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou
broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace
of iron: {8:52} That thine eyes may be open unto the
supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy
people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for
unto thee. {8:53} For thou didst separate them from among
all the people of the earth, [to be] thine inheritance, as thou
spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou
broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD. {8:54}
And it was [so,] that when Solomon had made an end of
praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he
arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on
his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. {8:55} And
he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a
loud voice, saying, {8:56} Blessed [be] the LORD, that hath
given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he
promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good
promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his
servant. {8:57} The LORD our God be with us, as he was
with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: {8:58}
That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his
ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and
his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. {8:59}
And let these my words, wherewith I have made
supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our
God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant,
and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter
shall require: {8:60} That all the people of the earth may
know that the LORD [is] God, [and that there is] none else.
{8:61} Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD
our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his
commandments, as at this day.
{8:62} And the king, and all Israel with him, offered
sacrifice before the LORD. {8:63} And Solomon offered a
sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the
LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and
twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of
Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. {8:64} The same
day did the king hallow the middle of the court that [was]
before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt
offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace
offerings: because the brasen altar that [was] before the
LORD [was] too little to receive the burnt offerings, and
meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings. {8:65}
And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with
him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath
unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven
days and seven days, [even] fourteen days. {8:66} On the
eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the
king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for
all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his
servant, and for Israel his people.

9 {9:1} And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished
the building of the house of the LORD, and the king’s
house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to
do, {9:2} That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second
time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. {9:3} And the
LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy
supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have
hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name
there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there
perpetually. {9:4} And if thou wilt walk before me, as
David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in
uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded
thee, [and] wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: {9:5}
Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel
for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There
shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. {9:6}
[But] if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your
children, and will not keep my commandments [and] my
statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other
gods, and worship them: {9:7} Then will I cut off Israel out
of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I
have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and
Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:
{9:8} And at this house, [which] is high, every one that
passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they
shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and
to this house? {9:9} And they shall answer, Because they
forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their
fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon
other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them:
therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.
{9:10} And it came to pass at the end of twenty years,
when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the
LORD, and the king’s house, {9:11} ([Now] Hiram the king
of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir
trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then
king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of
Galilee. {9:12} And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the
cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him
not. {9:13} And he said, What cities [are] these which thou
hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of
Cabul unto this day. {9:14} And Hiram sent to the king
sixscore talents of gold.
{9:15} And this [is] the reason of the levy which king
Solomon raised; for to build the house of the LORD, and his
own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and
Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. {9:16} [For] Pharaoh king
of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with
fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and
given it [for] a present unto his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
{9:17} And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the
nether, {9:18} and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness,
in the land, {9:19} And all the cities of store that Solomon
had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen,
and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and
in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. {9:20}
[And] all the people [that were] left of the Amorites,
Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which [were] not
of the children of Israel, {9:21} Their children that were left
after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were
not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a
tribute of bondservice unto this day. {9:22} But of the
children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they
[were] men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his
captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.
{9:23} These [were] the chief of the officers that [were]
over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, which bare
rule over the people that wrought in the work.
{9:24} But Pharaoh’s daughter came up out of the city of
David unto her house which [Solomon] had built for her:
then did he build Millo.
{9:25} And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt
offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built
unto the LORD, and he burnt incense upon the altar that
[was] before the LORD. So he finished the house.
{9:26} And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber,
which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in
the land of Edom. {9:27} And Hiram sent in the navy his
servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the
servants of Solomon. {9:28} And they came to Ophir, and
fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents,
and brought [it] to king Solomon.

10 {10:1} And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame
of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to
prove him with hard questions. {10:2} And she came to
Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare
spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when
she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all
that was in her heart. {10:3} And Solomon told her all her
questions: there was not [any] thing hid from the king,
which he told her not. {10:4} And when the queen of Sheba
had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had
built, {10:5} And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his
servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their
apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he
went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more
spirit in her. {10:6} And she said to the king, It was a true
report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy
wisdom. {10:7} Howbeit I believed not the words, until I
came, and mine eyes had seen [it:] and, behold, the half was
not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame
which I heard. {10:8} Happy [are] thy men, happy [are]
these thy servants, which stand continually before thee,
[and] that hear thy wisdom. {10:9} Blessed be the LORD
thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne
of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore
made he thee king, to do judgment and justice. {10:10} And
she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold,
and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there
came no more such abundance of spices as these which the
queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. {10:11} And the
navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought
in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious
stones. {10:12} And the king made of the almug trees
pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king’s house,
harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such
almug trees, nor were seen unto this day. {10:13} And king
Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire,
whatsoever she asked, beside [that] which Solomon gave
her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own
country, she and her servants.
{10:14} Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in
one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold.
{10:15} Beside [that he had] of the merchantmen, and of
the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of
Arabia, and of the governors of the country.
{10:16} And king Solomon made two hundred targets of
beaten gold: six hundred [shekels] of gold went to one
target. {10:17} And he made three hundred shields of
beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the
king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
{10:18} Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory,
and overlaid it with the best gold. {10:19} The throne had
six steps, and the top of the throne [was] round behind: and
[there were] stays on either side on the place of the seat, and
two lions stood beside the stays. {10:20} And twelve lions
stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six
steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom.
{10:21} And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels [were
of] gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of
Lebanon [were of] pure gold; none [were of] silver: it was
nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. {10:22} For
the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of
Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish,
bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
{10:23} So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the
earth for riches and for wisdom.
{10:24} And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his
wisdom, which God had put in his heart. {10:25} And they
brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels
of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and
mules, a rate year by year.
{10:26} And Solomon gathered together chariots and
horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots,
and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the
cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. {10:27}
And the king made silver [to be] in Jerusalem as stones, and
cedars made he [to be] as the sycomore trees that [are] in
the vale, for abundance.
{10:28} And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt,
and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn
at a price. {10:29} And a chariot came up and went out of
Egypt for six hundred [shekels] of silver, and an horse for
an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites,
and for the kings of Syria, did they bring [them] out by their
means.

11 {11:1} But king Solomon loved many strange women,
together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the
Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, [and] Hittites;
{11:2} Of the nations [concerning] which the LORD said
unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them,
neither shall they come in unto you: [for] surely they will
turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto
these in love. {11:3} And he had seven hundred wives,
princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives
turned away his heart. {11:4} For it came to pass, when
Solomon was old, [that] his wives turned away his heart
after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the
LORD his God, as [was] the heart of David his father.
{11:5} For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the
Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the
Ammonites. {11:6} And Solomon did evil in the sight of
the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as [did]
David his father. {11:7} Then did Solomon build an high
place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill
that [is] before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination
of the children of Ammon. {11:8} And likewise did he for
all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed
unto their gods. {11:9} And the LORD was angry with
Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God
of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, {11:10} And
had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should
not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the
LORD commanded. {11:11} Wherefore the LORD said
unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou
hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have
commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee,
and will give it to thy servant. {11:12} Notwithstanding in
thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: [but] I
will rend it out of the hand of thy son. {11:13} Howbeit I
will not rend away all the kingdom; [but] will give one tribe
to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s
sake which I have chosen.
{11:14} And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto
Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he [was] of the king’s seed in
Edom. {11:15} For it came to pass, when David was in
Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury
the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom; {11:16}
(For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until
he had cut off every male in Edom:) {11:17} That Hadad
fled, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with
him, to go into Egypt; Hadad [being] yet a little child.
{11:18} And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran:
and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to
Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave him an
house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land.
{11:19} And Hadad found great favour in the sight of
Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own
wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. {11:20} And the
sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom
Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house: and Genubath was in
Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh. {11:21}
And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his
fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead,
Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine
own country. {11:22} Then Pharaoh said unto him, But
what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to
go to thine own country? And he answered, Nothing:
howbeit let me go in any wise.
{11:23} And God stirred him up [another] adversary,
Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord
Hadadezer king of Zobah: {11:24} And he gathered men
unto him, and became captain over a band, when David
slew them [of Zobah:] and they went to Damascus, and
dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus. {11:25} And he
was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside
the mischief that Hadad [did:] and he abhorred Israel, and
reigned over Syria.
{11:26} And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of
Zereda, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name [was]
Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up [his] hand
against the king. {11:27} And this [was] the cause that he
lifted up [his] hand against the king: Solomon built Millo,
[and] repaired the breaches of the city of David his father.
{11:28} And the man Jeroboam [was] a mighty man of
valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was
industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the
house of Joseph. {11:29} And it came to pass at that time
when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet
Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad
himself with a new garment; and they two [were] alone in
the field: {11:30} And Ahijah caught the new garment that
[was] on him, and rent it [in] twelve pieces: {11:31} And he
said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the
LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom
out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:
{11:32} (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s
sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen
out of all the tribes of Israel:) {11:33} Because that they
have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the
goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the
Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon,
and have not walked in my ways, to do [that which is] right
in mine eyes, and [to keep] my statutes and my judgments,
as [did] David his father. {11:34} Howbeit I will not take
the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him
prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake,
whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my
statutes: {11:35} But I will take the kingdom out of his
son’s hand, and will give it unto thee, [even] ten tribes.
{11:36} And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David
my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem,
the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.
{11:37} And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according
to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
{11:38} And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I
command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do [that is]
right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my
commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with
thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and
will give Israel unto thee. {11:39} And I will for this afflict
the seed of David, but not for ever. {11:40} Solomon
sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and
fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in
Egypt until the death of Solomon.
{11:41} And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that
he did, and his wisdom, [are] they not written in the book of
the acts of Solomon? {11:42} And the time that Solomon
reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel [was] forty years.
{11:43} And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried
in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son
reigned in his stead.

12 {12:1} And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel
were come to Shechem to make him king. {12:2} And it
came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was
yet in Egypt, heard [of it,] (for he was fled from the
presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;)
{12:3} That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all
the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam,
saying, {12:4} Thy father made our yoke grievous: now
therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and
his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will
serve thee. {12:5} And he said unto them, Depart yet [for]
three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
{12:6} And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men,
that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and
said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?
{12:7} And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a
servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and
answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will
be thy servants for ever. {12:8} But he forsook the counsel
of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted
with the young men that were grown up with him, [and]
which stood before him: {12:9} And he said unto them,
What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who
have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father
did put upon us lighter? {12:10} And the young men that
were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt
thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying,
Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou [it] lighter
unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little [finger]
shall be thicker than my father’s loins. {12:11} And now
whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will
add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips,
but I will chastise you with scorpions.
{12:12} So Jeroboam and all the people came to
Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying,
Come to me again the third day. {12:13} And the king
answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s
counsel that they gave him; {12:14} And spake to them
after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made
your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father
[also] chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with
scorpions. {12:15} Wherefore the king hearkened not unto
the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might
perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the
Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
{12:16} So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened
not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What
portion have we in David? neither [have we] inheritance in
the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine
own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
{12:17} But [as for] the children of Israel which dwelt in
the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. {12:18}
Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who [was] over the
tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died.
Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his
chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. {12:19} So Israel rebelled
against the house of David unto this day. {12:20} And it
came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come
again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation,
and made him king over all Israel: there was none that
followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
{12:21} And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he
assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of
Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men,
which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to
bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
{12:22} But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man
of God, saying, {12:23} Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of
Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and
Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, {12:24}
Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against
your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his
house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore
to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according
to the word of the LORD.
{12:25} Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim,
and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built
Penuel. {12:26} And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall
the kingdom return to the house of David: {12:27} If this
people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at
Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto
their lord, [even] unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they
shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
{12:28} Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two
calves [of] gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you
to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. {12:29} And he
set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. {12:30}
And this thing became a sin: for the people went [to
worship] before the one, [even] unto Dan. {12:31} And he
made an house of high places, and made priests of the
lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
{12:32} And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth
month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast
that [is] in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in
Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he
placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had
made. {12:33} So he offered upon the altar which he had
made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, [even]
in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and
ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered
upon the altar, and burnt incense.

13 {13:1} And, behold, there came a man of God out of
Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam
stood by the altar to burn incense. {13:2} And he cried
against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar,
altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born
unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee
shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense
upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.
{13:3} And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This [is]
the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar
shall be rent, and the ashes that [are] upon it shall be poured
out. {13:4} And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard
the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the
altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar,
saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth
against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to
him. {13:5} The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured
out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of
God had given by the word of the LORD. {13:6} And the
king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now
the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my
hand may be restored me again. And the man of God
besought the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored him
again, and became as [it was] before. {13:7} And the king
said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh
thyself, and I will give thee a reward. {13:8} And the man
of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine
house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor
drink water in this place: {13:9} For so was it charged me
by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink
water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.
{13:10} So he went another way, and returned not by the
way that he came to Bethel.
{13:11} Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his
sons came and told him all the works that the man of God
had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken
unto the king, them they told also to their father. {13:12}
And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his
sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came
from Judah. {13:13} And he said unto his sons, Saddle me
the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
{13:14} And went after the man of God, and found him
sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, [Art] thou the
man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I [am.]
{13:15} Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and
eat bread. {13:16} And he said, I may not return with thee,
nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water
with thee in this place: {13:17} For it was said to me by the
word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water
there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
{13:18} He said unto him, I [am] a prophet also as thou
[art;] and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD,
saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he
may eat bread and drink water. [But] he lied unto him.
{13:19} So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his
house, and drank water.
{13:20} And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that
the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought
him back: {13:21} And he cried unto the man of God that
came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch
as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not
kept the commandment which the LORD thy God
commanded thee, {13:22} But camest back, and hast eaten
bread and drunk water in the place, of the which [the
LORD] did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water;
thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
{13:23} And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and
after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, [to wit,]
for the prophet whom he had brought back. {13:24} And
when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew
him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood
by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. {13:25} And,
behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way,
and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told
it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. {13:26} And
when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard
[thereof,] he said, It [is] the man of God, who was
disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the
LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn
him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD,
which he spake unto him. {13:27} And he spake to his sons,
saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled [him.] {13:28}
And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the
ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not
eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass. {13:29} And the prophet
took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the
ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the
city, to mourn and to bury him. {13:30} And he laid his
carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him,
[saying,] Alas, my brother! {13:31} And it came to pass,
after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying,
When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the
man of God [is] buried; lay my bones beside his bones:
{13:32} For the saying which he cried by the word of the
LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses
of the high places which [are] in the cities of Samaria, shall
surely come to pass.
{13:33} After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his
evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests
of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him,
and he became [one] of the priests of the high places.
{13:34} And this thing became sin unto the house of
Jeroboam, even to cut [it] off, and to destroy [it] from off
the face of the earth.

14 {14:1} At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
{14:2} And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee,
and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife
of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there [is]
Ahijah the prophet, which told me that [I should be] king
over this people. {14:3} And take with thee ten loaves, and
cracknels,1 and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell
thee what shall become of the child. {14:4} And
Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and
came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for
his eyes were set by reason of his age.
{14:5} And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife
of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for
he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall
be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself [to be]
another [woman.] {14:6} And it was [so,] when Ahijah
heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, that
he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou
thyself [to be] another? for I [am] sent to thee [with] heavy
[tidings.] {14:7} Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD
God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the
people, and made thee prince over my people Israel, {14:8}
And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and
gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant
David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me
with all his heart, to do [that] only [which was] right in
mine eyes; {14:9} But hast done evil above all that were
before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods,
and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast
me behind thy back: {14:10} Therefore, behold, I will bring
evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from
Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, [and] him that is
shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of
the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be
all gone. {14:11} Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city
shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the
fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it. {14:12}
Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: [and]
when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die. {14:13}
And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he
only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him
there is found [some] good thing toward the LORD God of
Israel in the house of Jeroboam. {14:14} Moreover the
LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut
off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.
{14:15} For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is
shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this
good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter
them beyond the river, because they have made their
groves, provoking the LORD to anger. {14:16} And he
shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who
did sin, and who made Israel to sin.
{14:17} And Jeroboam’s wife arose, and departed, and
came to Tirzah: [and] when she came to the threshold of the
door, the child died; {14:18} And they buried him; and all
Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the
LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah
the prophet. {14:19} And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam,
how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they [are]
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
{14:20} And the days which Jeroboam reigned [were] two
and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab
his son reigned in his stead.
{14:21} And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in
Judah. Rehoboam [was] forty and one years old when he
began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem,
the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of
Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name [was]
Naamah an Ammonitess. {14:22} And Judah did evil in the
sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with
their sins which they had committed, above all that their
fathers had done. {14:23} For they also built them high
places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and
under every green tree. {14:24} And there were also
sodomites in the land: [and] they did according to all the
abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out
before the children of Israel.
{14:25} And it came to pass in the fifth year of king
Rehoboam, [that] Shishak king of Egypt came up against
Jerusalem: {14:26} And he took away the treasures of the
house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house;
he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of
gold which Solomon had made. {14:27} And king
Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and
committed [them] unto the hands of the chief of the guard,
which kept the door of the king’s house. {14:28} And it was
[so,] when the king went into the house of the LORD, that
the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard
chamber.
{14:29} Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all
that he did, [are] they not written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah? {14:30} And there was
war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all [their] days.
{14:31} And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was
buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his
mother’s name [was] Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam
his son reigned in his stead.

15 {15:1} Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam
the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah. {15:2} Three
years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name
[was] Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. {15:3} And he
walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done
before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD
his God, as the heart of David his father. {15:4}
Nevertheless for David’s sake did the LORD his God give
him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to
establish Jerusalem: {15:5} Because David did [that which
was] right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside
from any [thing] that he commanded him all the days of his
life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. {15:6} And
there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the
days of his life. {15:7} Now the rest of the acts of Abijam,
and all that he did, [are] they not written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war
between Abijam and Jeroboam. {15:8} And Abijam slept
with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David:
and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
{15:9} And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of
Israel reigned Asa over Judah. {15:10} And forty and one
years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name [was]
Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. {15:11} And Asa did
[that which was] right in the eyes of the LORD, as [did]
David his father. {15:12} And he took away the sodomites
out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers
had made. {15:13} And also Maachah his mother, even her
he removed from [being] queen, because she had made an
idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt [it] by
the brook Kidron. {15:14} But the high places were not
removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the
LORD all his days. {15:15} And he brought in the things
which his father had dedicated, and the things which
himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver,
and gold, and vessels.
{15:16} And there was war between Asa and Baasha king
of Israel all their days. {15:17} And Baasha king of Israel
went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not
suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
{15:18} Then Asa took all the silver and the gold [that
were] left in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and
the treasures of the king’s house, and delivered them into
the hand of his servants: and king Asa sent them to Benhadad,
the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of
Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying, {15:19} [There is] a
league between me and thee, [and] between my father and
thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver
and gold; come and break thy league with Baasha king of
Israel, that he may depart from me. {15:20} So Ben-hadad
hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts
which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and
Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the
land of Naphtali. {15:21} And it came to pass, when Baasha
heard [thereof,] that he left off building of Ramah, and
dwelt in Tirzah. {15:22} Then king Asa made a
proclamation throughout all Judah; none [was] exempted:
and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber
thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa built
with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah. {15:23} The rest
of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did,
and the cities which he built, [are] they not written in the
book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless
in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
{15:24} And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with
his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphat
his son reigned in his stead.
{15:25} And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign
over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and
reigned over Israel two years. {15:26} And he did evil in
the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father,
and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
{15:27} And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of
Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at
Gibbethon, which [belonged] to the Philistines; for Nadab
and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon. {15:28} Even in the
third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and
reigned in his stead. {15:29} And it came to pass, when he
reigned, [that] he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left
not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed
him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he
spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite: {15:30} Because
of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he
made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked
the LORD God of Israel to anger.
{15:31} Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he
did, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of
the kings of Israel? {15:32} And there was war between
Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. {15:33} In the
third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of
Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four
years. {15:34} And he did evil in the sight of the LORD,
and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin
wherewith he made Israel to sin.

16 {16:1} Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the
son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, {16:2} Forasmuch as I
exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my
people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam,
and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to
anger with their sins; {16:3} Behold, I will take away the
posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his house; and will
make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of
Nebat. {16:4} Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the
dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the
fowls of the air eat. {16:5} Now the rest of the acts of
Baasha, and what he did, and his might, [are] they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
{16:6} So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in
Tirzah: and Elah his son reigned in his stead. {16:7} And
also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came
the word of the LORD against Baasha, and against his
house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the
LORD, in provoking him to anger with the work of his
hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; and because he
killed him.
{16:8} In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah
began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah,
two years. {16:9} And his servant Zimri, captain of half
[his] chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah,
drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of [his]
house in Tirzah. {16:10} And Zimri went in and smote him,
and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king
of Judah, and reigned in his stead.
{16:11} And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as
soon as he sat on his throne, [that] he slew all the house of
Baasha: he left him not one that pisseth against a wall,
neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends. {16:12} Thus did
Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the
word of the LORD, which he spake against Baasha by Jehu
the prophet, {16:13} For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins
of Elah his son, by which they sinned, and by which they
made Israel to sin, in provoking the LORD God of Israel to
anger with their vanities. {16:14} Now the rest of the acts
of Elah, and all that he did, [are] they not written in the
book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
{16:15} In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of
Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people
[were] encamped against Gibbethon, which [belonged] to
the Philistines. {16:16} And the people [that were]
encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also
slain the king: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain
of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp. {16:17}
And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him,
and they besieged Tirzah. {16:18} And it came to pass,
when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into
the palace of the king’s house, and burnt the king’s house
over him with fire, and died, {16:19} For his sins which he
sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in
the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make
Israel to sin. {16:20} Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and
his treason that he wrought, [are] they not written in the
book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
{16:21} Then were the people of Israel divided into two
parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to
make him king; and half followed Omri. {16:22} But the
people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that
followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri
reigned.
{16:23} In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah
began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years
reigned he in Tirzah. {16:24} And he bought the hill
Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the
hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the
name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria.
{16:25} But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD,
and did worse than all that [were] before him. {16:26} For
he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and
in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the
LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities. {16:27}
Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his
might that he shewed, [are] they not written in the book of
the chronicles of the kings of Israel? {16:28} So Omri slept
with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Ahab his
son reigned in his stead.
{16:29} And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of
Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and
Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty
and two years. {16:30} And Ahab the son of Omri did evil
in the sight of the LORD above all that [were] before him.
{16:31} And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing
for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of
the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped
him. {16:32} And he reared up an altar for Baal in the
house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. {16:33} And
Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the
LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that
were before him.
{16:34} In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho:
he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and
set up the gates thereof in his youngest [son] Segub,
according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by
Joshua the son of Nun.

17 {17:1} And Elijah the Tishbite, [who was] of the
inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, [As] the LORD God
of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew
nor rain these years, but according to my word. {17:2} And
the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, {17:3} Get
thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the
brook Cherith, that [is] before Jordan. {17:4} And it shall
be, [that] thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have
commanded the ravens to feed thee there. {17:5} So he
went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he
went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that [is] before Jordan.
{17:6} And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the
morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank
of the brook. {17:7} And it came to pass after a while, that
the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the
land.
{17:8} And the word of the LORD came unto him,
saying, {17:9} Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which
[belongeth] to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have
commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. {17:10}
So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to
the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman [was] there
gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me,
I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
{17:11} And as she was going to fetch [it,] he called to her,
and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine
hand. {17:12} And she said, [As] the LORD thy God liveth,
I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a
little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I [am] gathering two sticks,
that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we
may eat it, and die. {17:13} And Elijah said unto her, Fear
not; go [and] do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a
little cake first, and bring [it] unto me, and after make for
thee and for thy son. {17:14} For thus saith the LORD God
of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall
the cruse of oil fail, until the day [that] the LORD sendeth
rain upon the earth. {17:15} And she went and did
according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her
house, did eat [many] days. {17:16} [And] the barrel of
meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according
to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
{17:17} And it came to pass after these things, [that] the
son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and
his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in
him. {17:18} And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do
with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to
call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? {17:19}
And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out
of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he
abode, and laid him upon his own bed. {17:20} And he
cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou
also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by
slaying her son? {17:21} And he stretched himself upon the
child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O
LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into
him again. {17:22} And the LORD heard the voice of
Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he
revived. {17:23} And Elijah took the child, and brought him
down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him
unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
{17:24} And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I
know that thou [art] a man of God, [and] that the word of
the LORD in thy mouth [is] truth.

18 {18:1} And it came to pass [after] many days, that the
word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying,
Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the
earth. {18:2} And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab.
And [there was] a sore famine in Samaria. {18:3} And
Ahab called Obadiah, which [was] the governor of [his]
house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: {18:4} For
it was [so,] when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD,
that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by
fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) {18:5}
And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all
fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we
may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we
lose not all the beasts. {18:6} So they divided the land
between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by
himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
{18:7} And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah
met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said,
[Art] thou that my lord Elijah? {18:8} And he answered
him, I [am:] go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah [is here.]
{18:9} And he said, What have I sinned, that thou
wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay
me? {18:10} [As] the LORD thy God liveth, there is no
nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek
thee: and when they said, [He is] not [there;] he took an
oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not.
{18:11} And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold,
Elijah [is here.] {18:12} And it shall come to pass, [as soon
as] I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall
carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell
Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy
servant fear the LORD from my youth. {18:13} Was it not
told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of
the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’S
prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and
water? {18:14} And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord,
Behold, Elijah [is here:] and he shall slay me. {18:15} And
Elijah said, [As] the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I
stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day. {18:16}
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab
went to meet Elijah.
{18:17} And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that
Ahab said unto him, [Art] thou he that troubleth Israel?
{18:18} And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but
thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the
commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed
Baalim. {18:19} Now therefore send, [and] gather to me all
Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four
hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four
hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table. {18:20} So Ahab sent
unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets
together unto mount Carmel. {18:21} And Elijah came unto
all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two
opinions? if the LORD [be] God, follow him: but if Baal,
[then] follow him. And the people answered him not a
word. {18:22} Then said Elijah unto the people, I, [even] I
only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets
[are] four hundred and fifty men. {18:23} Let them
therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one
bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay [it] on
wood, and put no fire [under:] and I will dress the other
bullock, and lay [it] on wood, and put no fire [under:]
{18:24} And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will
call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth
by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and
said, It is well spoken. {18:25} And Elijah said unto the
prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves,
and dress [it] first; for ye [are] many; and call on the name
of your gods, but put no fire [under.] {18:26} And they took
the bullock which was given them, and they dressed [it,]
and called on the name of Baal from morning even until
noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But [there was] no voice, nor
any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which
was made. {18:27} And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah
mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he [is] a god; either
he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, [or]
peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. {18:28}
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner
with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon
them. {18:29} And it came to pass, when midday was past,
and they prophesied until the [time] of the offering of the
[evening] sacrifice, that [there was] neither voice, nor any to
answer, nor any that regarded. {18:30} And Elijah said unto
all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came
near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD [that
was] broken down. {18:31} And Elijah took twelve stones,
according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob,
unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall
be thy name: {18:32} And with the stones he built an altar
in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the
altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
{18:33} And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock
in pieces, and laid [him] on the wood, and said, Fill four
barrels with water, and pour [it] on the burnt sacrifice, and
on the wood. {18:34} And he said, Do [it] the second time.
And they did [it] the second time. And he said, Do [it] the
third time. And they did [it] the third time. {18:35} And the
water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also
with water. {18:36} And it came to pass at [the time of] the
offering of the [evening] sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet
came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of
Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel,
and [that] I [am] thy servant, and [that] I have done all these
things at thy word. {18:37} Hear me, O LORD, hear me,
that this people may know that thou [art] the LORD God,
and [that] thou hast turned their heart back again. {18:38}
Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt
sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and
licked up the water that [was] in the trench. {18:39} And
when all the people saw [it,] they fell on their faces: and
they said, The LORD, he [is] the God; the LORD, he [is]
the God. {18:40} And Elijah said unto them, Take the
prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took
them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon,
and slew them there.
{18:41} And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and
drink; for [there is] a sound of abundance of rain. {18:42}
So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to
the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth,
and put his face between his knees, {18:43} And said to his
servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up,
and looked, and said, [There is] nothing. And he said, Go
again seven times. {18:44} And it came to pass at the
seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud
out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say
unto Ahab, Prepare [thy chariot,] and get thee down, that
the rain stop thee not. {18:45} And it came to pass in the
mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and
wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went
to Jezreel. {18:46} And the hand of the LORD was on
Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to
the entrance of Jezreel.

19 {19:1} And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done,
and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
{19:2} Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying,
So let the gods do [to me,] and more also, if I make not thy
life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
{19:3} And when he saw [that,] he arose, and went for his
life, and came to Beer-sheba, which [belongeth] to Judah,
and left his servant there.
{19:4} But he himself went a day’s journey into the
wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and
he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is
enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I [am] not
better than my fathers. {19:5} And as he lay and slept under
a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said
unto him, Arise [and] eat. {19:6} And he looked, and,
behold, [there was] a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of
water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him
down again. {19:7} And the angel of the LORD came again
the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise [and] eat;
because the journey [is] too great for thee. {19:8} And he
arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that
meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of
God.
{19:9} And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there;
and, behold, the word of the LORD [came] to him, and he
said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? {19:10} And
he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of
hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant,
thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the
sword; and I, [even] I only, am left; and they seek my life,
to take it away. {19:11} And he said, Go forth, and stand
upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD
passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains,
and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; [but] the
LORD [was] not in the wind: and after the wind an
earthquake; [but] the LORD [was] not in the earthquake:
{19:12} And after the earthquake a fire; [but] the LORD
[was] not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
{19:13} And it was [so,] when Elijah heard [it,] that he
wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in
the entering in of the cave. And, behold, [there came] a
voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
{19:14} And he said, I have been very jealous for the
LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have
forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain
thy prophets with the sword; and I, [even] I only, am left;
and they seek my life, to take it away. {19:15} And the
LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the
wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint
Hazael [to be] king over Syria: {19:16} And Jehu the son of
Nimshi shalt thou anoint [to be] king over Israel: and Elisha
the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint [to
be] prophet in thy room. {19:17} And it shall come to pass,
[that] him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay:
and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha
slay. {19:18} Yet I have left [me] seven thousand in Israel,
all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every
mouth which hath not kissed him.
{19:19} So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son
of Shaphat, who [was] plowing [with] twelve yoke [of
oxen] before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed
by him, and cast his mantle upon him. {19:20} And he left
the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee,
kiss my father and my mother, and [then] I will follow thee.
And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done
to thee? {19:21} And he returned back from him, and took a
yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the
instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they
did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered
unto him.

20 {20:1} And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all
his host together: and [there were] thirty and two kings
with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and be-
sieged Samaria, and warred against it. {20:2} And he sent
messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said
unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad, {20:3} Thy silver and thy
gold [is] mine; thy wives also and thy children, [even] the
goodliest, [are] mine. {20:4} And the king of Israel
answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy
saying, I [am] thine, and all that I have. {20:5} And the
messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Benhadad,
saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou
shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and
thy children; {20:6} Yet I will send my servants unto thee
to morrow about this time, and they shall search thine
house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, [that]
whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put [it] in
their hand, and take [it] away. {20:7} Then the king of
Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray
you, and see how this [man] seeketh mischief: for he sent
unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my
silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not. {20:8} And
all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not
[unto him,] nor consent. {20:9} Wherefore he said unto the
messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that
thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but
this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and
brought him word again. {20:10} And Ben-hadad sent unto
him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the
dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people
that follow me. {20:11} And the king of Israel answered
and said, Tell [him,] Let not him that girdeth on [his
harness] boast himself as he that putteth it off. {20:12} And
it came to pass, when [Ben-hadad] heard this message, as he
[was] drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions,that he said
unto his servants, Set [yourselves in array.] And they set
[themselves in array] against the city.
{20:13} And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab
king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen
all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine
hand this day; and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD.
{20:14} And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith
the LORD, [Even] by the young men of the princes of the
provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he
answered, Thou. {20:15} Then he numbered the young men
of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred
and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people,
[even] all the children of Israel, [being] seven thousand.
{20:16} And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad [was]
drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings,
the thirty and two kings that helped him. {20:17} And the
young men of the princes of the provinces went out first;
and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There
are men come out of Samaria. {20:18} And he said,
Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or
whether they be come out for war, take them alive. {20:19}
So these young men of the princes of the provinces came
out of the city, and the army which followed them. {20:20}
And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and
Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria
escaped on an horse with the horsemen. {20:21} And the
king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots,
and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
{20:22} And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and
said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see
what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of
Syria will come up against thee. {20:23} And the servants
of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods [are] gods of
the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us
fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be
stronger than they. {20:24} And do this thing, Take the
kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in
their rooms: {20:25} And number thee an army, like the
army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for
chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, [and]
surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened
unto their voice, and did so. {20:26} And it came to pass at
the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians,
and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. {20:27} And
the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present,
and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched
before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians
filled the country. {20:28} And there came a man of God,
and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the
LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD [is] God
of the hills, but he [is] not God of the valleys, therefore will
I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall
know that I [am] the LORD. {20:29} And they pitched one
over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the
seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel
slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one
day. {20:30} But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and
[there] a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the
men [that were] left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the
city, into an inner chamber.
{20:31} And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we
have heard that the kings of the house of Israel [are]
merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our
loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of
Israel: peradventure he will save thy life. {20:32} So they
girded sackcloth on their loins, and [put] ropes on their
heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant
Ben-hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, [Is]
he yet alive? he is my brother. {20:33} Now the men did
diligently observe whether [any thing would come] from
him, and did hastily catch [it:] and they said, Thy brother
Ben-hadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad
came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into
the chariot. {20:34} And [Ben-hadad] said unto him, The
cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore;
and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my
father made in Samaria. Then [said Ahab,] I will send thee
away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him,
and sent him away.
{20:35} And a certain man of the sons of the prophets
said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite
me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. {20:36}
Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the
voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed
from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was
departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him. {20:37}
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee.
And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded
[him.] {20:38} So the prophet departed, and waited for the
king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his
face. {20:39} And as the king passed by, he cried unto the
king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the
battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man
unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be
missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt
pay a talent of silver. {20:40} And as thy servant was busy
here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said
unto him, So [shall] thy judgment [be;] thyself hast decided
[it.] {20:41} And he hasted, and took the ashes away from
his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he [was]
of the prophets. {20:42} And he said unto him, Thus saith
the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of [thy] hand a man
whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life
shall go for his life, and thy people for his people. {20:43}
And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and
displeased, and came to Samaria.

21 {21:1} And it came to pass after these things, [that]
Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which [was] in
Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. {21:2}
And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy
vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it
[is] near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better
vineyard than it; [or,] if it seem good to thee, I will give
thee the worth of it in money. {21:3} And Naboth said to
Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the
inheritance of my fathers unto thee. {21:4} And Ahab came
into his house heavy and displeased because of the word
which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had
said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And
he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face,
and would eat no bread.
{21:5} But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto
him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?
{21:6} And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth
the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for
money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee [another]
vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my
vineyard. {21:7} And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost
thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, [and] eat
bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the
vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. {21:8} So she wrote
letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed [them] with his seal, and
sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that [were]
in his city, dwelling with Naboth. {21:9} And she wrote in
the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high
among the people: {21:10} And set two men, sons of Belial,
before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst
blaspheme God and the king. And [then] carry him out, and
stone him, that he may die. {21:11} And the men of his city,
[even] the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in
his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, [and] as it [was]
written in the letters which she had sent unto them. {21:12}
They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the
people. {21:13} And there came in two men, children of
Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed
against him, [even] against Naboth, in the presence of the
people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king.
Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him
with stones, that he died. {21:14} Then they sent to Jezebel,
saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.
{21:15} And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that
Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to
Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the
Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for
Naboth is not alive, but dead. {21:16} And it came to pass,
when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up
to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take
possession of it.
{21:17} And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the
Tishbite, saying, {21:18} Arise, go down to meet Ahab king
of Israel, which [is] in Samaria: behold, [he is] in the
vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.
{21:19} And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith
the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession?
And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the
LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth
shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. {21:20} And Ahab
said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he
answered, I have found [thee:] because thou hast sold
thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD. {21:21}
Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy
posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth
against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,
{21:22} And will make thine house like the house of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the
son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast
provoked [me] to anger, and made Israel to sin. {21:23}
And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs
shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. {21:24} Him that
dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that
dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.
{21:25} But there was none like unto Ahab, which did
sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD,
whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. {21:26} And he did very
abominably in following idols, according to all [things] as
did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the
children of Israel. {21:27} And it came to pass, when Ahab
heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put
sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth,
and went softly. {21:28} And the word of the LORD came
to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, {21:29} Seest thou how Ahab
humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself
before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: [but] in his
son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.

22 {22:1} And they continued three years without war
between Syria and Israel. {22:2} And it came to pass in the
third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to
the king of Israel. {22:3} And the king of Israel said unto
his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead [is] ours, and
we [be] still, [and] take it not out of the hand of the king of
Syria? {22:4} And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go
with me to battle to Ramoth- gilead? And Jehoshaphat said
to the king of Israel, I [am] as thou [art,] my people as thy
people, my horses as thy horses. {22:5} And Jehoshaphat
said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word
of the LORD to day. {22:6} Then the king of Israel
gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and
said unto them, Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle,
or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall
deliver [it] into the hand of the king. {22:7} And
Jehoshaphat said, [Is there] not here a prophet of the LORD
besides, that we might enquire of him? {22:8} And the king
of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, [There is] yet one man,
Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the
LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good
concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the
king say so. {22:9} Then the king of Israel called an officer,
and said, Hasten [hither] Micaiah the son of Imlah. {22:10}
And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat
each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place
in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets
prophesied before them. {22:11} And Zedekiah the son of
Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith
the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until
thou have consumed them. {22:12} And all the prophets
prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth- gilead, and
prosper: for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the king’s
hand. {22:13} And the messenger that was gone to call
Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of
the prophets [declare] good unto the king with one mouth:
let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them,
and speak [that which is] good. {22:14} And Micaiah said,
[As] the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that
will I speak.
{22:15} So he came to the king. And the king said unto
him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle,
or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper:
for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king.
{22:16} And the king said unto him, How many times shall
I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but [that which is]
true in the name of the LORD? {22:17} And he said, I saw
all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a
shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let
them return every man to his house in peace. {22:18} And
the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee
that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
{22:19} And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the
LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the
host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his
left. {22:20} And the LORD said, Who shall persuade
Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And
one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
{22:21} And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the
LORD, and said, I will persuade him. {22:22} And the
LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go
forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his
prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade [him,] and
prevail also: go forth, and do so. {22:23} Now therefore,
behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all
these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil
concerning thee. {22:24} But Zedekiah the son of
Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and
said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to
speak unto thee? {22:25} And Micaiah said, Behold, thou
shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go into an inner
chamber to hide thyself. {22:26} And the king of Israel
said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the
governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son; {22:27}
And say, Thus saith the king, Put this [fellow] in the prison,
and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of
affliction, until I come in peace. {22:28} And Micaiah said,
If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by
me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.
{22:29} So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of
Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. {22:30} And the king of
Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and
enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king
of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle. {22:31}
But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two
captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither
with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.
{22:32} And it came to pass, when the captains of the
chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it [is] the
king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him:
and Jehoshaphat cried out. {22:33} And it came to pass,
when the captains of the chariots perceived that it [was] not
the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
{22:34} And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture, and
smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness:
wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine
hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.
{22:35} And the battle increased that day: and the king was
stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at
even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of
the chariot. {22:36} And there went a proclamation
throughout the host about the going down of the sun,
saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own
country.
{22:37} So the king died, and was brought to Samaria;
and they buried the king in Samaria. {22:38} And [one]
washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs
licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according
unto the word of the LORD which he spake. {22:39} Now
the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory
house which he made, and all the cities that he built, [are]
they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Israel? {22:40} So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah
his son reigned in his stead.
{22:41} And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign
over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
{22:42} Jehoshaphat [was] thirty and five years old when
he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in
Jerusalem. And his mother’s name [was] Azubah the
daughter of Shilhi. {22:43} And he walked in all the ways
of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing [that
which was] right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the
high places were not taken away; [for] the people offered
and burnt incense yet in the high places. {22:44} And
Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. {22:45}
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that
he shewed, and how he warred, [are] they not written in the
book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? {22:46} And
the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of
his father Asa, he took out of the land. {22:47} [There was]
then no king in Edom: a deputy [was] king. {22:48}
Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for
gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.
{22:49} Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto
Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the
ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.
{22:50} And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was
buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and
Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.
{22:51} Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over
Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king
of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel. {22:52} And he
did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of
his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin: {22:53}
For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to
anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his
father had done.

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