First Book of Kings

(3rd Book of Kings in the Vulgate Bible)

Introduction to the 1^er and 2^dBook of Kings

1° The title. – The inspired writings called in the Septuagint (Βασιλείων τρίτη, Βασιλείων τετάρτη) and in the Vulgate, Third Book of Kings, Fourth Book of Kings, bear the names in the Bible written in Hebrew as "First of Kings", "Second of Kings" (M^eI, M^eIakim IIIndeed, these two books form a separate composition, and come from a very distinct author, as many details show (the genre and style differ completely. Samuel 1 and 2 are more explicit; Kings 1 and 2 are usually significantly abbreviated, simply referring back to the original documents for further development).

The ancient practice was not to separate 1 and 2 Kings, and to call them simultaneously Melakim, "the Kings," or Sefer Melakim, "Book of Kings," as shown by the manuscripts written in Hebrew. This was also more logical, since they actually contain only one and the same text, the parts of which are now separated in a very strange way, the story, moreover very short, of the reign of Ahaziah being split in two, without the slightest internal or external reason (compare 1 Samuel 22:52-54, and 2 Kings 1:1-18).

2. Subject matter, division. — At least the name Melakim, or Kings, is perfectly suited to the two books together, since, apart from the reign of Saul and most of that of David, they recount the entire history of the Jewish monarchy, beginning at its zenith, in its golden age, in the last days of David, and following it to its total ruin, through moving episodes. A single kingdom under Solomon and the last eight kings of Judah (1 Samuel 1:1–11:43; 2 Kings 18:1–25:30); two thrones, usually hostile, those of Judah and Israel, from the reign of Rehoboam until the ninth year of Hosea's reign (1 Kings 12:1–2 Kings 17:41). The narrative is synchronic during the simultaneous existence of the two kingdoms.

The events recounted in our two books fill, according to the commonly adopted chronology (see the chronological table placed after this Introduction), an interval of 454 years, the coronation of Solomon having taken place in 1015, and the last event recounted, the restoration of royal privileges to Jehoiachin, relating to the year 561.

Three parts, if we group together the third and fourth books of Kings. 1. The final events in the life of David, the coronation and reign of Solomon (1 Kings 1:1–11, 43). 2. A synchronic history of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, from the schism of the ten tribes to the fall of the kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 12:1–2 Kings 17:41). 3. The history of the kingdom of Judah, from the fall of the kingdom of Israel to the Babylonian captivity (2 Kings 18:1–25, 30). The first part covers forty years (from 1015 to 975 BCE); the second, two hundred and fifty-three (from 975 to 722 BCE); and the third, one hundred and sixty-one (from 722 to 561 BCE).

We can also divide each book in isolation, and then the following division is clearly indicated to us by the sequence of events.

1^er Book of Kings. First part: History of the reign of Solomon, 1, 1-11, 43 (five sections: 1° 1, 1-2, 46, accession of the young prince; 2° 3, 1-4, 34, happy beginnings of the reign; 3° 5, 1-9, 9, the constructions of Solomon; 4° 9, 10-10, 29, the height of his power and glory; 5° 11, 1-43, his faults and their punishment). Part Two: History of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah from the schism of the ten tribes until the death of Ahab and Jehoshaphat, 12, 1-22, 54 (three sections: 1° 12, 1-14, 31, the reigns of Rehoboam and Jeroboam; 2° 15, 1-16, 28, the two kingdoms from the death of Rehoboam until the accession of Ahab; 3° 16, 29-22, 54, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah during the government of Ahab).

2nd Book of Kings. Part One: Annals of the kings of Israel and Judah from the death of Ahab until the ruin of the kingdom of Israel, 1, 1-17, 41 (four sections: 1° 1, 1-3, 27, Ahaziah and Joram, kings of Israel; 2° 4, 1-8, 15, miracles of Elisha; 3° 8, 16-10, 36; Joram and Ahaziah kings of Judah, Jehu seizes the throne of Israel; 4° 11, 1-17, 41, from the usurpation of Athaliah until the ruin of the kingdom of Israel). Part Two: History of the Kings of Judah from the ruin of the kingdom of Israel to the Babylonian captivity, 18, 1-25, 30 (two sections: 1° 18, 1-20, 21, reign of Hezekiah; 2° 21, 1-25, 30, last years and ruin of the kingdom of Judah).

3° Period of composition. — The earliest date to which the book of M^elakim The timeline is marked by the events it recounts last. We are thus led to the thirty-seventh year of Joachim's captivity, that is, according to the commonly adopted chronology, to the year 561 AD (cf. 2 Kings 25:27-30): a memorable year, says the sacred writer, because of the restoration of the royal honors that the captive prince obtained from Evilmerodach.

On the other hand, in these two books, there is not a word describing the deliverance, the return from exile, the first sign of which was given by Cyrus's decree in 536. It follows that they were written before this event.

Therefore, our extreme limits are the years 561 and 536 BC. The writing probably took place between these two dates, around the middle of the Babylonian captivity.

4° The author and his documentsJewish tradition, adopted by a considerable number of Christian exegetes of antiquity and modern times, very explicitly names the prophet Jeremiah as the author of the last two books of Kings (Babylonian Talmud, Baba Bathra, 15a: “Jeremiah wrote his book (i.e., his prophecy), the Book of Kings and Lamentations”). Although the historical evidence is insufficient to rigorously prove this assertion, it certainly appears extremely plausible. Hebraists have drawn interesting comparisons, from which it emerges that we have here a style, a genre, that closely resembles the diction and style of Jeremiah. Moreover, the historical conclusion with which the oracles of the great prophet end (Jer. 52) is, so to speak, modeled on the last page of the Second Book of Kings (24, 18-25, 20), and vice versa. The episodes scattered throughout Jeremiah's prophetic collection and those that fill our double book also seem to have been written by one and the same hand.

The author himself takes care to inform us that three kinds of documents served as sources for the writing of his story: ·1° the Book of the Acts of Solomon (cf. 1 Kings 11,41); 2° the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah, mentioned by him fifteen times (1 Kings 14:29, for Rehoboam; 1 Kings 15:7, for Abijah; 1 Kings 15:23, for Asa; 1 Kings 22:45, for Jehoshaphat; 2 Kings 8:23, for Joram; 2 Kings 12:19, for Joash; 2 Kings 14:18, for Amaziah; 2 Kings 15:6, for Azariah; 2 Kings 15:36, for Jotham; 2 Kings 16:19, for Ahaz; 2 Kings 20:20, for Hezekiah; 2 Kings 21:17, for Manasseh; 2 Kings 21:25, for Amon; 2 Kings 23:28, for Josiah; 2 Kings 24:5, for Joakim); 3° The Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel, which he cites up to seventeen times (For Jeroboam, 1 Kings 14:19; for Nadab, 1 Kings 15:31; for Baasha, 1 Kings 16:5; for Elah, 1 Kings 16:14; for Zambri, 1 Kings 16:20; for Amri, 1 Kings 16:27; for Ahab, 1 Kings 22:39; for Ahaziah, 2 Kings 1:18; for Jehu, 2 Kings 10:34; for Jehoahaz, 2 Kings 13:8; for Joash, 2 Kings 13:12; for Jeroboam II, 2 Kings 14:28; for Zechariah, 2 Kings 15:11; For Shellum, see 2 Kings 15:15; for Manahem, 2 Kings 15:21; for Phaceia, 2 Kings 15:26; and for Phacaea, 2 Kings 15:31. Now, by comparing this version with that of Chronicles, we discover a striking resemblance, not only in the expressions but also in the events recounted (see the Introduction to the Books of Chronicles); from which it is commonly concluded that the two sacred writers drew from the same sources. But since the author of the Books of Chronicles is somewhat more explicit about the nature of his documents, we can, thanks to him, form a very accurate and precise idea of the materials that also served as the basis for the composition of 1 and 2 Kings.

According to 2 Chronicles 9:29, the events of Solomon's reign are based on "the words of the prophet Nathan," "the books of Ahijah the Shilonite," and "the vision of Addo the Seer." The passages in 2 Chronicles 12:15; 13:22; 20:34; 26:22; 32:32; and 33:18-19 tell us that the annals of the kings of Judah were written based on "the books of the prophet Shemeiah and Addo the Seer," "the words of Jehu son of Hanani," "the vision of Isaiah son of Amos," and "the speeches of Hozai.".

The sources, as we can see, are all contemporary with the events recounted, perfectly authentic, and offer the highest guarantees, since their authors were sacred figures. They are sometimes quoted verbatim and in full, sometimes abridged (for example, compare 1 Kings 15:1-8 and 2 Chronicles 13:1-23, etc.), or supplemented with information from other documents. But the whole demonstrates a genuine work of composition, carried out by a single writer, who remained personal and independent; it is without serious justification that these two books have sometimes been attributed to a series of compilers.

5° The goal and the plan; the importance. — The aim is religious and theocratic above all, as on every other page of the Bible. It is not simply history that is being recounted, but the history of God's people, the development of God's kingdom on earth. Hence the considerable omissions, which would be inexplicable on the part of an ordinary chronicler (cf. 2 Chronicles 20:1 ff.; 26:6 ff.; 33:11 ff.: events omitted from 1 and 2 Kings); hence, on the other hand, the insistence with which the narrator emphasizes certain details, certain periods. There has clearly been a selection of events. Thus, although all the kings of Judah and Israel are named, and something of their lives is recounted, it is remarkable that the author has given special emphasis to six reigns (those of Solomon, 1 Kings 1-11; Jeroboam, 1 Kings 12:25-14:20; Ahab, 1 Kings 16:29-22:40; Joram, 2 Kings 3:1-9:26; Hezekiah, 2 Kings 18-20; and Josiah, 2 Kings 22-23). These reigns happened to be precisely the most important, for better or for worse, from a religious standpoint; it is therefore not surprising that they serve as pivotal points for the rest of the narrative. The same explanation applies to the prominent place given to the biographies of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. The moral reflections of the sacred writer, the way in which he links the misfortunes of his nation to the crimes it had committed (see especially 2 Kings 17:7-41), the insistence with which he speaks of the Law as the source of life for Israel, and finally and above all the perpetual commentary (cf. 1 Kings 2:4, 24; 3:6; 6:12; 8:25 ff.; 9:5; 11:12 ff.; 34 ff.; 15:4; 2 Kings 8:19; 10:34; 20:6) that he makes on the magnificent oracle by which God had promised the perpetuity of the throne for the descendants of David (1 Kings 7): all this also attests to and demonstrates the reality of the stated purpose.

The plan is very simple and regular, so as to produce a beautiful unity. The history of the Hebrew people is reduced to that of its kings, and the various reigns are presented according to their natural sequence, that is to say, according to chronological order. Thus, the dates are frequently and carefully marked (see, among others, the following passages: in the First Book of Kings, 2:11; 6:1, 37, 38; 7:1; 8; 2:65; 9:10; 11:42; 14:20, 25; 15:1, 9, 25, 33; 16:8, 10, 15, 23, 29; 18:1; 22:1, 41, 52; in Second Book of Kings, 1, 17; 3, 1; 8, 16, 25; 9, 29; 10, 36; 11, 3-4; 12, 1, 6; 13, 1, 10; 14, 1, 2, 17, 23; 15, 1, 3, 8, 13, 17, 23, 27, 30, 32; 16, 1; 17, 1, 5; 18, 1, 9, 13; 21, 1, 19; 22, 1, 3; 23, 23, 31, 36; 24, 1, 8, 12, 18; 25, 1, 3, 8, 25, 27. Etc. Despite the evident care the author has taken with these chronological data, reconciling the various dates he provides is extremely difficult, and it even raises difficulties that have not yet been definitively resolved. If one adds together the total number of reigns of Israel on the one hand, and of Judah on the other, from the first year of Rehoboam, when the schism of the ten tribes began, to the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the last of the kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 18:10), one finds only 240 years for the former, and 261 for the latter. The two lists are thus in disagreement by about twenty years. Numerous systems have been devised to reconcile them, and the lists of the kings of Israel have generally been lengthened by admitting one or two interregnums in the history of the schismatics. The discovery of an Assyrian chronological canon has increased the exegetes' predicament; For to make it fit with the figures in the Books of Kings, the latter would have to be shortened by about forty years. These discrepancies are explained either by scribal errors in transcribing the numbers or by unknown causes. It is because of the current impossibility of resolving the problem that our commentary deliberately avoids dwelling on any chronological details. In general, the author's approach is always consistent: he describes the beginning, the character, and the end of each reign; he indicates the death and burial of each king in almost identical terms. See, as examples of these formulas: 1° for the character of the kings of Judah: 1 Kings 15:3, 11; 22:43; 2 Kings 12:2-3; 14:3; 15:3, 34; 18:3; 22:2; 23:37; 24, 9, 19, etc.; 2° for the character of the kings of Israel: 1 Kings 14, 8; 15, 26; 16, 19, 26, 30; 22, 53; 2 Kings 3, 3; 11, 29, 31; 13, 2, 11; 14, 24; 15, 9, 18, 24, 28; 17, 21, etc.; 3° for the death and burial of the kings: 1 Kings 11, 43; 14, 20, 31; 15, 8, 24; 22, 51; 2 Kings 8, 24; 13, 9; 14, 29; 15, 7, 38; 16, 20, etc.).

As for the importance of these two books, it is clear from what has been said about the writer's purpose. It is both religious and historical. Beautiful and vast horizons are opened up to the theologian, the preacher, and the historian. Our Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles helped to demonstrate this through the relatively numerous quotations they made from this part of the Old Testament. See, among other passages, Matthew 6:29; 12:42; Mark 1:6; Luke 4:25-26; 10:4; Acts 7:47-48; Romans 11:3-4; Hebrews 11:35; James 5:17-18; Revelation 2:20; 11:6.

6° The comments are the same as for Samuel 1 and 2.

1 Kings 1

¹ King David was old, advanced in years; they covered him with clothes, yet he could not keep warm. ² His servants told him, "Let a young virgin be found for my lord the king, let her stand before the king and care for him, and let her lie close to you, and my lord the king will be warmed."« ³ They searched throughout the territory of Israel for a beautiful young woman, and they found Abishag the Shunammite, whom they brought to the king. ⁴ This young girl was very beautiful, she cared for the king and served him, but the king did not know her. ⁵ Now Adonijah, son of Haggith, rose up in his thoughts, saying, "I will be king." And he procured chariots and horses, and fifty men running before him. ⁶ And his father had never in his life caused him pain by saying to him, "Why do you act like this?" Besides, Adonijah was very handsome and his mother had given birth to him after Absalom. ⁷ There were discussions with Joab, son of Sarvia, and with the priest Abiathar, and they embraced the party of Adonijah. ⁸ But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shemei, Rei, and David's mighty men were not with Adonijah. ⁹ Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened calves near the stone of Zoheleth, which is next to En-Rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, servants of the king. ¹⁰ But he did not invite Nathan the prophet, nor Benaiah, nor the brave men, nor Solomon, his brother. ¹¹ Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, "Have you not heard that Adonijah, son of Haggith, has become king, without our lord David knowing it? ¹² Come now, let me give you some advice, so that you may save your life and that of your son Solomon. ¹³ Go to King David and say to him, “My lord the king, did you not swear an oath to your servant, saying, ‘Solomon your son will reign after me and he will sit on my throne’? Why then has Adonijah become king?” ¹⁴ And behold, while you are there speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.» ¹⁵ Bathsheba went to the king, to his chamber; the king was very old and Abishag the Shunammite served the king. ¹⁶ Bathsheba bowed down and prostrated herself before him, and the king said, "What do you want?"« ¹⁷ She replied to him, «My lord, you swore an oath to your servant by the Lord your God, saying, ‘Solomon your son will reign after me and he will sit on my throne. ¹⁸ And now, behold, Adonijah has become king, and yet you, O king my lord, are unaware of it. ¹⁹ He sacrificed oxen, fattened calves and sheep in great numbers and invited all the king's sons, Abiathar the priest and Joab, commander of the army, but he did not invite Solomon, your servant. ²⁰ However, O king my lord, all Israel has its eyes on you, so that you may reveal who is to sit on the throne of the king my lord after him. ²¹ Otherwise, when my lord the king rests with his ancestors, it will happen that my son Solomon and I will be treated like criminals.» ²² While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. ²³ The king was told, «Here is Nathan the prophet.» He entered the king’s presence and bowed down before him with his face to the ground., ²⁴ And Nathan said, «My lord the king, have you truly said: ‘Adonijah will reign after me and sit on my throne’?” ²⁵ For he came down today and sacrificed oxen, fattened calves, and sheep in abundance, and invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him and saying, "Long live King Adonijah!". ²⁶ But he did not invite me, your servant, nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah son of Jehoiada, nor Solomon, your servant. ²⁷ Is it truly by the will of my lord the king that such a thing has taken place, without you having informed your servants who is to sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?» ²⁸ King David answered and said, "Call Bathsheba to me." She went in before the king and presented herself before him. ²⁹ And the king made this oath: «As the Lord lives, who has delivered me from all adversities. ³⁰ What I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, »Solomon your son will reign after me and will sit on my throne in my place,” I will do this day.” ³¹ Bathsheba bowed her face to the ground and prostrated herself before the king, saying, «May my lord, King David, live forever.» ³² King David said, «Call Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.» When they had entered the king’s presence, ³³ The king said to them, «Take your master’s servants with you, put my son Solomon on my mule and bring him down to Gihon. ³⁴ There, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet will anoint him king over Israel, and you will blow the trumpet and say, "Long live King Solomon!". ³⁵ Then you will come up after him, and he will sit on my throne and reign in my place, for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.» ³⁶ Banaiah, son of Jehoiada, answered the king, «Amen. May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so command.”. ³⁷ As the Lord has been with my lord the king, may he be so with Solomon, and may he raise his throne above the throne of my lord King David.» ³⁸ Zadok the priest went down with Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Cerethians and the Phelethians and, having put Solomon on King David’s mule, they brought him to Gihon. ³⁹ Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. Then the trumpet was blown and all the people shouted, "Long live King Solomon!"« ⁴⁰ Then all the people went up after him. The people played the flute and gave themselves over to great joy; the earth split open at the sound of their shouts. ⁴¹ Adonijah heard this noise, as did all the guests who were with him, just as they were finishing their feast. Upon hearing the sound of the trumpet, Joab said, "Why this commotion in the city?"« ⁴² He was still speaking when Jonathan, son of Abiathar the priest, arrived. Adonijah said to him, "Come, for you are a brave man and bearer of good news."« ⁴³ Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah: «Yes, indeed, our lord King David made Solomon king. ⁴⁴ The king sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Cerethians and the Phelethians, and they put him on the king's mule. ⁴⁵ Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king at Gihon, from there they went up joyfully and the city is in turmoil: this is the noise that you have heard. ⁴⁶ Solomon even sat on the royal throne. ⁴⁷ Even the king's servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, "May your God make the name of Solomon greater than your name and exalt his throne above your throne." And the king bowed down on his bed. ⁴⁸ And even the king spoke thus: »Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has given me today a successor on my throne, so that I may see him with my own eyes.” ⁴⁹ All of Adonias' guests were seized with terror; they got up and went their separate ways. ⁵⁰ Adonijah, being afraid of Solomon, got up and went away and took hold of the horns of the altar. ⁵¹ Solomon was told, saying, «Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, and he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, »Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’” ⁵² Solomon said, "If he proves himself a brave man, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, but if evil is found in him, he will die."« ⁵³ And King Solomon sent men who brought him down from the altar. And Adonijah came and bowed down before King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, «Go to your house.»

1 Kings 2

¹ As the time of his death drew near, David gave his instructions to Solomon, his son, saying: ² «"I am going the way of all the earth, show yourself strong and be a man.". ³ Keep the service of the Lord your God, walking in his ways, observing his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his precepts, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, ⁴ so that the Lord may fulfill his word which he spoke concerning me, saying: If your sons take heed to their way, walking before me faithfully, with all their heart and with all their soul, you will never lack a descendant to sit on the throne of Israel. ⁵ You yourself know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner son of Ner and to Amasa son of Jether: he killed them, pouring out peace the blood of the war and putting the blood of the war on the belt he had around his waist and on the shoe he had on his feet. ⁶ You will act according to your wisdom and you will not let her white hair descend in peace to the realm of the dead. ⁷ But you shall show kindness to the sons of Berzelai the Gileadite, and they shall be among those who eat at your table, for that is how they came to me when I was fleeing from Absalom your brother. ⁸ Behold, you have with you Shemei, son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim. He uttered fierce curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put you to death with the sword. ⁹ And now you will not let him go unpunished, for you are a wise man and you know how you ought to deal with him; in blood you will bring down his gray hair to the realm of the dead.» ¹⁰ David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David. ¹¹ The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years: he reigned seven years in Hebron and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ¹² And Solomon sat on the throne of David, his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. ¹³ Adonijah, son of Haggith, came to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She said to him, "Have you come with peaceful intentions?" He replied, "Yes, with peaceful intentions."« ¹⁴ And he added, "I have something to say to you." She said, "Speak."« ¹⁵ And he said, «You know that the kingdom belonged to me and that all Israel looked to me to reign. But the kingdom has been transferred and given to my brother, because the Lord had destined it for him.”. ¹⁶ "Now I ask only one thing of you: don't reject me." She replied, "Speak."» ¹⁷ And he said, «Please tell King Solomon, for he will not reject you, to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.» ¹⁸ Bathsheba said, "Very well. I will speak to the king about you."« ¹⁹ Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down before her, sat on his throne, and made a throne for the king's mother, and she sat at his right hand. ²⁰ Then she said, "I have a small request to make of you: do not reject me." The king said to her, "Ask, my mother, for I will not reject you."« ²¹ She said, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah, your brother, as his wife."« ²² King Solomon answered and said to his mother, «Why do you ask for Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for the kingship for him, for he is my older brother, for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah.» ²³ King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, «May God deal with me in all his severity if Adonijah has not spoken this word to his own destruction. ²⁴ »And now, as surely as the Lord lives, who has established me and placed me on the throne of my father David and built me a house as he promised, this very day Adonijah shall be put to death.” ²⁵ And King Solomon sent Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, to strike down Adonijah, who died. ²⁶ The king said to the priest Abiathar, «Go back to Anathoth to your own land, for you deserve to die, but I will not put you to death today, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before David my father and because you shared in all that my father suffered.» ²⁷ And Solomon drove out Abiathar from being a priest of the Lord, thus fulfilling the word that the Lord had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. ²⁸ The news reached Joab, for Joab had sided with Adonijah, though he had not sided with Absalom. And Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and seized the horns of the altar. ²⁹ King Solomon was told that Joab had taken refuge in the tabernacle of the Lord and was near the altar, and Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, «Go, strike him down.» ³⁰ When Benaiah arrived at the tabernacle of the Lord, he said to Joab, «This is what the king says: Come out.» But he replied, «No, I will die here.» Benaiah reported this answer to the king, saying, «This is what Joab said, this is what he answered me.» ³¹ And the king said to Banaiah, «Do as he said, strike him and bury him, and you will thus remove from me and from my father’s house the blood that Joab shed without cause. ³² The Lord will bring his blood back on his own head, he who struck down two men more righteous and better than himself and killed them with the sword, without my father David knowing it: Abner, son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa, son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. ³³ Their blood will fall on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever, but there will be peace forever from the Lord for David and his descendants, for his house and his throne.» ³⁴ Banaiah, son of Jehoiada, went up and struck Joab, killing him, and he was buried in his house in the desert. ³⁵ And the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in his place as commander of the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest in place of Abiathar. ³⁶ The king sent for Shemei and said to him, «Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and you shall dwell there and not leave it to go here and there. ³⁷ »The day you go out and cross the Kidron Valley, know that you will certainly die; your blood will be on your own head.” ³⁸ Shemei answered the king, "That is a good word; what my lord the king says, your servant will do." And Shemei remained in Jerusalem for many days. ³⁹ After three years, two of Shemei's servants fled to Achish, son of Maah, king of Geth. This was reported to Shemei, with the words, "Your servants are in Geth."« ⁴⁰ Shemei got up and, having saddled his donkey, went to Geth, to Achish, to look for his servants. Shemei went and brought back his servants from Geth. ⁴¹ Solomon was told that Shemei had gone from Jerusalem to Geth and had returned. ⁴² The king sent for Shemei and said to him, «Did I not make you swear by the Lord and did I not give you a command, saying, ‘On the day you go out to go to one side or the other, know that you will certainly die’? And did you not answer me, ‘The word that I heard is good’?” ⁴³ Why then did you not keep the oath you swore to the Lord and the command I gave you?» ⁴⁴ And the king said to Shemei, «You know, your heart knows, all the evil that you did to David, my father, the Lord will bring back your wickedness on your own head. ⁴⁵ But King Solomon will be blessed, and the throne of David will be established forever before the Lord.» 46 Then the king gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck down Shemei, who died. And the kingdom was established in Solomon’s hand.

1 Kings 3

¹ Solomon allied himself by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter as his wife and brought her to the city of David, until he had finished building his house and the house of the Lord, as well as the wall surrounding Jerusalem. ² Only the people sacrificed at the holy places, for no house had been built in the name of the Lord until those days. ³ Solomon loved the Lord, walking according to the precepts of David his father, only he offered sacrifices at the holy places and burned incense there. ⁴ The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ⁵ At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream during the night, and God said to him, «Ask for whatever you want me to give you.» ⁶ Solomon replied, «You have shown great kindness to your servant David, my father, according to how he walked before you in loyalty, In justice and uprightness of heart towards you, you have maintained this great kindness towards him and you have given him a son who sits on his throne, as it appears today. ⁷ Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David, my father, and I am but a very young man, not knowing how to conduct myself. ⁸ Your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a vast people, which cannot be counted or measured, so numerous are they. ⁹ Therefore, give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, to discern good from evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?» ¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had made this request of him., ¹¹ And God said to him, «Because you have made this request, and have not asked for yourself for long life, nor for riches, nor for the death of your enemies, but have asked for yourself for understanding to exercise justice, ¹² Behold, I do according to your word: behold, I give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has been no one like you before you and there will be no one like you after you. ¹³ And even what you have not asked for, I give you, riches and honor, so that among kings there will be no one like you all your days. ¹⁴ And if you walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David your father walked, I will prolong your days.» ¹⁵ Solomon awoke and realized it was a dream. Returning to Jerusalem, he stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and gave a feast for all his servants. ¹⁶ Then two women of ill repute came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ One of the women said, "Please, my lord. This woman and I lived in the same house, and I gave birth to a child near her in the house. ¹⁸ Three days after I gave birth to my child, this woman also gave birth to a child. We were together; no strangers were with us in the house, it was just the two of us in the house. ¹⁹ The woman's son died during the night because she had lain on top of him. ²⁰ She got up in the middle of the night, took my son to my side while the servant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and her son who was dead, she laid him in my bosom. ²¹ When I got up in the morning to breastfeed my son, he was dead, but, having examined him carefully that morning, I realized that it was not my son I had given birth to.» ²² The other woman said, "No. It is my son who is alive and it is your son who is dead." But the first woman replied, "Not at all, it is your son who is dead and it is my son who is alive." And they argued before the king. ²³ The king said, "One says, 'My son is alive and your son is dead,' and the other says, 'No, your son is dead and my son is alive.'"« ²⁴ And the king said, "Bring me a sword." So they brought the sword before the king. ²⁵ And the king said, "Divide the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other."« ²⁶ Then the woman whose son was still alive said to the king, for her heart yearned for her son: «Oh, my lord, give him the living child and let him not be killed.» And the other said: «Let him be neither mine nor yours; share him.» ²⁷ And the king replied and said, "Give the living child to the first woman, and do not kill him; she is his mother."« ²⁸ All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had pronounced, and they feared the king, seeing that there was divine wisdom in him to administer justice.

1 Kings 4

¹ King Solomon was king over all Israel. ² These were the chiefs in his service: Azarias, son of Zadok, was the prime minister, ³ Elihoreph and Ahia, sons of Sisa, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, was recorder;, ⁴ Banaiah, son of Jehoiada, was in command of the army, Zadok and Abiathar were priests, ⁵ Azarias, son of Nathan, was chief of the stewards; Zabud, son of Nathan, a priest, was a close advisor to the king., ⁶ Ahisar was prefect of the palace and Adoniram, son of Abda, was in charge of forced labor. ⁷ Solomon had twelve overseers over all Israel; they provided for the maintenance of the king and his household, each one having to provide for it for one month of the year. ⁸ These are their names: Ben-Hur, in the mountains of Ephraim,  ⁹ Ben-Decar, to Maccès, to Salebim, to Beth-Sames and to Elon of Bethanan, ¹⁰ Ben-Hesed, in Aruboth: he had Socho and all the region of Epher, ¹¹ Ben-Abinadab, who had all the heights of Dor, and Tapheth, Solomon's daughter, was his wife, ¹² Bana, son of Ahilud, who had Thanach and Mageddo and all Bethsan, which is near Sartan below Jezreel, from Bethsan to Abel-mehula, as far as beyond Jecmaan. ¹³ Ben-Gaber, in Ramoth-gilead: he had the towns of Jair, son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, he had the region of Argob which is in Bashan, sixty large cities with walls and bronze bars, ¹⁴ Ahinadab, son of Addo, in Manaim, ¹⁵ Ahimaas, in Naphtali: he too had taken as his wife a daughter of Solomon, named Basemath, ¹⁶ Baanah, son of Husi, in Asher and Aloth, ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat, son of Pharaoh, in Issachar, ¹⁸ Shemei, son of Elah, in Benjamin, ¹⁹ Gabar, son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan: there was only one overseer for that land. ²⁰ Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate and drank and were merry.

1 Kings 5

¹ Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms, from the river to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; they brought gifts and were subject to Solomon all the days of his life. ² Solomon consumed daily the following provisions: thirty cors of fine flour and sixty cors of common flour, ³ ten fat oxen, twenty pasture oxen and one hundred sheep, not counting the deer, roe deer, fallow deer and fattened poultry. ⁴ For he ruled over all the land beyond the river, from Taphsah to Gaza, over all the kings beyond the river, and he had peace with all its subjects from all sides. ⁵ Judah and Israel dwelt securely, each under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. ⁶ Solomon had forty thousand stalls for the horses intended for his chariots and twelve thousand saddle horses. ⁷ The stewards provided for the upkeep of King Solomon and all those who were admitted to King Solomon's table, each during his month, they left nothing to be lacking. ⁸ They also brought barley and straw for the draft and racing horses to the place where these were located, each according to what had been prescribed for him. ⁹ God gave Solomon wisdom, great understanding, and a mind as broad as the sand on the seashore. ¹⁰ Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. ¹¹ He was wiser than any man, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, wiser than Heman, Chalcol and Dorda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was widespread among all the surrounding nations. ¹² He uttered three thousand maxims and his hymns numbered one thousand and five. ¹³ He discoursed on trees, from the cedar which is at Lebanon up to the hyssop that comes out of the wall, he also discoursed on quadrupeds and on birds and on reptiles and on fish. ¹⁴ People came from all nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, sent by all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom. ¹⁵ Hiram, king of Tyre, sent his servants to Solomon, for he had learned that he had been anointed king in place of his father, and Hiram had always been a friend of David. ¹⁶ And Solomon sent word to Hiram: ¹⁷ «You know that David, my father, could not build a house in the name of the Lord his God, because of the wars with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord had put them under the sole of his feet. ¹⁸ Now, Lord my God has given me rest on all sides; there is no more adversary, no more troublesome affair. ¹⁹ And now I am thinking of building a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord declared to David my father, saying: It is your son, whom I will put in your place on your throne, who will build the house for my name. ²⁰ And now, order that cedars be cut down for me on the Lebanon. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you whatever you ask for their wages, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut wood like the Sidonians.» ²¹ When Hiram heard Solomon's words, he rejoiced greatly and said, "Blessed be the Lord today, who has given David a wise son to rule over this great people."« ²² And Hiram sent word to Solomon: «I have heard what you sent me to say, I will do what you desire concerning the cedar wood and the cypress wood. ²³ My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will float them by sea to the place you will tell me to; there I will untie them, and you will take them. And you will fulfill my desire by providing food for my household.» ²⁴ Hiram gave Solomon as much cedar and cypress wood as he wanted, ²⁵ Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat for the upkeep of his household and twenty kors of crushed olive oil. This is what Solomon delivered to Hiram every year. ²⁶ And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he had promised him, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made a covenant together. ²⁷ King Solomon conscripted forced laborers from among all the Israelites, and the forced laborers numbered thirty thousand. ²⁸ He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand per month alternately, they were one month at Lebanon and for two months at their home, Adoniram was in charge of the men on forced labor. ²⁹ Solomon still had seventy thousand men to carry burdens and eighty thousand to quarry stones in the mountains, ³⁰ not counting the superintendents appointed by Solomon for the works, numbering three thousand three hundred, they directed the people who worked on the projects. ³¹ The king ordered that large stones, choice stones, be extracted to establish the foundations of the house in hewn stone. ³² Solomon’s masons and Hiram’s masons and the Giblians cut and prepared the wood and stones to build the house.

1 Kings 6

¹ In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he built the house of the Lord. ² The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. ³ The portico in front of the temple of the house was twenty cubits long along the width of the house and ten cubits wide at the front of the house. ⁴ The king had fixed grilles installed in the house. ⁵ He built stories against the wall of the house, around the walls of the house, around the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, and he made side chambers all around. ⁶ The lower floor was five cubits wide, the middle one six cubits wide, and the third seven cubits wide, because the walls of the house had been set back all around, outside, so that the beams would not enter the walls of the house. ⁷ When the house was built, it was built of stones all prepared in the quarry, and thus neither hammer, nor axe, nor any iron instrument was heard in the house while it was being built. ⁸ The entrance to the middle floor was on the right side of the house; one went up by winding staircases to the middle floor and from the middle floor to the third floor. ⁹ Solomon built the house and finished it; he covered the house with cedar beams and planks. ¹⁰ He built the stories attached to the whole house, making them five cubits high and linking them to the house with cedar beams. ¹¹ And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: ¹² «This house that you are building… if you walk according to my laws, if you put my ordinances into practice, if you observe all my commandments, regulating your conduct according to them, I will fulfill to you my word that I spoke to David your father, ¹³ I will dwell among the children of Israel and I will not abandon my people Israel.» ¹⁴ And Solomon built the house and finished it. ¹⁵ He lined the interior walls of the house with cedar planks, from the floor of the house to the ceiling, he thus paneled the interior and he covered the floor of the house with cypress planks. ¹⁶ He covered the twenty cubits from the bottom of the house, from the floor to the top of the walls, with cedar planks, and he took from the house what was needed to make it a sanctuary, the Holy of Holies. ¹⁷ The house, that is, the earlier temple, was forty cubits long. ¹⁸ The cedar wood inside the house was carved into gourds and blooming flowers, everything was cedar, you couldn't see the stone. ¹⁹ Solomon placed the sanctuary inside the house, at the back, to place the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. ²⁰ The inside of the sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. Solomon overlaid it with fine gold and he overlaid the altar with cedar. ²¹ Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with fine gold and closed the front of the sanctuary with gold chains, covering it with gold. ²² So he covered the whole house with gold, the entire house, and he covered the whole altar that was in front of the sanctuary with gold. ²³ He made in the sanctuary two cherubim of wild olive wood, each ten cubits high. ²⁴ One of the wings of each cherub was five cubits long, and the second wing of the cherub was five cubits long; there were ten cubits from the tip of one of its wings to the tip of the other. ²⁵ The second cherub was also ten cubits long. The two cherubs were the same size and had the same shape. ²⁶ The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and the same for the second cherub. ²⁷ Solomon placed the cherubim in the middle of the inner house, with their wings spread out, the wing of the first touching one of the walls and the wing of the second cherub touching the other wall, and their other wings touching each other, wing to wing, towards the middle of the house. ²⁸ And Solomon clothed the cherubim with gold. ²⁹ He had cherubs, palm trees and blooming flowers sculpted in relief on all the walls of the house, all around, inside and out. ³⁰ He covered the floor of the house with gold, both inside and out. ³¹ He made the doors of the sanctuary from wild olive wood; the frame with the posts took up one-fifth of the wall. ³² On the two leaves of wild olive wood, he had cherubs, palm trees and blooming flowers carved and he covered them with gold, spreading the gold on the cherubs and on the palm trees. ³³ Similarly, he made posts of wild olive wood for the temple gate, which covered a quarter of the wall, ³⁴ and two cypress wood leaves, the first leaf was formed of two folding sheets, the second leaf was similarly formed of two folding sheets. ³⁵ He sculpted cherubs, palm trees and blooming flowers there and he covered them with gold, suitable for sculpture. ³⁶ He built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and one row of cedar beams. ³⁷ In the fourth year, in the month of Ziv, the foundations of the house of the Lord were laid, ³⁸ And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was completed in all its parts and as it should have been. Solomon built it in the space of seven years.

1 Kings 7

¹ Solomon built his house in thirteen years and he completed it entirely. ² He built the Forest House of Lebanon, which was one hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high, it rested on four rows of cedar columns and there were cedar beams on the columns. ³ A cedar roof covered it, above the chambers which rested on the columns, forty-five in number, fifteen per row. ⁴ There were three rows of rooms and the windows faced each other, three times. ⁵ All the doors and all the posts were made of square planks and the windows faced each other, three times. ⁶ He made the columned portico, fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, and in front of it another portico with columns and steps in front of them. ⁷ He made the portico of the throne, where he administered justice, the portico of judgment, and he lined it with cedar from floor to ceiling. ⁸ His dwelling house was built in the same way, in a second courtyard, beyond the portico, and he made a house similar to this portico for Pharaoh's daughter, whom Solomon had married. ⁹ All these buildings were made of precious stones, cut according to measurements, sawn with a saw, inside and out, from the foundations to the cornices and outside to the great courtyard. ¹⁰ The foundations were also made of precious stones, large stones, stones measuring ten cubits and stones measuring eight cubits. ¹¹ Above, there were still valuable stones, cut according to measurements, and cedar wood. ¹² The great courtyard had around its entire perimeter three rows of dressed stone and one row of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the Lord's house and like the portico of the house. ¹³ King Solomon sent for Hiram from Tyre. ¹⁴ He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, but his father was a Tyrian and a bronze worker. He was full of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work; he came to King Solomon and carried out all his projects. ¹⁵ He made the two bronze columns; the height of one column was eighteen cubits, and a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of the second column. ¹⁶ He made two cast bronze capitals to place on the tops of the columns; the height of one capital was five cubits and the height of the second capital was five cubits. ¹⁷ There was a net-like decoration and a chain-like decoration on the capitals that surmounted the tops of the columns, seven on one capital, seven on the second capital. ¹⁸ He made two rows of pomegranates around one of the trellises, to cover the capital that surmounted one of the columns, and did the same for the second capital. ¹⁹ The capitals that were on top of the columns in the portico depicted lilies four cubits high. ²⁰ The capitals placed on the two columns were surrounded by two hundred grenades; at the top, near the bulge that was beyond the trellis, there were also two hundred grenades arranged all around, on the second capital. ²¹ He erected the columns at the portico of the temple; he erected the right column and named it Jachin, then he erected the left column and named it Boaz. ²² And on the tops of the columns there was work depicting lilies. Thus the work on the columns was completed. ²³ He made the sea of molten bronze. It was ten cubits from rim to rim, perfectly round, five cubits high, and a line thirty cubits measured its circumference. ²⁴ Gourds surrounded it, below the rim, ten per cubit, going all around the sea in two rows, the gourds were melted with it in one piece. ²⁵ It was placed on twelve oxen, three of which faced north, three faced west, three faced south, and three faced east; the sea was upon them, and the entire rear part of their bodies was hidden within. ²⁶ Its thickness was one palm and its rim was like the rim of a cup, with a fleur-de-lis pattern. It contained two thousand baths. ²⁷ He made the ten bronze bases, each one four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. ²⁸ This is how the bases were made: they were formed of panels, and the panels were fitted between frames., ²⁹ On the panels that were between the frames, there were lions, bulls and cherubs and on the frames, at the top, a support and below the lions, bulls and cherubs hung garlands. ³⁰ Each base had four bronze wheels with bronze axles and its four feet had supports; these cast supports were below the basin and beyond the garlands. ³¹ The opening to receive the basin was inside the crowning of the base, it was one cubit high, this opening was round, in the shape of a column base and having one and a half cubits in diameter and on this opening there were also sculptures, the panels were square and not rounded. ³² The four wheels were below the panels and the wheel axles were fixed to the base, each wheel was one and a half cubits high. ³³ The wheels were made like a chariot wheel; their axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all cast. ³⁴ At the four corners of each base were four supports, and these supports were one piece with the base. ³⁵ At the top of the base was a circle half a cubit high, and on the top of the base, its supports and panels were of a single piece. ³⁶ On the support plates and on the panels, he engraved cherubs, lions and palm trees, according to the free space for each, and garlands all around. ³⁷ That is how he made the ten bases, the same type of casting, the same dimensions, the same shape for all. ³⁸ He made ten bronze basins, each basin held forty baths, each basin was four cubits in diameter, each basin rested on a base, one of ten bases. ³⁹ He arranged the ten bases thus: five on the right side of the house and five on the left side of the house, and he placed the sea on the right side of the house, to the east, towards the south. ⁴⁰ Hiram made the cauldrons, the shovels, and the bowls. Thus Hiram finished all the work he did for King Solomon in the house of the Lord: ⁴¹ the two columns, the two moldings of the capitals which are on the top of the columns, the two trellises to cover the two moldings of the capitals which are on the top of the columns, ⁴² the four hundred grenades for the two trellises, two rows of grenades per trellis, to cover the two ridges of the capitals which are on the columns, ⁴³ the ten bases and the ten basins on the bases, ⁴⁴ the sea and the twelve oxen under the sea, ⁴⁵ The pots, shovels, and bowls. All these utensils that Hiram made for King Solomon in the house of the Lord were of polished bronze. ⁴⁶ The king had them melted in the plain of the Jordan, in clay soil, between Sochoth and Sarthan. ⁴⁷ Solomon left all these utensils unweighed, because they were in very large quantity, the weight of the bronze was not verified. ⁴⁸ Solomon also made all the other utensils that were in the house of the Lord: the golden altar, the golden table on which the bread of the Presence was placed, ⁴⁹ the pure gold candlesticks, five on the right and five on the left, in front of the oracle, with the flowers, the lamps, and the gold tongs, ⁵⁰ the basins, knives, bowls, cups and censers of pure gold, as well as the gold hinges for the doors of the inner house, namely the Holy of Holies and for the doors of the house, namely the Holy. ⁵¹ Thus was completed all the work that King Solomon did in the house of the Lord, and Solomon brought what David his father had consecrated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and poured them into the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

1 Kings 8

¹ Then King Solomon assembled near him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the families of the children of Israel, to bring up from the city of David, that is, from Zion, the ark of the covenant of the Lord. ² All the men of Israel gathered around King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month, during the festival. ³ When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests carried the ark. ⁴ They carried the ark of the Lord, as well as the tent of meeting and all the sacred utensils that were in the tent; it was the priests and the Levites who carried them. ⁵ King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel, who had gathered around him, stood with him before the ark. They sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be counted or numbered because of their multitude. ⁶ The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the sanctuary of the house, in the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the Cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles from above. ⁸ The bars were so long that their ends could be seen from the holy place in front of the sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. They have been there to this day. ⁹ The only things in the ark were the two stone tablets that Moses had placed there on Mount Horeb when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel as they came out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ As the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord. ¹¹ The priests could not remain there to perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. ¹² Then Solomon said, «The Lord wants to dwell in darkness. ¹³ I have built a house that will be your home, a place for you to reside in forever.» ¹⁴ Then the king turned his face and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, and the whole assembly of Israel was standing. ¹⁵ And he said, «Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke by his mouth to David my father and fulfilled by his hand what he had declared, saying: ¹⁶ From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I did not choose a city from among all the tribes of Israel to build a house in which to house my name, but I chose David to reign over my people Israel. ¹⁷ David, my father, intended to build a house in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, ¹⁸ But the Lord said to David, my father: Since you had it in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well to have this heart. ¹⁹ However, you will not be the one to build the house, but your son, who will come from your body, will build the house for my name. ²⁰ The Lord has fulfilled the word that he had spoken: I have risen in place of David my father and I have sat on the throne of Israel, as the Lord had said, and I have built the house in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹ I have established a place there for the ark, in which is kept the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.» ²² Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and, stretching out his hands toward heaven, ²³ He said, «Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, either in heaven above or on earth below: you who keep the covenant and mercy towards your servants who walk wholeheartedly before you, ²⁴ just as you have kept for your servant David, my father, what you said to him, what you declared with your mouth, you have accomplished with your hand, as it is seen this day. ²⁵ Now, Lord, God of Israel, observe in favor of your servant David, my father, what you said to him in these words: You will never lack a descendant to sit on the throne of Israel before me, provided that your sons take heed to their way, walking before me as you have walked before me. ²⁶ And now, God of Israel, let the word that you spoke to your servant David, my father, be fulfilled. ²⁷ «But does God truly dwell on earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!”. ²⁸ However, give heed, O Lord my God, to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, listening to the joyful cry and the prayer which your servant utters before you today, ²⁹ keeping your eyes open night and day toward this house, toward the place of which you have said, “My name shall be there,” and listening to the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. ³⁰ Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray in this place; hear from your dwelling place, from heaven, hear and forgive. ³¹ «If anyone sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, if he comes and swears before your altar in this house, ³² Listen to him from heaven, act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down his conduct upon his own head, declaring the innocent righteous and rewarding him according to his innocence. ³³ «When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, if they return to you and glorify your name, if they offer prayers and supplications to you in this house, ³⁴ Listen to them from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers. ³⁵ «When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and give glory to your name, and turn from their sins because you have grieved them, ³⁶ Listen to them from heaven, forgive the sins of your servants and your people Israel, teaching them the right way in which they should walk, and send rain on the land you have given as an inheritance to your people. ³⁷ «When famine strikes the land, when plague strikes, when blight strikes, when locusts and grasshoppers strike, when the enemy besieges your people in the land, in its gates, when any plague or disease strikes, ³⁸ If one man, if all your people Israel, offer prayers and supplications, and each one, acknowledging the wound in his heart, stretches out his hands toward this house, ³⁹ Listen to them from heaven, from your dwelling place, and forgive, act, and repay each one according to all their ways, you who know their heart, for you alone know the hearts of all the children of men., ⁴⁰ so that they may fear you all the days they live in the land you gave to our fathers. ⁴¹ «As for the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, but who comes from a distant land because of your name, ⁴² for people will hear of your great name, your strong hand, and your outstretched arm, when they come to pray in this house, ⁴³ Listen to him from heaven, from your place of residence, and do according to all that the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as your people Israel do, and to know that your name is called upon this house that I have built. ⁴⁴ «When your people go out to fight their enemy, following the path you have sent them on, and when they pray to the Lord, with their faces turned toward the city you have chosen and toward the house I have built for your name, ⁴⁵ Hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication and grant them justice. ⁴⁶ «When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and when you are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, and their conqueror carries them off as captives to the land of the enemy, whether far away or near, ⁴⁷ If they come to their senses in the land of their conquerors, if they repent and plead with you in the land of their tyrants, saying, “We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have committed crimes,”, ⁴⁸ if they return to you with all their heart and soul, in the land of their enemies who took them captive, if they pray to you, turning their faces toward the land you gave to their ancestors, toward the city you chose, and toward the house I built for your name, ⁴⁹ Listen from heaven, from your dwelling place, to their prayer and their supplication, and grant them justice., ⁵⁰ Forgive your people their transgressions and all the sins they have committed against you; make them a cause for compassion before their tyrants, so that they may have pity on them., ⁵¹ for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of the midst of an iron furnace: ⁵² so that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant and to the supplication of your people Israel, to hear them in all that they ask of you. ⁵³ For you separated them from all the peoples of the earth to be your inheritance, as you declared through Moses your servant when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, O Lord God.» ⁵⁴ When Solomon had finished addressing all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands outstretched toward heaven. ⁵⁵ Having risen, he blessed the entire assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying: ⁵⁶ «Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he has said. Of all the good words that he spoke through Moses his servant, not one word has failed.”. ⁵⁷ May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; may he not abandon us or forsake us., ⁵⁸ but that he may incline our hearts to him, so that we may walk in all his ways and observe his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, which he prescribed to our fathers. ⁵⁹ May my words of supplication that I have spoken before the Lord be near to the Lord our God, night and day, so that, according to the needs of each day, he may do justice to his servant and to his people Israel, ⁶⁰ so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God, that there is no other. ⁶¹ "Let your heart be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes and to keep his commandments, as we do today."» ⁶² The king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁶³ Solomon offered a peace offering to the Lord, twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. Thus the king and all the Israelites dedicated the house of the Lord. ⁶⁴ On that day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard which is in front of the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which is in front of the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the peace offerings. ⁶⁵ Solomon celebrated the festival at that time, and all Israel with him, a great multitude who came from the entrance of Emath to the Wadi of Egypt, before the Lord our God, for seven days and seven more days, that is, fourteen days. ⁶⁶ On the eighth day he dismissed the people. And they blessed the king and went to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done to David his servant and to Israel his people.

1 Kings 9

¹ When Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king's house and everything that pleased Solomon, everything he desired to do, ² The Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ And the Lord said to him, «I have heard your prayer and your supplication which you uttered before me; I have consecrated this house which you have built, to put my name there forever, and there shall be my eyes and my heart forever. ⁴ And you, if you walk before me as David your father walked, with sincerity of heart and uprightness, putting into practice what I have commanded you, if you observe my statutes and my ordinances, ⁵ I will establish your royal throne in Israel forever, as I declared to David your father, saying: You will never lack a descendant to sit on the throne of Israel. ⁶ But if you and your children turn away from me, if you do not observe my commandments and my laws that I have set before you, and if you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, ⁷ I will exterminate Israel from the land I have given them, the house I have consecrated to my name; I will cast it out of my sight, and Israel will become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples., ⁸ This house will always be high, but whoever passes by it will be astonished and will hiss. They will say: Why has the Lord done this to this land and this house? ⁹ And the answer will be: »Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and instead followed other gods, bowing down to them and serving them, the Lord brought all these disasters upon them.” ¹⁰ After twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the house of the king, ¹¹ Hiram, king of Tyre, had supplied Solomon with cedar wood and cypress wood and gold, as much as he wanted; King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. ¹² Hiram left Tyre to see the cities that Solomon was giving him, but they did not please him., ¹³ And he said, "What are these cities that you have given me, my brother?" And he called them the land of Chabul, their name to this day. ¹⁴ Hiram had sent Solomon one hundred and twenty talents of gold. ¹⁵ This is what concerns the forced laborers that King Solomon raised up to build the house of the Lord and his own house, Mello and the wall of Jerusalem, Hesher, Mageddo and Gazer. ¹⁶ Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had gone up and taken Gazer. After burning it down and killing the Canaanites who lived in the city, he gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife. ¹⁷ Solomon built Gazer, Lower Beth-Horon, ¹⁸ Baalath and Thadmor in the desert land, ¹⁹ all the store cities belonging to Solomon, the chariot cities, the cavalry cities, and everything else Solomon chose to build in Jerusalem, to Lebanon and throughout the country under its rule. ²⁰ All the people who remained of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel, ²¹ namely, their descendants who had remained after them in the land and whom the children of Israel had not been able to devote to anathema, Solomon raised them up as forced laborers, which they have been to this day. ²² But Solomon did not take any of the children of Israel into slavery, for they were men of war, his servants, his leaders, his officers, the commanders of his chariots and his cavalry. ²³ The chief inspectors of Solomon’s works were five hundred and fifty in number, charged with commanding the people engaged in the works. ²⁴ Pharaoh's daughter went up from the City of David to her house which Solomon had built for her; it was then that he built Mello. ²⁵ Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built to the Lord, and he burned incense on the altar before the Lord. Thus he finished building the temple. ²⁶ King Solomon built a fleet at Asiongaber, which is near Ailath, on the shores of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. ²⁷ And Hiram sent his own servants, sailors who knew the sea, onto the ships to Solomon’s servants. ²⁸ They went to Ophir and took from there four hundred and twenty talents of gold, which they brought to King Solomon.

1 Kings 10

¹ The Queen of Sheba, having heard of Solomon's fame, came in the name of the Lord to test him with riddles. ² She came to Jerusalem with a very large entourage, camels carrying spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones. She went to Solomon and told him everything that was in her heart. ³ Solomon answered all his questions: there was nothing that remained hidden from the king, without him being able to answer it. ⁴ When the Queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the house he had built, ⁵ and the food on his table, and the apartments of his servants, and the rooms and clothing of his attendants, his cupbearers, and the stairway by which he went up into the house of the Lord—she was beside herself, ⁶ And she said to the king, "So it was true what I heard in my country about you and your wisdom. ⁷ I didn't believe the story until I came and saw it with my own eyes, and yet I hadn't been told half of it. You surpass in wisdom and magnificence what fame had made known to me. ⁸ Blessed are your people, blessed are your servants, who continually stand before you, who hear your wisdom. ⁹ Blessed be the Lord your God, who has been pleased with you and has placed you on the throne of Israel. Because the Lord loves Israel forever, he has made you king to do justice and righteousness.» ¹⁰ She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did so many spices come as the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. ¹¹ Hiram's ships, which brought gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a very large quantity of sandalwood and precious stones. ¹² The king made balustrades from the sandalwood for the Lord's house and for the king's house, and harps and lyres for the singers. No more of this sandalwood was produced, and none has been seen since. ¹³ King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba everything she desired and asked for, not to mention the gifts, in keeping with the power of a king like Solomon. Then she returned to her own country, she and her servants. ¹⁴ The weight of gold that reached Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, ¹⁵ in addition to what he received from street vendors and the trade of merchants, from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country. ¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold, using six hundred shekels of gold for each shield, ¹⁷ and three hundred small shields of beaten gold, using three gold mines for each shield, and the king put them in the house in the forest of the Lebanon. ¹⁸ The king made a great throne of ivory and covered it with pure gold. ¹⁹ This throne had six steps and the upper part of the throne was rounded at the back; there were arms on each side of the seat, and two lions stood near the arms., ²⁰ And twelve lions stood there, on the six steps, six on each side. Nothing like it has ever been done in any other kingdom. ²¹ All of King Solomon's glasses were made of gold, and all the dishes in the house in the forest of the Lebanon It was made of pure gold. Nothing was made of silver; it was completely disregarded in Solomon's time. ²² For the king had ships of Tharsis at sea with the ships of Hiram; once every three years, the ships of Tharsis would arrive, bringing gold and silver, ivory, monkeys and peacocks. ²³ King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²⁴ Everyone was looking for Solomon, to hear the wisdom that God had placed in his heart. ²⁵ And each one brought their gift, silver and gold objects, clothing, weapons, spices, horses and mules, every year. ²⁶ Solomon assembled chariots and cavalry; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he placed in the cities where his chariots were stored and near the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as numerous as sycamores growing in the plain. ²⁸ Solomon's horses came from Egypt; a caravan of the king's merchants would take them in droves at an agreed price: ²⁹ A chariot was brought up and out of Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150 shekels. They also brought them out in the same way, on their own, for all the Hittite kings and for the kings of Syria.

1 Kings 11

¹ King Solomon loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women., ² of the nations of which the Lord had said to the children of Israel: «You shall have no dealings with them and they shall have no dealings with you, otherwise they will turn your hearts after their gods.» Solomon cleaved to these nations out of love. ³ He had seven hundred princess wives and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. ⁴ In Solomon’s old age, his wives turned his heart to other gods, and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ Solomon went after Astarte, goddess of the Sidonians, and after Melchom, the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶ And Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done. ⁷ Then Solomon built, on the mountain opposite Jerusalem, a high place for Hamosh, the abomination of Moab, and for Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁸ He did the same to all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. ⁹ The Lord was angry with Solomon because he had turned his heart away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and had forbidden him to go after other gods on this matter, but Solomon did not observe what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹ And the Lord said to Solomon, «Because you have acted in this way and have not kept my covenant and my statutes which I commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from your hand and give it to your servant. ¹² But I will not do it during your lifetime, because of David your father; I will tear it out from the hand of your son. ¹³ »And yet I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will leave one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” ¹⁴ The Lord raised up an enemy against Solomon: Adad the Edomite, of the royal line of Edom. ¹⁵ In the time when David was at war with Edom, when Joab, the commander of the army, went up to bury the dead, killed all the males who were in Edom, ¹⁶ Joab remained there for six months with all Israel, until he had exterminated all the males in Edom, ¹⁷ Adad fled with some Edomites, from among his father's servants, to go to Egypt; Adad was still a young boy. ¹⁸ Having left Midian, they went to Pharan, took with them some men from Pharan, and arrived in Egypt at Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who gave Adad a house, provided for his sustenance, and granted him land. ¹⁹ Adad found favor in the eyes of Pharaoh, to the point of giving him as a wife the sister of his wife, the sister of Queen Taphnes. ²⁰ Taphnes' sister bore him a son, Genubath, whom Taphnes weaned in Pharaoh's house, and Genubath lived in Pharaoh's house among Pharaoh's children. ²¹ When Adad learned in Egypt that David had died and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead, he said to Pharaoh, "Let me go to my own country."« ²² And Pharaoh said to him, "What do you lack with me, that you wish to go to your own country?" He replied, "Nothing, but let me go."« ²³ God raised up another enemy against Solomon: Rezon, son of Eliada, who had fled from his master Hadarezer, king of Zobah. ²⁴ He had gathered people around him and was the leader of a band, when David massacred his master's troops. They went to Damascus and settled there and reigned in Damascus. ²⁵ He was an enemy of Israel throughout Solomon's lifetime, in addition to the harm done to him by Adad, and he abhorred Israel. He reigned over the Syria. ²⁶ Jeroboam also raised his hand against the king; he was the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite from Zareda, his mother was a widow named Sarva, and he was a servant of Solomon. ²⁷ This was the cause of his rebellion against the king. Solomon was building Mello and closing the breach in the city of David, his father. ²⁸ This Jeroboam was strong and valiant, and Solomon, having seen how active this young man was in his work, appointed him overseer of all the forced laborers in the house of Joseph. ²⁹ At that time, Jeroboam, having left Jerusalem, was met on the road by the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh, wearing a new cloak; they were both alone in the fields. ³⁰ Ahias, seizing the new cloak he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces, ³¹ And he said to Jeroboam, «Take ten pieces for yourself. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am going to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and I will give you ten tribes. ³² Only one tribe will remain for him, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel: ³³ And this is because they have forsaken me and bowed down to Astarte, goddess of the Sidonians, to Hamos, god of Moab, and to Melchom, god of the Ammonites, and because they have not walked in my ways to do what is right in my eyes and to observe my statutes and my ordinances, as David, Solomon's father, did. ³⁴ Nevertheless, I will not take any part of the kingdom from his hand, but I will maintain him as prince all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant, whom I have chosen and who has kept my commandments and my laws. ³⁵ It is from the hand of his son that I will take the kingdom away and I will give you ten tribes. ³⁶ I will give a tribe to his son, so that David, my servant, may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen to put my name there. ³⁷ I will take you and you will reign over all that your soul desires, and you will be king over Israel. ³⁸ If you obey all that I command you, if you walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes, observing my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you, I will build you a lasting house, as I built one for David, and I will give you Israel. ³⁹ For I will humble David's descendants because of his unfaithfulness, but not forever.» ⁴⁰ Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shesak, king of Egypt; he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. ⁴¹ The rest of Solomon's actions, all that he did and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of Solomon's acts? ⁴² The time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all Israel, was forty years. ⁴³ And Solomon rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

1 Kings 12

¹ Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² Jeroboam, son of Nebat, having learned what was happening, was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon, and Jeroboam remained in Egypt., ³ They sent for him. Then Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying: ⁴ «"Your father made our yoke harsh; now you must lighten the harsh servitude your father imposed on us and the heavy yoke he put upon us, and we will serve you."» ⁵ He told them, "Go away for three days and come back to me." And the people went away. ⁶ King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had stood with Solomon, his father, during his lifetime, saying, «What do you advise me to say to these people?» ⁷ They spoke to him, saying, «If today you are helpful to these people, if you assist them, if you answer them and speak kindly to them, they will be your servants forever.» ⁸ But Rehoboam disregarded the advice given to him by the elders and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and who stood before him. ⁹ He said to them, "What do you advise me to say to these people who speak to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father imposed on us'?"« ¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him replied, saying: «This is what you will say to the people who spoke to you: ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, you lighten it for us.’ This is what you will say to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins.’”. ¹¹ "Well then. My father burdened you with a heavy yoke, and I will make your yoke even heavier; my father chastised you with whips, and I will chastise you with scorpions."» ¹² Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had said, «Return to me in three days.» ¹³ The king responded harshly to the people. Ignoring the advice the elders had given him, ¹⁴ He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying: «My father made your yoke heavy, and I will make your yoke even heavier; my father chastised you with whips, and I will chastise you with scorpions.» ¹⁵ The king did not listen to the people, for this was the Lord's way of fulfilling the word that the Lord had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam, son of Nebat. ¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, «What share do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Go to your tents, Israel. As for you, David, see to your own house.» So Israel went to their tents. ¹⁷ It was only over the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah that Rehoboam reigned. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Aduram, who was in charge of taxes, but Aduram was stoned to death by all Israel. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted a chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ This is how Israel separated itself from the house of David to this day. ²⁰ When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned from Egypt, they sent and summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. No one followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah. ²¹ Back in Jerusalem, Rehoboam gathered all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand elite warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, in order to bring the kingdom back to Rehoboam, son of Solomon. ²² But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God, saying: ²³ «Speak to Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying: ²⁴ Thus says the Lord: Do not go up and do not the war to your brothers, the children of Israel. Return each to your home, for this thing has happened through me.» They listened to the word of the Lord and returned, in accordance with the word of the Lord. ²⁵ Jeroboam built Shechem on the mountain of Ephraim and he remained there, then he went out and built Phanuel. ²⁶ And Jeroboam said in his heart, «Now the kingdom may well return to the house of David. ²⁷ If this people goes up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, their hearts will return to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah; they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.» ²⁸ After consulting with one another, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, «You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your God, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.» ²⁹ He placed one of these calves at Bethel and the other at Dan. ³⁰ This was an occasion of sin, for the people went as far as Dan to worship one of the calves. ³¹ Jeroboam made a house of sacred places and appointed priests from among the people, who were not children of Levi. ³² Jeroboam instituted a festival in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, following the example of the festival celebrated in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. He did this at Bethel, so that sacrifices might be offered to the calves he had made. He also appointed priests of the high places he had erected at Bethel. ³³ He went up onto the altar he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the month he had chosen of his own accord. He instituted a festival for the children of Israel and went up onto the altar to burn the sacrifices.

1 Kings 13

¹ Behold, a man of God came, in the word of the Lord, from Judah to Bethel, while Jeroboam stood at the altar to set fire to the sacrifices. ² He cried out against the altar, in the word of the Lord, and said: «Altar! Altar! This is what the Lord says: A son will be born to the house of David, his name will be Josiah. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer fire sacrifices on you, and human bones will be burned on you.» ³ And that same day he gave a sign, saying, «This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: behold, the altar will split apart and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.» ⁴ When King Jeroboam heard the word that the man of God had cried out against the altar at Bethel, he reached out his hand from the altar, saying, «Seize him.» But the hand that he stretched out against him withered, and he could not draw it back to himself. ⁵ The altar split open and the ashes fell from the altar, according to the sign given by the man of God in the word of the Lord. ⁶ The king spoke and said to the man of God, «Appease the Lord your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me.» The man of God appeased the Lord, and the king was able to regain his hand, which became as it had been before. ⁷ The king said to the man of God, "Come with me into the house and be refreshed, and I will give you a present."« ⁸ The man of God answered the king, «Even if you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in that place.”, ⁹ For this command was given me in the word of the Lord: »You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way you came.” ¹⁰ So he went away by another way and did not return by the way by which he had come to Bethel. ¹¹ Now there was an old prophet who lived in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the things that the man of God had done that day in Bethel, and they also reported to their father the words that he had spoken to the king. ¹² And their father said to them, «Which way did he go?» For his sons had seen which way the man of God who had come from Judah had gone. ¹³ And he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it. ¹⁴ He went after the man of God and, finding him sitting under the oak tree, said to him, «Are you the man of God who came from Judah?» He answered, «I am.» ¹⁵ The prophet said to him, "Come home with me and you will eat some bread."« ¹⁶ But he replied, «I cannot go back with you, nor enter with you; I will not eat bread or drink water with you in this place.”, ¹⁷ For it was said to me in the word of the Lord: »You shall not eat bread there, nor drink water there, nor return by the way you came.” ¹⁸ And he said to him, «I too am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me in the word of the Lord, saying: Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.» He was lying to him. ¹⁹ The man of God returned with him and ate bread and drank water in his house. ²⁰ As they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back, ²¹ And he cried out to the man who had come from Judah, saying, «This is what the Lord says: Because you have rebelled against the Lord’s command and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you, ²² because you returned and ate bread and drank water in the place of which the Lord had told you: »You shall not eat bread or drink water there, and your body shall not enter the tomb of your ancestors.” ²³ After he had eaten bread and drunk, the old prophet saddled the donkey for him, that is to say, for the prophet he had brought back. ²⁴ The man of God having gone away, he was met on the road by a lion, which killed him. While his body lay on the road, the donkey remained beside him and the lion remained beside the body. ²⁵ And behold, some people who were passing by saw the corpse lying on the road and the lion standing beside the corpse, and they spoke of it when they arrived in the city where the old prophet lived. ²⁶ When the prophet who had brought the man of God back from the way heard about it, he said, «This is the man of God who rebelled against the Lord’s command, and the Lord handed him over to the lion, which tore him to pieces and killed him, according to the word the Lord had spoken to him.» ²⁷ Then he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." When they had saddled it, ²⁸ He went and found the corpse lying on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had not devoured the corpse, nor had it torn the donkey to pieces. ²⁹ The prophet picked up the body of the man of God and, having placed it on the donkey, he brought it back and the old prophet returned to the city to mourn him and to bury him. ³⁰ He placed the body in its tomb, and they wept over him, saying, "Alas, my brother."« ³¹ When he had buried him, he said to his sons, «When I die, you shall bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried, and you shall lay my bones beside his bones. ³² For the word that he cried out in the word of the Lord against the altar that is in Bethel and against all the houses of the holy places that are in the cities of Samaria will be fulfilled.» ³³ After this event, Jeroboam did not turn away from his evil way; again he created priests of the holy places from among the people; whoever desired it, he consecrated, and that person became a priest of the holy places. ³⁴ In this they sinned against the house of Jeroboam, and that is why it was destroyed and exterminated from the face of the earth.

1 Kings 14

¹ At that time, Abijah, son of Jeroboam, became ill. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, «Get up, I beg you, and disguise yourself so that no one will know you are Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, the one who told me that I would be king over this people.”. ³ Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to his house: he will tell you what is to happen to the child.» ⁴ Jeroboam's wife did this; she got up, went to Shiloh, and entered the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could no longer see, because old age had dimmed his eyes. ⁵ The Lord had said to Ahijah: «Here is Jeroboam’s wife coming to ask you for some word about her son, who is sick; you shall speak to her in such and such a way. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else.”. ⁶ When Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she crossed the threshold, he said, «Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why are you pretending to be someone else? I have a difficult message for you. ⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over my people Israel, ⁸ I tore the kingdom from the house of David and gave it to you, but you were not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and walked after me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes, ⁹ But you have done more evil than all who came before you; you have gone and made other gods and cast images to provoke me, and you have cast me behind your back. ¹⁰ Therefore, behold, I am going to bring disaster upon the house of Jeroboam, I will exterminate every male belonging to Jeroboam, both slave and free, and Israel, and I will sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung, until none of it remains. ¹¹ Anyone from the house of Jeroboam who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the fields will be eaten by birds of the air: for the Lord has spoken. ¹² And you, get up, go to your house; as soon as your feet enter the city, the child will die. ¹³ All Israel will mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one of the house of Jeroboam who will be put in a tomb, because he is the only one of the house of Jeroboam in whom anything good was found in the sight of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁴ The Lord will establish a king over Israel who will exterminate the house of Jeroboam on that day. But what? It's already happening. ¹⁵ The Lord will strike Israel, as the reed is shaken in the midst of the waters; he will uproot Israel from this good land which he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the river, because they have made themselves Asherahs, provoking the Lord to anger. ¹⁶ He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he committed and caused Israel to commit.» ¹⁷ Jeroboam's wife got up and set out, and arrived at Terah. As she crossed the threshold of the house, the child died. ¹⁸ They will bury him and all Israel will mourn for him, according to the word that the Lord had spoken through his servant Ahijah the prophet. ¹⁹ The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he did the war And how he reigned, behold, it is written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel. ²⁰ Jeroboam reigned for twenty-two years, and he rested with his ancestors. Nadab, his son, succeeded him as king. ²¹ Rehoboam, son of Solomon, reigned in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. ²² Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and by the sins they committed they aroused his jealousy more than their fathers had done. ²³ They too built sacred places for themselves with stelae and Asherahs, on every high hill and under every green tree. ²⁴ There were even prostitutes in the land. They acted according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the children of Israel. ²⁵ In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, Shesack, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem. ²⁶ He took the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house: he took everything. He took all the golden shields that Solomon had made. ²⁷ In their place, King Rehoboam made bronze shields and gave them to the chiefs of the guards who guarded the entrance to the king's house. ²⁸ Each time the king went to the Lord's house, the guards carried them and then brought them back to the guardroom. ²⁹ The rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ³⁰ There was always war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ³¹ Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David. His mother was named Naamah the Ammonite, and Abiam her son reigned in her place.

1 Kings 15

¹ In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abiam became king of Judah, ² and he reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacha, daughter of Abessalom. ³ He walked in all the sins of his father that he had committed before him, and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord, as the heart of David, his father, had been. ⁴ But for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, appointing his son after him and preserving Jerusalem. ⁵ For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and he had not turned aside all his life from any of the commandments he had received from him, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ⁶ There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam as long as he lived. ⁷ The rest of the acts of Abiam and all that he did are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? There was war between Abiam and Jeroboam. ⁸ Abiam rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David. Asa, his son, reigned in his place. ⁹ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, ¹⁰ and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacha, daughter of Abessalom. ¹¹ Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. ¹² He removed the prostitutes from the land and took away all the idols that his ancestors had made. ¹³ He even removed the title of queen mother from Maacha, his mother, because she had made an abominable idol for Astarte. Asa cut down her abominable idol and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁴ But the sacred places did not disappear, although Asa's heart was perfectly devoted to the Lord throughout his life. ¹⁵ He put into the house of the Lord the things consecrated by his father and the things consecrated by himself, silver, gold, and vessels. ¹⁶ There was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their lives. ¹⁷ Baasha, king of Israel, came up against Judah and built Ramah, to prevent the people of Asa, king of Judah, from going out and coming in. ¹⁸ Asa took all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the king's house and placed them in the hands of his servants, and King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad, son of Tabremon, son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, to say: ¹⁹ «Let there be a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he will depart from me.» ²⁰ Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa, he sent the commanders of his army against the cities of Israel and he defeated Ahion, Dan, Abel-Beth-Maahah and all of Ceneroth with all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ Baasa, having learned of this, ceased building Rama and remained in Tersha. ²² King Asa summoned all Judah, without exempting anyone, and they took away the stones and timber with which Baasha was building Ramah, and King Asa built with them Gibeah of Benjamin and Masphah. ²³ The rest of all the acts of Asa, all his exploits and all that he did and the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? However, in the days of his old age, he had a foot ailment. ²⁴ Asa rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David, his father, and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place. ²⁵ Nadab, son of Jeroboam, became king of Israel in the second year of Asa, king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. ²⁶ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he walked in the way of his father and in the sins of his father which he had caused Israel to commit. ²⁷ Baasha, son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gebbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gebbethon. ²⁸ Baasha put him to death in the third year of Asa, king of Judah, and he reigned in his place. ²⁹ When he became king, he struck down the entire house of Jeroboam, sparing not a single living soul from the house of Jeroboam, without exterminating it, according to the word that the Lord had spoken through his servant Ahijah of Shiloh, ³⁰ because of the sins of Jeroboam which he had committed and which he had caused Israel to commit, thus provoking the Lord, the God of Israel. ³¹ The rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ³² There was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their lives. ³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel at Terah, and he reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in the sins which Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

1 Kings 16

¹ The word of the Lord came to Jehu, son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying: ² «I raised you from the dust and appointed you leader of my people Israel, but you walked in the way of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins. ³ Therefore, behold, I will sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. ⁴ Anyone from the house of Baasha who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone from his household who dies in the fields will be eaten by birds of the air.» ⁵ The rest of Baasha's deeds, what he did and his exploits, are they not written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁶ Baasa rested with his fathers and was buried in Terah, and Elah his son reigned in his place. ⁷ The word of the Lord was also directed by the prophet Jehu, son of Hanani, against Baasha and his house, either because of all the evil he had done in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands and becoming like the house of Jeroboam, or because he had struck that house. ⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel in Terah and reigned two years. ⁹ His servant Zambri, commander of half the chariots, conspired against him. Elah was in Thersa, drinking and getting drunk in the house of Arsa, who was in charge of the king's household in Thersa. ¹⁰ Zambri entered, struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned in his place. ¹¹ When he became king and sat on his throne, he struck down the entire house of Baasa, leaving no male child alive, nor any of his relatives or friends. ¹² Thus Zambri destroyed the entire house of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken against Baasha through Jehu the prophet, ¹³ because of all the sins that Baasha and Elah, his son, had committed and caused Israel to commit, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their idols. ¹⁴ The rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zambri reigned for seven days in Terah. The people were then encamped opposite Gebbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶ And the people who were encamped heard this news: «Zambri conspired and even killed the king.» That same day, in the camp, all Israel appointed Amri, commander of the army, as king of Israel. ¹⁷ Amri and all Israel with him went up from Gebbethon and came to besiege Terah. ¹⁸ When he saw the city taken, Zambri retreated to the citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house down upon him. Thus he died., ¹⁹ because of the sins he had committed, doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walking in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin that Jeroboam had committed to make Israel sin. ²⁰ The rest of Zambri's deeds and the plot he formed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²¹ The people of Israel then split into two parties: half of the people were for Tebni, son of Gineth, to make him king, and the other half were for Amri. ²² Those who followed Amri prevailed over those who followed Thebni, son of Gineth. Thebni died and Amri reigned. ²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Amri became king of Israel and reigned twelve years. ²⁴ When he had reigned six years in Terah, he bought the mountain of Samaria from Somer for two talents of silver, then he built on the mountain and named the city he had built Samaria, after Somer, whose mountain it was. ²⁵ Amri did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, and he acted more evilly than all those who had reigned before him. ²⁶ He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and in the sins which Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their idols. ²⁷ The rest of the acts of Amri, what he did and the exploits he performed, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? ²⁸ Amri rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. Ahab, his son, reigned in his place. ²⁹ Ahab, son of Amri, became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa, king of Judah, and Ahab, son of Amri, reigned twenty-two years over Israel in Samaria. ³⁰ Ahab, son of Amri, did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who had been before him. ³¹ As if it were a small thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, he took as his wife Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and he went to serve Baal and bow down before him. ³² He erected an altar to Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria, ³³ Ahab also made the Asherah. Ahab did even more than all the kings of Israel who had come before him in provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger. ³⁴ In his days, Hiel of Bethel built Jericho; he laid its foundations at the cost of Abiram, his firstborn, and he set up its gates at the cost of Segub, his youngest son, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken through the messenger of Joshua, son of Nun.

1 Kings 17

¹ Elijah the Tishbite, one of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, «As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain these years except at my word.» ² And the word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying: ³ «Leave here, head east and hide by the brook Carith, which is opposite the Jordan. ⁴ You will drink water from the stream, and I have commanded the crows to feed you there.» ⁵ He departed and did according to the word of the Lord, and went and settled by the brook Carith, which is opposite the Jordan. ⁶ The crows brought him bread and meat in the morning, bread and meat in the evening, and he drank water from the stream. ⁷ But after a while, the stream dried up, because no rain had fallen in the country. ⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying: ⁹ «Get up, go to Zarephta, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.» ¹⁰ He got up and went to Zarephta. As he approached the city gate, a widow was there gathering wood. He called to her and said, «Please bring me a little water in this jar so I may drink.» ¹¹ And she went to get some. He called her again and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand."« ¹² She replied, «As surely as the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering two sticks so that when I get home I may prepare this leftover food for myself and my son, and we will eat it and then die.» ¹³ Elijah said to him, «Do not be afraid; go back and do as you have said. Only first make me a small cake from this and bring it to me; then make some for yourself and your son.”. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: »The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.” ¹⁵ She went away and did according to Elijah's word, and for a long time she and her family, as well as Elijah, had enough to eat. ¹⁶ The jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken through Elijah. ¹⁷ After these events, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill, and his illness was so severe that he lost all breath. ¹⁸ Then this woman said to Elijah, «What have I to do with you, man of God? Have you come to me to remind me of my sins and to kill my son?» ¹⁹ He answered her, "Give me your son." And he took him from the woman's arms and, having carried him up to the upper room where he was staying, laid him on his bed. ²⁰ Then he called upon the Lord, saying, «Lord my God, have you again brought misfortune upon this widow with whom I am staying, even causing the death of her son?» ²¹ And he stretched himself out three times over the child, invoking the Lord and saying, "Lord my God, I pray you, let the soul of this child return to him."« ²² The Lord listened to Elijah's voice and the child's soul returned to him and he was restored to life. ²³ Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother, and Elijah said, "Behold, 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 truth.»

1 Kings 18

¹ After many days, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year: «Go, appear before Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth.» ² And Elijah departed to present himself before Ahab. The famine had become severe in Samaria, ³ Ahab summoned Obadiah, the head of his household. Now Obadiah greatly feared the Lord, ⁴ For when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them fifty by fifty in caves, where he fed them with bread and water. ⁵ Ahab said to Obadiah, «Go throughout the land to all the springs of water and to all the streams; perhaps we will find some grass, and we will preserve the lives of the horses and mules, and we will not have to slaughter any cattle.» ⁶ They divided the country between them to travel through it; Ahab went alone by one path and Obadiah went alone by another path. ⁷ As Obadiah was on his way, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down, and said, «Is it you, my lord Elijah?» ⁸ He answered him, "It is I; go and tell your master, 'Here is Elijah.'"« ⁹ And Obadiah said, «What sin have I committed, that you should hand your servant over to Ahab to kill me?” ¹⁰ The Lord your God lives. There is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent to search for you, and when they said, "Elijah is not here," he made the kingdom and the nation swear that they had not found you. ¹¹ And now you tell me: Go and tell your master: Here is Elijah. ¹² And when I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you away I know not where, and I will go and tell Ahab, who will not find you and will kill me. Yet your servant has feared the Lord from his youth. ¹³ Have they not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets, fifty in each of fifty, in caves, and I fed them with bread and water. ¹⁴ And now you say, »Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here. He will kill me.’” ¹⁵ But Elijah said, «As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, before whom I stand, I will present myself to Ahab today.» ¹⁶ Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him the news, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. ¹⁷ As soon as Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "You here, you troubler of Israel?"« ¹⁸ Elijah replied, «I am not troubling Israel, but you and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and have gone after the Baals. ¹⁹ Now send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.» ²⁰ Ahab sent messengers to all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets on Mount Carmel. ²¹ Then Elijah approached all the people and said, «How long will you waver from one foot to the other? If the Lord is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him.» But the people did not answer him. ²² And Elijah said to the people, «I am the only one left of the Lord’s prophets, but there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. ²³ Let them give us two bulls, let them choose one of the bulls for themselves, let them cut it into pieces and place it on the wood, without setting it on fire, and I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood, without setting it on fire. ²⁴ Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire, he is God.» All the people answered, «That’s good.» ²⁵ Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, «Choose one of the bulls for yourselves and prepare it first, since you are the majority. Call on the name of your god, but do not set fire to it.» ²⁶ They took the bull that was given to them and prepared it, and they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, «Baal, answer us!» But there was no voice, no answer. And they leaped about before the altar they had made. ²⁷ At noon, Elijah mocked them and said, "Shout aloud, for he is God; he is either meditating, or busy, or traveling, perhaps he is sleeping and will wake up."« ²⁸ And they cried out loudly and, according to their custom, they cut themselves with swords and with spears, until the blood flowed out upon them. ²⁹ When noon had passed, they prophesied until the time of the offering. But there was no voice, no answer, no sign of attention. ³⁰ Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." When all the people came near to him, Elijah restored the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, «Israel shall be your name.» ³² With these stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures of seed, ³³ He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and placed it on the wood. ³⁴ And he said, «Fill four jars with water and pour it over the burnt offering and the wood.» He said, «Do it a second time,» and they did it a second time. He said, «Do it a third time,» and they did it a third time. ³⁵ Water flowed around the altar and he also filled the ditch with water. ³⁶ At the time when the evening sacrifice was offered, Elijah the prophet came forward and said, «The Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. ³⁷ "Hear me, Lord, hear me, so that this people may know that you, Lord, are God, and that it is you who turns their hearts back."» ³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the earth, and absorbed the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ When all the people saw this, they fell on their faces and said, »The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!” ⁴⁰ And Elijah said to them, »Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Zion River, where he killed them. ⁴¹ Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink, for I hear the sound of the rain."« ⁴² Ahab went up to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the top of Carmel and, bending down to the earth, he put his face between his knees, ⁴³ And he said to his servant, «Go up and look toward the sea.» The servant went up and, having looked, said, «There is nothing there.» And Elijah said, «Go back seven times.» ⁴⁴ The seventh time he said, «Look, a small cloud, like the palm of a man’s hand, is rising from the sea.» And Elijah said, «Go and tell Ahab, »Harness your horses and go down, so that the rain does not surprise you.’” ⁴⁵ In a short time, the sky was darkened by clouds and wind, and a heavy rain fell, and Ahab, mounted on his chariot, returned to Jezrehel. ⁴⁶ And the hand of the Lord was upon Elijah, and he girded his loins and ran before Ahab, as far as the entrance of Jezreel.

1 Kings 19

¹ Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. ² And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, «May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I have not done to your life as you have done to the life of each of them?» ³ When Elijah saw this, he got up and ran for his life. He arrived at Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. ⁴ For him, he went into the desert for a day's walk, and when he arrived there, he sat down under a broom tree and asked for death, saying, "It is enough. Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers."« ⁵ He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, «Get up, eat.» ⁶ He looked and there, by his bedside, was a cake baked on heated stones and a jug of water. After eating and drinking, he went back to bed. ⁷ The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, «Get up and eat, for the journey is too long for you.» ⁸ He got up, ate and drank, and with the strength that this food gave him, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached the mountain of God, Horeb. ⁹ There he went into the cave and spent the night. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, «What are you doing here, Elijah?» ¹⁰ He replied, «I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty, because the Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.» ¹¹ The Lord said, «Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for behold, the Lord is about to pass by.» And there came before the Lord a great and violent wind that tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² And after the earthquake, a fire: the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still, small voice. ¹³ When Elijah heard this, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him, saying, «What are you doing here, Elijah?» ¹⁴ He replied, «I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty, because the Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I alone am left, and now they are trying to kill me too.» ¹⁵ The Lord said to him, «Go back on your way to the desert of Damascus, and when you arrive there, anoint Hazael king over the Syria, ¹⁶ You shall anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, as king over Israel, and you shall anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat, of Abel-Mehula, as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ And whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will put to death, and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will put to death. ¹⁸ But I will leave seven thousand men in Israel, namely all those who have not bowed the knee to Baal, all those whose mouths have not kissed him.» ¹⁹ Leaving that place, Elijah found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing; there were twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah went up to him and threw his mantle over him. ²⁰ Elisha, leaving the oxen, ran after Elijah and said, "Let me kiss my father and mother, and then I will follow you." Elijah replied, "Go back, for what have I done to you..."« ²¹ Elisha left him and, having taken the pair of oxen, slaughtered them and with the harness of the oxen he cooked their meat and gave it to the people to eat. Then he got up, followed Elijah and served him.

1 Kings 20

¹ Benhadad, king of Syria, He gathered his entire army, which included thirty-two kings, horses, and chariots. He mounted up and laid siege to Samaria, then attacked it. ² He sent messengers to Ahab, king of Israel, into the city, ³ to tell him: "Thus says Benhadad: Your money and your gold are mine, your wives and your most beautiful children are mine."« ⁴ The king of Israel replied, "As you say, O king, my lord, I am yours with all that I have."« ⁵ The messengers returned and said: "Thus said Benhadad: I sent you to say: You will hand over to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children. ⁶ »But when I send my servants to you tomorrow at this time, they will search your house and the houses of your servants, and they will take everything you consider precious and carry it off.” ⁷ The king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said, «Recognize and see that this man wants our harm, for he sent me to demand my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, and I did not refuse him. ⁸ All the elders and all the people said to Ahab, "Do not listen to him and do not agree."« ⁹ So Ahab replied to Ben-Hadad's messengers, "Tell my lord the king: I will do everything you sent to ask your servant the first time, but I cannot do this one thing." The messengers went and brought him the reply. ¹⁰ Ben-Hadad sent word to Ahab: "May the gods deal with me in all their severity, if the dust of Samaria is enough to fill the palm of the hand of all the people who follow me."« ¹¹ And the king of Israel answered and said, «Tell him: Let not he who puts on his armor boast like he who takes it off.» ¹² When Benhadad heard this response, he was drinking with the kings under the huts, and he said to his servants, "Take up your positions." And they took up their positions against the city. ¹³ But then a prophet approached Ahab, king of Israel, and said to him, «This is what the Lord says: »You see all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver them into your hands today, so that you may know that I am the Lord.’” ¹⁴ Ahab said, «By whom?» And he answered, «Thus says the Lord: By the servants of the governors.» Ahab said, «Who will engage in battle?» And he answered, «You.» ¹⁵ Then Ahab reviewed the servants of the provincial chiefs and there were two hundred and thirty-two of them; after them he reviewed all the people, all the children of Israel: they were seven thousand. ¹⁶ They went out at noon, while Benhadad drank and got drunk under the huts, he and the thirty-two kings, his auxiliaries. ¹⁷ The servants of the provincial leaders were the first to leave. Benhadad sent word and received this report: "Men have left Samaria."« ¹⁸ He said, "If they go out to peace, "Take them alive; if they go out to fight, take them alive."» ¹⁹ When the servants of the provincial governors, along with the army that followed them, had left the city, ²⁰ They fought hand-to-hand, and the Syrians fled. Israel pursued them. Benhadad, king of Syria, escaped on horseback, with riders. ²¹ The king of Israel went out, struck down the horses and chariots, and inflicted a great defeat on the Syrians. ²² Then the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him, «Go, be strong, consider and see what you must do, for at the return of the year, the king of Syria will rise up against you.» ²³ The servants of the king of Syria They told him: "Their gods are mountain gods, that is why they were stronger than us, but let us fight them on the plain and surely we will be stronger than them. ²⁴ Do this too: remove each of the kings from their positions and put leaders in their place, ²⁵ "And raise up an army equal to the one you lost, with as many horses and as many chariots. Then we will fight them on the plain and surely we will be stronger than they." He listened to their words and did so. ²⁶ Upon returning from the year, Benhadad reviewed the Syrians and went up towards Aphec to fight Israel. ²⁷ The Israelites were also mustered, they received provisions, and they advanced to meet the Syrians. The Israelites camped opposite them, like two small flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the land. ²⁸ A man of God approached and said to the king of Israel, «This is what the Lord says: Because the Syrians have said, »The Lord is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,’ I will deliver all this great multitude into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.” ²⁹ They camped opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day, the battle began, and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand Syrian foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰ The rest fled to Aphec, to the city, and the wall fell upon the twenty-seven thousand men who remained. Benhadad had fled and was going through the city from room to room. ³¹ His servants said to him, «Look, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings; please let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life.» ³² They put sackcloth on their loins and ropes on their heads, and when they went to the king of Israel, they said, «Your servant Ben-Hadad says, »Please spare my life.«» Ahab replied, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” ³³ These men took a good omen from this and, hastening to snatch the words from him, they said: "Benhadad is your brother." And he said: "Go and get him." Benhadad came to him and Ahab had him ride on his chariot. ³⁴ Ben-Hadad said to him, «I will return to you the cities that my father took from your father, and you shall build for yourself streets in Damascus, as my father built them in Samaria.» And Ahab replied, «And I will let you go on the condition of a treaty.» He made a treaty with him and let him go. ³⁵ One of the sons of the prophets said to his companion, in the word of the Lord: «Strike me, I pray.» But this man refused to strike him. ³⁶ And he said to him, «Because you have not listened to the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you leave me, the lion will strike you.» And the man went away from him, and the lion, having met him, struck him. ³⁷ He found another man and said to him, "Please strike me." This man struck him and wounded him. ³⁸ So the prophet went and stood in the king's path and disguised himself with a blindfold over his eyes. ³⁹ When the king passed by, he cried out to the king, saying, «Your servant went out in the midst of the battle, and behold, a man came away and brought me a man, saying, ‘Guard this man. If he escapes, your life will be for his life, or you will pay a talent of silver.’. ⁴⁰ And while your servant was going about his business, the man disappeared.» The king of Israel said to him, «This is your judgment; you yourself have rendered it.» ⁴¹ Immediately the prophet removed the blindfold from his eyes and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. ⁴² Then he said to the king, «This is what the Lord says: Because you have let the man I had devoted to destruction escape from your hand, your life will be for his life, and your people for their people.» ⁴³ The king of Israel went home, gloomy and angry, and arrived in Samaria.

1 Kings 21

¹ After these events, as Naboth of Jezreel had a vineyard in Jezrehel, next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria, ² Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, «Give me your vineyard so that I may use it as a vegetable garden, for it is very close to my house. I will give you a better vineyard in its place, or, if that suits you, money for its value.» ³ Naboth replied to Ahab, "The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers."« ⁴ Ahab returned to his dark house, angry because of the words Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: «I will not give up the inheritance of my fathers.» And, lying down on his bed, he turned away his face and did not eat. ⁵ Jezebel, his wife, came to him and said, «Why are you so downcast and refusing to eat?» ⁶ He replied, «I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, »Give me your vineyard for money, or, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard instead.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” ⁷ Then Jezebel, his wife, said to him, «Are you now the king over Israel? Get up, eat some food and be glad, for I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.» ⁸ And she wrote a letter in Ahab's name, sealed it with the king's seal, and sent the letter to the elders and officials who were in the city and living with Naboth. ⁹ Here is what she wrote in the letter: «Proclaim a fast, place Naboth at the head of the people, ¹⁰ "And place two of Belial's men before him, and they will testify against him, saying: 'You have cursed God and the king.' Then take him outside, stone him, and let him die."» ¹¹ The people of Naboth's city, the elders and the officials who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent them, as it was written in the letter she had sent them. ¹² They proclaimed a fast and placed Naboth at the head of the people, ¹³ And the two men, sons of Belial, came and stood before him. These men of Belial testified against Naboth before the people, saying, «Naboth has cursed God and the king.» Then they led him out of the city and stoned him to death. ¹⁴ And they sent word to Jezebel: «Naboth has been stoned to death.» ¹⁵ When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, «Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, who refused to sell it to you for money, because Naboth is no longer alive, for he is dead.» ¹⁶ When Ahab learned that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel, in order to take possession of it. ¹⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: ¹⁸ «Get up, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who reigns in Samaria; there he is in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone down to take possession of it. ¹⁹ You shall speak to him in these words: Thus says the Lord: «Have you not killed and taken an inheritance?» And you shall speak to him in these words: «Thus says the Lord: In the very place where dogs licked Naboth’s blood, dogs shall lick your own blood also.» ²⁰ Ahab said to Elijah, «Have you found me, O my enemy?» He answered, «I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. ²¹ Behold, I will bring disaster upon you, I will sweep you away, I will cut off every male belonging to Ahab, both slave and free in Israel ²² And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and caused Israel to sin.» ²³ The Lord also spoke against Jezebel in these terms: «The dogs will eat Jezebel near the ditch of Jezreel. ²⁴ Anyone from Ahab's household who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the open country will be eaten by the birds of the air.» ²⁵ There was really no one who sold himself like Ahab to do what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, because Jezebel, his wife, aroused him. ²⁶ He behaved in the most abominable way, going after idols, according to all that the Amorites did whom the Lord drove out before the children of Israel. ²⁷ When Ahab heard Elijah's words, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth and walked slowly. ²⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: ²⁹ «Have you seen how Ahab humbled himself before me? Because he humbled himself before me, I will not bring disaster on his house during his lifetime, but I will bring disaster on his house during the lifetime of his son.»

1 Kings 22

¹ We rested for three years, without any war between the Syria and Israel. ² In the third year, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went down to the king of Israel. ³ The king of Israel said to his servants, «Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us? And we are doing nothing to take it back from the king of Syria. » ⁴ And he said to Jehoshaphat, «Will you come with me to attack Ramoth-gilead?» Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel, «It shall be with me as with you, with my people as with your people, with my horses as with your horses.» ⁵ Jehoshaphat then said to the king of Israel, "Now please consult the word of the Lord."« ⁶ The king of Israel gathered the prophets, about four hundred in number, and said to them, «Shall I go up to attack Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?» They answered, «Go up, and the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hands.» ⁷ But Jehoshaphat said, «Is there no longer any prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of him?» ⁸ The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, «There is still one man here through whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, for he never prophesies anything good about me, only bad: he is Micaiah son of Jemlah.» And Jehoshaphat said, «Let not the king speak thus.» ⁹ Then the king of Israel summoned a eunuch and said to him, «Bring Micaiah son of Jemlah at once.» ¹⁰ The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, were sitting each on his throne, clothed in their royal robes, in the square, at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹¹ Zedekiah, son of Canaan, had made himself iron horns and said, "This is what the Lord says: 'With these horns you will gore the Syrians until you have destroyed them.'"« ¹² And all the prophets prophesied likewise, saying, «Go up to Ramoth-gilead and be victorious, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hand.» ¹³ The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah spoke to him in these terms: «Behold, the words of the prophets are unanimous in announcing good to the king; therefore let your word conform to the word of each of them: announce good.» ¹⁴ Micah answered, «As surely as the Lord lives, I will tell him whatever the Lord says to me.» ¹⁵ When he arrived near the king, the king said to him, «Micah, shall we go up to Ramoth-gilead, or shall we refrain?» He replied, «Go up and be victorious, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hand.» ¹⁶ And the king said to him, "How many times must I adjure you to tell me only the truth in the name of the Lord?"« ¹⁷ Micah answered, «I see all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord has said, »These people have no master; let them return in peace, each to his own home.’” ¹⁸ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you? He prophesies nothing good about me, only bad."« ¹⁹ And Micah said, «Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the host of heaven standing beside him, on his right hand and on his left. ²⁰ And the Lord said, “Who will deceive Ahab, so that he goes up to Ramoth-gilead and perishes there?” They answered one in one way, and another in another. ²¹ Then the spirit came and stood before the Lord and said, “I will deceive him.” The Lord said to him, “How?” ²² He replied, “I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.” The Lord said, “You will deceive him and succeed; go out and do so.”. ²³ Therefore, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all your prophets who are there, and the Lord has pronounced disaster against you.» ²⁴ But Zedekiah, son of Canaan, approached and struck Micaiah on the cheek, saying, «Where did the spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?» ²⁵ Micah replied, "You will see it on that day when you go from room to room to hide."« ²⁶ The king of Israel said, «Take Micaiah and bring him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king’s son. ²⁷ You will tell them: Thus says the king: Put this man in prison and feed him with the bread of affliction and the water of affliction, until I come in peace.» ²⁸ And Micaiah said, «If you truly return in peace, the Lord has not spoken through me.» He added, «Listen, all you peoples.» ²⁹ The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-in-Gilead. ³⁰ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself to go into battle, but you put on your clothes." So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. ³¹ The king of Syria had given an order to the thirty-two commanders of his chariots, in these terms: "You shall attack neither small nor great, but only the king of Israel."« ³² When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "Surely this is the king of Israel," and they turned to attack him. Jehoshaphat cried out. ³³ When the chariot commanders saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned away from him. ³⁴ Then a man shot his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints and the breastplate. The king said to his chariot driver, «Turn around and take me out of the camp, for I am wounded.» ³⁵ The fighting became violent that day. The king was held standing on his chariot facing the Syrians and he died that evening, the blood from the wound flowing inside the chariot. ³⁶ Towards sunset, this cry spread through the camp: "Everyone to their own city and everyone to their own country."« ³⁷ Thus the king died. He was brought back to Samaria and the king was buried there. ³⁸ When the chariot was washed at the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked Ahab’s blood and the prostitutes bathed in it, according to the word that the Lord had spoken. ³⁹ The rest of the acts of Ahab, all that he did, the ivory house that he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁴⁰ Ahab rested with his ancestors, and Ahaziah, his son, reigned in his place. ⁴¹ Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab, king of Israel. ⁴² Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah, daughter of Salai. ⁴³ He walked in all the ways of Asa his father and did not turn aside, doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. ⁴⁴ However, the sacred places did not disappear; the people continued to offer sacrifices and perfumes at the sacred places. ⁴⁵ Jehoshaphat was at peace with the king of Israel. ⁴⁶ The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the exploits he performed and the wars he waged, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁴⁷ He removed from the country the remaining prostitutes who had stayed there in the time of Asa, his father. ⁴⁸ At that time there was no king in Edom; a governor fulfilled the functions of king. ⁴⁹ Jehoshaphat built ten ships from Tharsis to go to Ophir to get gold, but he did not go, because the ships were wrecked at Asiongaber. ⁵⁰ Then Ahaziah, Ahab's son, said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants go with your servants on the ships." But Jehoshaphat refused. ⁵¹ Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David; his father, Joram, his son, reigned in his place. ⁵² Ahaziah, son of Ahab, became king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. He reigned two years over Israel. ⁵³ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin. ⁵⁴ He served Baal and bowed down before him, and he angered the Lord, the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.

Notes on the 1^er Book of Kings

1.2 Some skeptics protested against such a remedy, judging it as peculiar as it was contrary to the laws of propriety. But it is certain that the warmth of a healthy person can help to warm and repair a cold and weary temperament. As for the propriety of the method, it would be sufficiently established by the assumption of a marriage. Now, since the law permitted polygamy, on what grounds could this assumption be rejected? Let us add that Adonijah, having wished to marry Abishag, was accused of aspiring to the throne (see 1 Kings 2, 21-22); but such a claim could not have been attributed to him if Abishag had not been one of David's legitimate wives; for women daughters of a deceased king could only marry another king, cf. 2 Kings 3, 7-8.

1.8 Semei, different from the one who had cursed David and who was put to death by order of Solomon.

1.9 En-Rogel, The Rogel fountain, located at the junction of the Hinnom valley and the Kidron valley.

1.13 David made this promise to Bathsheba after the death of the first son he had with her, in order to console her for this loss.

1.38 The Cerethians and the Phelethians. See 2 Samuel 8, 18.

1.50 The law did not allow the altar to be regarded as a sanctuary for criminals, since it ordered that anyone guilty of intentional homicide be dragged from it (see Exodus, 21, 14).

2.3 See Deuteronomy 17:19.

2.4 You will never lack a descendant to sit on the throne of Israel ; that is to say, a man of your race will not be excluded from the throne of Israel; on the contrary, it will always be one of your descendants who will occupy it, cf. 1 Kings 9, 5.

2.5 See 2 Samuel 3:27; 20:10.

2.6 And you will not let, etc. cf. Gen. 37, 35; 42, 38.

2.7 See 2 Samuel 19:31.

2.8 See 2 Samuel 16:5; 19:19.

2.9 It's in the blood ; that is, after shedding his blood through a violent death.

2.10 See Acts of the Apostles, 2, 29.

2.11 See 1 Chronicles 29:27. In Hebron. See Genesis 13.18.

2.24 My built a house ; That is to say, it granted me a large family. Compare to Exodus, 1, 21.

2.27 See 1 Samuel 2:31. So that it might be accomplished, etc. See 1 Samuel 2, 32.

2.28 And seized the horns of the altar, 1 Kings 1, 50.

2.32 See 2 Samuel 3:27; 20:10.

2.37 The Cedar Torrent which forms the valley to the east and southeast of Jerusalem.

2.39 Geth, one of the five major cities of the Philistines.

3.1 See 2 Chronicles, 1, 1. ― To Pharaoh, King of Egypt. This king of Egypt is not known with certainty. It was probably Psusennes II, pharaoh of the 21st century BC.^e dynasty, which resided in Tanis.

3.9 See 2 Chronicles, 1, 10.

3.13 See Wisdom 7:11; Matthew 6:29.

4.4 Sadoc and Abiathar were tall priests. According to Theodoret's explanation, Abiathar, who had declared himself for Adonijah against Solomon, retained the title of high priest, but the exercise of the sovereign pontificate belonged to Zadok.

4.6 Adoniram. This Adoniram would be the same as the Aduram who was stoned by the people at the beginning of Rehoboam's reign., 1 Kings 12, 18.

4.10 He had Socho ; That is to say, he was also in charge of Socho. Aruboth, a city in Judah, probably near Socho.

4.11 Had (…) Tapheth, etc. This is stated in anticipation, because Solomon did not yet have a marriageable daughter. This observation applies to verse 15.

4.12 Abel-méhula. See Judges 7, 23.

4.13 The Towns. This is the explanation of the first part of the word. Avoth-jaïr of the Vulgate; a word whose ending jair is a proper noun referring to a man. See Judges, 10, 4. ― Ramoth-Galaad. See Deuteronomy, 4, 43. ― Argob. See Deuteronomy 3, 4. ― The towns of Jair. See Judges 10, 4. ― Basan. See Numbers 21, 33.

4.19 It is clear that this division of the kingdom into twelve parts did not correspond to the division into twelve tribes, because the territory, revenues, and population of the twelve tribes were too unequal to require each of them to provide the same amount of taxes. To distribute the burden more equitably, consideration was given to the population, wealth, and varying degrees of fertility of each part of the country, and the kingdom was divided into twelve sections, because each of them was responsible for maintaining the royal household for one of the twelve months of the year.

5.1 See Ecclesiasticus 47:15. The river of the land of the Philistines, the stream of Egypt, the Wadi el-Arish.

5.2 The corus, Or kôr, also called unemployed, measure for dry materials, was worth approximately 388 litres.

5.3 Some estimate Solomon's court at fourteen thousand people.

5.4 From the river ; that is to say, of the Euphrates. ― Thaphsa, Thapsacus, on the Euphrates, at an important ford of that river.Gaza, cf Joshua 10, 41

5.5 From Dan to Beersheba, cf Judges 20.1

5.6 Forty thousand stables. The Hebrew here has the same number; but in the parallel passage, see 2 Chronicles, 9, 25, it reads four instead of forty. It was very easy for a copyist to confuse these two words because of their slight difference.

5.9 See 1 Kings 3:12.

5.13 The hyssop growing out of the wall It is not hyssop proper, but a species of moss whose lanceolate leaves resemble those of hyssop, according to several naturalists. According to others, it is common hyssop. Cedars. Cedar wood was particularly prized in antiquity, and deservedly so. It can be used to great advantage in architectural works. It was considered incorruptible; at the very least, it is extremely durable. It can serve all sorts of purposes and is like the tree par excellence for construction.

5.25 Cors. See, for example, 1 Kings 4, 22.

5.28 Adoniram. See 1 Kings 4.6. ― The timber cut on the Lebanon were transported by sea to Joppa or Jaffa, see 2 Chronicles, 2, 16, and from there by land to Jerusalem.

5.29 On the mountain, on Mount Bezetha, north of Jerusalem, in the quarries since called royal, one of whose entrances is opposite the Cave of Jeremiah.

5.31 See Ecclesiasticus, 47, 16.

6.1 See 2 Chronicles, 3, 1. — The month of Ziv It began at the new moon in April.

6.2 Twenty cubits. The cubit was worth a little over fifty centimeters.

6.3 And the portico, the vestibule or pronaos.

6.13 See 1 Chronicles, 22, 9.

6.16 The twenty cubits ; those, no doubt, that are referred to in verse 2.

6.17 The temple itself was the part of the temple located between the vestibule and the Holy of Holies, and called the Saint.

6.37 At the fourth, etc. See verse 1.

6.38 Bul. This month began at the new moon in October.

7.1 See 1 Kings 9, 10.

7.2 The Forest House of Lebanon, so named, not because it was built in the Lebanon, but because cedar wood had been lavished there.

7.8 See 1 Kings 3:1.

7.15 See Jeremiah 52:21.

7.21 Jachin, in Hebrew: He will establish, he will strengthen. ― Booz ; that's to say in him East the force.

7.23 See 2 Chronicles, 4, 2.

7.26 THE bath equivalent to 22 liters.

7.27 Basics Or bases ; a type of box in which basins full of water were placed for the needs of the temple.

7.46 In clay soil. The part of the Jordan Valley that extends from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea is clay soil.

7.48 The breads of suggestion. See Exodus, 25, 30 and Leviticus, 24, 5-9.

7.49 The golden candlesticks each had seven branches including the stem, from which three series of superimposed branches emerged.

7.51 See 2 Chronicles, 5, 1.

8.1 See 2 Chronicles, 5, 2.

8.2 Ethanim, also called Tishri, which began at the new moon in September, was the seventh month of the holy or sacred year, and the first of the civil year.

8.9 See Exodus 34:27; Hebrews 9:4.

8.10 The cloud in which the Lord, according to his promise, was to dwell. See verse 12.

8.12 See 2 Chronicles, 6, 1.

8.15; 8.24 The word hand is placed here by Hebraism, for, power.

8.17 See 2 Samuel 7:5.

8.23-53 Solomon's prayer is a literary work, as well as an expression of his piety; the king makes seven requests to God for seven occasions in which the people will invoke him in his Temple, and each request ends with this sort of refrain: Elisten to them from the sky.

8.25 See 2 Samuel 7:12. You will never miss him, etc. See 1 Kings 2:4; 9:5.

8.27 The heavens of heavens ; superlative, expressing the greatest extent imaginable, immensity.

8.29 See Deuteronomy 12:11.

8.44 Filmed, etc. It has always been the custom of Jews living far from Jerusalem to face that city when they pray. Compare verse 46 to Daniel 6, 10.

8.46 See 2 Chronicles, 6, 36; Ecclesiastes, 7:21; 1 John 1:8.

8.65 Émath. See 2 Samuel 8, 9.

9.2 See 1 Kings 3:5; 2 Chronicles 7:12. Gabaon. See 1 Kings 3, 4.

9.5 See 2 Samuel 7, vv. 12, 16.

9.8 See Deuteronomy 29:24; Jeremiah 22:8.

9.10 See 2 Chronicles, 8, 1. ― When Solomon had built, that is, after he had begun to build. By comparing the various passages where these buildings are mentioned, we see that the construction of the temple lasted seven and a half years, and that of Solomon's palace twelve and a half.

9.11 In the country of Galileo, probably in the tribe of Naphtali, in the north, near Phoenicia.

9.13 According to the historian Josephus, Chaboul means in Phoenician unpleasant, not pleasing ; But this explanation is as uncertain as the others that have been given for this word. — Before the expression to this day, there is an ellipsis of the sentence as they were called ; ellipsis that we have already been able to notice quite often.

9.15 Mello, fortification works or citadel. ― Hesitate or Hazor, located at the foot of the Lebanon, commanded the border of Palestine on the side of the Syria. ― Mageddo, between Mount Tabor and the Mediterranean Sea, was the key to the plain of Esdraelon, and there, in all times, battles were fought on which the fate of Palestine depended.

9.17 Solomon protected his kingdom from enemies on the south side by fortifying Gazer and Beth-Horon, which dominated the passes through which one entered from the land of the Philistines into the tribe of Judah.

9.18 Baalath, city of Dan.

9.24 See 2 Chronicles, 8, 11.

9.26 Asiongaber was on the eastern or Elanitic Gulf of the Red Sea what Suez has become today on the western gulf.

9.28 Ophir, probably Abhira, in India, at the mouth of the Indus.

10.1 See 2 Chronicles 9:1; Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:31. Solomon's fame in the name of the Lord ; That is, the renown of Solomon acquired through all that he had done for the name of the Lord. Saba, capital of the Sabaeans, in Arabia Felix, where gold, precious stones, frankincense and perfumes are found in abundance.

10.5 Beside herself ; She was delighted.

10.11 See 2 Chronicles, 9, 10 ― Sandalwood, fragrant wood.

10.14 Six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, approximately 283,000 kilograms.

10.15 Arabia, the country which extends south and east of Palestine to the Red Sea.

10.16 Six hundred shekels of gold. See 2 Sam. 18, 11.

10.16-17 Solomon also made two hundred large gold shields… and three hundred small shields. In antiquity, there were shields of two shapes and two sizes: the large ones, vaulted quadrilaterals; the small ones, more or less rounded. Both were undoubtedly made of wood and covered with gold plates weighing six hundred shekels for the former, three minae for the latter. A talent was equivalent to sixty minae, a mina to fifty shekels, and a shekel to fourteen grams and twenty centigrams.

10.17 In the wooden house of Lebanon. See 1 Kings 7, 2.

10.22 The king's fleet... was going... to Tharsis. The Hebrew text simply states that the ships in the fleet were Tharsis ships, that is, large tonnage ships, the kind used by the Phoenicians to go to Tartessus in Spain, just as the English called Indiamen their large ships, whether they go to India or not. 2 Chronicles, 9, 21, seems to say, it is true that Solomon's fleet went to Tarshish, but this should not be understood as Spain, since in 2 Chronicles, 20, 36, we read that the fleet of Tharsis departed from Asiongaber, from where it was not possible to go to Spain.

10.26 See 2 Chronicles 1:14; 1 Kings 4:26.

10.27 Sycamore trees with figs. See Luke 19:4.

10.29 The Hittites were very powerful at that time. Syria and their dominion extended as far as the Euphrates.

11.1 See Deut. 17:17; Ecclesiasticus 47:21.

11.2 YOU you will not have any business with them etc. See Exodus, 34, 16, from which this quote is taken.

11.5 Astarthé. See Judges 3, 7. ― Moloch. See Leviticus 18, 21.

11.7 Nature and the sun were worshipped by the Moabites under the name of Chamos, as they were worshipped by the Ammonites under the name of Moloch. Both were the same god as Baal under different names. Chamos was also one of the gods of the Ammonites. On the mountain that is opposite Jerusalem, the mountain of Scandal (see 2 Kings 23, 13), south of Jerusalem.

11.9 See 1 Kings 9:2.

11.12 See 1 Kings 12:15.

11.15 See 2 Samuel 8:14.

11.18 Of Midian. The country east of the Gulf of Elani. Pharan, the Feiran desert, in the Sinai.

11.19 In front of Pharaoh. This pharaoh is unknown.

11.24 In Damascus, capital of the Syria, on the Abana, which, through its abundant waters, brings fertility and wealth to this city.

11.26 See 2 Chronicles 13:6. From Saréda, unknown city.

11.27 Mello. See 1 Kings 9, 15.

11.29 See 2 Chronicles, 10, 15.

11.36 A lamp ; a posterity that shines like a lamp.

11.40 Sesac, Pharaoh of the 22nd^e dynasty, united all of Egypt under his rule and governed it vigorously. He was not from the same dynasty as Solomon's father-in-law. See 1 Kings 14, 25.

11.41 This book, long lost, was probably a kind of journal of Solomon's history, the memoirs of his life, the annals of his reign, like those written among the Persians, the Babylonians, etc.

12.1 See 2 Chronicles, 10, 1. ― Shechem, in the center of Palestine. See Genesis 12, 6.

12.11 Scorpions ; that is to say, straps fitted with spikes at their ends; or sticks fitted with thorns.

12.15 See 1 Kings 11:31.

12.16 David is placed here for the family of David, for the royal line. — Jesse was David's father. — To your tents ; That is to say, mind your own business, take care of yourself.

12.18 Aduram. See 1 Kings 4, 6.

12.22 See 2 Chronicles, 11, 2.

12.25 Here, as in several other passages, build means rebuild, to make expansions, embellishments.

12.28 See Tobit 1:5; Exodus 32:8.

12.29 Bethel. See Genesis, 12, 8. ― Dan. See Joshua, 19, 47.

12.31 See 2 Chronicles, 11, 15. ― sacred places. See Numbers 22, 41.

13.1; 13.2; 13.5 In the word of the Lord ; with the Lord's own words, bearer of the Lord's own words.

13.2 See 2 Kings 23:16.

13.9 This command was given to me in the word of the Lord ; That is to say, the commandment I received was the very expression of the Lord. 13.17 For it was told me in the word of the Lord ;because the Lord spoke to me directly, made me hear his own words. 13.32 The cities of Samaria. On Samaria, see 1 Kings 16, 24. Samaria gave its name to the whole land. 14.2 See 1 Kings 11:31. Go to Silo. On Silo, see Joshua 18, 1.

14.10 See 1 Kings 15:29.

14.15 Beyond the river: of the Euphrates. ― They made some Asherahs. See Exodus 34, 13.

14.17 Thersa, unknown site.

14.19; 14.29 The book, etc. See 1 Kings 11, 41.

14.21 See 2 Chronicles, 12, 13.

14.23 On every high hill. See Number. 22, 41.

14.24 Prostitutes. See Deut. 23, 17.

14.25 Sesac, founder of the XXII^e Egyptian dynasty, was of foreign origin and had married Karamat, daughter of Pharaoh Pisebkhan I^er. He preserved for us on his monuments at Karnak the memory of his victories over the kingdom of Judah.

14.26 See 1 Kings 10:16.

15.2 See 2 Chronicles, 13, 2. 15.4 A lamp. See 1 Kings 11, 36. 15.5 See 2 Samuel 11:4.

15.7 See 2 Chronicles 13:3. The book, etc. See 1 Kings 11, 41.

15.8 See 2 Chronicles, 14, 1.

15.13 At the Cedar Torrent, to the east and southeast of Jerusalem. 15.14 THE sacred places. See Numbers 22, 41. 15.17 See 2 Chronicles 16:1. Built, rebuilt Rama, today er-Ram, north of Jerusalem. 15.18 In Damascus, See 1 Kings 11, 24. 15.20 Ceneroth. See Deuteronomy, 3, 17. ― For Ahion And Abel, Maacha's house, see 2 Kings 15, 29. ― For Dan, see Joshua, 19, 47.

15.22 Without exempting anyone, to come to Rama. ― Gabaa in Benjamin. See 1 Samuel 11, 4. ― Maspha, north of Jerusalem.

15.23; 15.31 The book, etc. See 1 Kings 11, 41.

15.24 See 2 Chronicles, 17, 1.

15.27 Gebbethon, a Levitical city of the tribe of Dan.

15.29 See 1 Kings 21:22; 14:10.

16.4 See 1 Kings 14:11.

16.5 See 2 Chronicles 16:1.

16.10 See 2 Kings 9:31.

16.14; 16.20; 16.27 The book, etc. See 1 Kings 11, 41.

16.24 Samaria, Built on a hill north of Shechem, in the middle of a plain surrounded by a ring of mountains, it was in an even stronger position than Jerusalem. It was raised about two hundred meters above the surrounding valleys and occupied a magnificent site.

16.31 Baal. See Judges 6, 25.

16.33 The Asherah. See Exodus 34, 13.

16.34 In his time ; That is, during the reign of Ahab. See, for the rest of the verse, Joshua, 6, 26. ― Hiel built Jericho. See Joshua 6, 1. ― Bethel is a short distance from Jericho. See Genesis 12, 8.

17.1 See Ecclesiasticus, 48, 1. The Lord is alive. See Judges 8, 19. ― These years That is to say, for three and a half years, according to Saint Luke (see Luke, 4, 25) and Saint James (see Jacques, 5, 17). ― The Thesbite, from Theshbe, on a hill west of Lake Merom. He lived in the land of Gilead, east of the Jordan.

17.3 The Carith Torrent This would be the present-day Wadi Kelt, which opens near Jericho and is deeply carved between two wild mountains, where crows abound.

17.9 Sarephta or Sarepta, a Phoenician city, a port on the Mediterranean Sea, between Sidon and Tyre; renowned for its wines.

17.10 See Luke 4:26.

18.1 The third year ; most likely from his stay in Sarepta.

18.18 Baals. See Judges 6, 25.

18.19 At Mount Carmel, On the side of the Esdraelon Plain. According to tradition, to the southeast, on the side of the plain; there the rock ends in a sheer wall, and one could see from afar everything that happened there. Large blocks of stone found there may have been used to erect the altar. Water is not far from it.

18.26 They jumped in front of the altar. This is a sacred dance that was part of the cult of Baal. 18.28 They made incisions on themselves.. Some dervishes still maintain these bloody practices. 18.31 See Genesis 32:28.

18.40 At the Cison torrent. See Judges 4, 7.

18.44 From the sea The Mediterranean Sea, on which Mount Carmel juts out.

18.46 He girded his loins ; having hiked up her dress to her waist, so as not to be embarrassed while running.

19.3 Bersabée. See Genesis 21, 14.

19.4 In the desert from Sinai.

19.8 The mountain of God. See Exodus 3, 1.

19.14 See Romans 11:3.

19.15 In Damascus. See 1 Kings 11, 24.

19.16 See 2 Kings 9:2. Abel-Mehula. See Judges 7, 23. 19.18 See Romans 11:4. All those whose lips have not kissed him Those who did not worship Baal, by kissing their hand. It was indeed the custom of the pagans to bring their hand to their mouth to kiss it. — On Baal, see Judges 6, 25.

20.22 The prophet, which was mentioned in verse 13.

20.26 Aphec. There were several Aphecs in Palestine. The one in question here was located east of the Jordan River, on the main road from Palestine to Damascus.

20.30 Room by room ; that is to say, in very remote places.

20.31 Bags. See 2 Samuel 3, 31. ― Ropes around our heads. The custom of putting ropes around one's head or neck, in times of disgrace, was formerly common among the Syrians, and even among the Egyptians. 20.34 Streets in Damascus. See 1 Kings 11, 24. ― These streets can only be sites of bazaars, where the Israelites could establish themselves to do business.

20.35 One of the sons of the prophets ; That is to say, disciples of the prophets. In the word of the Lord. See 1 Kings 13, 1. ― Hit me. The prophet wanted to appear wounded before Ahab, in order to interest him more with this symbolic action, and to more easily draw from his mouth the confession of his fault and his own condemnation.

20.36 The lion. This is a known lion, since the Hebrew text uses the definite article; probably the one already mentioned in 1 Kings 13, vv. 24, 26-28. This punishment seems severe; is it not justified by the formal refusal of this prophet to obey what he knew perfectly well to be the will of God?

20.42 See 1 Kings 22:35. 21.1 ― Jezrahel, border town of Issachar, at the eastern end of the Esdraelon plain, north of Engannim, south of Sunem and Nain. 21.10 Son of Belial ; See Judges 19, 22 and 2 Corinthians 6, 15.

21.19 See 1 Kings 22:38.

21.21 See 2 Kings 9:8. Here is, etc. These are the words of the Lord that Elijah repeats.

21.22 See 1 Kings 15:29; 16:3.

21.23 See 2 Kings 9:36.

21.29 See 2 Kings 9:26. 22.1 See 2 Chronicles, 18, 1. 22.3 Ramoth-in-Galaad. See Deuteronomy, 4, 43. 22.5 It will be the same for me as for you My will is yours.

22.8 This Micah is different from one of the twelve minor prophets, who lived only much later. He was the only prophet of the true God who remained in Samaria. Elijah and Elisha lived in solitude and remote places with their disciples.

22.10 Near the Samaria Gate. This gate was located to the west of the city and overlooked the entire plain below and the plain of Sharon as far as the Mediterranean.

22.16 In the name of the Lord. The king realized Micah's irony, which is why he insisted so strongly on obtaining a true prediction. 22.25 From room to room. See 1 Kings 20, 30. 22.38 See 1 Kings 21:19.

22.39 Is it not written, etc. Compare to 1 Kings 11, 41. ― The Ivory House, adorned internally with ivory.

22.44 Sacred places. See Numbers 22.41.

22.47 See Deuteronomy, 23, 17. 22.49 A Asiongaber, a port on the Red Sea, at the northern end of the Gulf of Aegean. ― Ophir, country of India, at the mouth of the Indus. 22.54 He also served Baal. On Baal, see Judges 6, 25.