The Second Book of the
CHRONICLES
Solomon Requests Wisdom
1Now aSolomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and bthe LORD his God was with him and cexalted him exceedingly.
2And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to dthe captains of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ houses.
3Then Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to 1the high place that was at eGibeon; for the tabernacle of meeting with God was there, which Moses the servant of the LORD had fmade in the wilderness.
4gBut David had brought up the ark of God from Kirjath Jearim to the place David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.
5Now hthe bronze altar that iBezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, 2he put before the tabernacle of the LORD; Solomon and the assembly sought Him there.
6And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the LORD, which was at the tabernacle of meeting, and joffered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
7kOn that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?” The Spread of Solomon’s Fame
8And Solomon said to God: “You have shown great lmercy to David my father, and have made me mking in his place.
9“Now, O LORD God, let Your promise to David my father be established, nfor You have made me king over a people like the odust of the earth in multitude.
10p“Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may qgo out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?”
11rThen God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king—
12“wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as snone of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”
Solomon’s Military and Economic Power
(1 Kin. 10:26–29; 2 Chr. 9:25–28)
13So Solomon came to Jerusalem from 3the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tabernacle of meeting, and reigned over Israel.
14tAnd Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
15uAlso the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.
16vAnd Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price.
17They also acquired and imported from Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty; thus, 4through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple
1Then Solomon adetermined to build a temple for the name of the LORD, and a royal house for himself.
2bSolomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.
3Then Solomon sent to 1Hiram king of Tyre, saying:
cAs you have dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me.
4Behold, dI am building a temple for the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to Him, eto burn before Him 2sweet incense, for fthe continual showbread, for gthe burnt offerings morning and evening, on the hSabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the 3set feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.
5And the temple which I build will be great, for iour God is greater than all gods.
6jBut who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?
7Therefore send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, kwhom David my father provided.
8lAlso send me cedar and cypress and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and indeed my servants will be with your servants,
9to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the 4temple which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.
10mAnd indeed I will give to your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, twenty thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
11Then Hiram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon:
nBecause the LORD loves His people, He has made you king over them.
oBlessed be the LORD God of Israel, pwho made heaven and earth, for He has given King David a wise son, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a temple for the LORD and a royal house for himself!
13And now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, 6Huram my 7master craftsman
14q(the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre), skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple and blue, fine linen and crimson, and to make any engraving and to accomplish any plan which may be given to him, with your skillful men and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.
15Now therefore, the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine which rmy lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants.
16sAnd we will cut wood from Lebanon, as much as you need; we will bring it to you in rafts by sea to 8Joppa, and you will carry it up to Jerusalem.
17tThen Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census in which uDavid his father had numbered them; and there were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred.
18And he made vseventy thousand of them bearers of burdens, eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.
Solomon Builds the Temple
1Now aSolomon began to build the house of the LORD at bJerusalem on Mount Moriah, where 1the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of cOrnan2 the Jebusite.
2And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.
3This is the foundation dwhich Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits.
4And the evestibule that was in front of 3the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was 4one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.
5fThe larger 5room he gpaneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it.
6And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim.
7He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8And he made the hMost Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold.
9The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper iarea with gold.
10jIn the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold.
11The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub;
12one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub.
13The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward.
14And he made the kveil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.
15Also he made in front of the 6temple ltwo pillars 7thirty-five cubits 8high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.
16He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made mone hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork.
17Then he nset up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand 9Jachin, and the name of the one on the left 10Boaz.
Furnishings of the Temple
1Moreover he made aa bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.
2bThen he made the 1Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.
3cAnd under it was the likeness of oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The oxen were cast in two rows, when it was cast.
4It stood on twelve doxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward.
5It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained 2three thousand baths.
6He also made eten lavers, and put five on the right side and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as they offered for the burnt offering they would wash in them, but the 3Sea was for the fpriests to wash in.
7gAnd he made ten lampstands of gold haccording to their design, and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left.
8iHe also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred jbowls of gold.
9Furthermore khe made the court of the priests, and the lgreat court and doors for the court; and he overlaid these doors with bronze.
10mHe set the Sea on the right side, toward the southeast.
11Then nHuram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of God:
12the two pillars and othe bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars;
13pfour hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the pillars);
14he also made qcarts and the lavers on the carts;
15one Sea and twelve oxen under it;
16also the pots, the shovels, the forks—and all their articles rHuram his 4master craftsman made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the LORD.
17In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between Succoth and 5Zeredah.
18sAnd Solomon had all these articles made in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
19Thus tSolomon had all the furnishings made for the house of God: the altar of gold and the tables on which was uthe showbread;
20the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn vin the prescribed manner in front of the inner sanctuary,
21with wthe flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold, of purest gold;
22the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold. As for the entry of the 6sanctuary, its inner doors to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple, were gold.
The Ark Brought into the Temple
1So aall the work that Solomon had done for the house of the LORD was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and all the furnishings. And he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.
The Ark Brought into the Temple
2bNow Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD up cfrom the City of David, which is Zion.
3dTherefore all the men of Israel assembled with the king eat the feast, which was in the seventh month.
4So all the elders of Israel came, and the fLevites took up the ark.
5Then they brought up the ark, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up.
6Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.
7Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the ginner sanctuary of the 1temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.
8For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.
9The poles extended so that the ends of the hpoles of the ark could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And 2they are there to this day.
10Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which Moses iput there at Horeb, 3when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they had come out of Egypt.
11And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had 4sanctified themselves, without keeping to their jdivisions),
12kand the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, land with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets—
13indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying:
m“ For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever,”
that the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud,
14so that the priests could not 5continue ministering because of the cloud; nfor the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
“The LORD said He would dwell in the bdark cloud.
2I have surely built You an exalted house,
And ca place for You to dwell in forever.”
Solomon’s Speech upon Completion of the Work
3Then the king turned around and dblessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.
4And he said: “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David, esaying,
5‘Since the day that I brought My people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel.
6f‘Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I ghave chosen David to be over My people Israel.’
7“Now hit was in the heart of my father David to build a 1temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
8“But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well in that it was in your heart.
9‘Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My iname.’
10“So the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke, and I have filled the position of my father David, and jsit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised; and I have built the temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
11“And there I have put the ark, kin which is the covenant of the LORD which He made with the children of Israel.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
12lThen 2Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands
13(for Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven);
14and he said: “LORD God of Israel, mthere is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your ncovenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.
15o“You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.
16“Therefore, LORD God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, p‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, qonly if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’
17“And now, O LORD God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David.
18“But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? rBehold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this 3temple which I have built!
19“Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You:
20“that Your eyes may be sopen toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes ttoward this place.
21“And may You hear the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, uforgive.
22“If anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an voath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple,
23“then hear from heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, bringing retribution on the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his wrighteousness.
24“Or if Your people Israel are defeated before an xenemy because they have sinned against You, and return and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this temple,
25“then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their fathers.
26“When the yheavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them,
27“then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.
28“When there zis famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever asickness there is;
29“whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple:
30“then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone bknow the chearts of the sons of men),
31“that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.
32“Moreover, concerning a foreigner, dwho is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray in this temple;
33“then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that 4this temple which I have built is called by Your name.
34“When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name,
35“then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
36“When they sin against You (for there is eno one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them fcaptive to a land far or near;
37“yet when they 5come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have committed wickedness’;
38“and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the gcity which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name:
39“then hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.
40“Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be hopen and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place.
Solomon Dedicates the Temple
1When aSolomon had finished praying, bfire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and cthe glory of the LORD filled the 1temple.
2dAnd the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’s house.
3When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the LORD, saying:
4gThen the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD.
5King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
6hAnd the priests attended to their services; the Levites also with instruments of the music of the LORD, which King David had made to praise the LORD, saying, “For His mercy endures forever,” whenever David offered praise by their 2ministry. iThe priests sounded trumpets opposite them, while all Israel stood.
7Furthermore jSolomon consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the LORD; for there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat.
8kAt that time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly lfrom the entrance of Hamath to mthe3 Brook of Egypt.
9And on the eighth day they held a nsacred assembly, for they observed the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.
10oOn the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the good that the LORD had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel.
11Thus pSolomon finished the house of the LORD and the king’s house; and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the house of the LORD and in his own house.
God’s Second Appearance to Solomon
12Then the LORD qappeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, rand have chosen this splace for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
13t“When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,
14“if My people who are ucalled by My name will vhumble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, wthen I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
15“Now xMy eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
16“For now yI have chosen and 4sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and 5My eyes and 6My heart will be there perpetually.
17z“As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments,
18“then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, a‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’
19b“But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them,
20c“then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have 7sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a dbyword among all peoples.
21“And as for ethis 8house, which 9is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be fastonished and say, g‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and this house?’
22“Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.’ ”
Solomon’s Additional Achievements
1It acame to pass at the end of btwenty years, when Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house,
2that the cities which 1Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them; and he settled the children of Israel there.
3And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it.
4cHe also built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities which he built in dHamath.
5He built Upper Beth Horon and eLower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars,
6also Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities and the cities of the cavalry, and all that Solomon fdesired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
7gAll the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel—
8that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel did not destroy—from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day.
9But Solomon did not make the children of Israel 2servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry.
10And others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon: htwo hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people.
11Now Solomon ibrought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy.”
12Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD which he had built before the vestibule,
13according to the jdaily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the kthree appointed yearly lfeasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
14And, according to the 3order of David his father, he appointed the mdivisions of the priests for their service, nthe Levites for their duties (to praise and serve before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the ogatekeepers by their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded.
15They did not depart from the command of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the ptreasuries.
16Now all the work of Solomon was well-ordered 4from the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.
17Then Solomon went to qEzion Geber and 5Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom.
18rAnd Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to sOphir, and acquired four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon
1Now awhen the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, having a very great retinue, camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart.
2So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for Solomon that he could not explain it to her.
3And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,
4the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his bcupbearers and their apparel, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her.
5Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom.
6“However I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of which I heard.
7“Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!
8“Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the LORD your God! Because your God has cloved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”
9And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones; there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10Also, the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, dwho brought gold from Ophir, brought 1algum wood and precious stones.
11And the king made walkways of the 2algum wood for the house of the LORD and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers; and there were none such as these seen before in the land of Judah.
12Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
Solomon’s Great Wealth
(1 Kin. 10:14–29; 2 Chr. 1:14–17)
13eThe weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,
14besides what the traveling merchants and traders brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield.
16He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; 3three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the fHouse of the Forest of Lebanon.
17Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.
18The throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne; there were 4armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests.
19Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.
20All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
21For the king’s ships went to gTarshish with the servants of 5Hiram. Once every three years the 6merchant ships came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and 7monkeys.
22So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
23And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
24Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, harmor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.
25Solomon ihad four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.
26jSo he reigned over all the kings kfrom 8the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.
27lThe king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees mas abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.
28nAnd they brought horses to Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.
Death of Solomon
29oNow the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of pAhijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of qIddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?
30rSolomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
31Then Solomon 9rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
The Revolt Against Rehoboam
1And aRehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king.
2So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was in Egypt, bwhere he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), that Jeroboam returned from Egypt.
3Then they sent for him and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
4“Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”
5So he said to them, “Come back to me after three days.” And the people departed.
6Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, saying, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”
7And they spoke to him, saying, “If you are kind to these people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.”
8cBut he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.
9And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”
10Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to the people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist!
11‘And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with 1scourges!’ ”
12So dJeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.”
13Then the king answered them roughly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders,
14and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, 2“My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with 3scourges!”
15So the king did not listen to the people; efor the turn of events was from God, that the LORD might fulfill His fword, which He had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:
“What share have we in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Every man to your tents, O Israel!
Now see to your own house, O David!”
So all Israel departed to their tents.
17But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.
18Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of revenue; but the children of Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem.
19gSo Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
Rehoboam’s Reign in Judah
1Now awhen Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled from the house of Judah and Benjamin one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.
2But the word of the LORD came bto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
3“Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,
4‘Thus says the LORD: “You shall not go up or fight against your brethren! Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.” ’ ” Therefore they obeyed the words of the LORD, and turned back from attacking Jeroboam.
Rehoboam Fortifies the Cities
5So Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah.
6And he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
7Beth Zur, Sochoh, Adullam,
8Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,
9Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,
10Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and Benjamin, fortified cities.
11And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine.
12Also in every city he put shields and spears, and made them very strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.
Priests and Levites Move to Judah
13And from all their territories the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him.
14For the Levites left ctheir common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for dJeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the LORD.
15eThen he appointed for himself priests for the 1high places, for fthe demons, and gthe calf idols which he had made.
16hAnd 2after the Levites left, those from all the tribes of Israel, such as set their heart to seek the LORD God of Israel, icame to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD God of their fathers.
17So they jstrengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong for three years, because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.
The Family of Rehoboam
18Then Rehoboam took for himself as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of kEliah the son of Jesse.
19And she bore him children: Jeush, Shamariah, and Zaham.
20After her he took lMaachah the 3granddaughter of mAbsalom’s; and she bore him nAbijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith.
21Now Rehoboam loved Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom’s more than all his owives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
22And Rehoboam pappointed qAbijah the son of Maachah as chief, to be leader among his brothers; for he intended to make him king.
23He dealt wisely, and 4dispersed some of his sons throughout all the territories of Judah and Benjamin, to every rfortified city; and he gave them provisions in abundance. He also sought many wives for them.
Egypt Attacks Judah
1Now ait came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that bhe forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel along with him.
2cAnd it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD,
3with twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horsemen, and people without number who came with him out of Egypt—dthe Lubim and the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians.
4And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came to Jerusalem.
5Then eShemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the LORD: ‘You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.’ ”
6So the leaders of Israel and the king fhumbled themselves; and they said, g“The LORD is righteous.”
7Now when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, hthe word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
8“Nevertheless ithey will be his servants, that they may distinguish jMy service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.”
9kSo Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house; he took everything. He also carried away the gold shields which Solomon had lmade.
10Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them mto the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house.
11And whenever the king entered the house of the LORD, the guard would go and bring them out; then they would take them back into the guardroom.
12When he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and things also went well in Judah.
The End of Rehoboam’s Reign
(1 Kin. 14:21, 22, 29–31)
13Thus King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now nRehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, othe city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah, an pAmmonitess.
14And he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.
15The acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, qand of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? rAnd there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
16So Rehoboam 1rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David. Then sAbijah2 his son reigned in his place.
Abijah Reigns in Judah
1In athe eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over bJudah.
2He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was 1Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
3Abijah set the battle in order with an army of valiant warriors, four hundred thousand choice men. Jeroboam also drew up in battle formation against him with eight hundred thousand choice men, mighty men of valor.
4Then Abijah stood on Mount cZemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel:
5“Should you not know that the LORD God of Israel dgave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, eby a covenant of salt?
6“Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and frebelled against his lord.
7“Then gworthless rogues gathered to him, and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was hyoung and inexperienced and could not withstand them.
8“And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam imade for you as gods.
9j“Have you not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands, kso that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of lthings that are not gods?
10“But as for us, the LORD is our mGod, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the LORD are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties.
11n“And they burn to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; they also set the oshowbread in order on the pure gold table, and the lampstand of gold with its lamps pto burn every evening; for we keep the command of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken Him.
12“Now look, God Himself is with us as our qhead, rand His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the LORD God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!”
13But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them.
14And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they scried out to the LORD, and the priests sounded the trumpets.
15Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God tstruck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
16And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand.
17Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; so five hundred thousand choice men of Israel fell slain.
18Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, ubecause they relied on the LORD God of their fathers.
19And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, Jeshanah with its villages, and vEphrain2 with its villages.
20So Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and the LORD wstruck him, and xhe died.
21But Abijah grew mighty, married fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
22Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways, and his sayings are written in ythe 3annals of the prophet Iddo.
Asa Reigns over Judah
1So Abijah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then aAsa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.
Asa Reigns in Judah
2Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God,
3for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and bthe 1high places, and cbroke down the sacred pillars dand cut down the wooden images.
4He commanded Judah to eseek the LORD God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment.
5He also removed the 2high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the kingdom was quiet under him.
6And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the LORD had given him frest.
7Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the LORD our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.
8And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried 3shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew gbows; all these were mighty men of hvalor.
9iThen Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to jMareshah.
10So Asa went out against him, and they set the troops in battle array in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.
11And Asa kcried out to the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, it is lnothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and min Your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”
12So the LORD nstruck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.
13And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to oGerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the LORD and His army. And they carried away very much 4spoil.
14Then they defeated all the cities around Gerar, for pthe fear of the LORD came upon them; and they plundered all the cities, for there was exceedingly much 5spoil in them.
15They also 6attacked the livestock enclosures, and carried off sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.
The Reforms of Asa
1Now athe Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.
2And he went out 1to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. bThe LORD is with you while you are with Him. cIf you seek Him, He will be found by you; but dif you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
3e“For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a fteaching priest, and without glaw;
4“but hwhen in their trouble they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them.
5“And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands.
6i“So nation was 2destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity.
7“But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”
8And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of 3Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities jwhich he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the LORD that was before the vestibule of the LORD.
9Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and kthose who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
10So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
11lAnd they offered to the LORD 4at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the 5spoil they had brought.
12Then they mentered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;
13nand whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel owas to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
14Then they took an oath before the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns.
15And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and psought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the LORD gave them qrest all around.
16Also he removed rMaachah, the 6mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of 7Asherah; and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron.
17But sthe 8high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days.
18He also brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils.
19And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
Ása’s Treaty with Syria
1In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, aBaasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, bthat he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
2Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying,
3“Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
4So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.
5Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work.
6Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.
Hanani’s Message to Ása
7And at that time cHanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: d“Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.
8“Were ethe Ethiopians and fthe Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your ghand.
9h“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this iyou have done foolishly; therefore from now on jyou shall have wars.”
10Then Asa was angry with the seer, and kput him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.
Illness and Death of Asa
(1 Kin. 15:23, 24)
11lNote that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
12And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he mdid not seek the LORD, but the physicians.
13nSo Asa 1rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign.
14They buried him in his own tomb, which he had 2made for himself in the City of David; and they laid him in the bed which was filled owith spices and various ingredients prepared in a mixture of ointments. They made pa very great burning for him.
Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah
1Then aJehoshaphat his son reigned in his place, and strengthened himself against Israel.
2And he placed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of bJudah and in the cities of Ephraim cwhich Asa his father had taken.
3Now the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals,
4but sought 1the God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not according to dthe acts of Israel.
5Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah egave presents to Jehoshaphat, fand he had riches and honor in abundance.
6And his heart took delight in the ways of the LORD; moreover ghe removed the 2high places and wooden images from Judah.
7Also in the third year of his reign he sent his leaders, Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Michaiah, hto teach in the cities of Judah.
8And with them he sent Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah—the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests.
9iSo they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the LORD with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people.
10And jthe fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.
11Also some of the Philistines kbrought Jehoshaphat presents and silver as tribute; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred male goats.
12So Jehoshaphat became increasingly powerful, and he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah.
13He had much property in the cities of Judah; and the men of war, mighty men of valor, were in Jerusalem.
14These are their numbers, according to their fathers’ houses. Of Judah, the captains of thousands: Adnah the captain, and with him three hundred thousand mighty men of valor;
15and next to him was Jehohanan the captain, and with him two hundred and eighty thousand;
16and next to him was Amasiah the son of Zichri, lwho willingly offered himself to the LORD, and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valor.
17Of Benjamin: Eliada a mighty man of valor, and with him two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield;
18and next to him was Jehozabad, and with him one hundred and eighty thousand prepared for war.
19These served the king, besides mthose the king put in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.
Micaiah Warns Áhab
1Jehoshaphat ahad riches and honor in abundance; and by marriage he ballied himself with cAhab.
2dAfter some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria; and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him, and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead.
3So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?” And he answered him, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will be with you in the war.”
4Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, e“Please inquire for the word of the LORD today.”
5Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” So they said, “Go up, for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.”
6But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of fHim?”1
7So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah the son of Imla.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”
8Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said, “Bring Micaiah the son of Imla quickly!”
9The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, clothed in their robes, sat each on his throne; and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
10Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made ghorns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.’ ”
11And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the LORD will deliver it into the king’s hand.”
12Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement.”
13And Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives, hwhatever my God says, that I will speak.”
14Then he came to the king; and the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” And he said, “Go and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand!”
15So the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?”
16Then he said, “I saw all Israel iscattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no jshepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’ ”
17And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”
18Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His kthrone, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left.
19“And the LORD said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner.
20“Then a lspirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ The LORD said to him, ‘In what way?’
21“So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the LORD said, ‘You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.’
22“Therefore look! mThe LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you.”
23Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and nstruck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to you?”
24And Micaiah said, “Indeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide!”
25Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son;
26“and say, ‘Thus says the king: o“Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction, until I return in peace.” ’ ”
27But Micaiah said, “If you ever return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by pme.” And he said, “Take heed, all you people!”
Ahab Dies in Battle
28So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead.
29And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will qdisguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.
30Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him, saying, “Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel.”
31So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “It is the king of Israel!” Therefore they surrounded him to attack; but Jehoshaphat rcried out, and the LORD helped him, and God diverted them from him.
32For so it was, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
33Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the 2joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.”
34The battle increased that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening; and about the time of sunset he died.