1 Kings 17 – 18

Elijah Stops the Rain

1 Kings 17

¹ Elijah from Tishbe, one of the settlers in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the Lord lives, the God of Israel before whom I stand, there will be no dew or rain during the coming years, except at my word.”

² Then the word of the Lord came to him: ³ “Leave this place and turn east. Hide yourself by the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. ⁴ You will drink from the stream, and I will command the ravens to provide for you there.”

⁵ So Elijah went and did just as the Lord had said. He lived in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he drank from the stream.

Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath

⁷ After some time the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ “Get up! Go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there. I have commanded a woman there, a widow, to provide for you.”

¹⁰ So he got up and went to Zarephath. He came to the city gate, and there he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Please give me a little water in a jar, so that I can have something to drink.”

¹¹ When she went to get it, he called to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.”

¹² She said, “As surely as the Lord your God lives, I have no food except a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a pitcher. See, I am gathering a couple of sticks so that I can go and prepare it for myself and my son, so that we can eat it and then die.”

¹³ Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do just as you said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from the flour and bring it out to me. Then go and make another for you and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. The jar of flour will not run out and the pitcher of oil will not become empty until the day the Lord sends rain to water the surface of the ground.”

¹⁵ So she went and did exactly as Elijah said. He and she, as well as her household, were able to eat for many days. ¹⁶ The jar of flour did not run out, and the pitcher of oil did not become empty, just as the Lord had said through Elijah.

The Widow’s Son Dies

¹⁷ After these events, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. The illness became worse until he stopped breathing.

¹⁸ Then she said to Elijah, “What is the issue between us, man of God? Have you come to remind me of my sins and to kill my son?”

¹⁹ He said to her, “Bring your son to me.” Then he took him and carried him to the upstairs room where he was living, and he laid him on his bed. ²⁰ Then he cried out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, have you sent tragedy on this woman with whom I am staying by killing her son?”

²¹ Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times, and he cried out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, let this boy’s soul ^[1] return to his body!” ²² The Lord listened to Elijah’s voice, and the boy’s soul returned to his body, and he came to life. ²³ Then Elijah took the boy and brought him down to the house from his upstairs room, and he gave him to his mother.

Elijah said, “See, your son is alive!”

²⁴ The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is true.”

Elijah Confronts the Prophets of Baal and Asherah

1 Kings 18

¹ After a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah. (It was during the third year.) He said, “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain to water the surface of the ground.” ² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.

Now the drought was severe in Samaria. ³ Ahab had summoned his servant Obadiah, the palace administrator. Obadiah was devoted to serving ^[2] the Lord. ⁴ When Jezebel was exterminating the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and kept them hidden in two caves, fifty in each cave, and he provided food and water for them.

⁵ Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and all the streams. Maybe we will find enough grass so that we can keep the horses and mules alive, and we will not have to slaughter the cattle.” ⁶ In order to cover the whole land, they divided it between the two of them. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

⁷ While Obadiah was on the way, Elijah suddenly met him. Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, “Is that you, my lord Elijah?”

⁸ Elijah answered him, “Yes, it is. Go and tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”

⁹ But Obadiah said, “How have I sinned that you would hand your servant over to Ahab for him to kill me? ¹⁰ As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is no country or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ then he made that kingdom and nation swear that they could not find you. ¹¹ But now you are telling me, ‘Go, tell your master that Elijah is here.’ ¹² As soon as I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to some place I do not know. When I go to tell Ahab and he then does not find you, he will kill me, even though your servant has been devoted to the Lord since my youth.

¹³ “Has my lord not been told what I did when Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I kept one hundred of the prophets of the Lord hidden in two caves, fifty in each, and I provided food and water for them. ¹⁴ But now you are saying, ‘Go and tell your master that Elijah is here.’”

¹⁵ But Elijah said to him, “As surely as the Lord of Armies lives, before whom I stand, I will present myself to him today.” ¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and he informed him. Then Ahab came to meet Elijah.

¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, the one who brings trouble on Israel?”

¹⁸ Elijah said, “It is not I who have brought trouble on Israel, but rather you and your father’s house, because you abandoned the Lord’s commandments and followed the Baals. ¹⁹ But now gather all Israel before me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” ²⁰ So Ahab sent word to all the people of Israel, and he assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.

²¹ Then Elijah said to all the people, “How long will you stagger around on two crutches? If the Lord is God, follow him. If Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a single word.

²² Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only one left of the Lord’s prophets, but the prophets of Baal total four hundred fifty men. ²³ Provide two bulls for us. Let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it up and place it on the firewood, but they are not to light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the firewood, but I will not light the fire. ²⁴ Then you will call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers with fire, he is God.”

All the people said, “This proposal is good.”

²⁵ Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull, and you go first because there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god. But do not light the fire.”

²⁶ So they took the bull which had been given to them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, “Baal! Answer us!” But there was not a sound. No one answered. So they staggered ^[3] around the altar which they had made.

²⁷ When noon came, Elijah mocked them: “Shout louder! He is a god, isn’t he? He may be deep in thought or busy or on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and will wake up!” ²⁸ So they cried out with a loud voice, and according to their practice they cut themselves with daggers and spears until their blood flowed. ²⁹ After noon, they kept up a prophetic frenzy until the time of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound. No one answered. There was no response.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” So they came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come and had proclaimed, “Your name shall be Israel.” ³² He built the stones into an altar in the name of the Lord. Around it he made a trench big enough to hold about twenty-five pounds ^[4] of seed. ³³ He arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood.

Then he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the sacrifice and on the wood.” ³⁴ Then he said, “Do it again.” So they did it again. Then he said, “Do it a third time.” So they did it a third time. ³⁵ The water flowed all around the altar. It even filled the trench.

³⁶ When the time of the evening sacrifice had arrived, Elijah the prophet stood up and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and that I have done all these things by your word. ³⁷ Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you are turning their hearts back to you.”

³⁸ Fire from the Lord fell on the sacrifice and on the wood, the stones, and the dirt. It even licked up the water in the trench. ³⁹ When all the people saw this, they fell on their knees and said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”

⁴⁰ Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let a single one of them escape!” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Kishon River and slaughtered them there.

⁴¹ Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for I hear the sound of a heavy rainstorm.” ⁴² So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. He bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. ⁴³ He said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.”

So his servant went up and looked, and he said, “There is nothing.”

But seven times Elijah told him, “Go again.”

⁴⁴ On the seventh time the servant said, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.”

Then Elijah said to him, “Go up and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down so that the rain does not stop you.’”

⁴⁵ Meanwhile, the skies got dark with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab got into his chariot and went to Jezre’el. ⁴⁶ But the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he hiked up his garments around his waist and ran ahead of Ahab until he came to Jezre’el.

1 Kings 15:1 – 16:7

Abijam (Abijah) Son of Rehoboam, King of Judah

1 Kings 15

¹ In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam ^[1] became king over Judah. ² He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Ma’akah, granddaughter of Abishalom. ^{[2] 3} He walked in all the sins which his father had practiced before him, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord as the heart of his grandfather David had been. ⁴ But for the sake of David, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up his son after him and by making Jerusalem strong. ⁵ He did this because David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and he did not turn from all that the Lord commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

⁶ There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. ⁷ As for the rest of Abijam’s acts and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. ⁸ Abijam rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then his son Asa became king in his place.

Asa Son of Abijam, King of Judah

⁹ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa king of Judah became king. ¹⁰ He ruled for forty-one years in Jerusalem. His grandmother’s ^[3] name was Ma’akah granddaughter of Abishalom. ¹¹ Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as his father David had done. ¹² He drove the male shrine prostitutes out of the land, and he removed all the filthy idols which his fathers had made. ¹³ In addition, he also removed his grandmother Ma’akah from being queen mother because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁴ But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his days. ¹⁵ He brought silver and gold and vessels and utensils into the House of the Lord as dedicated offerings for himself and his father.

¹⁶ There was war between Asa and Ba’asha king of Israel throughout all their days. ¹⁷ Ba’asha king of Israel attacked Judah, and he fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ So Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the House of the Lord and the treasuries of the king’s palace, and he gave them to his officials. Then King Asa sent them to Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion king of Aram, who was living in Damascus. ¹⁹ He said, “There should be a treaty between you and me as there was between my father and your father. Look, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Come, break your treaty with Ba’asha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”

²⁰ Ben Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his army against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Ma’akah, and all of Kinneret, as well as all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ When Ba’asha heard about this, he stopped fortifying Ramah, and he stayed in Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa summoned all Judah—no one was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timber with which Ba’asha had been building, and King Asa used them to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah.

(2 Chronicles 16:11–17:1)

²³ As for all the rest of Asa’s acts and all his mighty deeds and everything else he did and the cities he built, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? But in his old age his feet became diseased. ²⁴ Asa rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Then his son Jehoshaphat became king in his place.

Nadab Son of Jeroboam, King of Israel

²⁵ Nadab son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah. He ruled over Israel for two years. ²⁶ He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the ways of his father and in the sin which he had caused Israel to commit. ²⁷ Ba’asha son of Ahijah from the house of Issachar conspired against him and struck him down in Gibbethon, which belongs to the Philistines. (Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.) ²⁸ Ba’asha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and became king in his place.

Ba’asha Son of Ahijah, King of Israel

²⁹ When Ba’asha became king, he struck down the whole house of Jeroboam, until it was exterminated according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken through his servant Ahijah from Shiloh. For Jeroboam’s house he did not spare anyone who breathed, ³⁰ because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he caused Israel to commit when he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger.

³¹ As for the rest of Nadab’s acts and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? ³² There was war between Asa and Ba’asha king of Israel all their days. ³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Ba’asha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah and reigned for twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

God’s Judgment on Ba’asha

1 Kings 16

¹ Then this word of the Lord came to Jehu son of Hanani against Ba’asha: ² “I raised you up from the dust and appointed you leader over my people Israel, but you have walked in the ways of Jeroboam, and you have caused my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sin. ³ Look! I am about to burn up Ba’asha and his house. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat. ⁴ The dogs will eat those who belong to Ba’asha who die in the city, and the birds of the air will eat those who die in the country.”

⁵ As for the rest of Ba’asha’s acts and everything he did and his mighty deeds, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? ⁶ Ba’asha rested with his fathers, and he was buried in Tirzah. Then his son Elah became king in his place.

Elah Son of Ba’asha, King of Israel

⁷ The word of the Lord had come against Ba’asha and his house through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani, because of all the evil which he had done in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands by becoming like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he had struck down Jeroboam.

1 Kings 12:33 – 13:34

1 Kings 12

³³ He instituted sacrifices on the altar which he had made in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month which he chose on his own. He instituted a festival for the people of Israel. He went up to the altar to send offerings up in smoke.

The Prophet From Judah Testifies Against Jeroboam

1 Kings 13

¹ At that moment, by the word of the Lord, a man of God came from Judah to Bethel while Jeroboam was standing in front of the altar to send offerings up in smoke. ² He cried out against the altar by the word of Lord, “Altar! Altar! This is what the Lord says. Listen! A son will be born to the house of David. Josiah will be his name. On you he will slaughter the priests of the high places, who are burning offerings on you, and human bones will be burned on you.”

³ On that day he gave them a sign: “This is the sign which the Lord announces: This very altar will be torn apart, and the ashes on it will be poured out.”

⁴ When King Jeroboam heard this message that the man of God had proclaimed against the altar at Bethel, he pointed at him from the altar and cried, “Seize him!” But the hand that the king pointed at the man withered, and he could not pull it back. ⁵ Then the altar was torn apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar in fulfillment of the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

⁶ Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede before the Lord your God and pray on my behalf that my hand may be restored for me.” So the man of God interceded before the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored for him, so that it was like it had been before.

⁷ Then the king said to the man of God, “Come to the palace with me and eat something, and I will give you a gift.”

⁸ But the man of God said to the king, “Even if you gave me half your wealth, I would not go with you, and I would not eat bread or drink water in this place. ⁹ For this is what I was commanded by the word of the Lord: Do not eat bread and do not drink water, and do not return by the way you came.” ¹⁰ So he left by a different road. He did not go back the same way he had come to Bethel.

The Prophets’ Sins

¹¹ Another prophet, an old man, was living in Bethel. His sons ^[1] came and told him everything that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also reported to their father the words he had spoken to the king.

¹² Then their father said to them, “Which road did he take?” So his sons showed him the road ^[2] which the man of God from Judah had taken.

¹³ He told his sons, “Saddle my donkey.” So they saddled his donkey, and he got on it. ¹⁴ He went after the man of God and found him sitting under a terebinth tree.

He said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

He answered, “I am.”

¹⁵ The old prophet said to him, “Come with me to my house and have something to eat.”

¹⁶ But he said, “No, I cannot return with you, or go with you, or eat bread and drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ For I was told by the word of the Lord, ‘Do not eat bread and do not drink water there, and do not return by the same road you came on.’”

¹⁸ But the old prophet said to him, “I also am a prophet, just like you, and an angel told me by the word of the Lord, ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he was lying to him. ¹⁹ Then the man of God returned with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.

²⁰ While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought the man of God back. ²¹ He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, saying, “This is what the Lord says. Because you have rebelled against the mouth of the Lord and have not obeyed the command which the Lord your God gave you, ²² but instead you came back and ate bread and drank water in the place about which he had told you, ‘Do not eat bread or drink water there,’ your corpse will not enter the tomb of your fathers.”

²³ Then after he ate and drank, the old prophet saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ As the man of God went on his way, a lion attacked him and killed him. His corpse was left lying on the road, and his donkey remained standing next to it. The lion was also standing next to the corpse. ²⁵ Then some men who were passing by saw the corpse lying on the road, and the lion was standing next to the corpse. They came and told the story in the city where the old prophet lived.

²⁶ When the prophet who had brought the man of God back from his journey heard this, he said, “This is the man of God who rebelled against the mouth of the Lord. Now the Lord has given him to the lion. It mauled him and killed him according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him.”

²⁷ He said to his sons, “Saddle my donkey.” So they saddled it. ²⁸ Then he went and found the corpse of the man of God lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor had it mauled the donkey.

²⁹ The old prophet picked up the corpse of the man of God, placed it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn and to bury it. ³⁰ He laid the corpse in his own tomb, and they mourned over him, “Oh, my brother!”

³¹ After he had buried him, the old prophet said to his sons, “When I die and you bury me, lay my bones to rest beside the bones of the man of God, in the same tomb where he is buried. ³² For the message which he proclaimed by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines of the high places in the cities of Samaria will certainly come true.”

³³ Even after this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but he continued to appoint all kinds of people as priests for the high places. He ordained anyone who wanted to be a priest for the high places. ³⁴ This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, which erased and exterminated it from the face of the earth.

1 Kings 10:14 – 11:43

1 Kings 10

Solomon’s Wealth and Glory

¹⁴ The weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents, ^{[1] 15} not counting what he collected from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the land.

¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold. He put seven and a half pounds ^[2] of gold into each large shield. ¹⁷ He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold. He put almost four pounds ^[3] of gold into each small shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

¹⁸ The king made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with fine gold. ^{[4] 19} There were six steps to the throne. The throne had a rounded back and armrests on either side of the seat. Two lions were standing beside the armrests. ²⁰ Twelve lions were standing on the steps, one on each end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any kingdom.

²¹ All of Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all of the utensils in the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. ^[5] No silver was used, because it was considered of little value in Solomon’s days, ²² because Solomon’s merchant fleet ^[6] was at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the fleet returned, carrying gold and silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks. ^[7]

²³ King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. ²⁴ The whole world sought an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom which God put in his heart. ²⁵ They each brought gifts: articles of gold and silver, clothing, scents, ^[8] spices, horses and mules, year after year.

²⁶ Solomon accumulated chariots and charioteers until he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand charioteers. He stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as plentiful as stone in Jerusalem and cedar wood as abundant as sycamore trees in the Shephelah. ^{[9] 28} Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue. ^[10] The king’s dealers bought them from Kue for the market price. ²⁹ A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred silver shekels and a horse for one hundred fifty. In this same way they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

Solomon’s Sin and God’s Judgment

1 Kings 11

¹ King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter, including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. ² They came from the nations about which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You must not enter into marriage with them, and they must not enter into marriage with you, or they will turn your hearts after other gods.” Solomon clung to them in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives who held the rank of princess and three hundred concubines. So they turned his heart away.

⁴ When Solomon became old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, so that his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord as the heart of his father David had been. ⁵ Then Solomon followed Ashtarte, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not devote himself to the Lord as his father David had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, on the hill east of Jerusalem and for Molek, ^[11] the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and making sacrifices to their gods.

⁹ So the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. ¹⁰ The Lord had given him the command not to follow other gods, but Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.

¹¹ So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because this is your attitude, and because you did not keep my covenant and my statutes which I commanded you, I will surely rip the kingdom out of your hands and give it to your servant. ¹² However, I will not do it during your lifetime because of your father David. I will rip it from your son’s hand. ¹³ But I will not rip away the whole kingdom. One tribe I will give to your son for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

God Raises Foreign Enemies to Oppose Solomon

¹⁴ Then the Lord raised up Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom, as an adversary for Solomon. ¹⁵ Earlier, while David was at war with Edom, when Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the dead, he struck down every male in Edom. ¹⁶ For six months Joab and all Israel stayed there until he exterminated every male in Edom. ¹⁷ But while Hadad was a young boy, he had fled with some Edomites from among his father’s servants to go to Egypt. ¹⁸ So they set out from Midian and went to Paran. They took some men with them from Paran and went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt. He gave Hadad a house and decreed an allowance of food for him and gave him land.

¹⁹ Hadad found great favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, so Pharaoh gave him the sister of his own wife, the sister of Queen Tahpenes, as his wife. ²⁰ The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath. Tahpenes weaned him in the house of Pharaoh, so Genubath was in the house of Pharaoh with Pharaoh’s own sons.

²¹ Later Hadad heard that David rested with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead. So Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Send me back to my own country.”

²² Pharaoh said to him, “What are you lacking here with me, so that you want to go back to your own country?”

He said, “Nothing, but please let me go.”

²³ God also raised up another adversary for Solomon, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴ After David had destroyed Zobah’s army, Rezon gathered men around himself and was the commander of a band of raiders. They went to Damascus and lived there and ruled Damascus. ²⁵ He was Israel’s adversary during all the days of Solomon, in addition to all the difficulties which Hadad caused. He was hostile to Israel, and he ruled over Aram.

God Chooses Jeroboam to Be King of Israel

²⁶ Jeroboam son of Nebat was an Ephraimite from Zeredah. His mother’s name was Zeruah. She was a widow. Jeroboam was Solomon’s official, but he rebelled against the king. ²⁷ This is the account of how he rebelled against the king.

When Solomon was rebuilding the Millo and repairing the gap in the wall in the city of his father David, ²⁸ Jeroboam showed that he was a very capable man. When Solomon saw that the young man was a capable worker, he appointed him over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. ^{[12] 29} At that time, when Jeroboam left Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him on the road. ^[13] Ahijah was wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone in the field. ³⁰ Ahijah took the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.

³¹ He told Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, because this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says.”

The Lord’s Message to Jeroboam

⁴⁰ As a result Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Shishak king of Egypt. He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died.

The Death of King Solomon

⁴¹ As for the rest of Solomon’s acts, everything he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? ⁴² Solomon was king over all Israel in Jerusalem for forty years.

⁴³ Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, his father. His son Rehoboam ruled as king in his place.

1 Kings 8:12-66

1 Kings 8

King Solomon’s Prayer

¹² Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he dwells in thick darkness. ¹³ I have truly built a majestic house for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”

¹⁴ Then the king turned and blessed the whole congregation of Israel, while the whole congregation of Israel was standing there. ¹⁵ Then Solomon said:

²² Then Solomon stood in front of the altar in the presence of the whole congregation of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. ^{[2] 23} He said:

The Petitions

³¹ When a man sins against his neighbor, and his neighbor places him under an oath, and the oath is presented before your altar in this house, ³² then hear from heaven and take action. Provide justice for your servants by declaring the wicked person guilty and bringing his ways down on his own head, and by declaring the righteous person innocent and dealing with him according to his righteousness.

³³ When your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they sinned against you, and when they return to you and praise your Name and pray and seek your favor in this house, ³⁴ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land which you gave to their fathers.

³⁵ When the heavens are shut up, and there is no rain because they sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place, and they praise your Name and turn from their sin because you have humbled them, ³⁶ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Yes, teach them the good way in which they are to walk, and provide rain for the land which you gave to your people as an inheritance.

³⁷ When there is famine in the land, when there is plague, when there is blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, when their enemies are in the land besieging their gates, in every disease, in every sickness, ³⁸ hear every prayer and every plea for mercy which any individual presents or which your whole people Israel presents. When each one knows the affliction of his own heart, when he spreads out his hands toward this house, ³⁹ hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive. Then act and give to each person according to all his ways, because you know his heart (yes, you alone know the heart of every human being), ⁴⁰ so that they may fear you all the days they live on the soil which you gave to our fathers.

⁴¹ Also for the foreigner, who is not one of your people Israel, but who comes from a distant land because of your Name ⁴² (for they will hear about your great Name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm, and they will come and pray toward this house), ⁴³ for that foreigner, hear in heaven, which is your dwelling place, and do everything for which that foreigner cries out to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your Name and fear you, just as your people Israel do, and because they know that your Name is proclaimed in this house which I have built.

⁴⁴ When your people go out for battle against their enemy on whatever way you send them, and when they pray to the Lord facing toward the city which you have chosen and toward the house which I have built for your Name, ⁴⁵ then from heaven hear their prayer and their plea for mercy, and provide justice for them.

⁴⁶ When they sin against you (for there is no one who does not sin) and you become angry with them, and you give them up to their enemies, and their captors exile them to an enemy land, whether distant or near, ⁴⁷ when they are in the land where they were exiled and they turn their hearts back, and they repent and pray to you in the land of their exile and say, “We have sinned and become guilty and done evil,” ⁴⁸ when they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies where they were exiled, and they pray in the direction of their land, which you gave to their fathers, toward the city which you chose and toward the house which I have built for your Name, ⁴⁹ then hear their prayers and their plea for mercy from heaven, your dwelling place, and provide justice for them. ⁵⁰ Pardon your people who have sinned against you and all their rebellious deeds that they have committed against you. Have compassion by causing their enemies to show them compassion. ⁵¹ For they are your people and your possession, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron-smelting furnace.

⁵² Let your eyes be open to the plea for mercy from your servant and to the plea for mercy from your people Israel. Hear them whenever they cry out to you. ⁵³ For you singled them out for yourself as your possession from all the peoples of the earth, just as you said through Moses your servant when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.

The Dedication of the Temple

⁵⁴ When Solomon finished offering all these prayers and pleas for mercy to the Lord, he got up from the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. ⁵⁵ Then he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israel with a loud voice:

⁶² Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁶³ Solomon sacrificed fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the House of the Lord.

⁶⁴ On that day the king consecrated the center of the courtyard which was in front of the House of the Lord, so that he could offer whole burnt offerings and grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings there, because the bronze altar which was before the Lord was too small to hold the whole burnt offerings and grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.

⁶⁵ At that time Solomon kept the festival, and all Israel kept the festival with him. They were a great congregation that had come from throughout the land, from Lebo Hamath to the Stream of Egypt before the Lord our God. ⎣⎦ ^[4] The festival lasted seven days, and then seven days more, fourteen days in all. ⁶⁶ On the eighth day he sent them home, and they blessed the king. Then they went home, and their hearts were glad because of all the good which the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.

1 Kings 6:1 – 7:12

The Construction of the Temple

1 Kings 6

¹ In the four hundred eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month named Ziv, ^[1] which is the second month, Solomon began to build the house for the Lord.

² The house which King Solomon built for the Lord was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high. ^{[2] 3} The porch ^[3] in front of the temple building ^[4] was thirty feet wide, the same as the width of the building. It extended out fifteen feet from the front of the building.

⁴ He made latticed windows ^[5] high on the walls of the building.

⁵ He added a structure along the outer walls of the building, all the way around the three sides of the building. It was built against the walls of both the front room ^[6] and the inner room ^[7] of the sanctuary. In this structure he constructed three levels of storage rooms, all the way around the building. ⁶ The width of the rooms on the lowest story was seven and a half feet. The rooms of the middle story were nine feet wide, and the rooms of the third story were ten and a half feet wide, because he had built three receding ledges into the outside wall of the temple building all the way around, so that the floor beams of each story would not have to be inserted into the walls of the main building.

⁷ While the building was under construction, only stones that had been finished at the quarry were used in the building. No hammer or chisel or any other iron tool was heard in the building while it was under construction. ⁸ The entrance into the lowest story ^[8] of the side rooms was on the south side ^[9] of the building. Winding stairs ^[10] went up to the middle floor, and also from the middle floor to the third floor. ⁹ So Solomon finished building the house, and he covered ^[11] the house with beams and planks of cedar. ¹⁰ He built the floors for the storerooms that were all around the house. Each story was seven and a half feet high. Each story was supported by cedar timbers which rested on the receding ledges constructed along the walls of the building. ^[12]

¹¹ The word of the Lord came to Solomon. He said, ¹² “In regard to this house which you are building, if you walk according to my statutes and carry out my ordinances and keep all my commands by walking according to them, you will be the one through whom I will fulfill my promise which I spoke to your father David. ¹³ I will dwell among the descendants of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel.”

¹⁴ So Solomon finished building the house. ¹⁵ He paneled the inside walls of the building with cedar boards, from the floor of the building to the rafters ^[13] of the ceiling. He covered the inside walls with wood. He also covered the floor of the building with boards of fir wood.

¹⁶ Thirty feet from the back wall of the building he built a wall of cedar boards from the floor to the ceiling. He built this wall inside the building to create an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.

¹⁷ The front part of the building became a main room sixty feet long. ¹⁸ Gourds ^[14] and open flowers were carved into the cedar on the inside of the building. Everything was covered with cedar. No stone was visible.

¹⁹ He prepared the inner room of the sanctuary inside the building as a place to set the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. ²⁰ The inner sanctuary was thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high, and he overlaid it with pure gold.

He also overlaid the cedar altar with gold. ²¹ So Solomon covered the inside of the building with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and he overlaid the sanctuary with gold. ²² He overlaid the whole building with gold, until the whole building had been covered. He also overlaid the whole altar, which was in front of the inner sanctuary, with gold.

The Cherubim

²³ For the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim ^[15] of olive wood. Each one was fifteen feet tall. ²⁴ Seven and a half feet was the length of one wing of a cherub, and seven and a half feet was the length of the other wing of a cherub. The distance from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was fifteen feet. ^{[16] 25} The other cherub also was fifteen feet wide. Both of the cherubim were the same size and looked the same. ²⁶ One cherub was fifteen feet tall, and so was the other cherub. ²⁷ He set the cherubim inside the inner sanctuary of the house. The wings of the cherubim were stretched out, so that the outer wing of the first one touched the wall, and the outer wing of the other cherub touched the opposite wall, and their wings touched one another in the middle of the room. ²⁸ He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

²⁹ He decorated the walls on all sides of both rooms of the building with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. ³⁰ He overlaid the floor of the building with gold in both the inner and outer rooms.

The Doors

³¹ For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, he made olive wood doors with five-sided frames. ^{[17] 32} He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold. He shaped sheets of hammered gold to cover the cherubim and the palm trees.

³³ He did the same for the entrance to the front room. It had door posts of olive wood that were four-sided ³⁴ and two doors of fir wood. The door on one side was made with two folding leaves, and the door on the other side was made with two folding leaves. ³⁵ He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and he overlaid them with gold leaf, shaped to the carvings.

The Courtyard

³⁶ He built the inner courtyard with three courses of cut stone and one course of cedar beams.

³⁷ The foundation of the Lord’s house was laid in the fourth year, in the month named Ziv. ^{[18] 38} In the eleventh year, in the month named Bul, ^[19] which is the eighth month, all the parts of the house were finished according to all its specifications. Solomon had spent seven years building it.

The Five Buildings of Solomon’s Palace Complex

1 Kings 7

¹ It took Solomon thirteen years to finish building his whole palace complex.

The House of the Forest of Lebanon

² He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. It was one hundred fifty feet long. It was seventy-five feet wide and forty-five feet high. It had four rows ^[20] of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on top of the pillars. ³ It was roofed with cedar above the forty-five beams that rested on the pillars, fifteen beams in each row. ^[21]

⁴ There were three rows ^[22] of windows with recessed frames on each side of the building. ⁵ All the doors and posts were made with square beams. ^[23] They were arranged in groups of three.

The Hall of Pillars

⁶ He built a pillared entry hall. ^[24] It was seventy-five feet wide and forty-five feet deep. There was another porch in front of the pillars, and more pillars and a canopy in front of them.

The Hall of Justice

⁷ He made another hall, named the Hall of Justice. The throne from which he judged cases was located there. The hall was covered with cedar from floor to ceiling. ^[25]

Palaces for Solomon and Pharaoh’s Daughter

⁸ His house in which he lived was made the same way. It was on the other side of a courtyard behind the Hall of Pillars. ^[26] Solomon also made another house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

⁹ All of these were made of high-quality stone, precisely cut to the exact measure, trimmed with saws on both sides. Such stones were used from the foundation to the edge of the roof, from the outside of the complex to the great courtyard on the inside. ¹⁰ The foundation was made of high-quality stones, huge stones, twelve or fifteen feet long. ¹¹ Above this were high-quality stones, precisely cut, with layers of cedar wood in between. ¹² The great courtyard all the way around had three courses of cut stone and then a course of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the House of the Lord and the porch of that building.

1 Kings 3 – 4

The Beginning of Solomon’s Reign

1 Kings 3

¹ Solomon had made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He married Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the City of David until he had finished building his own house, the Lord’s house, and the wall around Jerusalem.

² The people were still offering sacrifices at the high places ^[1] because a house for the Name of the Lord had not yet been built in those days. ³ Solomon loved the Lord, so he followed the instructions of his father David, though he was still offering sacrifices and burning incense at the high places.

Solomon Asks for Wisdom

⁴ So the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, because it was the most important high place. Solomon offered one thousand whole burnt offerings on that altar. ⁵ The Lord appeared to Solomon in Gibeon in a dream at night.

God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

⁶ Solomon said, “You have shown great mercy and faithfulness ^[2] to your servant, my father David, just as he walked before you in truth, righteousness, and uprightness of heart toward you. You have shown this great mercy and faithfulness to him and have given him a son who is seated on his throne to this very day. ⁷ O Lord my God, now you have made your servant king in the place of my father David, but I am a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. ⁸ And I, your servant, am among your people whom you have chosen, a great people, who cannot be counted or numbered because they are so many. ⁹ Now give to your servant a perceptive heart to judge your people, to distinguish between good and evil, for who is able to judge this great people of yours?”

¹⁰ In the eyes of the Lord, Solomon’s request was good. ¹¹ So God said to him, “Because you have asked for this, and you have not asked for a long life, nor have you asked for riches, nor have you asked for the lives of your enemies, but you have asked for discernment to reach just verdicts, ¹² therefore I will act according to your words. Yes, I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you before you, nor will anyone like you rise up after you. ¹³ In addition, I will give you what you have not asked for: such riches and honor that there will not be anyone like you among the other kings throughout all your days. ¹⁴ If you walk in my ways by keeping my statutes and commands just as your father David did, then I will give you a long life.”

¹⁵ Then Solomon woke up and realized it was a dream. So Solomon went to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. ^[3] He offered whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and he made a feast for all his officials.

Solomon Demonstrates God’s Wisdom

¹⁶ Later, two prostitutes came and stood before the king.

¹⁷ One woman said, “Hear me, my lord! This woman and I live in the same house. While she was living in the house, I gave birth. ¹⁸ Three days after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together. There was no one else in the house with us. Only the two of us were there. ¹⁹ One night this woman’s son died because she lay on top of him. ²⁰ Then she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while I, your servant, was sleeping. She laid him next to her, and her dead son she laid next to me. ²¹ When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, there he was—dead! But when I examined him closely in the morning, I saw it was not my son, to whom I had given birth!”

²² But the other woman said, “No! The living child is really my son, and your son is the dead one!”

But the first one kept saying, “No! Your son is really the dead one, and my son is the living one!” They kept arguing like this before the king.

²³ The king said, “This woman says, ‘My son is the living one, and your son is the dead one.’ But this other woman says, ‘No, your son is really the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” ²⁴ So the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword to the king.

²⁵ Then the king said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to this woman and half to that woman.”

²⁶ But the woman to whom the living child belonged spoke up, because her feelings for her son were very strong. She said, “Listen to me, my lord. Give her the living child. Please don’t kill him.”

But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!”

²⁷ The king answered, “Give the living child to the first woman, and do not kill him. She is his mother.”

²⁸ All Israel heard about the judgment which the king had rendered. They were filled with awe ^[4] in his presence, because they saw that God’s wisdom was in him to administer justice.

King Solomon’s Administration

1 Kings 4

¹ So King Solomon ruled over all Israel. ² These were his officials:

⁷ Solomon had twelve governors, who were over all Israel. They supplied provisions for the king and for his palace. Each of them was assigned one month of the year during which he was responsible for supplying provisions. ⁸ These were their names:

The Glory of Solomon’s Rule

²⁰ Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea. They were eating, drinking, and rejoicing. ²¹ Solomon was ruling all the kingdoms from the River ^[10] to the land of the Philistines, up to the border of Egypt. They sent tribute and workers to Solomon all the days of his life. ^{[11] 22} Solomon’s provisions for one day were one hundred eighty bushels ^[12] of fine flour and three hundred sixty bushels ^[13] of plain flour, ²³ ten stall-fed cattle, twenty pasture-fed cattle, and one hundred sheep, not to mention deer, gazelle, roebucks, and fattened poultry.

²⁴ Since Solomon was ruling over everything west of the River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kingdoms west of the River, he had peace on all sides. ²⁵ Judah and Israel lived in safety, with every man sitting under his own vine and fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba, throughout Solomon’s days. ²⁶ Solomon had four thousand ^[14] teams ^[15] of horses for his chariots and twelve thousand charioteers.

²⁷ His governors supplied provisions for King Solomon and for all those who gathered at King Solomon’s table. Each governor was responsible for one month, so the court lacked nothing. ²⁸ They brought the barley and straw for the horses and steeds ^[16] to the location assigned to each one of them.

²⁹ God gave Solomon wisdom and very great understanding and breadth of knowledge ^[17] like the sand on the seashore. ³⁰ Solomon’s wisdom was greater than all the wisdom of the men of the East and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹ He was wiser than any man, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, wiser than Heman, Kalkol, or Darda, the sons of Mahol. His name was known in all the surrounding nations. ³² He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered one thousand and five. ³³ He spoke about trees, from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He also spoke about animals, birds, reptiles and other crawling things, and fish. ³⁴ From all the peoples and from all the kings of the earth who heard about Solomon’s wisdom, people came to listen to his wisdom.

1 Kings 1

Adonijah’s Conspiracy

¹ When King David was old and advanced in years, his servants covered him with blankets, but he could not get warm. ² So they said to him, “Let your servants search for a young woman, a virgin, for my lord the king. She will attend to the king and be his nurse. She will lie close to him and keep my lord the king warm.”

³ So they searched the whole territory of Israel for a beautiful young woman. They found Abishag from Shunem and brought her to the king. ⁴ The young woman was very beautiful, and she served as the king’s nurse, but the king was not intimate with her.

⁵ Adonijah son of Haggith ^[1] was pushing himself forward, saying, “I will become king.” He obtained a chariot and charioteers and fifty men to run ahead of him. ⁶ His father had never rebuked him by saying, “Why are you acting like this?”

Adonijah also was very handsome and had been born next in line after Absalom. ⁷ Joab son of Zeruiah and Abiathar the priest conspired with Adonijah and gave him their support. ⁸ But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, along with Shimei, Rei, and David’s elite warriors, did not join with Adonijah.

⁹ Adonijah sacrificed sheep, cattle, and specially fattened calves at the Stone of Zoheleth, which was near En Rogel Spring. He invited all of his brothers, the king’s sons, and all of the king’s officials from Judah. ¹⁰ But he did not invite the prophet Nathan, Benaiah, the elite warriors, or his brother Solomon.

Nathan and Bathsheba Support Solomon

¹¹ Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Haven’t you heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has become king, and our lord David does not know about it? ¹² Now let me give you some advice on how to save your life and the life of your son Solomon: ¹³ Go to King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, didn’t you swear to me your servant and promise me, “Your son Solomon will be king after me, and he will sit on my throne”? Then why has Adonijah become king?’ ¹⁴ Then, while you are still there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”

¹⁵ So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber. The king was very old, and Abishag from Shunem was taking care of him. ¹⁶ Bathsheba knelt and bowed down before the king. The king said, “Why have you come?”

¹⁷ She said, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God and promised, ‘Your son Solomon will be king after me, and he will sit on my throne.’ ¹⁸ But now, look, Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, did not know about it. ¹⁹ He has sacrificed cattle, specially fattened calves, and sheep in abundance. He has invited all the king’s sons, as well as Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army. But he has not invited your servant Solomon. ²⁰ Now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you, waiting for you to tell them who will sit on my lord the king’s throne after him. ²¹ If you do not, when my lord the king rests with ^[2] his fathers, then I and my son Solomon will be treated like traitors.”

²² Just then, while she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. ²³ The king was told, “The prophet Nathan is here.” Nathan went in and bowed down to the ground before the king.

²⁴ Nathan said, “Did you, my lord the king, say, ‘Adonijah will be king after me, and he will sit on my throne’? ²⁵ Today he has gone out and sacrificed a great many cattle, specially fattened calves, and sheep. He has invited all the king’s sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. They are even eating and drinking with him and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ ²⁶ But he has not invited me your servant, Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, or your servant Solomon. ²⁷ Has this command about who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him really come from my lord the king, even though you have not made this known to your servants?”

²⁸ Then King David responded, “Call Bathsheba for me.” She came in and stood before the king. ²⁹ The king swore, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every tight spot, ³⁰ just as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, that Solomon your son will be king after me and he will sit on my throne in my place, I will indeed make it happen this very day.”

³¹ Bathsheba knelt down on the ground and bowed before the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

David Makes Solomon King

³² King David said, “Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” So they came in before the king.

³³ The king said to them, “Take your lord’s servants with you. Have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon Spring. ³⁴ There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet are to anoint him as king over Israel. Then you are to blow the ram’s horn and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ ³⁵ Then you are to follow him, as he goes in and sits on my throne, and he will be king in my place. I decree that he will be leader over Israel and Judah.”

³⁶ Then Benaiah son of Jehoiada responded to the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, confirm this! ³⁷ Just as the Lord was with my lord the king, so may he also be with Solomon. May he make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David!”

³⁸ So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites, and the Pelethites went out. They had Solomon ride on the mule that belonged to King David and brought him down to Gihon Spring. ³⁹ Then Zadok the priest took the horn of olive oil from the Tent and anointed Solomon. After that they blew the ram’s horn, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”

⁴⁰ All the people followed Solomon. The people were playing flutes and rejoicing so greatly that the ground shook from the sound. ⁴¹ When Adonijah and all his guests heard it, they stopped eating. Joab heard the sound of the ram’s horn and asked, “Why is the noise from the city so loud?”

⁴² Just then, while he was still speaking, Jonathan, son of Abiathar the priest, came in. Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man, and you must be bringing good news.”

⁴³ Jonathan responded to Adonijah:

⁴⁹ Then all of Adonijah’s guests quickly got up, and each one went his own way.

⁵⁰ Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, so he went and held on to the horns of the altar. ^{[3] 51} Solomon was told, “Adonijah is so afraid of King Solomon that he has grabbed the horns of the altar, and he is saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me this day that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’”

⁵² Solomon said, “If he is a worthy man, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, but if he is caught planning evil, he will die.” ⁵³ Then King Solomon had Adonijah brought down from the altar. He came in and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon told him, “Go to your house.”

Psalm 70 – 71

Psalm 70

Hurry to Save Me
(Psalm 40:13-17)

Heading
For the choir director. By David. To bring to remembrance.

Hurry to Help Me

Psalm 71

Do Not Throw Me Away When I Am Old

Opening Prayer

Remembrance of Past Help

Statement of Present Need

Plea for Help in Present Trouble

Present and Future Praise

Closing Confidence

Closing Praise

Psalm 68:19-35

Psalm 68

God’s Daily Care

God’s Future Victories

God’s Procession Into the Temple

Prayer for Future Victory

God Rules the Nations

Closing Praise

Psalm 66 – 67

Psalm 66

How Awesome Are Your Deeds!

Heading
For the choir director. A song. A psalm.

Introduction: The Praise of the World

God’s Awesome Deeds Deliver His People

His People’s Praise

Psalm 67

Your Kingdom Come

Heading
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.

The Prayer

Psalm 63

Psalm 63

My Soul Thirsts for You

Heading

A psalm by David. When he was in the wilderness of Judah. ^[1]

Thirsting for God

Joy Even in Adversity

Destruction for the Defiant

Psalm 60

Psalm 60

You Have Rejected Us
(Psalm 60:5-12 parallels Psalm 108:6-13)

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For the choir director. “The Lily of Testimony.” ^[1] A miktam by David.
For teaching. When he waged war against Aram Naharaim and against Aram Zobah, and Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand men of Edom in the Valley of Salt. ^[2]

David’s Prayer

God’s Reply

David’s Prayer

Psalm 56 – 57

Psalm 56

When I Am Afraid

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For the choir director. “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” ^[1]
By David. A miktam. ^[2]
When the Philistines had seized him in Gath. ^[3]

The Enemies

David’s Trust

The Enemies

David’s Trust

David’s Promise

Psalm 57

Refuge in the Shadow of Your Wings
(Psalm 57:7-11 parallels Psalm 108:1-5)

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For the choir director. “Do Not Destroy.” ^[10] By David. A miktam.
When he fled from Saul. In the cave. ^[11]

The Opening Plea

The Problem

David’s Confidence