Solomon Worships at Gibeon
2 CHRONICLES 1 a Solomon the son of David established himself in his kingdom, b and the LORD his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.
2Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the c commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers’ houses. 3And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to d the high place that was at Gibeon, e for f the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness, was there. 4 g (But David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.) 5Moreover, h the bronze altar that i Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the LORD. And Solomon and the assembly j sought it [1] out. 6And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the LORD, which was at the tent of meeting, k and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
Solomon Prays for Wisdom
7 l In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.” 8And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, m and have made me king in his place. 9O LORD God, n let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous o as the dust of the earth. 10Give me now wisdom and knowledge to p go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?” 11God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for q possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you q riches, possessions, and honor, r such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.” 13So Solomon came from [2] the s high place at Gibeon, from before t the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel.
Solomon Given Wealth
14 u Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. v He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed w in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 15And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 16And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders would buy them from Kue for a price. 17They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels [3] of silver, and a horse for 150. Likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
Preparing to Build the Temple
2 CHRONICLES 2 [1] x Now Solomon purposed to build a temple for the name of the LORD, and a royal palace for himself. 2 [2] y And Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens and 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and z 3,600 to oversee them. 3 a And Solomon sent word to Hiram the king of Tyre: b “As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedar to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 4Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of c incense of sweet spices before him, and for d the regular arrangement of the showbread, and for e burnt offerings morning and evening, f on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the LORD our God, as ordained forever for Israel. 5The house that I am to build will be great, g for our God is greater than all gods. 6 h But who is able to build him a house, since h heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him? 7So now i send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, j whom David my father provided. 8Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that k your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And my servants will be with your servants, 9to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the house I am to build will be great and wonderful. 10 l I will give for your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, 20,000 cors [3] of crushed wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths [4] of wine, and 20,000 baths of oil.”
11Then Hiram the king of Tyre answered in a letter that he sent to Solomon, m “Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you king over them.” 12Hiram also said, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, n who made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, who has discretion and understanding, o who will build a temple for the LORD and a royal palace for himself.
13“Now I have sent a skilled man, who has understanding, Huram-abi, 14 p the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is q trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father. 15Now therefore the wheat and barley, oil and wine, r of which my lord has spoken, let him send to his servants. 16 s And we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you in rafts by sea to t Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem.”
17Then Solomon counted all the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, u after the census of them that David his father had taken, and there were found 153,600. 18 v Seventy thousand of them he assigned to bear burdens, 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 as overseers to make the people work.
Solomon Builds the Temple
2 CHRONICLES 3 w Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem x on Mount Moriah, where the LORD [1] had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, y on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. 3These are Solomon’s z measurements [2] for building the house of God: a the length, in cubits [3] of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, [4] and its height was 120 cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. 5 b The nave he lined with cypress and covered it with fine gold c and made palms and chains on it. 6He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim. 7So he lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors— c and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8 d And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits. He overlaid it with 600 talents [5] of fine gold. 9The weight of gold for the nails was fifty shekels. [6] And he overlaid e the upper chambers with gold.
10 f In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of wood [7] and overlaid [8] them with gold. 11The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; 12and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. 13The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. The cherubim [9] stood on their feet, g facing the nave. 14 h And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it.
15 i In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. 16He made chains like a necklace [10] and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17 j He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz.
The Temple’s Furnishings
2 CHRONICLES 4 He made k an altar of bronze, twenty cubits [1] long and twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high. 2 l Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. 3Under it were figures of gourds, [2] for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. 4It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. 5Its thickness was a handbreadth. [3] And its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. m It held 3,000 baths. [4] 6 n He also made ten basins in which to wash, and set five on the south side, and five on the north side. In these they were to rinse off what was used for the burnt offering, and the sea was for the priests to wash in.
7And he made ten golden lampstands o as prescribed, and set them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. 8 p He also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. And he made a hundred basins of gold. 9He made q the court of the priests r and the great court and doors for the court and overlaid their doors with bronze. 10 s And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house.
11 t u Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. u So Hiram finished the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God: 12the two pillars, v the bowls, and the two capitals on the top of the pillars; and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; 13 w and the 400 pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars. 14 n He made the stands also, and the basins on the stands, 15and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath it. 16The pots, the shovels, x the forks, and all the equipment for these t y Huram-abi made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the LORD. 17In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. [5] 18 z Solomon made all these things in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze was not sought.
19So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God: the golden altar, a the tables for the bread of the Presence, 20the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold b to burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed; 21the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold; 22the snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold, and the sockets [6] of the temple, for the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and for the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold.
2 CHRONICLES 5 c Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the LORD was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.
The Ark Brought to the Temple
2Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of d the city of David, which is Zion. 3And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month. 4And all the elders of Israel came, e and the Levites took up the ark. 5And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; f the Levitical priests brought them up. 6And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 7Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 8The cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. 9And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen g from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. And they are [1] there to this day. 10There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets h that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. 11And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to i their divisions, 12and all the Levitical j singers, k Asaph, l Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with m cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 n priests who were trumpeters; 13and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, o with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD,
p “For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever,”
the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, 14so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, q for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.
Solomon Blesses the People
2 CHRONICLES 6 r Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. 2But I have built you s an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” 3Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 4And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 5‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; 6 t but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, u and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ 7 v Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 8But the LORD said to David my father, ‘Whereas v it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. 9Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 10Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. 11And there I have set the ark, w in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with the people of Israel.”
Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
12Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13 x Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits [1] long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. y Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven, 14and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, z there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, a keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, 15 b who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. 16Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, c ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, d if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ 17Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.
18“But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, e heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! 19Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, 20 f that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 21And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, g and when you hear, forgive.
22“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 23then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
24“If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, 25 g then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.
26 h “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict [2] them, 27 g then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way [3] in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.
28 i “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 29whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house, 30 g then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, j for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind, 31that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.
32“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, 33hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house k that I have built is called by your name.
34“If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 35then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.
36“If they sin against you— l for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near, 37yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 38if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 39then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you. 40Now, O my God, m let your eyes be open n and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.
41 “And now arise, O LORD God, and go to your o resting place,
you and the ark of your might.
Let your priests, O LORD God, be p clothed with salvation,
and let your saints q rejoice in your goodness.
42 O LORD God, r do not turn away the face of your anointed one!
s Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.”
Fire from Heaven
2 CHRONICLES 7 t As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, u fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, v and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’s house. 3When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, “For he is good, w for his steadfast love endures forever.”
The Dedication of the Temple
4 x Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD. 5King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6The priests stood at their posts; y the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the LORD that King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD— w for his steadfast love endures forever—whenever David offered praises by their ministry; [1] z opposite them the priests sounded trumpets, and all Israel stood.
7 a And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat.
8At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from b Lebo-hamath to the c Brook of Egypt. 9And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days. 10On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the prosperity that the LORD had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.
If My People Pray
11 d Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king’s house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the LORD and in his own house he successfully accomplished. 12Then the LORD appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer e and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 f When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14if my people who are called by my name g humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 h Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 e For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. 17And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, 18then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, i ‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’
19 j “But if you [2] turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 k then I will pluck you [3] up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it l a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, m ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’ 22Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.’”
Solomon’s Accomplishments
2 CHRONICLES 8 n At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house, 2Solomon rebuilt the cities that Hiram had given to him, and settled the people of Israel in them.
3And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and took it. 4He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the store cities that he built in Hamath. 5He also built o Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, p fortified cities p with walls, gates, and bars, 6and Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had and all the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 7 q All the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, 8from their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel had not destroyed—these Solomon drafted r as forced labor, and so they are to this day. 9But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves for his work; they were soldiers, and his officers, the commanders of his chariots, and his horsemen. 10And these were the chief officers of King Solomon, 250, who exercised authority over the people.
11 s Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy.”
12Then Solomon offered up burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD t that he had built before the vestibule, 13 u as the duty of each day required, offering v according to the commandment of Moses for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the w three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. 14According to the ruling of David his father, he appointed x the divisions of the priests for their service, y and the Levites for their offices of praise and z ministry before the priests u as the duty of each day required, and a the gatekeepers in their divisions at each gate, for so David b the man of God had commanded. 15And they did not turn aside from what the king had commanded the priests and Levites concerning any matter and concerning the treasuries.
16Thus was accomplished all the work of Solomon from [1] the day the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.
17Then Solomon went to c Ezion-geber and d Eloth on the shore of the sea, in the land of Edom. 18And Hiram sent to him by the hand of his servants ships and servants familiar with the sea, and they went to Ophir together with the servants of Solomon and brought from there e 450 talents [2] of gold and brought it to King Solomon.
The Queen of Sheba
2 CHRONICLES 9 f Now when g the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions, having a very great retinue and camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. 2And Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from Solomon that he could not explain to her. 3And when g the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 4the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, and their clothing, his cupbearers, and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more breath in her.
5And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, 6but I did not believe the [1] reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me; you surpass the report that I heard. 7Happy are your wives! [2] Happy are these your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 8Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you h and set you on his throne as king for the LORD your God! i Because your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness.” 9Then she gave the king 120 talents [3] of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10Moreover, the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, j who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum wood and precious stones. 11And the king made from the algum wood k supports for the house of the LORD and for the king’s house, lyres also and harps for the singers. There never was seen the like of them before in the land of Judah.
12And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked l besides what she had brought to the king. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.
Solomon’s Wealth
13 m Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 14besides that which the explorers and merchants brought. n And all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels [4] of beaten gold went into each shield. 16And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; o 300 shekels of gold went into each shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 17The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. 18The throne had six steps and a footstool of gold, which were attached to the throne, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, 19while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. Nothing like it was ever made for any kingdom. 20All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. 21For the king’s ships went to p Tarshish with the servants of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. [5]
22Thus King Solomon q excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 23And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. 24Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and of gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. 25And Solomon had r 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26 s And he ruled over all the kings t from the Euphrates [6] to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. 27 u And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 28 v And horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.
Solomon’s Death
29 w Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from x first to last, are they not written in the history of y Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of z Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of a Iddo b the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in c the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
The Revolt Against Rehoboam
2 CHRONICLES 10 d Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, e where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. 3And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam, 4 f “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” 5He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away.
6Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, [1] who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” 7And they said to him, g “If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. 9And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” 10And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs. 11And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”
12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” 13And the king answered them harshly; and forsaking the counsel of the old men, 14King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the LORD might fulfill his word, h which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. i Each of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents. 17But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. 18Then King Rehoboam sent j Hadoram, [2] who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
Rehoboam Secures His Kingdom
2 CHRONICLES 11 k When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2But the word of the LORD came to l Shemaiah the man of God: 3“Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, 4‘Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or fight against m your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.
5Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built n cities for defense in Judah. 6He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8Gath, o Mareshah, Ziph, 9Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. 11He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. 12And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.
Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem
13And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. 14For the Levites left p their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, q because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the LORD, 15and he appointed his own r priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for s the calves that he had made. 16 t And those who had set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers. 17 u They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.
Rehoboam’s Family
18Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of v Eliab the son of Jesse, 19and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20After her he took w Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him x Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). 22 y And Rehoboam appointed x Abijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. 23And he dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions and procured wives for them. [1]
Egypt Plunders Jerusalem
2 CHRONICLES 12 z When the rule of Rehoboam was established a and he was strong, b he abandoned the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. 2 c In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, d Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem 3with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt— e Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. 4And he took f the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. 5Then g Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the LORD, h ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” 6Then the princes of i Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, j “The LORD is righteous.” 7When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: k “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, l and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, m that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”
9 n So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. He also took away o the shields of gold that Solomon had made, 10and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. 11And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom. 12And when p he humbled himself the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, q conditions were good [1] in Judah.
13 r So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. 14And he did evil, s for he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.
15 t Now the acts of Rehoboam, u from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of v Shemaiah the prophet and of w Iddo x the seer? [2] There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 16And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and y Abijah [3] his son reigned in his place.
Abijah Reigns in Judah
2 CHRONICLES 13 z In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, y Abijah began to reign over Judah. 2He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was a Micaiah [1] the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.
b Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam c drew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. 4Then Abijah stood up on Mount d Zemaraim that is in e the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! 5Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel f gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by g a covenant of salt? 6Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up h and rebelled against his lord, 7and certain i worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was j young and irresolute [2] and could not withstand them.
8“And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you k the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. 9 l Have you not driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes m for ordination [3] with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are n no gods. 10But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the LORD who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. 11They offer to the LORD o every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out p the showbread on the table of pure gold, q and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may r burn every evening. For we s keep the charge of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken him. 12Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests t with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, u do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”
13Jeroboam had sent v an ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops [4] were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 14And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. w And they cried to the LORD, and the priests t blew the trumpets. 15Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, x God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16The men of Israel fled before Judah, y and God gave them into their hand. 17Abijah and his people struck them with great force, so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men. 18Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, z because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers. 19And Abijah pursued Jeroboam a and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and b Ephron [5] with its villages. 20Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah. c And the LORD struck him down, d and he died. 21But Abijah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the e story of the prophet f Iddo.
Asa Reigns in Judah
2 CHRONICLES 14 [1] g Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. 2 [2] And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. 3He took away the foreign altars h and the high places and broke down i the pillars and cut down the j Asherim 4and commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. 5He also took out of all the cities of Judah h the high places and the k incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. 6He built l fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, m for the LORD gave him peace. 7And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with n walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God. We have sought him, m and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8And Asa had an army of o 300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.
9Zerah p the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as q Mareshah. 10And Asa went out to meet him, and r they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at q Mareshah. 11And Asa s cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, t for we rely on you, u and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” 12 v So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as w Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the LORD and his army. The men of Judah [3] carried away very much spoil. 14And they attacked all the cities around w Gerar, x for the fear of the LORD was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. 15And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
Asa’s Religious Reforms
2 CHRONICLES 15 y The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: z The LORD is with you while you are with him. a If you seek him, he will be found by you, b but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 c For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, 4 d but when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. 5In those times there was no peace e to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. 6They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. 7 f But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, g for your work shall be rewarded.”
8As soon as Asa heard these words, h the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from i the cities that he had taken in j the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the LORD k that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the LORD. [1] 9And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, l and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. 10They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11They sacrificed to the LORD on that day m from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. 12 n And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, 13but that whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, o should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. 14They swore an oath to the LORD with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. 15And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, p and the LORD gave them rest all around.
16 q Even Maacah, r his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image s for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, t crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17 u But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. 18And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
Asa’s Last Years
2 CHRONICLES 16 v In the w thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, x that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the LORD and the king’s house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, 3“There is a covenant [1] between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” 4And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the y store cities of Naphtali. 5And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease. 6Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.
7At that time z Hanani a the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, b “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. 8Were not c the Ethiopians and d the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet e because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand. 9 f For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those g whose heart is blameless [2] toward him. h You have done foolishly in this, for from now on i you will have wars.” 10Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him j in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.
11 k The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians. 13And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign. 14They buried him in the tomb that he had cut for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier l that had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer’s art, m and they made a very great fire in his honor.
Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah
2 CHRONICLES 17 Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place and strengthened himself against Israel. 2He placed forces in all the n fortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim o that Asa his father had captured. 3The LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, 4but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, p and not according to the practices of Israel. 5Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah q brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, r and he had great riches and honor. 6His heart was courageous in the ways of the LORD. And furthermore, s he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah.
7In the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, t to teach in the cities of Judah; 8 u and with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; and with these Levites, the priests Elishama and Jehoram. 9And t they taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the LORD with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.
10 v And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat. 11Some of the Philistines w brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver for tribute, and the Arabians also brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats. 12And Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store cities, 13and he had large supplies in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. 14This was the muster of them by fathers’ houses: Of Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, with 300,000 mighty men of valor; 15and next to him Jehohanan the commander, with 280,000; 16and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, x a volunteer for the service of the LORD, with 200,000 mighty men of valor. 17Of Benjamin: Eliada, a mighty man of valor, with 200,000 men y armed with bow and shield; 18and next to him Jehozabad with 180,000 armed for war. 19These were in the service of the king, besides z those whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.