APDL Eductation Resources/APDL Eductation Resources.iso/text/bible/old_test/KINGS_I

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  I KINGS:


                            CHAPTER 1


  1. Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they
covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.

  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.

  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.

  4. And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and
ministered to him: but the king knew her not.

  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.

  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.

  7. And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with
Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.

  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.

  9. And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone
of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel, and called all his brethren the
king's sons, and all the men of Judah the king's servants:

  10. But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and
Solomon his brother, he called not.

  11. Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon,
saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth
reign, and David our lord knoweth it not?

  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.

  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?

  14. Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also
will come in after thee, and confirm thy words.

  15. And Bathsheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and
the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto
the king.

  16. And Bathsheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And
the king said, What wouldest thou?

  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.

  18. And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the
king, thou knowest it not:

  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.

  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.

  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.

  22. And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the
prophet also came in.

  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.

  24. And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah
shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?

  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.

  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.

  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?

  28. Then king David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba. And
she came into the king's presence, and stood before the king.

  29. And the king sware, and said, As the LORD liveth, that hath
redeemed my soul out of all distress,

  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.

  31. Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did
reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for
ever.

  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.

  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:

  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.

  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.

  36. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said,
Amen: the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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?

  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.

  43. And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord
king David hath made Solomon king.

  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:

  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.

  46. And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom.

  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.

  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.

  49. And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and
rose up, and went every man his way.

  50. And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went,
and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

  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 today that he will
not slay his servant with the sword.

  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.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 2


  1. Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he
charged Solomon his son, saying,

  2. I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and
shew thyself a man;

  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:

  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.

  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.

  6. Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar
head go down to the grave in peace.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  10. So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city
of David.

  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.

  12. Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and
his kingdom was established greatly.

  13. And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother
of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said,
Peaceably.

  14. He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she
said, Say on.

  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.

  16. And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not. And she
said unto him, Say on.

  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.

  18. And Bathsheba said, Well; I will speak for thee unto the
king.

  19. Bathsheba 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.

  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.

  21. And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to
Adonijah thy brother to wife.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  25. And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  41. And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem
to Gath, and was come again.

  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.

  43. Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the
commandment that I have charged thee with?

  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;

  45. And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David
shall be established before the LORD for ever.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 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.

  2. Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was
no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days.

  3. And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David
his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.

  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.

  5. In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night:
and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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?

  10. And the speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked this
thing.

  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;

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  16. Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king,
and stood before him.

  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.

  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.

  19. And this woman's child died in the night; because she
overlaid it.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  24. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a
sword before the king.

  25. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give
half to the one, and half to the other.

  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.

  27. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child,
and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 4


  1. So king Solomon was king over all Israel.

  2. And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of
Zadok the priest,

  3. Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat
the son of Ahilud, the recorder.

  4. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok
and Abiathar were the priests:

  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:

  6. And Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of
Abda was over the tribute.

  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.

  8. And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim:

  9. The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh,
and Elonbethhanan:

  10. The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh, and
all the land of Hepher:

  11. The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had
Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife:

  12. Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and
Megiddo, and all Bethshean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel,
from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, even unto the place that is beyond
Jokneam:

  13. The son of Geber, in Ramothgilead; 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:

  14. Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim:

  15. Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter
of Solomon to wife:

  16. Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth:

  17. Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar:

  18. Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin:

  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.

  20. Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea
in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

  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.

  22. And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of
fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,

  23. Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an
hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and
fatted fowl.

  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.

  25. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine
and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days
of Solomon.

  26. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his
chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

  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.

  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.

  29. And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding
much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea
shore.

  30. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children
of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

  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.

  32. And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a
thousand and five.

  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.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 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.

  2. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,

  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.

  4. But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so
that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  10. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to
all his desire.

  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.

  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.

  13. And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the
levy was thirty thousand men.

  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.

  15. And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare
burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;

  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.

  17. And the king commanded, and they brought great stones,
costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the
house.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 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.

  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.

  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.

  4. And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.

  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. 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.

  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.

  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.

  9. So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house
with beams and boards of cedar.

  10. And then he built chambers against all the house, five
cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

  11. And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,

  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:

  13. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not
forsake my people Israel.

  14. So Solomon built the house, and finished it.

  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 ceiling:
and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor
of the house with planks of fir.

  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.

  17. And the house, that is, the temple before it, was forty
cubits long.

  18. And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and
open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.

  19. And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there
the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  23. And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree,
each ten cubits high.

  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.

  25. And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were
of one measure and one size.

  26. The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it
of the other cherub.

  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.

  28. And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.

  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.

  30. And the floors of the house he overlaid with gold, within
and without.

  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.

  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.

  33. So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive
tree, a fourth part of the wall.

  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.

  35. And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open
flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.

  36. And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone,
and a row of cedar beams.

  37. In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the
LORD laid, in the month Zif:

  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.


                            CHAPTER 7


  1. But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he
finished all his house.

  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.

  3. And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay
on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row.

  4. And there were windows in three rows, and light was against
light in three ranks.

  5. And all the doors and posts were square, with the windows:
and light was against light in three ranks.

  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. 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.

  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.

  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.

  10. And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones,
stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.

  11. And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed
stones, and cedars.

  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.

  13. And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.

  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.

  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.

  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:

  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.

  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.

  19. And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were
of lily work in the porch, four cubits.

  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.

  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 called the name thereof Boaz.

  22. And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the
work of the pillars finished.

  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.

  24. And under the brim of it round about there were knops
compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the
knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  28. And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had
borders, and the borders were between the ledges:

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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 half a cubit.

  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.

  34. And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one
base: and the undersetters were of the very base itself.

  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.

  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.

  37. After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one
casting, one measure, and one size.

  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.

  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.

  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:

  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;

  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;

  43. And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases;

  44. And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;

  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.

  46. In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay
ground between Succoth and Zarthan.

  47. And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they
were exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found
out.

  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,

  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,

  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.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 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.

  2. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king
Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh
month.

  3. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up
the ark.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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. 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.

  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.

  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,

  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.

  12. Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the
thick darkness.

  13. I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled
place for thee to abide in for ever.

  14. And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the
congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel
stood;)

  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,

  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.

  17. And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house
for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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:

  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:

  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.

  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.

  26. And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be
verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.

  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?

  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:

  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.

  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.

  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:

  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.

  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:

  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.

  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:

  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.

  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;

  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:

  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;)

  40. That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the
land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

  41. Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people
Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake;

  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;

  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.

  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:

  45. Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their
supplication, and maintain their cause.

  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;

  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;

  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:

  49. Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven
thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,

  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:

  51. For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou
broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of
iron:

  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.

  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.

  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.

  55. And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel
with a loud voice, saying,

  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.

  57. The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let
him not leave us, nor forsake us:

  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.

  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:

  60. That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is
God, and that there is none else.

  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.

  62. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice
before the LORD.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 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,

  2. That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had
appeared unto him at Gibeon.

  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.

  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:

  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.

  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:

  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:

  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. 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.

  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,

  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.

  12. And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon
had given him; and they pleased him not.

  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.

  14. And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold.

  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.

  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.

  17. And Solomon built Gezer, and Bethhoron the nether,

  18. And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land,

  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.

  20. And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites,
Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children
of Israel,

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  27. And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had
knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

  28. And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four
hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.


                            CHAPTER 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.

  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.

  3. And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any
thing hid from the king, which he told her not.

  4. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom,
and the house that he had built,

  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.

  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.

  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.

  8. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand
continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.

  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. 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.

  11. And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir,
brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious
stones.

  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.

  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.

  14. Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was
six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,

  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.

  16. And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold:
six hundred shekels of gold went to one target.

  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.

  18. Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid
it with the best gold.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  23. So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for
riches and for wisdom.

  24. And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom,
which God had put in his heart.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  28. And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn:
the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 11


  1. But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the
daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites,
Zidonians, and Hittites:

  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.

  3. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred
concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.

  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.

  5. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the
Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

  6. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not
fully after the LORD, as did David his father.

  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.

  8. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt
incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

  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,

  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. 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.

  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.

  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.

  14. And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the
Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom.

  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;

  16. (For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until
he had cut off every male in Edom:)

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  23. And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of
Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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:

  30. And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent
it in twelve pieces:

  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:

  32. (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake,
and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all
the tribes of Israel:)

  33. Because 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.

  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:

  35. But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will
give it unto thee, even ten tribes.

  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.

  37. And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all
that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.

  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.

  39. And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for
ever.

  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.

  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?

  42. And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all
Israel was forty years.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 12


  1. And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to
Shechem to make him king.

  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;)

  3. That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the
congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,

  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.

  5. And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come
again to me. And the people departed.

  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?

  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.

  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:

  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?

  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.

  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. 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.

  13. And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the
old men's counsel that they gave him;

  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.

  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.

  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.

  17. But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities
of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

  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.

  19. So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.

  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.

  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.

  22. But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God,
saying,

  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,

  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.

  25. Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt
therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.

  26. And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return
to the house of David:

  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.

  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.

  29. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.

  30. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship
before the one, even unto Dan.

  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.

  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.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  7. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and
refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.

  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:

  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.

  10. So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he
came to Bethel.

  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.

  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. And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they
saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,

  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.

  15. Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.

  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:

  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.

  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.

  19. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house,
and drank water.

  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:

  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,

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  27. And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And
they saddled him.

  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.

  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.

  30. And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned
over him, saying, Alas, my brother!

  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:

  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.

  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.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 14


  1. At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

  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.

  3. And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of
honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the
child.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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,

  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;

  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:

  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.

  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.

  12. Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when
thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.

  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. 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.

  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.

  16. And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam,
who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.

  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;

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  23. For they also built them high places, and images, and
groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.

  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.

  25. And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that
Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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?

  30. And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their
days.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 15


  1. Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat
reigned Abijam over Judah.

  2. Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. and his mother's name
was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

  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.

  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:

  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.

  6. And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days
of his life.

  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.

  8. And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the
city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.

  9. And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned
Asa over Judah.

  10. And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his
mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

  11. And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as
did David his father.

  12. And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed
all the idols that his fathers had made.

  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.

  14. But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's
heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.

  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.

  16. And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all
their days.

  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.

  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,

  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.

  20. So Benhadad 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 Abelbethmaachah, and all Cinneroth, with all
the land of Naphtali.

  21. And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left
off building of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  28. Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay
him, and reigned in his stead.

  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:

  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.

  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?

  32. And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all
their days.

  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.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 16


  1. Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani
against Baasha, saying,

  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;

  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.

  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.

  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?

  6. So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah:
and Elah his son reigned in his stead.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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?

  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. 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.

  17. And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him,
and they besieged Tirzah.

  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.

  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.

  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?

  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.

  22. But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the
people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and
Omri reigned.

  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.

  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.

  25. But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse
than all that were before him.

  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.

  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?

  28. So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria:
and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.

  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.

  30. And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD
above all that were before him.

  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.

  32. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal,
which he had built in Samaria.

  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.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 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.

  2. And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

  3. Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by
the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

  4. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I
have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

  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.

  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.

  7. And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up,
because there had been no rain in the land.

  8. And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

  9. Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and
dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to
sustain thee.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  15. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and
she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

  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. 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.

  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?

  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.

  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?

  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.

  22. And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the
child came into him again, and he revived.

  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.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 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.

  2. And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a
sore famine in Samaria.

  3. And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house.
(Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly:

  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.)

  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.

  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.

  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?

  8. And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah
is here.

  9. And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver
thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?

  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.

  11. And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is
here.

  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.

  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?

  14. And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is
here: and he shall slay me.

  15. And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I
stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day.

  16. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to
meet Elijah.

  17. And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said
unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?

  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.

  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.

  20. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered
the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

  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.

  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.

  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:

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  28. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner
with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.

  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.

  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.

  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:

  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.

  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.

  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.

  35. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the
trench also with water.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  41. And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for
there is a sound of abundance of rain.

  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,

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.


                            CHAPTER 19


  1. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal
how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.

  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.

  3. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and
came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant
there.

  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.

  5. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an
angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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?

  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.

  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:

  12. And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the
fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

  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?

  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.

  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:

  16. And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over
Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou
anoint to be prophet in thy room.

  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.

  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. 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.

  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?

  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.


                            CHAPTER 20


  1. And Benhadad 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 besieged Samaria, and
warred against it.

  2. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city,
and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad,

  3. Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy
children, even the goodliest, are mine.

  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.

  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;

  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.

  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.

  8. And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken
not unto him, nor consent.

  9. Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, 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.

  10. And Benhadad 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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  16. And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself
drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings
that helped him.

  17. And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out
first; and Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are
men come out of Samaria.

  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.

  19. So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out
of the city, and the army which followed them.

  20. And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and
Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an
horse with the horsemen.

  21. And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and
chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.

  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.

  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.

  24. And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his
place, and put captains in their rooms:

  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.

  26. And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad
numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against
Israel.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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
Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.

  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.

  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
Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet
alive? he is my brother.

  33. Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would
come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy
brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad
came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  38. So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way,
and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  43. And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and
displeased, and came to Samaria.


                            CHAPTER 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.

  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.

  3. And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should
give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.

  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.

  5. But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is
thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?

  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.

  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.

  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.

  9. And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and
set Naboth on high among the people:

  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.

  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.

  12. They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the
people.

  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.

  14. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is
dead.

  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.

  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.

  17. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite,
saying,

  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.

  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.

  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. 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,

  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.

  23. And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall
eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  28. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite,
saying,

  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.


                            CHAPTER 22


  1. And they continued three years without war between Syria and
Israel.

  2. And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the
king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.

  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?

  4. And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle
to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am
as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.

  5. And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray
thee, at the word of the LORD to day.

  6. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about
four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against
Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up;
for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

  7. And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD
besides, that we might enquire of him?

  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.

  9. Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten
hither Micaiah the son of Imlah.

  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.

  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.

  12. And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to
Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the
king's hand.

  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.

  14. And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith
unto me, that will I speak.

  15. So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah,
shall we go against Ramothgilead 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.

  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?

  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.

  18. And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell
thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?

  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.

  20. And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go
up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and
another said on that manner.

  21. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD,
and said, I will persuade him.

  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 persude him, and prevail also:
go forth, and do so.

  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.

  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?

  25. And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when
thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.

  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;

  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.

  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.

  29. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went
up to Ramothgilead.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  37. So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they
buried the king in Samaria.

  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.

  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?

  40. So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned
in his stead.

  41. And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in
the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.

  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.

  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.

  44. And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

  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?

  46. And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days
of his father Asa, he took out of the land.

  47. There was then no king in Edom: a deputy was king.

  48. Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold:
but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.

  49. Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my
servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would
not.

  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.

  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.

  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:

  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.