1 Kings 3 — GNB — Biblija.net

Solomon's Officials

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon's Palace

Solomon Turns Away from God

The Northern Tribes Revolt

The Death of Jeroboam's Son

King Abijah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)

¹ Solomon made an alliance with the king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. He brought her to live in David's City until he had finished building his palace, the Temple, and the wall around Jerusalem. ² A temple had not yet been built for the Lord, and so the people were still offering sacrifices at many different altars. ³ Solomon loved the Lord and followed the instructions of his father David, but he also slaughtered animals and offered them as sacrifices on various altars. ⁴ On one occasion he went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices because that was where the most famous altar was. He had offered hundreds of burnt offerings there in the past. ⁵ That night the Lord appeared to him in a dream and asked him, “What would you like me to give you?” ⁶ Solomon answered, “You always showed great love for my father David, your servant, and he was good, loyal, and honest in his relation with you. And you have continued to show him your great and constant love by giving him a son who today rules in his place. ⁷ O Lord God, you have let me succeed my father as king, even though I am very young and don't know how to rule. ⁸ Here I am among the people you have chosen to be your own, a people who are so many that they cannot be counted.

King Asa of Judah

(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6)

⁹ So give me the wisdom I need to rule your people with justice and to know the difference between good and evil. Otherwise, how would I ever be able to rule this great people of yours?”

Solomon's Agreement with Hiram

¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this,

The Old Prophet of Bethel

¹¹ and so he said to him, “Because you have asked for the wisdom to rule justly, instead of long life for yourself or riches or the death of your enemies, ¹² I will do what you have asked. I will give you more wisdom and understanding than anyone has ever had before or will ever have again.

Huram's Task

¹³ I will also give you what you have not asked for: all your life you will have wealth and honor, more than that of any other king.

Solomon's Address to the People

King Solomon's Wealth

Solomon's Enemies

¹⁴ And if you obey me and keep my laws and commands, as your father David did, I will give you a long life.”

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

The Two Bronze Columns

Further Achievements of Solomon

¹⁵ Solomon woke up and realized that God had spoken to him in the dream. Then he went to Jerusalem and stood in front of the Lord's Covenant Box and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. After that he gave a feast for all his officials.

Solomon Judges a Difficult Case

¹⁶ One day two prostitutes came and presented themselves before King Solomon. ¹⁷ One of them said, “Your Majesty, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a baby boy at home while she was there. ¹⁸ Two days after my child was born, she also gave birth to a baby boy. Only the two of us were there in the house—no one else was present.

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ Then one night she accidentally rolled over on her baby and smothered it.

Solomon's Prosperous Reign

²⁰ She got up during the night, took my son from my side while I was asleep, and carried him to her bed; then she put the dead child in my bed.

Shemaiah's Prophecy

King Rehoboam of Judah

(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.15)

²¹ The next morning, when I woke up and was going to nurse my baby, I saw that it was dead. I looked at it more closely and saw that it was not my child.”

Solomon's Prayer

²² But the other woman said, “No! The living child is mine, and the dead one is yours!” The first woman answered back, “No! The dead child is yours, and the living one is mine!” And so they argued before the king.

The Bronze Tank

²³ Then King Solomon said, “Each of you claims that the living child is hers and that the dead child belongs to the other one.” ²⁴ He sent for a sword, and when it was brought,

Jeroboam Turns Away from God

King Nadab of Israel

²⁵ he said, “Cut the living child in two and give each woman half of it.”

God's Promise to Jeroboam

²⁶ The real mother, her heart full of love for her son, said to the king, “Please, Your Majesty, don't kill the child! Give it to her!” But the other woman said, “Don't give it to either of us; go on and cut it in two.”

The Bronze Carts

²⁷ Then Solomon said, “Don't kill the child! Give it to the first woman—she is its real mother.” ²⁸ When the people of Israel heard of Solomon's decision, they were all filled with deep respect for him, because they knew then that God had given him the wisdom to settle disputes fairly.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

Solomon's Officials

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon's Palace

The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple

God Appears to Solomon Again

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba

Solomon Turns Away from God

The Northern Tribes Revolt

The Death of Jeroboam's Son

King Abijah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)

¹ Solomon was king of all Israel, ² and these were his high officials:
The priest: Azariah son of Zadok
³ The court secretaries: Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha
In charge of the records: Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud
⁴ Commander of the army: Benaiah son of Jehoiada
Priests: Zadok and Abiathar
⁵ Chief of the district governors: Azariah son of Nathan
Royal Adviser: the priest Zabud son of Nathan
⁶ In charge of the palace servants: Ahishar
In charge of the forced labor: Adoniram son of Abda ⁷ Solomon appointed twelve men as district governors in Israel. They were to provide food from their districts for the king and his household, each man being responsible for one month out of the year. ⁸ The following are the names of these twelve officers and the districts they were in charge of:
Benhur: the hill country of Ephraim

King Asa of Judah

(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6)

⁹ Bendeker: the cities of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, Elon, and Beth Hanan

Solomon's Agreement with Hiram

¹⁰ Benhesed: the cities of Arubboth and Socoh and all the territory of Hepher

The Old Prophet of Bethel

¹¹ Benabinadab, who was married to Solomon's daughter Taphath: the whole region of Dor
¹² Baana son of Ahilud: the cities of Taanach, Megiddo, and all the region near Beth Shan, near the town of Zarethan, south of the town of Jezreel, as far as the city of Abel Meholah and the city of Jokmeam

Huram's Task

¹³ Bengeber: the city of Ramoth in Gilead, and the villages in Gilead belonging to the clan of Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, and the region of Argob in Bashan, sixty large towns in all, fortified with walls and with bronze bars on the gates

Solomon's Address to the People

King Solomon's Wealth

Solomon's Enemies

¹⁴ Ahinadab son of Iddo: the district of Mahanaim

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

The Two Bronze Columns

Further Achievements of Solomon

¹⁵ Ahimaaz, who was married to Basemath, another of Solomon's daughters: the territory of Naphtali

Solomon Judges a Difficult Case

¹⁶ Baana son of Hushai: the region of Asher and the town of Bealoth
¹⁷ Jehoshaphat son of Paruah: the territory of Issachar
¹⁸ Shimei son of Ela: the territory of Benjamin

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ Geber son of Uri: the region of Gilead, which had been ruled by King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan Besides these twelve, there was one governor over the whole land.

Solomon's Prosperous Reign

²⁰ The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore; they ate and drank, and were happy.

Shemaiah's Prophecy

King Rehoboam of Judah

(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.15)

²¹ Solomon's kingdom included all the nations from the Euphrates River to Philistia and the Egyptian border. They paid him taxes and were subject to him all his life.

Solomon's Prayer

²² The supplies Solomon needed each day were 150 bushels of fine flour and 300 bushels of meal;

The Bronze Tank

²³ 10 stall-fed cattle, 20 pasture-fed cattle, and 100 sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and poultry. ²⁴ Solomon ruled over all the land west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah on the Euphrates as far west as the city of Gaza. All the kings west of the Euphrates were subject to him, and he was at peace with all the neighboring countries.

Jeroboam Turns Away from God

King Nadab of Israel

²⁵ As long as he lived, the people throughout Judah and Israel lived in safety, each family with its own grapevines and fig trees.

God's Promise to Jeroboam

²⁶ Solomon had forty thousand stalls for his chariot horses and twelve thousand cavalry horses.

The Bronze Carts

²⁷ His twelve governors, each one in the month assigned to him, supplied the food King Solomon needed for himself and for all who ate in the palace; they always supplied everything needed. ²⁸ Each governor also supplied his share of barley and straw, where it was needed, for the chariot horses and the work animals. ²⁹ God gave Solomon unusual wisdom and insight, and knowledge too great to be measured. ³⁰ Solomon was wiser than the wise men of the East or the wise men of Egypt. ³¹ He was the wisest of all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame spread throughout all the neighboring countries.

Worship at Bethel Is Condemned

³² He composed three thousand proverbs and more than a thousand songs.

Jeroboam's Fatal Sin

King Baasha of Israel

³³ He spoke of trees and plants, from the Lebanon cedars to the hyssop that grows on walls; he talked about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. ³⁴ Kings all over the world heard of his wisdom and sent people to listen to him.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

Solomon's Officials

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon's Palace

The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple

God Appears to Solomon Again

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba

Solomon Turns Away from God

The Northern Tribes Revolt

The Death of Jeroboam's Son

King Abijah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)

¹ King Hiram of Tyre had always been a friend of David's, and when he heard that Solomon had succeeded his father David as king, he sent ambassadors to him. ² Solomon sent back this message to Hiram: ³ “You know that because of the constant wars my father David had to fight against the enemy countries all around him, he could not build a temple for the worship of the Lord his God until the Lord had given him victory over all his enemies. ⁴ But now the Lord my God has given me peace on all my borders. I have no enemies, and there is no danger of attack. ⁵ The Lord promised my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will make king after you, will build a temple for me.’ And I have now decided to build that temple for the worship of the Lord my God. ⁶ So send your men to Lebanon to cut down cedars for me. My men will work with them, and I will pay your men whatever you decide. As you well know, my men don't know how to cut down trees as well as yours do.” ⁷ Hiram was extremely pleased when he received Solomon's message, and he said, “Praise the Lord today for giving David such a wise son to succeed him as king of that great nation!” ⁸ Then Hiram sent Solomon the following message: “I have received your message, and I am ready to do what you ask. I will provide the cedars and the pine trees.

King Asa of Judah

(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6)

⁹ My men will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea and will tie them together in rafts to float them down the coast to the place you choose. There my men will untie them, and your men will take charge of them. On your part, I would like you to supply the food for my men.”

Solomon's Agreement with Hiram

¹⁰ So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the cedar and pine logs that he wanted,

The Old Prophet of Bethel

¹¹ and Solomon provided Hiram with 100,000 bushels of wheat and 110,000 gallons of pure olive oil every year to feed his men. ¹² The Lord kept his promise and gave Solomon wisdom. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made a treaty with each other.

Huram's Task

¹³ King Solomon drafted 30,000 men as forced labor from all over Israel,

Solomon's Address to the People

King Solomon's Wealth

Solomon's Enemies

¹⁴ and put Adoniram in charge of them. He divided them into three groups of 10,000 men, and each group spent one month in Lebanon and two months back home.

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

The Two Bronze Columns

Further Achievements of Solomon

¹⁵ Solomon also had 80,000 stone cutters in the hill country, with 70,000 men to carry the stones,

Solomon Judges a Difficult Case

¹⁶ and he placed 3,300 foremen in charge of them to supervise their work. ¹⁷ At King Solomon's command they cut fine large stones for the foundation of the Temple. ¹⁸ Solomon's and Hiram's workers and men from the city of Byblos prepared the stones and the timber to build the Temple.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

Solomon's Officials

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon's Palace

The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple

God Appears to Solomon Again

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba

Solomon Turns Away from God

The Northern Tribes Revolt

The Death of Jeroboam's Son

King Abijah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)

¹ Four hundred and eighty years after the people of Israel left Egypt, during the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the second month, the month of Ziv, Solomon began work on the Temple. ² Inside it was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. ³ The entrance room was 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide, as wide as the sanctuary itself. ⁴ The walls of the Temple had openings in them, narrower on the outside than on the inside. ⁵ Against the outside walls, on the sides and the back of the Temple, a three-storied annex was built, each story 7˝ feet high. ⁶ Each room in the lowest story was 7˝ feet wide, in the middle story 9 feet wide, and in the top story 10˝ feet wide. The Temple wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below, so that the rooms could rest on the wall without having their beams built into it. ⁷ The stones with which the Temple was built had been prepared at the quarry, so that there was no noise made by hammers, axes, or any other iron tools as the Temple was being built. ⁸ The entrance to the lowest story of the annex was on the south side of the Temple, with stairs leading up to the second and third stories.

King Asa of Judah

(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6)

⁹ So King Solomon finished building the Temple. He put in a ceiling made of beams and boards of cedar.

Solomon's Agreement with Hiram

¹⁰ The three-storied annex, each story 7˝ feet high, was built against the outside walls of the Temple, and was joined to them by cedar beams.

The Old Prophet of Bethel

¹¹ The Lord said to Solomon, ¹² “If you obey all my laws and commands, I will do for you what I promised your father David.

Huram's Task

¹³ I will live among my people Israel in this Temple that you are building, and I will never abandon them.”

Solomon's Address to the People

King Solomon's Wealth

Solomon's Enemies

¹⁴ So Solomon finished building the Temple.

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

The Two Bronze Columns

Further Achievements of Solomon

¹⁵ The inside walls were covered with cedar panels from the floor to the ceiling, and the floor was made of pine.

Solomon Judges a Difficult Case

¹⁶ An inner room, called the Most Holy Place, was built in the rear of the Temple. It was 30 feet long and was partitioned off by cedar boards reaching from the floor to the ceiling. ¹⁷ The room in front of the Most Holy Place was 60 feet long. ¹⁸ The cedar panels were decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers; the whole interior was covered with cedar, so that the stones of the walls could not be seen.

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ In the rear of the Temple an inner room was built, where the Lord's Covenant Box was to be placed.

Solomon's Prosperous Reign

²⁰ This inner room was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high, all covered with pure gold. The altar was covered with cedar panels.

Shemaiah's Prophecy

King Rehoboam of Judah

(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.15)

²¹ The inside of the Temple was covered with gold, and gold chains were placed across the entrance of the inner room, which was also covered with gold.

Solomon's Prayer

²² The whole interior of the Temple was covered with gold, as well as the altar in the Most Holy Place.

The Bronze Tank

²³ Two winged creatures were made of olive wood and placed in the Most Holy Place, each one 15 feet tall. ²⁴ -26 Both were of the same size and shape. Each had two wings, each wing 7˝ feet long, so that the distance from one wing tip to the other was 15 feet.

The Bronze Carts

²⁷ They were placed side by side in the Most Holy Place, so that two of their outstretched wings touched each other in the middle of the room, and the other two wings touched the walls. ²⁸ The two winged creatures were covered with gold. ²⁹ The walls of the main room and of the inner room were all decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. ³⁰ Even the floor was covered with gold. ³¹ A double door made of olive wood was set in place at the entrance of the Most Holy Place; the top of the doorway was a pointed arch.

Worship at Bethel Is Condemned

³² The doors were decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers. The doors, the winged creatures, and the palm trees were covered with gold.

Jeroboam's Fatal Sin

King Baasha of Israel

³³ For the entrance to the main room a rectangular doorframe of olive wood was made. ³⁴ There were two folding doors made of pine ³⁵ and decorated with carved figures of winged creatures, palm trees, and flowers, which were evenly covered with gold. ³⁶ An inner court was built in front of the Temple, enclosed with walls which had one layer of cedar beams for every three layers of stone. ³⁷ The foundation of the Temple was laid in the second month, the month of Ziv, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign. ³⁸ In the eighth month, the month of Bul, in the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, the Temple was completely finished exactly as it had been planned. It had taken Solomon seven years to build it.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

Solomon's Officials

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon's Palace

The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple

God Appears to Solomon Again

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba

Solomon Turns Away from God

The Northern Tribes Revolt

The Death of Jeroboam's Son

King Abijah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)

¹ Solomon also built a palace for himself, and it took him thirteen years. ² -3 The Hall of the Forest of Lebanon was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had three rows of cedar pillars, 15 in each row, with cedar beams resting on them. The ceiling was of cedar, extending over storerooms, which were supported by the pillars. ⁴ On each of the two side walls there were three rows of windows. ⁵ The doorways and the windows had rectangular frames, and the three rows of windows in each wall faced the opposite rows. ⁶ The Hall of Columns was 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. It had a covered porch, supported by columns. ⁷ The Throne Room, also called the Hall of Judgment, where Solomon decided cases, had cedar panels from the floor to the rafters. ⁸ Solomon's own quarters, in another court behind the Hall of Judgment, were made like the other buildings. He also built the same kind of house for his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt.

King Asa of Judah

(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6)

⁹ All these buildings and the great court were made of fine stones from the foundations to the eaves. The stones were prepared at the quarry and cut to measure, with their inner and outer sides trimmed with saws.

Solomon's Agreement with Hiram

¹⁰ The foundations were made of large stones prepared at the quarry, some of them twelve feet long and others fifteen feet long.

The Old Prophet of Bethel

¹¹ On top of them were other stones, cut to measure, and cedar beams. ¹² The palace court, the inner court of the Temple, and the entrance room of the Temple had walls with one layer of cedar beams for every three layers of cut stones.

Huram's Task

¹³ King Solomon sent for a man named Huram, a craftsman living in the city of Tyre, who was skilled in bronze work.

Solomon's Address to the People

King Solomon's Wealth

Solomon's Enemies

¹⁴ His father, who was no longer living, was from Tyre, and had also been a skilled bronze craftsman; his mother was from the tribe of Naphtali. Huram was an intelligent and experienced craftsman. He accepted King Solomon's invitation to be in charge of all the bronze work.

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

The Two Bronze Columns

Further Achievements of Solomon

¹⁵ Huram cast two bronze columns, each one 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference, and placed them at the entrance of the Temple.

Solomon Judges a Difficult Case

¹⁶ He also made two bronze capitals, each one 7˝ feet tall, to be placed on top of the columns. ¹⁷ The top of each column was decorated with a design of interwoven chains ¹⁸ and two rows of bronze pomegranates.

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ The capitals were shaped like lilies, 6 feet tall,

Solomon's Prosperous Reign

²⁰ and were placed on a rounded section which was above the chain design. There were 200 pomegranates in two rows around each capital.

Shemaiah's Prophecy

King Rehoboam of Judah

(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.15)

²¹ Huram placed these two bronze columns in front of the entrance of the Temple: the one on the south side was named Jachin and the one on the north was named Boaz.

Solomon's Prayer

²² The lily-shaped bronze capitals were on top of the columns. And so the work on the columns was completed.

The Bronze Tank

²³ Huram made a round tank of bronze, 7˝ feet deep, 15 feet in diameter, and 45 feet in circumference. ²⁴ All around the outer edge of the rim of the tank were two rows of bronze gourds, which had been cast all in one piece with the rest of the tank.

Jeroboam Turns Away from God

King Nadab of Israel

²⁵ The tank rested on the backs of twelve bronze bulls that faced outward, three facing in each direction.

God's Promise to Jeroboam

²⁶ The sides of the tank were 3 inches thick. Its rim was like the rim of a cup, curving outward like the petals of a lily. The tank held about 10,000 gallons.

The Bronze Carts

²⁷ Huram also made ten bronze carts; each was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4˝ feet high. ²⁸ They were made of square panels which were set in frames, ²⁹ with the figures of lions, bulls, and winged creatures on the panels; and on the frames, above and underneath the lions and bulls, there were spiral figures in relief. ³⁰ Each cart had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. At the four corners were bronze supports for a basin; the supports were decorated with spiral figures in relief. ³¹ There was a circular frame on top for the basin. It projected upward 18 inches from the top of the cart and 7 inches down into it. It had carvings around it.

Worship at Bethel Is Condemned

³² The wheels were 25 inches high; they were under the panels, and the axles were of one piece with the carts.

Jeroboam's Fatal Sin

King Baasha of Israel

³³ The wheels were like chariot wheels; their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of bronze. ³⁴ There were four supports at the bottom corners of each cart, which were of one piece with the cart. ³⁵ There was a 9-inch band around the top of each cart; its supports and the panels were of one piece with the cart. ³⁶ The supports and panels were decorated with figures of winged creatures, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was space for them, with spiral figures all around. ³⁷ This, then, is how the carts were made; they were all alike, having the same size and shape. ³⁸ Huram also made ten basins, one for each cart. Each basin was 6 feet in diameter and held 200 gallons. ³⁹ He placed five of the carts on the south side of the Temple, and the other five on the north side; the tank he placed at the southeast corner.

Summary List of Temple Furnishings

(2 Chronicles 4.11—5.1)

⁴⁰ -45 Huram also made pots, shovels, and bowls. He completed all his work for King Solomon for the Lord's Temple. This is what he made:
The two columns
The two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the columns
The design of interwoven chains on each capital
The 400 bronze pomegranates, in two rows of 100 each around the design on each capital
The ten carts
The ten basins
The tank
The twelve bulls supporting the tank
The pots, shovels, and bowls All this equipment for the Temple, which Huram made for King Solomon, was of polished bronze. ⁴⁶ The king had it all made in the foundry between Sukkoth and Zarethan, in the Jordan Valley. ⁴⁷ Solomon did not have these bronze objects weighed, because there were too many of them, and so their weight was never determined. ⁴⁸ Solomon also had gold furnishings made for the Temple: the altar, the table for the bread offered to God, ⁴⁹ the ten lampstands that stood in front of the Most Holy Place, five on the south side and five on the north; the flowers, lamps, and tongs; ⁵⁰ the cups, lamp snuffers, bowls, dishes for incense, and the pans used for carrying live coals; and the hinges for the doors of the Most Holy Place and of the outer doors of the Temple. All these furnishings were made of gold. ⁵¹ When King Solomon finished all the work on the Temple, he placed in the Temple storerooms all the things that his father David had dedicated to the Lord—the silver, gold, and other articles.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

Solomon's Officials

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon's Palace

The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple

God Appears to Solomon Again

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba

Solomon Turns Away from God

The Northern Tribes Revolt

The Death of Jeroboam's Son

King Abijah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)

¹ Then King Solomon summoned all the leaders of the tribes and clans of Israel to come to him in Jerusalem in order to take the Lord's Covenant Box from Zion, David's City, to the Temple. ² They all assembled during the Festival of Shelters in the seventh month, in the month of Ethanim. ³ When all the leaders had gathered, the priests lifted the Covenant Box ⁴ and carried it to the Temple. The Levites and the priests also moved the Tent of the Lord's presence and all its equipment to the Temple. ⁵ King Solomon and all the people of Israel assembled in front of the Covenant Box and sacrificed a large number of sheep and cattle—too many to count. ⁶ Then the priests carried the Covenant Box into the Temple and put it in the Most Holy Place, beneath the winged creatures. ⁷ Their outstretched wings covered the box and the poles it was carried by. ⁸ The ends of the poles could be seen by anyone standing directly in front of the Most Holy Place, but from nowhere else. (The poles are still there today.)

King Asa of Judah

(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6)

⁹ There was nothing inside the Covenant Box except the two stone tablets which Moses had placed there at Mount Sinai, when the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel as they were coming from Egypt.

Solomon's Agreement with Hiram

¹⁰ As the priests were leaving the Temple, it was suddenly filled with a cloud

The Old Prophet of Bethel

¹¹ shining with the dazzling light of the Lord's presence, and they could not go back in to perform their duties. ¹² Then Solomon prayed:
“You, Lord, have placed the sun in the sky,
yet you have chosen to live in clouds and darkness.

Huram's Task

¹³ Now I have built a majestic temple for you,
a place for you to live in forever.”

Solomon's Address to the People

King Solomon's Wealth

Solomon's Enemies

¹⁴ As the people stood there, King Solomon turned to face them, and he asked God's blessing on them.

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

The Two Bronze Columns

Further Achievements of Solomon

¹⁵ He said, “Praise the Lord God of Israel! He has kept the promise he made to my father David, when he told him,

Solomon Judges a Difficult Case

¹⁶ ‘From the time I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen any city in all the land of Israel in which a temple should be built where I would be worshiped. But I chose you, David, to rule my people.’” ¹⁷ And Solomon continued, “My father David planned to build a temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel, ¹⁸ but the Lord said to him, ‘You were right in wanting to build a temple for me,

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ but you will never build it. It is your son, your own son, who will build my temple.’

Solomon's Prosperous Reign

²⁰ “And now the Lord has kept his promise. I have succeeded my father as king of Israel, and I have built the Temple for the worship of the Lord God of Israel.

Shemaiah's Prophecy

King Rehoboam of Judah

(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.15)

²¹ I have also provided a place in the Temple for the Covenant Box containing the stone tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”

Solomon's Prayer

²² Then in the presence of the people Solomon went and stood in front of the altar, where he raised his arms

The Bronze Tank

²³ and prayed, “Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you. ²⁴ You have kept the promise you made to my father David; today every word has been fulfilled.

Jeroboam Turns Away from God

King Nadab of Israel

²⁵ And now, Lord God of Israel, I pray that you will also keep the other promise you made to my father when you told him that there would always be one of his descendants ruling as king of Israel, provided they obeyed you as carefully as he did.

God's Promise to Jeroboam

²⁶ So now, O God of Israel, let everything come true that you promised to my father David, your servant.

The Bronze Carts

²⁷ “But can you, O God, really live on earth? Not even all of heaven is large enough to hold you, so how can this Temple that I have built be large enough? ²⁸ Lord my God, I am your servant. Listen to my prayer, and grant the requests I make to you today. ²⁹ Watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have chosen to be worshiped. Hear me when I face this Temple and pray. ³⁰ Hear my prayers and the prayers of your people when they face this place and pray. In your home in heaven hear us and forgive us. ³¹ “When a person is accused of wronging another and is brought to your altar in this Temple to take an oath that he is innocent,

Worship at Bethel Is Condemned

³² O Lord, listen in heaven and judge your servants. Punish the guilty one as he deserves, and acquit the one who is innocent.

Jeroboam's Fatal Sin

King Baasha of Israel

³³ “When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and then when they turn to you and come to this Temple, humbly praying to you for forgiveness, ³⁴ listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of your people and bring them back to the land which you gave to their ancestors. ³⁵ “When you hold back the rain because your people have sinned against you, and then when they repent and face this Temple, humbly praying to you, ³⁶ listen to them in heaven. Forgive the sins of the king and of the people of Israel, and teach them to do what is right. Then, O Lord, send rain on this land of yours, which you gave to your people as a permanent possession. ³⁷ “When there is famine in the land or an epidemic or the crops are destroyed by scorching winds or swarms of locusts, or when your people are attacked by their enemies, or when there is disease or sickness among them, ³⁸ listen to their prayers. If any of your people Israel, out of heartfelt sorrow, stretch out their hands in prayer toward this Temple, ³⁹ hear their prayer. Listen to them in your home in heaven, forgive them, and help them. You alone know the thoughts of the human heart. Deal with each person as he deserves,

Summary List of Temple Furnishings

(2 Chronicles 4.11—5.1)

⁴⁰ so that your people may obey you all the time they live in the land which you gave to our ancestors.

The Death of Solomon

(2 Chronicles 9.29-31)

⁴¹ -42 “When a foreigner who lives in a distant land hears of your fame and of the great things you have done for your people and comes to worship you and to pray at this Temple, ⁴³ listen to his prayer. In heaven, where you live, hear him and do what he asks you to do, so that all the peoples of the world may know you and obey you, as your people Israel do. Then they will know that this Temple I have built is the place where you are to be worshiped. ⁴⁴ “When you command your people to go into battle against their enemies and they pray to you, wherever they are, facing this city which you have chosen and this Temple which I have built for you, ⁴⁵ listen to their prayers. Hear them in heaven and give them victory. ⁴⁶ “When your people sin against you—and there is no one who does not sin—and in your anger you let their enemies defeat them and take them as prisoners to some other land, even if that land is far away, ⁴⁷ listen to your people's prayers. If there in that land they repent and pray to you, confessing how sinful and wicked they have been, hear their prayers, O Lord. ⁴⁸ If in that land they truly and sincerely repent and pray to you as they face toward this land which you gave to our ancestors, this city which you have chosen, and this Temple which I have built for you, ⁴⁹ then listen to their prayers. In your home in heaven hear them and be merciful to them. ⁵⁰ Forgive all their sins and their rebellion against you, and make their enemies treat them with kindness. ⁵¹ They are your own people, whom you brought out of Egypt, that blazing furnace. ⁵² “Sovereign Lord, may you always look with favor on your people Israel and their king, and hear their prayer whenever they call to you for help. ⁵³ You chose them from all the peoples to be your own people, as you told them through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”

The Final Prayer

⁵⁴ After Solomon had finished praying to the Lord, he stood up in front of the altar, where he had been kneeling with uplifted hands. ⁵⁵ In a loud voice he asked God's blessings on all the people assembled there. He said, ⁵⁶ “Praise the Lord who has given his people peace, as he promised he would. He has kept all the generous promises he made through his servant Moses. ⁵⁷ May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us or abandon us; ⁵⁸ may he make us obedient to him, so that we will always live as he wants us to live, keeping all the laws and commands he gave our ancestors. ⁵⁹ May the Lord our God remember at all times this prayer and these petitions I have made to him. May he always be merciful to the people of Israel and to their king, according to their daily needs. ⁶⁰ And so all the nations of the world will know that the Lord alone is God—there is no other. ⁶¹ May you, his people, always be faithful to the Lord our God, obeying all his laws and commands as you do today.”

The Dedication of the Temple

(2 Chronicles 7.4-10)

⁶² Then King Solomon and all the people there offered sacrifices to the Lord. ⁶³ He sacrificed 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 sheep as fellowship offerings. And so the king and all the people dedicated the Temple. ⁶⁴ That same day he also consecrated the central part of the courtyard, the area in front of the Temple, and then he offered there the sacrifices burned whole, the grain offerings, and the fat of the animals for the fellowship offerings. He did this because the bronze altar was too small for all these offerings. ⁶⁵ There at the Temple, Solomon and all the people of Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters for seven days. There was a huge crowd of people from as far away as Hamath Pass in the north and the Egyptian border in the south. ^* ⁶⁶ On the eighth day Solomon sent the people home. They all praised him and went home happy because of all the blessings that the Lord had given his servant David and his people Israel.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

Solomon's Officials

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon's Palace

The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple

God Appears to Solomon Again

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba

Solomon Turns Away from God

The Northern Tribes Revolt

The Death of Jeroboam's Son

King Abijah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)

¹ After King Solomon had finished building the Temple and the palace and everything else he wanted to build, ² the Lord appeared to him again, as he had in Gibeon. ³ The Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer. I consecrate this Temple which you have built as the place where I shall be worshiped forever. I will watch over it and protect it for all time. ⁴ If you will serve me in honesty and integrity, as your father David did, and if you obey my laws and do everything I have commanded you, ⁵ I will keep the promise I made to your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by his descendants. ⁶ But if you or your descendants stop following me, disobey the laws and commands I have given you, and worship other gods, ⁷ then I will remove my people Israel from the land that I have given them. I will also abandon this Temple which I have consecrated as the place where I am to be worshiped. People everywhere will ridicule Israel and treat her with contempt. ⁸ This Temple will become a pile of ruins, and everyone who passes by will be shocked and amazed. ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this Temple?’ they will ask.

King Asa of Judah

(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6)

⁹ People will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt. They gave their allegiance to other gods and worshiped them. That is why the Lord has brought this disaster on them.’”

Solomon's Agreement with Hiram

¹⁰ It took Solomon twenty years to build the Temple and his palace.

The Old Prophet of Bethel

¹¹ King Hiram of Tyre had provided him with all the cedar and pine and with all the gold he wanted for this work. After it was finished, King Solomon gave Hiram twenty towns in the region of Galilee. ¹² Hiram went to see them, and he did not like them.

Huram's Task

¹³ So he said to Solomon, “So these, my brother, are the towns you have given me!” For this reason the area is still called Cabul.

Solomon's Address to the People

King Solomon's Wealth

Solomon's Enemies

¹⁴ Hiram had sent Solomon almost five tons of gold.

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

The Two Bronze Columns

Further Achievements of Solomon

¹⁵ King Solomon used forced labor to build the Temple and the palace, to fill in land on the east side of the city, and to build the city wall. He also used it to rebuild the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. (

Solomon Judges a Difficult Case

¹⁶ The king of Egypt had attacked Gezer and captured it, killing its inhabitants and setting fire to the city. Then he gave it as a wedding present to his daughter when she married Solomon, ¹⁷ and Solomon rebuilt it.) Using his forced labor, Solomon also rebuilt Lower Beth Horon, ¹⁸ Baalath, Tamar in the wilderness of Judah,

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ the cities where his supplies were kept, the cities for his horses and chariots, and everything else he wanted to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and elsewhere in his kingdom.

Solomon's Prosperous Reign

²⁰ -21 For his forced labor Solomon used the descendants of the people of Canaan whom the Israelites had not killed when they took possession of their land. These included Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, whose descendants continue to be slaves down to the present time.

Solomon's Prayer

²² Solomon did not make slaves of Israelites; they served as his soldiers, officers, commanders, chariot captains, and cavalry.

The Bronze Tank

²³ There were 550 officials in charge of the forced labor working on Solomon's various building projects. ²⁴ Solomon filled in the land on the east side of the city, after his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, had moved from David's City to the palace Solomon built for her.

Jeroboam Turns Away from God

King Nadab of Israel

²⁵ Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built to the Lord. He also burned incense to the Lord. And so he finished building the Temple.

God's Promise to Jeroboam

²⁶ King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Eziongeber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the land of Edom.

The Bronze Carts

²⁷ King Hiram sent some experienced sailors from his fleet to serve with Solomon's men. ²⁸ They sailed to the land of Ophir and brought back to Solomon about sixteen tons of gold.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

Solomon's Officials

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon's Palace

The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple

God Appears to Solomon Again

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba

Solomon Turns Away from God

The Northern Tribes Revolt

The Death of Jeroboam's Son

King Abijah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)

¹ The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame, and she traveled to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. ² She brought with her a large group of attendants, as well as camels loaded with spices, jewels, and a large amount of gold. When she and Solomon met, she asked him all the questions that she could think of. ³ He answered them all; there was nothing too difficult for him to explain. ⁴ The queen of Sheba heard Solomon's wisdom and saw the palace he had built. ⁵ She saw the food that was served at his table, the living quarters for his officials, the organization of his palace staff and the uniforms they wore, the servants who waited on him at feasts, and the sacrifices he offered in the Temple. It left her breathless and amazed. ⁶ She said to King Solomon, “What I heard in my own country about you and your wisdom is true! ⁷ But I couldn't believe it until I had come and seen it all for myself. But I didn't hear even half of it; your wisdom and wealth are much greater than what I was told. ⁸ How fortunate are your wives! And how fortunate your servants, who are always in your presence and are privileged to hear your wise sayings!

King Asa of Judah

(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6)

⁹ Praise the Lord your God! He has shown how pleased he is with you by making you king of Israel. Because his love for Israel is eternal, he has made you their king so that you can maintain law and justice.”

Solomon's Agreement with Hiram

¹⁰ She presented to King Solomon the gifts she had brought: almost five tons of gold and a very large amount of spices and jewels. The amount of spices she gave him was by far the greatest that he ever received at any time. (

The Old Prophet of Bethel

¹¹ Hiram's fleet, which had brought gold from Ophir, also brought from there a large amount of juniper wood and jewels. ¹² Solomon used the wood to build railings in the Temple and the palace, and also to make harps and lyres for the musicians. It was the finest juniper wood ever imported into Israel; none like it has ever been seen again.)

Huram's Task

¹³ King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she asked for, besides all the other customary gifts that he had generously given her. Then she and her attendants returned to the land of Sheba.

Solomon's Address to the People

King Solomon's Wealth

Solomon's Enemies

¹⁴ Every year King Solomon received over twenty-five tons of gold,

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

The Two Bronze Columns

Further Achievements of Solomon

¹⁵ in addition to the taxes paid by merchants, the profits from trade, and tribute paid by the Arabian kings and the governors of the Israelite districts.

Solomon Judges a Difficult Case

¹⁶ Solomon made two hundred large shields and had each one overlaid with almost fifteen pounds of gold. ¹⁷ He also made three hundred smaller shields, overlaying each one of them with nearly four pounds of gold. He had all these shields placed in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁸ He also had a large throne made. Part of it was covered with ivory and the rest of it was covered with the finest gold.

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ -20 The throne had six steps leading up to it, with the figure of a lion at each end of every step, a total of twelve lions. At the back of the throne was the figure of a bull's head, and beside each of the two armrests was the figure of a lion. No throne like this had ever existed in any other kingdom.

Shemaiah's Prophecy

King Rehoboam of Judah

(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.15)

²¹ All of Solomon's drinking cups were made of gold, and all the utensils in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. No silver was used, since it was not considered valuable in Solomon's day.

Solomon's Prayer

²² He had a fleet of ocean-going ships sailing with Hiram's fleet. Every three years his fleet would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.

The Bronze Tank

²³ King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king, ²⁴ and the whole world wanted to come and listen to the wisdom that God had given him.

Jeroboam Turns Away from God

King Nadab of Israel

²⁵ Everyone who came brought him a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. This continued year after year.

God's Promise to Jeroboam

²⁶ Solomon built up a force of fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand cavalry horses. Some of them he kept in Jerusalem and the rest he stationed in various other cities.

The Bronze Carts

²⁷ During his reign silver was as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar was as plentiful as ordinary sycamore in the foothills of Judah. ²⁸ The king's agents controlled the export of horses from Musri and Cilicia, ²⁹ and the export of chariots from Egypt. They supplied the Hittite and Syrian kings with horses and chariots, selling chariots for 600 pieces of silver each and horses for 150 each.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

Solomon's Officials

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon's Palace

The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple

God Appears to Solomon Again

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba

Solomon Turns Away from God

The Northern Tribes Revolt

The Death of Jeroboam's Son

King Abijah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)

¹ Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. ² He married them even though the Lord had commanded the Israelites not to intermarry with these people, because they would cause the Israelites to give their loyalty to other gods. ³ Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God, ⁴ and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods. He was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. ⁵ He worshiped Astarte, the goddess of Sidon, and Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. ⁶ He sinned against the Lord and was not true to him as his father David had been. ⁷ On the mountain east of Jerusalem he built a place to worship Chemosh, the disgusting god of Moab, and a place to worship Molech, the disgusting god of Ammon. ⁸ He also built places of worship where all his foreign wives could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods.

King Asa of Judah

(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6)

⁹ -10 Even though the Lord, the God of Israel, had appeared to Solomon twice and had commanded him not to worship foreign gods, Solomon did not obey the Lord but turned away from him. So the Lord was angry with Solomon

The Old Prophet of Bethel

¹¹ and said to him, “Because you have deliberately broken your covenant with me and disobeyed my commands, I promise that I will take the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officials. ¹² However, for the sake of your father David I will not do this in your lifetime, but during the reign of your son.

Huram's Task

¹³ And I will not take the whole kingdom away from him; instead, I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have made my own.”

Solomon's Address to the People

King Solomon's Wealth

Solomon's Enemies

¹⁴ So the Lord caused Hadad, of the royal family of Edom, to turn against Solomon.

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

The Two Bronze Columns

Further Achievements of Solomon

¹⁵ -16 Long before this, when David had conquered Edom, Joab the commander of his army had gone there to bury the dead. He and his men remained in Edom six months, and during that time they killed every male in Edom ¹⁷ except Hadad and some of his father's Edomite servants, who escaped to Egypt. (At that time Hadad was just a child.) ¹⁸ They left Midian and went to Paran, where some other men joined them. Then they traveled to Egypt and went to the king, who gave Hadad some land and a house and provided him with food.

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ Hadad won the friendship of the king, and the king gave his sister-in-law, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, to Hadad in marriage.

Solomon's Prosperous Reign

²⁰ She bore him a son, Genubath, who was raised by the queen in the palace, where he lived with the king's sons.

Shemaiah's Prophecy

King Rehoboam of Judah

(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.15)

²¹ When the news reached Hadad in Egypt that David had died and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to the king, “Let me go back to my own country.”

Solomon's Prayer

²² “Why?” the king asked. “Have I failed to give you something? Is that why you want to go back home?” “Just let me go,” Hadad answered the king. And he went back to his country. As king of Edom, Hadad was an evil, bitter enemy of Israel.

The Bronze Tank

²³ God also caused Rezon son of Eliada to turn against Solomon. Rezon had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah, ²⁴ and had become the leader of a gang of outlaws. (This happened after David had defeated Hadadezer and had slaughtered his Syrian allies.) Rezon and his gang went and lived in Damascus, where his followers made him king of Syria.

Jeroboam Turns Away from God

King Nadab of Israel

²⁵ He was an enemy of Israel during the lifetime of Solomon.

God's Promise to Jeroboam

²⁶ Another man who turned against King Solomon was one of his officials, Jeroboam son of Nebat, from Zeredah in Ephraim. His mother was a widow named Zeruah.

The Bronze Carts

²⁷ This is the story of the revolt. Solomon was filling in the land on the east side of Jerusalem and repairing the city walls. ²⁸ Jeroboam was an able young man, and when Solomon noticed how hard he worked, he put him in charge of all the forced labor in the territory of the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim. ²⁹ One day, as Jeroboam was traveling from Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him alone on the road in the open country. ³⁰ Ahijah took off the new robe he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces, ³¹ and said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, because the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, ‘I am going to take the kingdom away from Solomon, and I will give you ten tribes.

Worship at Bethel Is Condemned

³² Solomon will keep one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen to be my own from the whole land of Israel.

Jeroboam's Fatal Sin

King Baasha of Israel

³³ I am going to do this because Solomon has rejected me and has worshiped foreign gods: Astarte, the goddess of Sidon; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of Ammon. Solomon has disobeyed me; he has done wrong and has not kept my laws and commands as his father David did. ³⁴ But I will not take the whole kingdom away from Solomon, and I will keep him in power as long as he lives. This I will do for the sake of my servant David, whom I chose and who obeyed my laws and commands. ³⁵ I will take the kingdom away from Solomon's son and will give you ten tribes, ³⁶ but I will let Solomon's son keep one tribe, so that I will always have a descendant of my servant David ruling in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as the place where I am worshiped. ³⁷ Jeroboam, I will make you king of Israel, and you will rule over all the territory that you want. ³⁸ If you obey me completely, live by my laws, and win my approval by doing what I command, as my servant David did, I will always be with you. I will make you king of Israel and will make sure that your descendants rule after you, just as I have done for David. ³⁹ Because of Solomon's sin I will punish the descendants of David, but not for all time.’”

Summary List of Temple Furnishings

(2 Chronicles 4.11—5.1)

⁴⁰ And so Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he escaped to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon's death.

The Death of Solomon

(2 Chronicles 9.29-31)

⁴¹ Everything else that Solomon did, his career, and his wisdom, are all recorded in The History of Solomon. ⁴² He was king in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. ⁴³ He died and was buried in David's City, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

Solomon's Officials

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon's Palace

The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple

God Appears to Solomon Again

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba

Solomon Turns Away from God

The Northern Tribes Revolt

The Death of Jeroboam's Son

King Abijah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)

¹ Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all the people of northern Israel had gathered to make him king. ² When Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had gone to Egypt to escape from King Solomon, heard this news, he returned from Egypt. ³ The people of the northern tribes sent for him, and then they all went together to Rehoboam and said to him, ⁴ “Your father Solomon treated us harshly and placed heavy burdens on us. If you make these burdens lighter and make life easier for us, we will be your loyal subjects.” ⁵ “Come back in three days and I will give you my answer,” he replied. So they left. ⁶ King Rehoboam consulted the older men who had served as his father Solomon's advisers. “What answer do you advise me to give these people?” he asked. ⁷ They replied, “If you want to serve this people well, give a favorable answer to their request, and they will always serve you loyally.” ⁸ But he ignored the advice of the older men and went instead to the young men who had grown up with him and who were now his advisers.

King Asa of Judah

(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6)

⁹ “What do you advise me to do?” he asked. “What shall I say to the people who are asking me to make their burdens lighter?”

Solomon's Agreement with Hiram

¹⁰ They replied, “This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father's waist!’

The Old Prophet of Bethel

¹¹ Tell them, ‘My father placed heavy burdens on you; I will make them even heavier. He beat you with whips; I'll flog you with bullwhips!’” ¹² Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to King Rehoboam, as he had instructed them.

Huram's Task

¹³ The king ignored the advice of the older men and spoke harshly to the people,

Solomon's Address to the People

King Solomon's Wealth

Solomon's Enemies

¹⁴ as the younger men had advised. He said, “My father placed heavy burdens on you; I will make them even heavier. He beat you with whips; I'll flog you with bullwhips!”

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

The Two Bronze Columns

Further Achievements of Solomon

¹⁵ It was the will of the Lord to bring about what he had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh. This is why the king did not pay any attention to the people.

Solomon Judges a Difficult Case

¹⁶ When the people saw that the king would not listen to them, they shouted, “Down with David and his family! What have they ever done for us? People of Israel, let's go home! Let Rehoboam look out for himself” So the people of Israel rebelled, ¹⁷ leaving Rehoboam as king only of the people who lived in the territory of Judah. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the forced labor, to go to the Israelites, but they stoned him to death. At this, Rehoboam hurriedly got in his chariot and escaped to Jerusalem.

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ Ever since that time the people of the northern kingdom of Israel have been in rebellion against the dynasty of David.

Solomon's Prosperous Reign

²⁰ When the people of Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned from Egypt, they invited him to a meeting of the people and made him king of Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to David's descendants.

Shemaiah's Prophecy

King Rehoboam of Judah

(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.15)

²¹ When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he called together 180,000 of the best soldiers from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. He intended to go to war and restore his control over the northern tribes of Israel.

Solomon's Prayer

²² But God told the prophet Shemaiah

The Bronze Tank

²³ to give this message to Rehoboam and to all the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin: ²⁴ “Do not attack your own relatives, the people of Israel. Go home, all of you. What has happened is my will.” They all obeyed the Lord's command and went back home.

Jeroboam Turns Away from God

King Nadab of Israel

²⁵ King Jeroboam of Israel fortified the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there for a while. Then he left and fortified the town of Penuel.

God's Promise to Jeroboam

²⁶ -27 He said to himself, “As things are now, if my people go to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices to the Lord in the Temple there, they will transfer their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah and will kill me.” ²⁸ After thinking it over, he made two bull-calves of gold and said to his people, “You have been going long enough to Jerusalem to worship. People of Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt!” ²⁹ He placed one of the gold bull-calves in Bethel and the other in Dan. ³⁰ And so the people sinned, going to worship in Bethel and in Dan. ³¹ Jeroboam also built places of worship on hilltops, and he chose priests from families who were not of the tribe of Levi.

Worship at Bethel Is Condemned

³² Jeroboam also instituted a religious festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival in Judah. On the altar in Bethel he offered sacrifices to the gold bull-calves he had made, and he placed there in Bethel the priests serving at the places of worship he had built.

Jeroboam's Fatal Sin

King Baasha of Israel

³³ And on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the day that he himself had set, he went to Bethel and offered a sacrifice on the altar in celebration of the festival he had instituted for the people of Israel.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

Solomon's Officials

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon's Palace

The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple

God Appears to Solomon Again

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba

Solomon Turns Away from God

The Northern Tribes Revolt

The Death of Jeroboam's Son

King Abijah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)

¹ At the Lord's command a prophet from Judah went to Bethel and arrived there as Jeroboam stood at the altar to offer the sacrifice. ² Following the Lord's command, the prophet denounced the altar: “O altar, altar, this is what the Lord says: A child, whose name will be Josiah, will be born to the family of David. He will slaughter on you the priests serving at the pagan altars who offer sacrifices on you, and he will burn human bones on you.” ³ And the prophet went on to say, “This altar will fall apart, and the ashes on it will be scattered. Then you will know that the Lord has spoken through me.” ⁴ When King Jeroboam heard this, he pointed at him and ordered, “Seize that man!” At once the king's arm became paralyzed so that he couldn't pull it back. ⁵ The altar suddenly fell apart and the ashes spilled to the ground, as the prophet had predicted in the name of the Lord. ⁶ King Jeroboam said to the prophet, “Please pray for me to the Lord your God, and ask him to heal my arm!” The prophet prayed to the Lord, and the king's arm was healed. ⁷ Then the king said to the prophet, “Come home with me and have something to eat. I will reward you for what you have done.” ⁸ The prophet answered, “Even if you gave me half of your wealth, I would not go with you or eat or drink anything with you.

King Asa of Judah

(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6)

⁹ The Lord has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came.”

Solomon's Agreement with Hiram

¹⁰ So he did not go back the same way he had come, but by another road.

The Old Prophet of Bethel

¹¹ At that time there was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons came and told him what the prophet from Judah had done in Bethel that day and what he had said to King Jeroboam. ¹² “Which way did he go when he left?” the old prophet asked them. They showed him the road

Huram's Task

¹³ and he told them to saddle his donkey for him. They did so, and he rode off

Solomon's Address to the People

King Solomon's Wealth

Solomon's Enemies

¹⁴ down the road after the prophet from Judah and found him sitting under an oak tree. “Are you the prophet from Judah?” he asked. “I am,” the man answered.

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

The Two Bronze Columns

Further Achievements of Solomon

¹⁵ “Come home and have a meal with me,” he said.

Solomon Judges a Difficult Case

¹⁶ But the prophet from Judah answered, “I can't go home with you or accept your hospitality. And I won't eat or drink anything with you here, ¹⁷ because the Lord has commanded me not to eat or drink a thing, and not to return home the same way I came.” ¹⁸ Then the old prophet from Bethel said to him, “I, too, am a prophet just like you, and at the Lord's command an angel told me to take you home with me and offer you my hospitality.” But the old prophet was lying.

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ So the prophet from Judah went home with the old prophet and had a meal with him.

Solomon's Prosperous Reign

²⁰ As they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet,

Shemaiah's Prophecy

King Rehoboam of Judah

(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.15)

²¹ and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, “The Lord says that you disobeyed him and did not do what he commanded.

Solomon's Prayer

²² Instead, you returned and ate a meal in a place he had ordered you not to eat in. Because of this you will be killed, and your body will not be buried in your family grave.”

The Bronze Tank

²³ After they had finished eating, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet from Judah, ²⁴ who rode off. On the way a lion met him and killed him. His body lay on the road, and the donkey and the lion stood beside it.

Jeroboam Turns Away from God

King Nadab of Israel

²⁵ Some men passed by and saw the body on the road, with the lion standing near by. They went on into Bethel and reported what they had seen.

God's Promise to Jeroboam

²⁶ When the old prophet heard about it, he said, “That is the prophet who disobeyed the Lord's command! And so the Lord sent the lion to attack and kill him, just as the Lord said he would.”

The Bronze Carts

²⁷ Then he said to his sons, “Saddle my donkey for me.” They did so, ²⁸ and he rode off and found the prophet's body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion still standing by it. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. ²⁹ The old prophet picked up the body, put it on the donkey, and brought it back to Bethel to mourn over it and bury it. ³⁰ He buried it in his own family grave, and he and his sons mourned over it, saying, “Oh my brother, my brother!” ³¹ After the burial the prophet said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in this grave and lay my body next to his.

Worship at Bethel Is Condemned

³² The words that he spoke at the Lord's command against the altar in Bethel and against all the places of worship in the towns of Samaria will surely come true.”

Jeroboam's Fatal Sin

King Baasha of Israel

³³ King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways but continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built. He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one. ³⁴ This sin on his part brought about the ruin and total destruction of his dynasty.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

Solomon's Officials

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon's Palace

The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple

God Appears to Solomon Again

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba

Solomon Turns Away from God

The Northern Tribes Revolt

The Death of Jeroboam's Son

King Abijah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)

¹ At that time King Jeroboam's son Abijah got sick. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, “Disguise yourself so that no one will recognize you, and go to Shiloh, where the prophet Ahijah lives, the one who said I would be king of Israel. ³ Take him ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey. Ask him what is going to happen to our son, and he will tell you.” ⁴ So she went to Ahijah's home in Shiloh. Old age had made Ahijah blind. ⁵ The Lord had told him that Jeroboam's wife was coming to ask him about her son, who was sick. And the Lord told Ahijah what to say. When Jeroboam's wife arrived, she pretended to be someone else. ⁶ But when Ahijah heard her coming in the door, he said, “Come in. I know you are Jeroboam's wife. Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have bad news for you. ⁷ Go and tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to him: ‘I chose you from among the people and made you the ruler of my people Israel. ⁸ I took the kingdom away from David's descendants and gave it to you. But you have not been like my servant David, who was completely loyal to me, obeyed my commands, and did only what I approve of.

King Asa of Judah

(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6)

⁹ You have committed far greater sins than those who ruled before you. You have rejected me and have aroused my anger by making idols and metal images to worship.

Solomon's Agreement with Hiram

¹⁰ Because of this I will bring disaster on your dynasty and will kill all your male descendants, young and old alike. I will get rid of your family; they will be swept away like dung.

The Old Prophet of Bethel

¹¹ Any members of your family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures. I, the Lord, have spoken.’” ¹² And Ahijah went on to say to Jeroboam's wife, “Now go back home. As soon as you enter the town, your son will die.

Huram's Task

¹³ All the people of Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He will be the only member of Jeroboam's family who will be properly buried, because he is the only one with whom the Lord, the God of Israel, is pleased.

Solomon's Address to the People

King Solomon's Wealth

Solomon's Enemies

¹⁴ The Lord is going to place a king over Israel who will put an end to Jeroboam's dynasty.

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

The Two Bronze Columns

Further Achievements of Solomon

¹⁵ The Lord will punish Israel, and she will shake like a reed shaking in a stream. He will uproot the people of Israel from this good land which he gave to their ancestors, and he will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they have aroused his anger by making idols of the goddess Asherah.

Solomon Judges a Difficult Case

¹⁶ The Lord will abandon Israel because Jeroboam sinned and led the people of Israel into sin.” ¹⁷ Jeroboam's wife went back to Tirzah. Just as she entered her home, the child died. ¹⁸ The people of Israel mourned for him and buried him, as the Lord had said through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ Everything else that King Jeroboam did, the wars he fought and how he ruled, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

Solomon's Prosperous Reign

²⁰ Jeroboam ruled as king for twenty-two years. He died and was buried, and his son Nadab succeeded him as king.

Shemaiah's Prophecy

King Rehoboam of Judah

(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.15)

²¹ Solomon's son Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the territory of Israel as the place where he was to be worshiped. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah from Ammon.

Solomon's Prayer

²² The people of Judah sinned against the Lord and did more to arouse his anger against them than all their ancestors had done.

The Bronze Tank

²³ They built places of worship for false gods and put up stone pillars and symbols of Asherah to worship on the hills and under shady trees. ²⁴ Worst of all, there were men and women who served as prostitutes at those pagan places of worship. The people of Judah practiced all the shameful things done by the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced into the country.

Jeroboam Turns Away from God

King Nadab of Israel

²⁵ In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem.

God's Promise to Jeroboam

²⁶ He took away all the treasures in the Temple and in the palace, including the gold shields Solomon had made.

The Bronze Carts

²⁷ To replace them, King Rehoboam made bronze shields and entrusted them to the officers responsible for guarding the palace gates. ²⁸ Every time the king went to the Temple, the guards carried the shields and then returned them to the guardroom. ²⁹ Everything else that King Rehoboam did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. ³⁰ During all this time Rehoboam and Jeroboam were constantly at war with each other. ³¹ Rehoboam died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City and his son Abijah succeeded him as king.

Solomon Prays for Wisdom

Solomon's Officials

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

Solomon Builds the Temple

Solomon's Palace

The Covenant Box Is Brought to the Temple

God Appears to Solomon Again

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba

Solomon Turns Away from God

The Northern Tribes Revolt

The Death of Jeroboam's Son

King Abijah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 13.1—14.1)

¹ In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Abijah became king of Judah, ² and he ruled three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. ³ He committed the same sins as his father and was not completely loyal to the Lord his God, as his great-grandfather David had been. ⁴ But for David's sake the Lord his God gave Abijah a son to rule after him in Jerusalem and to keep Jerusalem secure. ⁵ The Lord did this because David had done what pleased him and had never disobeyed any of his commands, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. ⁶ The war which had begun between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continued throughout Abijah's lifetime. ⁷ And everything else that Abijah did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. ⁸ Abijah died and was buried in David's City, and his son Asa succeeded him as king.

King Asa of Judah

(2 Chronicles 15.16—16.6)

⁹ In the twentieth year of the reign of King Jeroboam of Israel, Asa became king of Judah,

Solomon's Agreement with Hiram

¹⁰ and he ruled forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom.

The Old Prophet of Bethel

¹¹ Asa did what pleased the Lord, as his ancestor David had done. ¹² He expelled from the country all the male and female prostitutes serving at the pagan places of worship, and he removed all the idols his predecessors had made.

Huram's Task

¹³ He removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an obscene idol of the fertility goddess Asherah. Asa cut down the idol and burned it in Kidron Valley.

Solomon's Address to the People

King Solomon's Wealth

Solomon's Enemies

¹⁴ Even though Asa did not destroy all the pagan places of worship, he remained faithful to the Lord all his life.

The Interior Furnishings of the Temple

The Two Bronze Columns

Further Achievements of Solomon

¹⁵ He placed in the Temple all the objects his father had dedicated to God, as well as the gold and silver objects that he himself dedicated.

Solomon Judges a Difficult Case

¹⁶ King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel were constantly at war with each other as long as they were in power. ¹⁷ Baasha invaded Judah and started to fortify Ramah in order to cut off all traffic in and out of Judah. ¹⁸ So King Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the Temple and the palace, and sent it by some of his officials to Damascus, to King Benhadad of Syria, the son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion, with this message:

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ “Let us be allies, as our fathers were. This silver and gold is a present for you. Now break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel, so that he will have to pull his troops out of my territory.”

Solomon's Prosperous Reign

²⁰ King Benhadad agreed to Asa's proposal and sent his commanding officers and their armies to attack the cities of Israel. They captured Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, the area near Lake Galilee, and the whole territory of Naphtali.

Shemaiah's Prophecy

King Rehoboam of Judah

(2 Chronicles 11.5—12.15)

²¹ When King Baasha heard what had happened, he stopped fortifying Ramah and went to Tirzah.

Solomon's Prayer

²² Then King Asa sent out an order throughout all of Judah requiring everyone, without exception, to help carry away from Ramah the stones and timber that Baasha had been using to fortify it. With this material Asa fortified Mizpah and Geba, a city in the territory of Benjamin.

The Bronze Tank