Bible (Literal Standard Version)/1 Kings

For other versions of this work, see 1 Kings (Bible).

Chapter 1

¹ And King David [is] old, entering into days, and they cover him with garments, and he has no heat, ² and his servants say to him, "Let them seek [for] a young woman, a virgin, for my lord the king, and she has stood before the king, and is a companion to him, and has lain in your bosom, and my lord the king has heat." ³ And they seek [for] a beautiful young woman in all the border of Israel, and find Abishag the Shunammite, and bring her to the king, ⁴ and the young woman [is] very, very beautiful, and she is a companion to the king, and serves him, and the king has not known her. ⁵ And Adonijah son of Haggith is lifting himself up, saying, "I reign"; and he prepares for himself a chariot and horsemen, and fifty men running before him, ⁶ and his father has not grieved him [all] his days, saying, "Why have you done this?" And he also [is] of a very good form, and [his mother] bore him after Absalom. ⁷ And his words are with Joab son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest, and they help after Adonijah; ⁸ and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty ones whom David has, have not been with Adonijah. ⁹ And Adonijah sacrifices sheep and oxen and fatlings near the stone of Zoheleth that [is] by En-Rogel, and calls all his brothers, sons of the king, and for all the men of Judah, servants of the king; ¹⁰ and he has not called Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty ones, and his brother Solomon. ¹¹ And Nathan speaks to Bathsheba, mother of Solomon, saying, "Have you not heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has reigned, and our lord David has not known? ¹² And now, come, please let me counsel you, and deliver your life and the life of your son Solomon; ¹³ go and enter in to King David, and you have said to him: Have you not, my lord, O king, sworn to your handmaid, saying, Surely your son Solomon reigns after me, and he sits on my throne? And why has Adonijah reigned? ¹⁴ Behold, you are yet speaking there with the king, and I come in after you, and have completed your words." ¹⁵ And Bathsheba comes in to the king, [into] the inner chamber, and the king [is] very aged, and Abishag the Shunammite is serving the king; ¹⁶ and Bathsheba bows and pays respect to the king, and the king says, "What do you [want]?" ¹⁷ And she says to him, "My lord, you have sworn by your God YHWH to your handmaid, [saying], Surely your son Solomon reigns after me, and he sits on my throne; ¹⁸ and now, behold, Adonijah has reigned, and now, my lord, O king, you have not known; ¹⁹ and he sacrifices ox, and fatling, and sheep in abundance, and calls for all the sons of the king, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab head of the host—and he has not called for your servant Solomon. ²⁰ And you, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel [are] on you, to declare to them who sit on the throne of my lord the king after him; ²¹ and it has been, when my lord the king lies with his fathers, that I have been, I and my son Solomon—[reckoned] sinners." ²² And behold, she is yet speaking with the king, and Nathan the prophet has come in; ²³ and they declare to the king, saying, "Behold, Nathan the prophet"; and he comes in before the king, and bows himself to the king, on his face to the earth. ²⁴ And Nathan says, "My lord, O king, you have said, Adonijah reigns after me, and he sits on my throne; ²⁵ for he has gone down today, and sacrifices ox, and fatling, and sheep, in abundance, and calls for all the sons of the king, and for the heads of the host, and for Abiathar the priest, and behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and they say, Let King Adonijah live! ²⁶ But he has not called for me, your servant, and for Zadok the priest, and for Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, and for your servant Solomon; ²⁷ if this thing has been from my lord the king, then you have not caused your servant to know who sits on the throne of my lord the king after him." ²⁸ And King David answers and says, "Call for Bathsheba for me"; and she comes in before the king, and stands before the king. ²⁹ And the king swears and says, "YHWH lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity; ³⁰ surely as I swore to you by YHWH, God of Israel, saying, Surely your son Solomon reigns after me, and he sits on my throne in my stead; surely so I do this day." ³¹ And Bathsheba bows—face to the earth—and pays respect to the king, and says, "Let my lord, King David, live for all time." ³² And King David says, "Call for Zadok the priest, and for Nathan the prophet, and for Benaiah son of Jehoiada for me"; and they come in before the king. ³³ And the king says to them, "Take the servants of your lord with you, and you have caused my son Solomon to ride on my own mule, and caused him to go down to Gihon, ³⁴ and Zadok the priest has anointed him there—and Nathan the prophet—for king over Israel, and you have blown with a horn and said, Let King Solomon live; ³⁵ and you have come up after him, and he has come in and has sat on my throne, and he reigns in my stead, and I have appointed him to be leader over Israel, and over Judah." ³⁶ And Benaiah son of Jehoiada answers the king and says, "Amen! So does YHWH, God of my lord the king, say; ³⁷ as YHWH has been with my lord the king, so is He with Solomon, and makes his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David." ³⁸ And Zadok the priest goes down, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethite, and the Pelethite, and they cause Solomon to ride on the mule of King David, and cause him to go to Gihon, ³⁹ and Zadok the priest takes the horn of oil out of the tent, and anoints Solomon, and they blow with a horn, and all the people say, "Let King Solomon live." ⁴⁰ And all the people come up after him, and the people are piping with pipes, and rejoicing [with] great joy, and the earth splits with their voice. ⁴¹ And Adonijah hears, and all those called who [are] with him, and they have finished to eat, and Joab hears the noise of the horn and says, "Why [is] the noise of the city roaring?" ⁴² He is yet speaking, and behold, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest has come in, and Adonijah says, "Come in, for you [are] a man of valor, and you bear good tidings." ⁴³ And Jonathan answers and says to Adonijah, "Truly our lord King David has caused Solomon to reign, ⁴⁴ and the king sends with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethite, and the Pelethite, and they cause him to ride on the king's mule, ⁴⁵ and they anoint him—Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet—for king in Gihon, and have come up there rejoicing, and the city is moved; it [is] the noise that you have heard. ⁴⁶ And also Solomon has sat on the throne of the kingdom, ⁴⁷ and also the servants of the king have come into bless our lord King David, saying, Your God makes the name of Solomon better than your name, and his throne greater than your throne; and the king bows himself on the bed, ⁴⁸ and also thus the king has said, Blessed [is] YHWH, God of Israel, who has given [one] sitting on my throne today, and my eyes are seeing." ⁴⁹ And they tremble, and rise—all those called who [are] for Adonijah—and go, each on his way; ⁵⁰ and Adonijah fears because of Solomon, and rises, and goes, and lays hold on the horns of the altar. ⁵¹ And it is declared to Solomon, saying, "Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon, and behold, he has laid hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let King Solomon swear to me as today—he does not put his servant to death by the sword." ⁵² And Solomon says, "If he becomes a virtuous man—there does not fall [even one] hair of his to the earth, and if evil is found in him—then he has died." ⁵³ And King Solomon sends, and they bring him down from off the altar, and he comes in and bows himself to King Solomon, and Solomon says to him, "Go to your house."

Chapter 2

¹ And the days of David to die draw near, and he charges his son Solomon, saying, ² "I am going in the way of all the earth, and you have been strong, and become a man, ³ and you have kept the charge of your God YHWH, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commands, and His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, so that you do wisely [in] all that you do, and wherever you turn, ⁴ so that YHWH establishes His word which He spoke to me, saying, If your sons observe their way to walk before Me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul; saying, A man of yours is never cut off from the throne of Israel. ⁵ And also, you have known that which he did to me—Joab son of Zeruiah—that which he did to two heads of the hosts of Israel, to Abner son of Ner, and to Amasa son of Jether—that he slays them, and makes the blood of war in peace, and puts the blood of war in his girdle, that [is] on his loins, and in his sandals that [are] on his feet; ⁶ and you have done according to your wisdom, and do not let his old age go down in peace to Sheol. ⁷ And you do kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and they have been among those eating at your table, for so they drew near to me in my fleeing from the face of your brother Absalom. ⁸ And behold, Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite of Bahurim, [is] with you, and he reviled me—a grievous reviling—in the day of my going to Mahanaim; and he has come down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swear to him by YHWH, saying, I do not put you to death by the sword; ⁹ and now, do not acquit him, for you [are] a wise man, and you have known that which you do to him, and have brought down his old age with blood to Sheol." ¹⁰ And David lies down with his fathers, and is buried in the City of David, ¹¹ and the days that David has reigned over Israel [are] forty years; he has reigned seven years in Hebron, and he has reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ¹² And Solomon has sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom is established greatly, ¹³ and Adonijah son of Haggith comes to Bathsheba, mother of Solomon, and she says, "Is your coming peace?" And he says, "Peace." ¹⁴ And he says, "I have a word for you," and she says, "Speak." ¹⁵ And he says, "You have known that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had set their faces toward me for reigning, and the kingdom is turned around, and is my brother's, for it was his from YHWH; ¹⁶ and now, I am asking one petition of you—do not turn back my face"; and she says to him, "Speak." ¹⁷ And he says, "Please speak to Solomon the king, for he does not turn back your face, and he gives Abishag the Shunammite to me for a wife." ¹⁸ And Bathsheba says, "Good; I speak to the king for you." ¹⁹ And Bathsheba comes to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king rises to meet her, and bows himself to her, and sits on his throne, and places a throne for the mother of the king, and she sits at his right hand. ²⁰ And she says, "I ask one small petition of you, do not turn back my face"; and the king says to her, "Ask, my mother, for I do not turn back your face." ²¹ And she says, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to your brother Adonijah for a wife." ²² And King Solomon answers and says to his mother, "And why are you asking [for] Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Also ask [for] the kingdom for him—for he [is] my elder brother—even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah." ²³ And King Solomon swears by YHWH, saying, "Thus God does to me, and thus He adds—surely Adonijah has spoken this word against his [own] soul; ²⁴ and now, YHWH lives, who has established me, and causes me to sit on the throne of my father David, and who has made a house for me as He spoke—surely Adonijah is put to death today." ²⁵ And King Solomon sends by the hand of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he falls on him, and he dies. ²⁶ And the king said to Abiathar the priest, "Go to Anathoth, to your fields; for you [are] a man of death, but I do not put you to death in this day, because you have carried the Ark of Lord YHWH before my father David, and because you were afflicted in all that my father was afflicted in." ²⁷ And Solomon casts out Abiathar from being priest of YHWH, to fulfill the word of YHWH which He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. ²⁸ And the report has come to Joab—for Joab has turned aside after Adonijah, though he did not turn aside after Absalom—and Joab flees to the tent of YHWH, and lays hold on the horns of the altar. ²⁹ And it is declared to King Solomon that Joab has fled to the tent of YHWH, and behold, [is] near the altar; and Solomon sends Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, fall on him." ³⁰ And Benaiah comes into the tent of YHWH and says to him, "Thus said the king: Come out"; and he says, "No, but I die here." And Benaiah brings back word [to] the king, saying, "Thus spoke Joab, indeed, thus he answered me." ³¹ And the king says to him, "Do as he has spoken, and fall on him, and you have buried him, and turned aside the causeless blood which Joab shed from off me, and from off the house of my father; ³² and YHWH has turned back his blood on his own head, [on him] who has fallen on two men more righteous and better than he, and slays them with the sword—and my father David did not know—Abner son of Ner, head of the host of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, head of the host of Judah; ³³ indeed, their blood has turned back on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed for all time; and for David, and for his seed, and for his house, and for his throne, there is peace for all time, from YHWH." ³⁴ And Benaiah son of Jehoiada goes up and falls on him, and puts him to death, and he is buried in his own house in the wilderness, ³⁵ and the king puts Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the host in his stead, and the king has put Zadok the priest in the stead of Abiathar. ³⁶ And the king sends and calls for Shimei, and says to him, "Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem, and you have dwelt there, and do not go out [from] there anywhere; ³⁷ and it has been, in the day of your going out, and you have passed over the Brook of Kidron, you certainly know that you surely die—your blood is on your head." ³⁸ And Shimei says to the king, "The word [is] good; as my lord the king has spoken so your servant does"; and Shimei dwells in Jerusalem many days. ³⁹ And it comes to pass, at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei flee to Achish son of Maachah, king of Gath, and they declare to Shimei, saying, "Behold, your servants [are] in Gath"; ⁴⁰ and Shimei rises, and saddles his donkey, and goes to Gath, to Achish, to seek his servants, and Shimei goes and brings his servants from Gath. ⁴¹ And it is declared to Solomon that Shimei has gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and returns, ⁴² and the king sends and calls for Shimei, and says to him, "Have I not caused you to swear by YHWH—and I testify against you, saying, In the day of your going out, and you have gone anywhere, you certainly know that you surely die; and you say to me, The word I have heard [is] good? ⁴³ And why have you not kept the oath of YHWH, and the charge that I charged on you?" ⁴⁴ And the king says to Shimei, "You have known all the evil that your heart has known, which you did to my father David, and YHWH has turned back your evil on your head, ⁴⁵ and King Solomon [is] blessed, and the throne of David is established before YHWH for all time." ⁴⁶ And the king charges Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he goes out and falls on him, and he dies, and the kingdom is established in the hand of Solomon.

Chapter 3

¹ And Solomon joins in marriage with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and takes the daughter of Pharaoh, and brings her to the City of David, until he completes to build his own house, and the house of YHWH, and the wall of Jerusalem all around. ² Only, the people are sacrificing in high places, for there has not been built a house for the Name of YHWH until those days. ³ And Solomon loves YHWH, to walk in the statutes of his father David—only, he is sacrificing and making incense in high places— ⁴ and the king goes to Gibeon, to sacrifice there, for it [is] the great high place; Solomon causes one thousand burnt-offerings to ascend on that altar. ⁵ YHWH has appeared to Solomon in Gibeon, in a dream of the night, and God says, "Ask—what do I give to you?" ⁶ And Solomon says, "You have done with Your servant, my father David, great kindness, as he walked before You in truth and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You, and You keep this great kindness for him, and give to him a son sitting on his throne, as [at] this day. ⁷ And now, O YHWH my God, You have caused Your servant to reign instead of my father David; and I [am] a little child, I do not know [how] to go out and to come in; ⁸ and Your servant [is] in the midst of your people, whom You have chosen, a people numerous, that is not numbered nor counted for multitude, ⁹ and You have given an understanding heart to Your servant, to judge Your people, to discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" ¹⁰ And the thing is good in the eyes of the Lord, that Solomon has asked this thing, ¹¹ and God says to him, "Because that you have asked for this thing, and have not asked for many days for yourself, nor asked for riches for yourself, nor asked for the life of your enemies, and have asked for discernment for yourself to understand judgment, ¹² behold, I have done according to your words; behold, I have given a wise and understanding heart to you, that there has not been [one] like you before you, and after you there does not arise [one] like you; ¹³ and also, that which you have not asked for I have given to you, both riches and honor, that there has not been a man like you among the kings [for] all your days; ¹⁴ and if you walk in My ways to keep My statutes, and My commands, as your father David walked, then I have prolonged your days." ¹⁵ And Solomon awakens, and behold, [it was] a dream; and he comes to Jerusalem, and stands before the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH, and causes burnt-offerings to ascend, and makes peace-offerings, and he makes a banquet for all his servants. ¹⁶ Then two women, harlots, come to the king, and they stand before him, ¹⁷ and the first woman says, "O my lord, this woman and I are dwelling in one house, and I bring forth with her, in the house; ¹⁸ and it comes to pass on the third day of my bringing forth, that this woman also brings forth, and we [are] together, there is no stranger with us in the house, except the two of us, in the house. ¹⁹ And the son of this woman dies at night, because she has lain on him, ²⁰ and she rises in the middle of the night, and takes my son from beside me—and your handmaid is asleep—and lays him in her bosom, and she has laid her dead son in my bosom; ²¹ and I rise in the morning to suckle my son, and behold, [he is] dead; and I consider in the morning concerning it, and behold, it was not my son whom I bore." ²² And the other woman says, "No, but my son [is] the living, and your son the dead"; and this [one] says, "No, but your son [is] the dead, and my son the living." And they speak before the king. ²³ And the king says, "This [one] says, This [is] my son, the living, and your son [is] the dead; and that [one] says, No, but your son [is] the dead, and my son the living." ²⁴ And the king says, "Take a sword for me"; and they bring the sword before the king, ²⁵ and the king says, "Cut the living child into two, and give half to one, and half to the other." ²⁶ And the woman whose son [is] the living one says to the king (for her bowels yearned over her son), indeed, she says, "O my lord, give the living child to her, and do not put him to death at all"; and this [one] says, "Let him be neither mine or yours—cut [him]." ²⁷ And the king answers and says, "Give the living child to her [who wants him], and do not put him to death at all; she [is] his mother." ²⁸ And all [in] Israel hear of the judgment that the king has judged, and fear because of the king, for they have seen that the wisdom of God [is] in his heart to do judgment.

Chapter 4

¹ And King Solomon is king over all Israel, ² and these [are] the heads whom he has: Azariah son of Zadok [is] the priest; ³ Elihoreph and Ahiah sons of Shisha [are] scribes; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud [is] remembrancer; ⁴ and Benaiah son of Jehoiada [is] over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar [are] priests; ⁵ and Azariah son of Nathan [is] over the officers; and Zabud son of Nathan [is] minister, friend of the king; ⁶ and Ahishar [is] over the household, and Adoniram son of Abda [is] over the tribute. ⁷ And Solomon has twelve officers over all Israel, and they have sustained the king and his household—a month in the year is on each one for sustenance; ⁸ and these [are] their names: Ben-Hur in the hill-country of Ephraim; ⁹ Ben-Dekar in Makaz, and Shaalbim, and Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Beth-Hanan; ¹⁰ Ben-Hesed, in Aruboth, has Sochoh and all the land of Hepher; ¹¹ Ben-Abinadab [has] all the elevation of Dor; Taphath daughter of Solomon became his wife; ¹² Baana Ben-Ahilud [has] Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-Shean, which [is] by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Beth-Shean to Abel-Meholah, to beyond Jokneam; ¹³ Ben-Geber, in Ramoth-Gilead, has the small towns of Jair son of Manasseh, which [are] in Gilead; he has a portion of Argob that [is] in Bashan—sixty great cities [with] wall and bronze bar; ¹⁴ Ahinadab son of Iddo [has] Mahanaim; ¹⁵ Ahimaaz [is] in Naphtali; he also has taken Basemath daughter of Solomon for a wife; ¹⁶ Baanah Ben-Hushai [is] in Asher, and in Aloth; ¹⁷ Jehoshaphat Ben-Paruah [is] in Issachar; ¹⁸ Shimei Ben-Elah [is] in Benjamin; ¹⁹ Geber Ben-Uri [is] in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon king of the Amorite, and of Og king of Bashan: and [he is] the one officer who [is] in the land. ²⁰ Judah and Israel [are] many, as the sand that [is] by the sea for multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing. ²¹ And Solomon has been ruling over all the kingdoms, from the River [to] the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt: they are bringing a present near, and serving Solomon, all [the] days of his life. ²² And the provision of Solomon for one day is thirty cors of flour, and sixty cors of meal, ²³ ten fat oxen, and twenty feeding oxen, and one hundred sheep, apart from deer, and roe, and fallow-deer, and fatted beasts of the stalls, ²⁴ for he is ruling over all beyond the river, from Tiphsah and to Gaza, over all the kings beyond the River, and he has peace from all his surrounding servants. ²⁵ And Judah dwells—and Israel—in confidence, each under his vine, and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-Sheba, all the days of Solomon. ²⁶ And Solomon has forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷ And these officers have sustained King Solomon and everyone drawing near to the table of King Solomon, each [in] his month; they let nothing be lacking. ²⁸ And the barley and the straw, for horses and for dromedaries, they bring to the place where they are, each according to his ordinance. ²⁹ And God gives very much wisdom and understanding to Solomon, and breadth of heart, as the sand that [is] on the edge of the sea; ³⁰ and the wisdom of Solomon is greater than the wisdom of any of the sons of the east, and [greater] than all the wisdom of Egypt; ³¹ and he is wiser than all men, [wiser] than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, sons of Mahol, and his name is in all the surrounding nations. ³² And he speaks three thousand allegories, and his songs [are] one thousand and five; ³³ and he speaks concerning the trees, from the cedar that [is] in Lebanon, even to the hyssop that is coming out in the wall, and he speaks concerning the livestock, and concerning the bird, and concerning the creeping things, and concerning the fishes, ³⁴ and there come out [those] of all the peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth who have heard of his wisdom.

Chapter 5

¹ And Hiram king of Tyre sends his servants to Solomon, for he heard that they had anointed him for king instead of his father, for Hiram was loving toward David all the days; ² and Solomon sends to Hiram, saying, ³ "You have known my father David, that he has not been able to build a house for the Name of his God YHWH, because of the wars that have been all around him, until YHWH's putting them under the soles of his feet. ⁴ And now, my God YHWH has given rest to me all around, there is no adversary nor evil occurrence, ⁵ and behold, I am saying to build a house for the Name of my God YHWH, as YHWH spoke to my father David, saying, Your son whom I appoint in your stead on your throne, he builds the house for My Name. ⁶ And now, command, and they cut down cedars for me out of Lebanon, and my servants are with your servants, and I give the hire of your servants to you according to all that you say, for you have known that there is not a man among us acquainted with cutting wood, like the Sidonians." ⁷ And it comes to pass at Hiram's hearing the words of Solomon, that he rejoices exceedingly and says, "Blessed [is] YHWH today, who has given to David a wise son over this numerous people." ⁸ And Hiram sends to Solomon, saying, "I have heard that which you have sent to me, I do all your desire concerning cedar-wood and fir-wood; ⁹ my servants bring [them] down from Lebanon to the sea, and I make them floats in the sea to the place that you send to me, and I have spread them out there; and you take [them] up, and you execute my desire, to give the food [for] my house." ¹⁰ And Hiram is giving cedar-trees and fir-trees to Solomon—all his desire, ¹¹ and Solomon has given twenty thousand cors of wheat to Hiram, [the] food for his house, and twenty cors of beaten oil; thus Solomon gives to Hiram year by year. ¹² And YHWH has given wisdom to Solomon as He spoke to him, and there is peace between Hiram and Solomon, and both of them make a covenant. ¹³ And King Solomon lifts up a tribute out of all Israel, and the tribute is thirty thousand men, ¹⁴ and he sends them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month, by changes; they are in Lebanon [for] a month [and] two months in their own house; and Adoniram [is] over the tribute. ¹⁵ And King Solomon has seventy thousand bearing burdens, and eighty thousand hewing in the mountain, ¹⁶ apart from the three thousand and three hundred heads of the officers of Solomon who [are] over the work—those ruling over the people who are working in the business. ¹⁷ And the king commands, and they bring great stones, precious stones, [and] hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the house; ¹⁸ and the builders of Solomon, and the builders of Hiram, and the Giblites hew [them], and prepare the wood and the stones to build the house.

Chapter 6

¹ And it comes to pass, in the four hundred and eightieth year of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year—in the month of Ziv, it [is] the second month—of the reigning of Solomon over Israel, that he builds the house for YHWH. ² As for the house that King Solomon has built for YHWH, its length [is] sixty cubits, and its breadth twenty, and its height thirty cubits. ³ As for the porch on the front of the temple of the house, its length [is] twenty cubits on the front of the breadth of the house; its breadth [is] ten by the cubit on the front of the house; ⁴ and he makes frames of narrowing windows for the house. ⁵ And he builds a couch against the wall of the house all around, [even] the walls of the house all around, of the temple and of the oracle, and makes sides all around. ⁶ The lowest couch, its breadth [is] five by the cubit; and the middle, its breadth [is] six by the cubit; and the third, its breadth [is] seven by the cubit, for he has put withdrawings of the house all around outside—not to lay hold on the walls of the house. ⁷ And the house, in its being built, has been built of perfect stone [that was] brought; and hammer and the axe—any instrument of iron—was not heard in the house in its being built. ⁸ The opening of the middle side [is] at the right shoulder of the house, and with windings they go up on the middle one, and from the middle one to the third. ⁹ And he builds the house, and completes it, and covers the house [with] beams and rows of cedars. ¹⁰ And he builds the couch against all the house, its breadth [is] five cubits, and it takes hold of the house by cedar-wood. ¹¹ And the word of YHWH is to Solomon, saying, ¹² "This house that you are building—if you walk in My statutes, and do My judgments, indeed, have done all My commands, to walk in them, then I have established My word with you, which I spoke to your father David, ¹³ and have dwelt in the midst of the sons of Israel, and do not forsake My people Israel." ¹⁴ And Solomon builds the house and completes it; ¹⁵ and he builds the walls of the house within with beams of cedar, from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling; he has overlaid the inside with wood, and covers the floor of the house with ribs of fir. ¹⁶ And he builds the twenty cubits on the sides of the house with ribs of cedar, from the floor to the walls; and he builds for it within, for the oracle, for the Holy of Holies. ¹⁷ And [this area of] the house was forty by the cubit; it [is the area of] the temple before My face. ¹⁸ And the cedar for the house within [is] carvings of knobs and openings of flowers; the whole [is] cedar, there is not a stone seen. ¹⁹ And he has prepared the oracle in the midst of the house within, to put the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH there. ²⁰ And before the oracle [is] twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and its height [is] twenty cubits; and he overlays it with gold refined, and overlays the altar with cedar. ²¹ And Solomon overlays the house within with gold refined, and causes [it] to pass over in chains of gold before the oracle, and overlays it with gold. ²² And he has overlaid the whole of the house with gold, until the completion of all the house; and the whole of the altar that the oracle has, he has overlaid with gold. ²³ And he makes two cherubim of the oil-tree within the oracle; their height [is] ten cubits; ²⁴ and the first wing of the cherub [is] five cubits, and the second wing of the cherub five cubits—ten cubits from the ends of his wings even to the ends of his wings; ²⁵ and the second cherub [is] ten by the cubit; one measure and one form [are] of the two cherubim, ²⁶ the height of the first cherub [is] ten by the cubit, and so [is] the second cherub; ²⁷ and he sets the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and they spread out the wings of the cherubim, and a wing of the first comes against the wall, and a wing of the second cherub is coming against the second wall, and their wings [stretched] into the midst of the house, coming wing against wing; ²⁸ and he overlays the cherubim with gold, ²⁹ and he has carved all around the walls of the house with engravings of carvings, cherubim, and palm trees, and openings of flowers, inside and outside. ³⁰ And he has overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and outside; ³¹ as for the opening of the oracle, he made doors of the oil-tree; the lintel [and] doorposts [are] a fifth [of the wall]. ³² And the two doors [are] of the oil-tree, and he has carved on them carvings of cherubim, and palm-trees, and openings of flowers, and overlaid with gold, and he causes the gold to go down on the cherubim and on the palm-trees. ³³ And so he has made for the opening of the temple, doorposts of the oil-tree, from the fourth [of the wall]. ³⁴ And the two doors [are] of fir-tree, the two sides of the first door are revolving, and the two hangings of the second door are revolving. ³⁵ And he has carved cherubim, and palms, and openings of flowers, and overlaid the carved work with straightened gold. ³⁶ And he builds the inner court, three rows of hewn work, and a row of beams of cedar. ³⁷ In the fourth year the house of YHWH has been founded, in the month of Ziv, ³⁸ and in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul (the eighth month), the house has been finished in all its matters, and in all its ordinances, and he builds it [in] seven years.

Chapter 7

¹ And Solomon has built his own house [in] thirteen years, and he finishes all his house. ² And he builds the House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length [is] one hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar-beams on the pillars; ³ and [it is] covered with cedar above, on the sides that [are] on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in the row. ⁴ And frames [are] in three rows, and window [is] toward window three times. ⁵ And all the openings and the doorposts [are of] square frame; and window [is] toward window three times. ⁶ And he has made the porch of the pillars; its length fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits, and the porch [is] before them, and pillars and a thick place [are] before them. ⁷ And the porch of the throne where he judges—the porch of judgment—he has made, and [it is] covered with cedar from the floor to the floor. ⁸ As for his house where he dwells, the other court [is] within the porch—it has been as this work; and he makes a house for the daughter of Pharaoh—whom Solomon has taken—like this porch. ⁹ All these [are] of precious stones, according to the measures of hewn work, sawn with a saw, inside and outside, even from the foundation to the coping, and at the outside, to the great court. ¹⁰ And the foundation [is] of precious stones, great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits; ¹¹ and precious stones [are] above, according to the measures of hewn work, and cedar; ¹² and the great court around [is] three rows of hewn work, and a row of cedar-beams, even for the inner court of the house of YHWH, and for the porch of the house. ¹³ And King Solomon sends and takes Hiram out of Tyre— ¹⁴ he [is the] son of a woman, a widow, of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father [is] a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze, and he is filled with the wisdom and the understanding, and the knowledge to do all work in bronze—and he comes to King Solomon, and does all his work. ¹⁵ And he forms the two pillars of bronze; eighteen cubits [is] the height of the first pillar, and a cord of twelve cubits goes around the second pillar. ¹⁶ And he has made two chapiters to put on the tops of the pillars, cast in bronze; five cubits the height of the first capital, and five cubits the height of the second capital. ¹⁷ Nets of network, wreaths of chain-work [are] for the chapiters that [are] on the top of the pillars, seven for the first capital, and seven for the second capital. ¹⁸ And he makes the pillars, and two rows around on the one network, to cover the chapiters that [are] on the top, with the pomegranates, and so he has made for the second capital. ¹⁹ And the chapiters that [are] on the top of the pillars [are] of lily-work in the porch, four cubits; ²⁰ and the chapiters on the two pillars also [have pomegranates] above, close by the protuberance that [is] beside the net; and the pomegranates [are] two hundred, in rows around on the second capital. ²¹ And he raises up the pillars for the porch of the temple, and he raises up the right pillar, and calls its name Jachin, and he raises up the left pillar, and calls its name Boaz; ²² and on the top of the pillars [is] lily-work; and the work of the pillars [is] completed. ²³ And he makes the molten sea, ten by the cubit from its edge to its edge; [it is] round all about, and its height [is] five by the cubit, and a line of thirty by the cubit surrounds it around; ²⁴ and knobs beneath its brim around are going around it, ten by the cubit, going around the sea; the knobs [are] in two rows, cast in its being cast. ²⁵ It is standing on twelve oxen, three facing the north, and three facing the west, and three facing the south, and three facing the east, and the sea [is] on them above, and all their back parts [are] inward. ²⁶ And its thickness [is] a handbreadth, and its edge [is] as the work of the edge of a cup, [as] flowers of lilies; it contains two thousand baths. ²⁷ And he makes the ten bases of bronze; the length of the one base [is] four by the cubit, and its breadth [is] four by the cubit, and its height [is] three by the cubit. ²⁸ And this [is] the work of the base: they have borders, and the borders [are] between the joinings; ²⁹ and on the borders that [are] between the joinings [are] lions, oxen, and cherubim, and on the joinings a base above, and beneath the lions and the oxen [are] additions—sloping work. ³⁰ And four wheels of bronze [are] for the one base, and axles of bronze; and its four corners have shoulders—the molten shoulders [are] under the laver, beside each addition. ³¹ And its mouth within the capital and above [is] by the cubit, and its mouth [is] round, the work of the base, a cubit and half a cubit; and also on its mouth [are] carvings and their borders, square, not round. ³² And the four wheels [are] under the borders, and the spokes of the wheels [are] in the base, and the height of the one wheel [is] a cubit and half a cubit. ³³ And the work of the wheels [is] as the work of the wheel of a chariot, their spokes, and their axles, and their felloes, and their naves; the whole [is] molten. ³⁴ And four shoulders [are] for the four corners of the one base; its shoulders [are] out of the base. ³⁵ And in the top of the base [is] the half of a cubit in the height all around; and on the top of the base its spokes and its borders [are] of the same. ³⁶ And he engraves on the tablets of its spokes, and on its borders, cherubim, lions, and palm-trees, according to the void space of each, and additions all around. ³⁷ Thus he has made the ten bases; they all have one casting, one measure, one form. ³⁸ And he makes ten lavers of bronze; the one laver contains forty baths [and] the one laver [is] four by the cubit; one laver on the one base [is] for [each of] the ten bases; ³⁹ and he puts the five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house, and he has put the sea on the right side of the house eastward—from toward the south. ⁴⁰ And Hiram makes the lavers, and the shovels, and the bowls; and Hiram completes to do all the work that he made for King Solomon, [for] the house of YHWH: ⁴¹ two pillars, and bowls of the chapiters that [are] on the top of the two pillars, and the two nets to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that [are] on the top of the pillars; ⁴² and the four hundred pomegranates for the two nets (two rows of pomegranates for the one net to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that [are] on the front of the pillars); ⁴³ and the ten bases, and the ten lavers on the bases; ⁴⁴ and the one sea, the twelve oxen under the sea, ⁴⁵ and the pots, and the shovels, and the bowls; and all these vessels, that Hiram has made for King Solomon [for] the house of YHWH, [are] of polished bronze. ⁴⁶ The king has cast them in the circuit of the Jordan, in the thick soil of the ground, between Succoth and Zarthan. ⁴⁷ And Solomon places the whole of the vessels; because of the very great abundance, the weight of the bronze has not been searched out. ⁴⁸ And Solomon makes all the vessels that [are] in the house of YHWH: the altar of gold, and the table of gold (on which [is] the Bread of the Presentation), ⁴⁹ and the lampstands, five on the right, and five on the left, before the oracle, of refined gold, and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold, ⁵⁰ and the basins, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and the censers, of refined gold, and the hinges for the doors of the inner-house, for the Holy of Holies, for the doors of the house of the temple, of gold. ⁵¹ And it is complete—all the work that King Solomon has made [for] the house of YHWH, and Solomon brings in the sanctified things of his father David; he has put the silver, and the gold, and the vessels in the treasuries of the house of YHWH.

Chapter 8

¹ Then Solomon assembles the elderly of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, princes of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon, to Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH from the City of David—it [is] Zion; ² and all the men of Israel are assembled to King Solomon, in the month of Ethanim, in the festival (the seventh month). ³ And all [the] elderly of Israel come in, and the priests lift up the Ark, ⁴ and bring up the Ark of YHWH, and the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that [are] in the tent, indeed, the priests and the Levites bring them up. ⁵ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who are assembled to him [are] with him before the Ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that are not counted nor numbered for multitude. ⁶ And the priests bring in the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH to its place, to the oracle of the house, to the Holy of Holies, to the place of the wings of the cherubim; ⁷ for the cherubim are spreading forth two wings to the place of the Ark, and the cherubim cover over the Ark, and over its poles from above; ⁸ and they lengthen the poles, and the heads of the poles are seen from the holy [place] on the front of the oracle, and are not seen outside, and they are there to this day. ⁹ There is nothing in the Ark, only the two tablets of stone which Moses put there in Horeb when YHWH covenanted with the sons of Israel in their going out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ And it comes to pass, in the going out of the priests from the holy [place], that the cloud has filled the house of YHWH, ¹¹ and the priests have not been able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of YHWH has filled the house of YHWH. ¹² Then Solomon said, "YHWH has said [He is] to dwell in thick darkness; ¹³ I have surely built a house of habitation for You; a fixed place for Your abiding for all ages." ¹⁴ And the king turns his face around, and blesses the whole assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel is standing. ¹⁵ And he says, "Blessed [is] YHWH, God of Israel, who spoke by His mouth with my father David, and by His hand has fulfilled [it], saying, ¹⁶ From the day that I brought out My people, even Israel, from Egypt, I have not fixed on a city out of all the tribes of Israel, to build a house for My Name being there; and I fix on David to be over My people Israel. ¹⁷ And it is with the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of YHWH, God of Israel, ¹⁸ and YHWH says to my father David, Because that it has been with your heart to build a house for My Name, you have done well that it has been with your heart; ¹⁹ only, you do not build the house, but your son who is coming out from your loins, he builds the house for My Name. ²⁰ And YHWH establishes His word which He spoke, and I am risen up instead of my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as YHWH spoke, and build the house for the Name of YHWH, God of Israel, ²¹ and I set a place for the Ark there, where the covenant of YHWH [is], which He made with our fathers in His bringing them out from the land of Egypt." ²² And Solomon stands before the altar of YHWH, in front of all the assembly of Israel, and spreads his hands toward the heavens, ²³ and says, "YHWH, God of Israel, there is not a God like You, in the heavens above and on the earth below, keeping the covenant and the kindness for Your servants, those walking before You with all their heart, ²⁴ which You have kept for Your servant, my father David, that which You spoke to him; indeed, You speak with Your mouth, and with Your hand have fulfilled [it], as [at] this day. ²⁵ And now, YHWH, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, that which You spoke to him, saying, A man of yours is never cut off from before My face, sitting on the throne of Israel—only, if your sons watch their way, to walk before Me as you have walked before Me. ²⁶ And now, O God of Israel, please let Your word be established which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David. ²⁷ But is it true [that] God dwells on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built! ²⁸ Then You have turned to the prayer of Your servant, and to his supplication, O YHWH my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today, ²⁹ for Your eyes being open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, My Name is there; to listen to the prayer which Your servant prays toward this place. ³⁰ Then You have listened to the supplication of Your servant, and of Your people Israel, which they pray toward this place; indeed, You listen in the place of Your dwelling, in the heavens—and You have listened, and have forgiven, ³¹ that which a man sins against his neighbor, and he has lifted up an oath on him to cause him to swear, and the oath has come in before Your altar in this house, ³² then You hear in the heavens, and have done, and have judged Your servants, to declare wicked the wicked, to put his way on his [own] head, and to declare righteous the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. ³³ In Your people Israel being struck before an enemy, because they sin against You, and they have turned back to You, and have confessed Your Name, and prayed, and made supplication to You in this house, ³⁴ then you hear in the heavens, and have forgiven the sin of Your people Israel, and brought them back to the ground that You gave to their fathers. ³⁵ In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against You, and they have prayed toward this place, and confessed Your Name, and turn back from their sin, for You afflict them, ³⁶ then You hear in the heavens, and have forgiven the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, for You direct them [to] the good way in which they go, and have given rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for inheritance. ³⁷ Famine—when it is in the land; pestilence—when it is [in the land]; blasting, mildew, locust; caterpillar—when it is [in the land]; when its enemy has distressed it in the land [in] its gates, any plague, any sickness— ³⁸ any prayer, any supplication that [is] of any man of all Your people Israel, each who knows the plague of his own heart, and has spread his hands toward this house, ³⁹ then You hear in the heavens, the settled place of Your dwelling, and have forgiven, and have done, and have given to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You have known—You alone—the heart of all the sons of man), ⁴⁰ so that they fear You all the days that they are living on the face of the ground that You have given to our fathers. ⁴¹ And also, to the stranger who is not of Your people Israel, and has come from a far-off land for Your Name's sake— ⁴² for they hear of Your great Name, and of Your strong hand, and of Your outstretched arm—and he has come in and prayed toward this house, ⁴³ You hear in the heavens, the settled place of Your dwelling, and have done according to all that the stranger calls to You for, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your Name, to fear You like Your people Israel, and to know that Your Name has been called on this house which I have built. ⁴⁴ When Your people go out to battle against its enemy, in the way that You send them, and they have prayed to YHWH [in] the way of the city which you have fixed on, and of the house which I have built for Your Name, ⁴⁵ then You have heard their prayer and their supplication in the heavens, and have maintained their cause. ⁴⁶ When they sin against You (for there is not a man who does not sin), and You have been angry with them, and have given them up before an enemy, and they have taken captive their captivity to the land of the enemy far off or near; ⁴⁷ and they have turned [it] back to their heart in the land to where they have been taken captive, and have turned back, and made supplication to You in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned and done perversely—we have done wickedly; ⁴⁸ indeed, they have turned back to You with all their heart and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and have prayed to You [in] the way of their land, which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your Name: ⁴⁹ then You have heard in the heavens, the settled place of Your dwelling, their prayer and their supplication, and have maintained their cause, ⁵⁰ and have forgiven Your people who have sinned against You, even all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You, and have given them mercies before their captors, and they have had mercy [on] them— ⁵¹ for they [are] Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of the midst of the furnace of iron— ⁵² for Your eyes being open to the supplication of Your servant, and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them in all they call to You for; ⁵³ for You have separated them to Yourself for an inheritance, out of all the peoples of the earth, as You spoke by the hand of Your servant Moses, in Your bringing out our fathers from Egypt, O Lord YHWH." ⁵⁴ And it comes to pass, at Solomon's finishing to pray to YHWH all this prayer and supplication, he has risen from before the altar of YHWH, from bending on his knees and [having] his hands spread out to the heavens, ⁵⁵ and he stands and blesses all the assembly of Israel [with] a loud voice, saying, ⁵⁶ "Blessed [is] YHWH who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He has spoken; not [even] one word has fallen of all His good word, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Moses. ⁵⁷ Our God YHWH is with us as He has been with our fathers; He does not forsake us nor leave us; ⁵⁸ to incline our heart to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commands, and His statutes, and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers; ⁵⁹ and these, my words, with which I have made supplication before YHWH, are near to our God YHWH by day and by night, to maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel, the matter of a day in its day, ⁶⁰ that all the peoples of the earth may know that He, YHWH, [is] God; there is none else; ⁶¹ and your heart has been perfect with our God YHWH, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commands, as [at] this day." ⁶² And the king and all Israel with him are sacrificing a sacrifice before YHWH; ⁶³ and Solomon sacrifices the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which he has sacrificed to YHWH: twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep; and the king and all the sons of Israel dedicate the house of YHWH. ⁶⁴ On that day the king has sanctified the middle of the court that [is] before the house of YHWH, for he has made the burnt-offering, and the present, and the fat of the peace-offerings there; for the altar of bronze that [is] before YHWH [is] too small to contain the burnt-offering, and the present, and the fat of the peace-offerings. ⁶⁵ And Solomon makes, at that time, the festival—and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entering in of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt—before our God YHWH, [for] seven days and seven [more] days—fourteen days. ⁶⁶ On the eighth day he has sent the people away, and they bless the king, and go to their tents, rejoicing and glad of heart for all the good that YHWH has done to His servant David, and to His people Israel.

Chapter 9

¹ And it comes to pass, at Solomon's finishing to build the house of YHWH, and the house of the king, and all the desire of Solomon that he delighted to do, ² that YHWH appears to Solomon a second time, as He appeared to him in Gibeon, ³ and YHWH says to him, "I have heard your prayer and your supplication with which you have made supplication before Me; I have hallowed this house that you have built to put My Name there for all time, and My eyes and My heart have been there [for] all the days. ⁴ And you—if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in simplicity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, [and] you keep My statutes and My judgments, ⁵ then I have established the throne of your kingdom over Israel for all time, as I spoke to your father David, saying, A man of yours is never cut off from [being] on the throne of Israel. ⁶ If you at all turn back—you and your sons—from after Me, and do not keep My commands [and] My statutes that I have set before you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them, ⁷ then I have cut off Israel from the face of the ground that I have given to them, and the house that I have hallowed for My Name I send away from My presence, and Israel has been for an allegory and for a byword among all the peoples; ⁸ as for this house [that] is high, everyone passing by it is astonished, and has hissed, and they have said, Why has YHWH done this to this land and to this house? ⁹ And they have said, Because that they have forsaken their God YHWH, who brought out their fathers from the land of Egypt, and they lay hold on other gods, and bow themselves to them and serve them; therefore YHWH has brought all this calamity on them." ¹⁰ And it comes to pass, at the end of twenty years, that Solomon has built the two houses, the house of YHWH, and the house of the king. ¹¹ Hiram king of Tyre has assisted Solomon with cedar-trees, and with fir-trees, and with gold, according to all his desire; then King Solomon gives to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. ¹² And Hiram comes out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon has given to him, and they have not been right in his eyes, ¹³ and he says, "What [are] these cities that you have given to me, my brother?" And one calls them the land of Cabul to this day. ¹⁴ And Hiram sends one hundred and twenty talents of gold to the king. ¹⁵ And this [is] the matter of the tribute that King Solomon has lifted up, to build the house of YHWH, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer ¹⁶ (Pharaoh king of Egypt has gone up and captures Gezer, and burns it with fire, and he has slain the Canaanite who is dwelling in the city, and gives it [as] presents to his daughter, wife of Solomon). ¹⁷ And Solomon builds Gezer, and the lower Beth-Horon, ¹⁸ and Ba'alath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, ¹⁹ and all the cities of stores that King Solomon has, and the cities of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen, and the desire of Solomon that he desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. ²⁰ The whole of the people that is left of the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, who [are] not of the sons of Israel— ²¹ their sons who are left behind them in the land, whom the sons of Israel have not been able to devote—he has even lifted up a tribute of service [on] them to this day. ²² And Solomon has not appointed a servant out of the sons of Israel, for they [are] the men of war, and his servants, and his heads, and his captains, and the heads of his chariots, and his horsemen. ²³ These [are] the five hundred and fifty heads of the officers who [are] over the work of Solomon, those ruling among the people who are laboring in the work. ²⁴ Only, the daughter of Pharaoh went up out of the City of David to her house that [Solomon] built for her; then he built Millo. ²⁵ And Solomon caused burnt-offerings and peace-offerings to ascend three times in a year on the altar that he built for YHWH, and he burned it as incense with that which [is] before YHWH, and finished the house. ²⁶ And King Solomon has made a navy in Ezion-Geber, that is beside Eloth, on the edge of the Sea of Suph, in the land of Edom. ²⁷ And Hiram sends his servants in the navy, shipmen knowing the sea, with servants of Solomon, ²⁸ and they come to Ophir, and take four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and bring [it] to King Solomon.

Chapter 10

¹ And the queen of Sheba is hearing of the fame of Solomon concerning the Name of YHWH, and comes to try him with enigmas, ² and she comes to Jerusalem, with a very great company, camels carrying spices, and very much gold, and precious stone, and she comes to Solomon, and speaks to him all that has been with her heart. ³ And Solomon declares to her all her matters—there has not been a thing hid from the king that he has not declared to her. ⁴ And the queen of Sheba sees all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he built, ⁵ and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the standing of his ministers, and their clothing, and his butlers, and his burnt-offering that he causes to ascend in the house of YHWH, and there has not been anymore spirit in her. ⁶ And she says to the king, "The word that I heard in my land has been true concerning your matters and your wisdom; ⁷ and I gave no credence to the words until I have come, and my eyes see, and behold, not [even] half was declared to me; you have added wisdom and goodness to the report that I heard. ⁸ O the blessedness of your men, O the blessedness of your servants—these—who are standing before you continually, who are hearing your wisdom! ⁹ Your God YHWH is blessed, who delighted in you, to put you on the throne of Israel; in YHWH's loving Israel for all time He sets you for king, to do judgment and righteousness." ¹⁰ And she gives to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and very many spices, and precious stone; there never again came in abundance like that spice that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. ¹¹ And also, the navy of Hiram that bore gold from Ophir, brought in very much almug-trees and precious stone from Ophir; ¹² and the king makes the almug-trees a support for the house of YHWH, and for the house of the king, and harps and psalteries for singers; there have not come such almug-trees, nor have there been seen [such] to this day. ¹³ And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire that she asked, apart from that which he gave to her as a memorial of King Solomon, and she turns and goes to her land, she and her servants. ¹⁴ And the weight of the gold that has come to Solomon in one year is six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, ¹⁵ apart from [that of] the tourists, and of the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the land. ¹⁶ And King Solomon makes two hundred bucklers of alloyed gold—six hundred [shekels] of gold go up on the one buckler; ¹⁷ and three hundred shields of alloyed gold—three pounds of gold go up on the one shield; and the king puts them [in] the House of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁸ And the king makes a great throne of ivory, and overlays it with refined gold; ¹⁹ the throne has six steps, and a round top [is] to the throne behind it, and hands [are] on this [side] and on that, to the place of the sitting, and two lions are standing near the hands, ²⁰ and twelve lions are standing there on the six steps, on this [side] and on that; it has not been made so for any kingdom. ²¹ And all the drinking vessels of King Solomon [are] of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon [are] of refined gold—there are none of silver; it was not reckoned in the days of Solomon for anything, ²² for the king has a navy of Tarshish at sea with a navy of Hiram; once in three years the navy of Tarshish comes, carrying gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks [[or monkeys]]. ²³ And King Solomon is greater than any of the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom, ²⁴ and all the earth is seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom that God has put into his heart, ²⁵ and they are each bringing his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armor, and spices, horses, and mules, the matter of a year in a year. ²⁶ And Solomon gathers chariots, and horsemen, and he has one thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, and he places them in the cities of the chariot, and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷ And the king makes the silver in Jerusalem as stones, and he has made the cedars as the sycamores that [are] in the low country, for abundance. ²⁸ And the outgoing of the horses that King Solomon has [is] from Egypt, and from Keveh; merchants of the king take from Keveh at a price; ²⁹ and a chariot comes up and comes out of Egypt for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty, and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Aram; they bring out by their hand.

Chapter 11

¹ And King Solomon has loved many strange women, and the daughter of Pharaoh, females of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, [and] of the Hittites, ² of the nations of which YHWH said to the sons of Israel, "You do not go in to them, and they do not go in to you; surely they turn aside your heart after their gods"; Solomon has cleaved to them for love. ³ And he has seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turn aside his heart. ⁴ And it comes to pass, at the time of Solomon's old age, his wives have turned aside his heart after other gods, and his heart has not been perfect with his God YHWH, like the heart of his father David. ⁵ And Solomon goes after Ashtoreth goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites; ⁶ and Solomon does evil in the eyes of YHWH, and has not been fully after YHWH, like his father David. ⁷ Then Solomon builds a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, in the hill that [is] on the front of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the sons of Ammon; ⁸ and so he has done for all his strange women, who are perfuming and sacrificing to their gods. ⁹ And YHWH shows Himself angry with Solomon, for his heart has turned aside from YHWH, God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and given a charge to him concerning this thing, not to go after other gods; and he has not kept that which YHWH commanded, ¹¹ and YHWH says to Solomon, "Because that this has been with you, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes that I charged on you, I surely tear the kingdom from you, and have given it to your servant. ¹² Only, I do not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I tear it out of the hand of your son; ¹³ only, I do not tear away all of the kingdom; I give one tribe to your son, for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen." ¹⁴ And YHWH raises up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he [is] of the seed of the king in Edom; ¹⁵ and it comes to pass, in David's being with Edom, in the going up of Joab head of the host to bury the slain, that he strikes every male in Edom— ¹⁶ for six months Joab abided there, and all Israel, until the cutting off of every male in Edom— ¹⁷ and Hadad flees, he and certain Edomites, of the servants of his father, with him, to go to Egypt, and Hadad [is] a little youth, ¹⁸ and they rise out of Midian, and come into Paran, and take men with them out of Paran, and come into Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he gives a house to him, and has commanded bread for him, and has given land to him. ¹⁹ And Hadad finds grace in the eyes of Pharaoh exceedingly, and he gives to him a wife, the sister of his own wife, sister of Tahpenes the mistress; ²⁰ and the sister of Tahpenes bears to him his son Genubath, and Tahpenes weans him within the house of Pharaoh, and Genubath is in the house of Pharaoh in the midst of the sons of Pharaoh. ²¹ And Hadad has heard in Egypt that David has lain with his fathers, and that Joab head of the host is dead, and Hadad says to Pharaoh, "Send me away, and I go to my land." ²² And Pharaoh says to him, "But what are you lacking with me, that behold, you are seeking to go to your own land?" And he says, "Nothing, but you certainly send me away." ²³ And God raises an adversary against him, Rezon son of Eliadah, who has fled from Hadadezer king of Zobah, his lord, ²⁴ and gathers men to himself, and is head of a troop in David's slaying them, and they go to Damascus, and dwell in it, and reign in Damascus; ²⁵ and he is an adversary against Israel all the days of Solomon (besides the evil that Hadad [did]), and he cuts off in Israel, and reigns over Aram. ²⁶ And Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zereda—the name of whose mother [is] Zeruah, a widow woman—servant to Solomon, he also lifts up a hand against the king; ²⁷ and this [is] the thing [for] which he lifted up a hand against the king: Solomon built Millo—he shut up the breach of the city of his father David, ²⁸ and the man Jeroboam [is] mighty in valor, and Solomon sees that the young man is doing business, and appoints him over all the burden of the house of Joseph. ²⁹ And it comes to pass, at that time, that Jeroboam has gone out from Jerusalem, and Ahijah the Shilonite, the prophet, finds him in the way, and he is covering himself with a new garment; and both of them [are] by themselves in a field, ³⁰ and Ahijah lays hold on the new garment that [is] on him, and tears it [into] twelve pieces, ³¹ and says to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, for thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Behold, I am tearing the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and have given the ten tribes to you, ³² but he has the one tribe for My servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have fixed on, out of all the tribes of Israel, ³³ because they have forsaken Me, and bow themselves to Ashtoreth, goddess of the Zidonians, to Chemosh god of Moab, and to Milcom god of the sons of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways, to do that which [is] right in My eyes, and My statutes and My judgments, like his father David. ³⁴ And I do not take the whole of the kingdom out of his hand, for I make him prince all [the] days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who kept My commands and My statutes; ³⁵ and I have taken the kingdom out of the hand of his son, and given it to you—the ten tribes; ³⁶ and to his son I give one tribe, for there being a lamp before Me for My servant David in Jerusalem [for] all the days, the city that I have chosen for Myself to put My Name there. ³⁷ And I take you, and you have reigned over all that your soul desires, and you have been king over Israel; ³⁸ and it has been, if you hear all that I command you, and have walked in My ways, and done that which is right in My eyes, to keep My statutes and My commands, as My servant David did, that I have been with you, and have built a steadfast house for you, as I built for David, and have given Israel to you, ³⁹ and I humble the seed of David for this; only, not [for] all the days." ⁴⁰ And Solomon seeks to put Jeroboam to death, and Jeroboam rises and flees to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and he is in Egypt until the death of Solomon. ⁴¹ And the rest of the matters of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written on the scroll of the matters of Solomon? ⁴² And the days that Solomon has reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel [are] forty years, ⁴³ and Solomon lies with his fathers, and is buried in the city of his father David, and his son Rehoboam reigns in his stead.

Chapter 12

¹ And Rehoboam goes to Shechem, for all Israel has come to Shechem to make him king. ² And it comes to pass, at Jeroboam son of Nebat's hearing (and he [is] yet in Egypt where he has fled from the presence of Solomon the king, and Jeroboam dwells in Egypt), ³ that they send and call for him; and they come—Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel—and speak to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ "Your father hardened our yoke, and you, now, lighten [some] of the hard service of your father, and his heavy yoke that he put on us, and we serve you." ⁵ And he says to them, "Yet go [for] three days, and come back to me"; and the people go. ⁶ And King Rehoboam consults with the elderly who have been standing in the presence of his father Solomon, in his being alive, saying, "How are you counseling to answer this people?" ⁷ And they speak to him, saying, "If, today, you are a servant of this people, and have served them, and answered them, and spoken good words to them, then they have been servants to you [for] all the days." ⁸ And he forsakes the counsel of the elderly which they counseled him, and consults with the boys who have grown up with him, who are standing before him; ⁹ and he says to them, "What are you counseling, and we answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Lighten [some] of the yoke that your father put on us?" ¹⁰ And they speak to him—the boys who had grown up with him—saying, "Thus you say to this people who have spoken to you, saying, Your father made our yoke heavy, and you, make [it] light on us; thus you speak to them, My little [finger] is thicker than the loins of my father; ¹¹ and now, my father laid a heavy yoke on you, and I add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, and I discipline you with scorpions." ¹² And they come—Jeroboam and all the people—to Rehoboam, on the third day, as the king had spoken, saying, "Come back to me on the third day." ¹³ And the king answers the people sharply, and forsakes the counsel of the elderly which they counseled him, ¹⁴ and speaks to them, according to the counsel of the boys, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, and I add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, and I discipline you with scorpions"; ¹⁵ and the king did not listen to the people, for the revolution was from YHWH, in order to establish His word that YHWH spoke by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat. ¹⁶ And all Israel sees that the king has not listened to them, and the people send the king back word, saying, "What portion do we have in David? Indeed, there is no inheritance in the son of Jesse; [return] to your tents, O Israel; now see your house, O David!" And Israel goes to its tents. ¹⁷ As for the sons of Israel, those dwelling in the cities of Judah—Rehoboam reigns over them. ¹⁸ And King Rehoboam sends Adoram who [is] over the tribute, and all Israel casts stones at him, and he dies; and King Rehoboam has strengthened himself to go up into a chariot to flee to Jerusalem; ¹⁹ and Israel transgresses against the house of David to this day. ²⁰ And it comes to pass, at all Israel hearing that Jeroboam has returned, that they send and call him to the congregation, and cause him to reign over all Israel; none has been after the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone. ²¹ And Rehoboam comes to Jerusalem, and assembles all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen warriors, to fight with the house of Israel, to bring back the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon. ²² And the word of God is to Shemaiah a man of God, saying, ²³ "Speak to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, saying, ²⁴ Thus said YHWH: You do not go up nor fight with your brothers the sons of Israel; let each return to his house, for this thing has been from Me"; and they hear the word of YHWH, and turn back to go according to the word of YHWH. ²⁵ And Jeroboam builds Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and dwells in it, and goes out there, and builds Penuel; ²⁶ and Jeroboam says in his heart, "Now the kingdom turns back to the house of David— ²⁷ if this people goes up to make sacrifices in the house of YHWH in Jerusalem, then the heart of this people has turned back to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they have slain me, and turned back to Rehoboam king of Judah." ²⁸ And the king takes counsel, and makes two calves of gold, and says to them, "Enough of you from going up to Jerusalem; behold, your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt." ²⁹ And he sets the one in Beth-El, and the other he has put in Dan, ³⁰ and this thing becomes a sin, and the people go before the one—to Dan. ³¹ And he makes the house of high places, and makes priests from the extremities of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi; ³² and Jeroboam makes a festival in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival that [is] in Judah, and he offers on the altar—so he did in Beth-El—to sacrifice to the calves which he made, and he has appointed in Beth-El the priests of the high places that he made. ³³ And he offers up on the altar that he made in Beth-El, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month that he devised from his own heart, and he makes a festival for the sons of Israel, and offers on the altar—to make incense.

Chapter 13

¹ And behold, a man of God has come from Judah, by the word of YHWH, to Beth-El, and Jeroboam is standing by the altar—to make incense; ² and he calls against the altar, by the word of YHWH, and says, "Altar! Altar! Thus said YHWH: Behold, a son is born to the house of David—Josiah [is] his name—and he has sacrificed on you the priests of the high places who are making incense on you, and bones of man are burned on you." ³ And he has given a sign on that day, saying, "This [is] the sign that YHWH has spoken, Behold, the altar is torn, and the ashes that [are] on it [are] poured forth." ⁴ And it comes to pass, at the king's hearing the word of the man of God that he calls against the altar in Beth-El, that Jeroboam puts forth his hand from off the altar, saying, "Catch him"; and his hand that he has put forth against him is dried up, and he is not able to bring it back to himself, ⁵ and the altar is torn, and the ashes [are] poured forth from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of YHWH. ⁶ And the king answers and says to the man of God, "Please appease the face of your God YHWH, and pray for me, and my hand comes back to me"; and the man of God appeases the face of YHWH, and the hand of the king comes back to him, and it is as at the beginning. ⁷ And the king speaks to the man of God, "Come in with me to the house, and refresh yourself, and I give a gift to you." ⁸ And the man of God says to the king, "If you give to me the half of your house, I do not go in with you, nor do I eat bread, nor do I drink water, in this place; ⁹ for so He commanded me by the word of YHWH, saying, You do not eat bread nor drink water, nor return in the way that you have come." ¹⁰ And he goes on in another way, and has not turned back in the way in which he came in to Beth-El. ¹¹ And a certain aged prophet is dwelling in Beth-El, and his son comes and recounts to him every deed that the man of God has done today in Beth-El, the words that he has spoken to the king—indeed, they recount them to their father. ¹² And their father says to them, "Where [is] this—the way he has gone?" And his sons see the way that the man of God who came from Judah has gone. ¹³ And he says to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me," and they saddle the donkey for him, and he rides on it, ¹⁴ and goes after the man of God, and finds him sitting under the oak, and says to him, "Are you the man of God who has come from Judah?" And he says, "I [am]." ¹⁵ And he says to him, "Come with me to the house and eat bread." ¹⁶ And he says, "I am not able to return with you, and to go in with you, nor do I eat bread or drink water with you in this place, ¹⁷ for [there is] a word to me by the word of YHWH, You do not eat bread nor drink water there [and] you do not return to go in the way in which you came." ¹⁸ And he says to him, "I [am] also a prophet like you, and a messenger spoke to me by the word of YHWH, saying, Bring him back with you to your house, and he eats bread and drinks water." He has lied to him. ¹⁹ And he turns back with him, and eats bread in his house, and drinks water. ²⁰ And it comes to pass—they are sitting at the table—and [there] is a word of YHWH to the prophet who brought him back, ²¹ and he calls to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, "Thus said YHWH: Because that you have provoked the mouth of YHWH, and have not kept the command that your God YHWH charged you, ²² and turn back and eat bread and drink water in the place of which He said to you, You do not eat bread nor drink water—your carcass does not come into the burying-place of your fathers." ²³ And it comes to pass, after his eating bread, and after his drinking, that he saddles the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back, ²⁴ and he goes, and a lion finds him in the way, and puts him to death, and his carcass is cast in the way, and the donkey is standing near it, and the lion is standing near the carcass. ²⁵ And behold, men are passing by, and see the carcass cast in the way, and the lion standing near the carcass, and they come and speak [of it] in the city in which the old prophet is dwelling. ²⁶ And the prophet who brought him back out of the way hears and says, "It [is] the man of God who provoked the mouth of YHWH, and YHWH gives him to the lion, and it destroys him, and puts him to death, according to the word of YHWH that he spoke to him." ²⁷ And he speaks to his sons saying, "Saddle the donkey for me," and they saddle [it]. ²⁸ And he goes and finds his carcass cast in the way, and the donkey and the lion are standing near the carcass—the lion has not eaten the carcass nor destroyed the donkey. ²⁹ And the prophet takes up the carcass of the man of God, and places it on the donkey, and brings it back, and the old prophet comes to the city to mourn and to bury him, ³⁰ and he places his carcass in his own grave, and they mourn for him, "Oh, my brother!" ³¹ And it comes to pass, after his burying him, that he speaks to his sons, saying, "At my death—you have buried me in the burying-place in which the man of God is buried; place my bones near his bones; ³² for the word certainly comes to pass that he called by the word of YHWH concerning the altar which [is in] Beth-El, and concerning all the houses of the high places that [are] in cities of Samaria." ³³ After this thing Jeroboam has not turned from his evil way, and turns back, and makes priests of high places from the extremities of the people; he who is desirous—he consecrates his hand, and he is of the priests of the high places. ³⁴ And in this thing is the sin of the house of Jeroboam, even to cut [it] off, and to destroy [it] from off the face of the ground.

Chapter 14

¹ At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam was sick, ² and Jeroboam says to his wife, "Now rise and change yourself, and they do not know that you [are the] wife of Jeroboam, and you have gone to Shiloh; behold, Ahijah the prophet [is] there; he spoke to me of [being] king over this people; ³ and you have taken in your hand ten loaves, and crumbs, and a bottle of honey, and have gone to him; he declares to you what becomes of the youth." ⁴ And the wife of Jeroboam does so, and rises, and goes to Shiloh, and enters the house of Ahijah, and Ahijah is not able to see, for his eyes have stood because of his age. ⁵ And YHWH said to Ahijah, "Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to seek a word from you concerning her son, for he is sick; thus and thus you speak to her, and it comes to pass at her coming in, that she is making herself strange." ⁶ And it comes to pass, at Ahijah's hearing the sound of her feet [as] she came to the opening, that he says, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why is this [that] you are making yourself strange? And I am sent to you [with] a sharp thing. ⁷ Go, say to Jeroboam, Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Because that I have made you high out of the midst of the people, and appoint you leader over my people Israel, ⁸ and tear the kingdom from the house of David, and give it to you—and you have not been as My servant David who kept My commands, and who walked after Me with all his heart, to only do that which [is] right in My eyes, ⁹ and you do evil above all who have been before you, and go, and make other gods and molten images for yourself to provoke Me to anger, and you have cast Me behind your back— ¹⁰ therefore, behold, I am bringing calamity to the house of Jeroboam, and have cut off to Jeroboam those sitting on the wall—shut up and left—in Israel, and have put away the posterity of the house of Jeroboam, as one puts away the dung until its consumption; ¹¹ the dogs eat him who dies of Jeroboam in a city, and birds of the heavens eat him who dies in a field, for YHWH has spoken. ¹² And you, rise, go to your house; in the going in of your feet to the city, the boy has died; ¹³ and all Israel has mourned for him, and buried him, for this one—by himself—of Jeroboam comes to a grave, because there has been found in him a good thing toward YHWH, God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. ¹⁴ And YHWH has raised up for Himself a king over Israel who cuts off the house of Jeroboam this day—and what? Even now! ¹⁵ And YHWH has struck Israel as the reed is moved by the waters, and has plucked Israel from off this good ground that He gave to their fathers, and scattered them beyond the River, because that they made their Asherim, provoking YHWH to anger; ¹⁶ and He gives up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned, and that he caused Israel to sin." ¹⁷ And the wife of Jeroboam rises, and goes, and comes to Tirzah; she has come to the threshold of the house, and the youth dies; ¹⁸ and they bury him, and all Israel mourns for him, according to the word of YHWH that he spoke by the hand of His servant Ahijah the prophet. ¹⁹ And the rest of the matters of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he reigned, behold, they are written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ²⁰ And the days that Jeroboam reigned [are] twenty-two years, and he lies with his fathers, and his son Nadab reigns in his stead. ²¹ And Rehoboam son of Solomon has reigned in Judah; Rehoboam [is] a son of forty-one years in his reigning, and he has reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that YHWH chose to set His Name there, out of all the tribes of Israel, and the name of his mother [is] Naamah the Ammonitess. ²² And Judah does evil in the eyes of YHWH, and they make Him zealous above all that their fathers did by their sins that they have sinned. ²³ And they build—they also—for themselves high places, and standing-pillars, and Asherim, on every high height, and under every green tree; ²⁴ and a whoremonger has also been in the land; they have done according to all the abominations of the nations that YHWH dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel. ²⁵ And it comes to pass, in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt has gone up against Jerusalem, ²⁶ and he takes the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the house of the king, indeed, he has taken the whole; and he takes all the shields of gold that Solomon made. ²⁷ And King Rehoboam makes shields of bronze in their stead, and has made [them] a charge on the hand of the heads of the runners, those keeping the opening of the house of the king, ²⁸ and it comes to pass, from the going in of the king to the house of YHWH, the runners carry them, and have brought them back to the chamber of the runners. ²⁹ And the rest of the matters of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ³⁰ And there has been war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam [for] all the days; ³¹ and Rehoboam lies with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers in the City of David, and the name of his mother [is] Naamah the Ammonitess, and his son Abijam reigns in his stead.

Chapter 15

¹ And in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam has reigned over Judah; ² he has reigned three years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Maachah daughter of Abishalom; ³ and he walks in all the sins of his father that he did before him, and his heart has not been perfect with his God YHWH, as the heart of his father David; ⁴ but for David's sake his God YHWH has given to him a lamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem, ⁵ in that David did that which [is] right in the eyes of YHWH, and did not turn aside from all that He commanded him all [the] days of his life—except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite; ⁶ and there has been war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. ⁷ And the rest of the matters of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there has been war between Abijam and Jeroboam; ⁸ and Abijam lies with his fathers, and they bury him in the City of David, and his son Asa reigns in his stead. ⁹ And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa has reigned over Judah, ¹⁰ and he has reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Maachah daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹ And Asa does that which [is] right in the eyes of YHWH, like his father David, ¹² and removes the whoremongers out of the land, and turns aside all the idols that his fathers made; ¹³ and also his mother Maachah—he turns her aside from being mistress, in that she made a horrible thing for an Asherah, and Asa cuts down her horrible thing, and burns [it] by the Brook of Kidron; ¹⁴ but the high places have not been removed; only, the heart of Asa has been perfect with YHWH [for] all his days, ¹⁵ and he brings in the sanctified things of his father, and his own sanctified things, to the house of YHWH: silver, and gold, and vessels. ¹⁶ And there has been war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel [for] all their days, ¹⁷ and Baasha king of Israel goes up against Judah, and builds Ramah, not to permit anyone going out and coming in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ And Asa takes all the silver and the gold that are left in the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the house of the king, and gives them into the hand of his servants, and King Asa sends them to Ben-Hadad, son of Tabrimmon, son of Hezion king of Aram, who is dwelling in Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ "A covenant [is] between me and you, between my father and your father; behold, I have sent a reward of silver and gold to you; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, and he goes up from off me." ²⁰ And Ben-Hadad listens to King Asa, and sends the heads of the forces that he has against cities of Israel, and strikes Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-Beth-Maachah, and all Chinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali; ²¹ and it comes to pass at Baasha's hearing, that he ceases from building Ramah, and dwells in Tirzah. ²² And King Asa has summoned all Judah—there is none exempt—and they lift up the stones of Ramah, and its wood, that Baasha has built, and King Asa builds with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah. ²³ And the rest of all the matters of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? Only, at the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet; ²⁴ and Asa lies with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoshaphat reigns in his stead. ²⁵ And Nadab son of Jeroboam has reigned over Israel, in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigns over Israel two years, ²⁶ and does evil in the eyes of YHWH, and goes in the way of his father, and in his sin that he made Israel to sin. ²⁷ And Baasha son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspires against him, and Baasha strikes him in Gibbethon, which [belonged] to the Philistines—and Nadab and all Israel are laying siege against Gibbethon— ²⁸ indeed, Baasha puts him to death in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigns in his stead. ²⁹ And it comes to pass, at his reigning, he has struck the whole house of Jeroboam, he has not left any breathing to Jeroboam until his destroying him, according to the word of YHWH, that He spoke by the hand of His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ³⁰ because of the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned, and that he caused Israel to sin, by his provocation with which he provoked YHWH, God of Israel, to anger. ³¹ And the rest of the matters of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ³² And there has been war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel [for] all their days. ³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah has reigned over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty-four years, ³⁴ and he does evil in the eyes of YHWH, and walks in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin that he caused Israel to sin.

Chapter 16

¹ And a word of YHWH is to Jehu son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying, ² "Because that I have raised you up out of the dust, and appoint you leader over My people Israel, and you walk in the way of Jeroboam, and cause My people Israel to sin—to provoke Me to anger with their sins; ³ behold, I am putting away the posterity of Baasha, even the posterity of his house, and have given up your house as the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat; ⁴ the dogs eat him who dies of Baasha in a city, and [the] bird of the heavens eats him who dies of his in a field." ⁵ And the rest of the matters of Baasha, and that which he did, and his might, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁶ And Baasha lies with his fathers, and is buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah reigns in his stead. ⁷ And also by the hand of Jehu son of Hanani the prophet a word of YHWH has been concerning Baasha, and concerning his house, and concerning all the evil that he did in the eyes of YHWH to provoke Him to anger with the work of his hands, to be like the house of Jeroboam, and concerning that for which he struck him. ⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha has reigned over Israel in Tirzah, two years; ⁹ and his servant Zimri conspires against him (head of the half of the chariots) and he [is] in Tirzah drinking—a drunkard in the house of Arza, who [is] over the house in Tirzah. ¹⁰ And Zimri comes in and strikes him, and puts him to death, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigns in his stead; ¹¹ and it comes to pass in his reigning, at his sitting on his throne, he has struck the whole house of Baasha; he has not left to him any sitting on the wall, and of his redeemers, and of his friends. ¹² And Zimri destroys the whole house of Baasha, according to the word of YHWH that He spoke concerning Baasha, by the hand of Jehu the prophet, ¹³ concerning all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of his son Elah, that they sinned, and that they caused Israel to sin to provoke YHWH, God of Israel, with their vanities. ¹⁴ And the rest of the matters of Elah and all that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri has reigned seven days in Tirzah; and the people are encamping against Gibbethon, which [belonged] to the Philistines; ¹⁶ and the people who are encamping hear, saying, "Zimri has conspired, and also has struck the king"; and all Israel causes Omri head of the host to reign over Israel on that day in the camp. ¹⁷ And Omri goes up, and all Israel with him, from Gibbethon, and they lay siege to Tirzah. ¹⁸ And it comes to pass, at Zimri's seeing that the city has been captured, that he comes into a high place of the house of the king, and burns the house of the king over himself with fire, and he dies, ¹⁹ for his sins that he sinned, to do evil in the eyes of YHWH, to walk in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin that he did, to cause Israel to sin; ²⁰ and the rest of the matters of Zimri and his conspiracy that he made, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²¹ Then the sons of Israel are parted into halves; half of the people have been after Tibni son of Ginath to cause him to reign, and the [other] half after Omri; ²² and the people that are after Omri are stronger than the people that are after Tibni son of Ginath, and Tibni dies, and Omri reigns. ²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri has reigned over Israel twelve years; he has reigned in Tirzah six years, ²⁴ and he buys the Mount of Samaria from Shemer with two talents of silver, and builds [on] the mountain, and calls the name of the city that he has built by the name of Shemer, lord of the hill—Samaria. ²⁵ And Omri does evil in the eyes of YHWH, and does evil above all who [are] before him, ²⁶ and walks in all the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and in his sin that he caused Israel to sin, to provoke YHWH, God of Israel, with their vanities. ²⁷ And the rest of the matters of Omri that he did and his might that he exercised, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸ And Omri lies with his fathers, and is buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab reigns in his stead. ²⁹ And Ahab son of Omri has reigned over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab son of Omri reigns over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years, ³⁰ and Ahab son of Omri does evil in the eyes of YHWH above all who [are] before him. ³¹ And it comes to pass, as if it had been trivial—his walking in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat—that he takes a wife, Jezebel daughter of Ethba'al, king of the Zidonians, and goes and serves Ba'al, and bows himself to it, ³² and raises up an altar for Ba'al in the house of the Ba'al, which he built in Samaria; ³³ and Ahab makes the Asherah, and Ahab adds to do so as to provoke YHWH, God of Israel, above all the kings of Israel who have been before him. ³⁴ In his days Hiel the Beth-Elite has built Jericho; he laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and he set up its doors with Segub his youngest, according to the word of YHWH that He spoke by the hand of Joshua son of Nun.

Chapter 17

¹ And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, says to Ahab, "YHWH, God of Israel, lives, before whom I have stood, there is not dew and rain these years, except according to my word." ² And the word of YHWH is to him, saying, ³ "Go from this [place]; and you have turned for yourself eastward, and been hidden by the Brook of Cherith that [is] on the front of the Jordan, ⁴ and it has been [that] you drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to sustain you there." ⁵ And he goes and does according to the word of YHWH, indeed, he goes and dwells by the Brook of Cherith, that [is] on the front of the Jordan, ⁶ and the ravens are bringing bread and flesh to him in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drinks from the brook. ⁷ And it comes to pass, at the end of [the] days, that the brook dries up, for there has been no rain in the land, ⁸ and the word of YHWH is to him, saying, ⁹ "Rise, go to Zarephath, that [belongs] to Sidon, and you have dwelt there; behold, I have commanded a widow woman to sustain you there." ¹⁰ And he rises, and goes to Zarephath, and comes to the opening of the city, and behold, there [is] a widow woman gathering sticks, and he calls to her and says, "Please bring a little water to me in a vessel, and I drink." ¹¹ And she goes to bring [it], and he calls to her and says, "Please bring a morsel of bread to me in your hand." ¹² And she says, "Your God YHWH lives, I do not have a cake, but the fullness of the hand of meal in a pitcher, and a little oil in a dish; and behold, I am gathering two sticks, and have gone in and prepared it for myself, and for my son, and we have eaten it—and died." ¹³ And Elijah says to her, "Do not fear, go, do according to your word, only make a little cake for me there, in the first place, and you have brought [it] out to me; and for you and for your son make [it] last; ¹⁴ for thus said YHWH, God of Israel: The pitcher of meal is not consumed, and the dish of oil is not lacking, until the day of YHWH's giving a shower on the face of the ground." ¹⁵ And she goes, and does according to the word of Elijah, and she eats, she and he and her household [for many] days; ¹⁶ the pitcher of meal was not consumed, and the dish of oil did not lack, according to the word of YHWH that He spoke by the hand of Elijah. ¹⁷ And it comes to pass, after these things, the son of the woman, mistress of the house, has been sick, and his sickness is very severe until no breath has been left in him. ¹⁸ And she says to Elijah, "What [is this] to me and to you, O man of God? You have come to me to cause my iniquity to be remembered, and to put my son to death!" ¹⁹ And he says to her, "Give your son to me"; and he takes him out of her bosom, and takes him up to the upper chamber where he is abiding, and lays him on his own bed, ²⁰ and cries to YHWH and says, "My God YHWH, have You also brought calamity on the widow with whom I am sojourning, to put her son to death?" ²¹ And he stretches himself out on the boy three times, and calls to YHWH and says, "O YHWH my God, please let the soul of this boy return into his midst"; ²² and YHWH listens to the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the boy turns back into his midst, and he lives. ²³ And Elijah takes the boy, and brings him down from the upper chamber of the house, and gives him to his mother, and Elijah says, "See, your son lives!" ²⁴ And the woman says to Elijah, "Now [by] this I have known that you [are] a man of God, and the word of YHWH in your mouth [is] truth."

Chapter 18

¹ And the days are many, and the word of YHWH has been to Elijah in the third year, saying, "Go, appear to Ahab, and I give rain on the face of the ground"; ² and Elijah goes to appear to Ahab. And the famine is severe in Samaria, ³ and Ahab calls to Obadiah, who [is] over the house—and Obadiah has been fearing YHWH greatly, ⁴ and it comes to pass, in Jezebel's cutting off the prophets of YHWH, that Obadiah takes one hundred prophets, and hides them, fifty men in a cave, and has sustained them with bread and water— ⁵ and Ahab says to Obadiah, "Go through the land, to all fountains of waters, and to all the brooks, perhaps we find hay, and keep alive horse and mule, and do not cut off any of the livestock." ⁶ And they apportion the land to themselves, to pass over into it; Ahab has gone in one way by himself, and Obadiah has gone in another way by himself; ⁷ and Obadiah [is] in the way, and behold, Elijah [is there] to meet him; and he discerns him, and falls on his face and says, "Are you he—my lord Elijah?" ⁸ And he says to him, "I [am]; go, say to your lord, Behold, Elijah." ⁹ And he says, "What have I sinned, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab—to put me to death? ¹⁰ Your God YHWH lives, if there is a nation and kingdom to where my lord has not sent to seek [for] you; and they said, He is not, then he caused the kingdom and the nation to swear, that it does not find you; ¹¹ and now, you are saying, Go, say to your lord, Behold, Elijah; ¹² and it has been, I go from you, and the Spirit of YHWH lifts you up to where I do not know, and I have come to declare to Ahab, and he does not find you, and he has slain me; and your servant is fearing YHWH from my youth. ¹³ Has it not been declared to my lord that which I have done in Jezebel's slaying the prophets of YHWH, that I hide one hundred men of the prophets of YHWH, fifty by fifty in a cave, and sustained them with bread and water? ¹⁴ And now you are saying, Go, say to my lord, Behold, Elijah—and he has slain me!" ¹⁵ And Elijah says, "YHWH of Hosts lives, before whom I have stood, surely I appear to him today." ¹⁶ Obadiah goes to meet Ahab, and declares [it] to him, and Ahab goes to meet Elijah. ¹⁷ [And it] comes to pass at Ahab's seeing Elijah that Ahab says to him, "Are you he—the troubler of Israel?" ¹⁸ And he says, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and the house of your father, in your forsaking the commands of YHWH, and you go after the Ba'alim; ¹⁹ and now, send, gather all Israel to me, to the Mount of Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Ba'al, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who are eating at the table of Jezebel." ²⁰ And Ahab sends among all the sons of Israel, and gathers the prophets to the Mount of Carmel; ²¹ and Elijah comes near to all the people and says, "Until when are you leaping on the two branches? If YHWH [is] God, go after Him; and if Ba'al, go after him"; and the people have not answered him a word. ²² And Elijah says to the people, "I have been left, by myself, a prophet of YHWH; and the prophets of Ba'al [are] four hundred and fifty men; ²³ and let them give two bullocks to us, and they choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and place [it] on the wood, and place no fire; and I prepare the other bullock, and have put [it] on the wood, and I do not place fire— ²⁴ and you have called in the name of your god, and I call in the Name of YHWH, and it has been, the god who answers by fire—He [is] the God." And all the people answer and say, "The word [is] good." ²⁵ And Elijah says to the prophets of Ba'al, "Choose one bullock for yourselves, and prepare [it] first, for you [are] the multitude, and call in the name of your god, and place no fire." ²⁶ And they take the bullock that [one] gave to them, and prepare [it], and call in the name of Ba'al from the morning even until the noon, saying, "O Ba'al, answer us!" And there is no voice, and there is none answering; and they leap on the altar that one had made. ²⁷ And it comes to pass, at noon, that Elijah mocks at them and says, "Call with a loud voice, for he [is] a god, for he is meditating, or pursuing, or on a journey; it may be he is asleep, and awakes." ²⁸ And they call with a loud voice, and cut themselves, according to their ordinance, with swords and with spears, until a flowing of blood [is] on them; ²⁹ and it comes to pass, at the passing by of the noon, that they feign themselves prophets until the going up of the present, and there is no voice, and there is none answering, and there is none attending. ³⁰ And Elijah says to all the people, "Come near to me"; and all the people come near to him, and he repairs the altar of YHWH that is broken down; ³¹ and Elijah takes twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of YHWH was, saying, "Israel is your name"; ³² and he builds an altar with the stones, in the Name of YHWH, and makes a trench, as about the space of two measures of seed, around the altar. ³³ And he arranges the wood, and cuts the bullock in pieces, and places [it] on the wood, and says, "Fill four pitchers of water, and pour [them] on the burnt-offering, and on the wood"; ³⁴ and he says, "Do [it] a second time"; and they do [it] a second time; and he says, "Do [it] a third time"; and they do [it] a third time; ³⁵ and the water goes around the altar, and he has also filled the trench with water. ³⁶ And it comes to pass, at the going up of the [evening] present, that Elijah the prophet comes near and says, "YHWH, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that You [are] God in Israel, and that I, Your servant, have done the whole of these things by Your word; ³⁷ answer me, O YHWH, answer me, and this people [then] knows that You [are] YHWH God; and You have turned their heart backward." ³⁸ And a fire falls [from] YHWH, and consumes the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and it has licked up the water that [is] in the trench. ³⁹ And all the people see, and fall on their faces, and say, "YHWH, He [is] the God! YHWH, He [is] the God!" ⁴⁰ And Elijah says to them, "Catch the prophets of Ba'al; do not let a man escape from them"; and they catch them, and Elijah brings them down to the Brook of Kishon, and slaughters them there. ⁴¹ And Elijah says to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink, because of the sound of the noise of the shower." ⁴² And Ahab goes up to eat, and to drink, and Elijah has gone up to the top of Carmel, and he stretches himself out on the earth, and he places his face between his knees, ⁴³ and says to his young man, "Now go up, look attentively [toward] the way of the sea"; and he goes up and looks attentively, and says, "There is nothing"; and he says, "Turn back," seven times. ⁴⁴ And it comes to pass, at the seventh, that he says, "Behold, a little thickness as the palm of a man is coming up out of the sea." And he says, "Go up, say to Ahab, Bind and go down, and the shower does not restrain you." ⁴⁵ And it comes to pass, in the meantime, that the heavens have become black—thick clouds and wind—and the shower is great; and Ahab rides, and goes to Jezreel, ⁴⁶ and the hand of YHWH has been on Elijah, and he girds up his loins, and runs before Ahab, until your entering Jezreel.

Chapter 19

¹ And Ahab declares to Jezebel all that Elijah did, and all of how he slew all the prophets by the sword, ² and Jezebel sends a messenger to Elijah, saying, "Thus the gods do, and thus do they add—surely about this time tomorrow, I make your life as the life of one of them." ³ And he fears, and rises, and goes for his life, and comes to Beer-Sheba, that [is] Judah's, and leaves his young man there, ⁴ and he himself has gone a day's journey into the wilderness, and comes and sits under a certain broom tree, and desires his soul to die, and says, "Enough, now, O YHWH, take my soul, for I [am] not better than my fathers." ⁵ And he lies down and sleeps under a certain broom tree, and behold, a messenger is reaching toward him and says to him, "Rise, eat"; ⁶ and he looks attentively, and behold, at his bolster [is] a cake [on] burning stones, and a dish of water, and he eats, and drinks, and turns, and lies down. ⁷ And the messenger of YHWH turns back a second time, and is reaching toward him, and says, "Rise, eat, for the way is too great for you"; ⁸ and he rises, and eats, and drinks, and goes in the power of that food [for] forty days and forty nights, to the mountain of God—Horeb. ⁹ And he comes in there, to the cave, and lodges there, and behold, the word of YHWH [is] to him, and says to him, "What are you [doing] here, Elijah?" ¹⁰ And he says, "I have been very zealous for YHWH, God of Hosts, for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant—they have thrown down Your altars, and they have slain Your prophets by the sword, and I am left, I, by myself, and they seek my life—to take it." ¹¹ And He says, "Go out, and you have stood on the mountain before YHWH." And behold, YHWH is passing by, and a wind—great and strong—is tearing mountains, and shattering rocks before YHWH, [but] YHWH [is] not in the wind; and after the wind [is] a shaking, [but] YHWH [is] not in the shaking; ¹² and after the shaking [is] a fire, [but] YHWH [is] not in the fire; and after the fire [is] a voice [like] a small whisper; ¹³ and it comes to pass, at Elijah's hearing [it], that he wraps his face in his robe, and goes out, and stands at the opening of the cave, and behold, a voice [speaks] to him, and it says, "What are you [doing] here, Elijah?" ¹⁴ And he says, "I have been very zealous for YHWH, God of Hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, they have thrown down Your altars, and they have slain Your prophets by the sword, and I am left, I, by myself, and they seek my life—to take it." ¹⁵ And YHWH says to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and you have gone in, and anointed Hazael for king over Aram, ¹⁶ and you anoint Jehu son of Nimshi for king over Israel, and you anoint Elisha son of Shaphat, of Abel-Meholah, for prophet in your stead. ¹⁷ And it has been, he who has escaped from the sword of Hazael, Jehu puts to death, and he who has escaped from the sword of Jehu, Elisha puts to death; ¹⁸ and I have left in Israel seven thousand—all the knees that have not bowed to Ba'al, and every mouth that has not kissed him." ¹⁹ And he goes there, and finds Elisha son of Shaphat, and he is plowing; twelve yoke [are] before him, and he [is] with the twelfth; and Elijah passes over to him, and casts his robe at him, ²⁰ and he forsakes the ox, and runs after Elijah, and says, "Please let me give a kiss to my father and to my mother, and I go after you." And he says to him, "Go, turn back, for what have I done to you?" ²¹ And he turns back from after him, and takes the yoke of the ox, and sacrifices it, and with [the] instruments of the ox he has boiled its flesh, and gives to the people, and they eat, and he rises, and goes after Elijah, and serves him.

Chapter 20

¹ And Ben-Hadad king of Aram has gathered all his force, and thirty-two kings [are] with him, and horse and chariot, and he goes up and lays siege against Samaria, and fights with it, ² and sends messengers to Ahab king of Israel, to the city, ³ and says to him, "Thus said Ben-Hadad: Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and your sons—the best—are mine." ⁴ And the king of Israel answers and says, "According to your word, my lord, O king: I [am] yours, and all that I have." ⁵ And the messengers turn back and say, "Thus spoke Ben-Hadad, saying, Surely I sent to you, saying, Your silver, and your gold, and your wives, and your sons, you give to me; ⁶ for if, at this time tomorrow, I send my servants to you, then they have searched your house, and the houses of your servants, and it has been [that] every desirable thing of your eyes they place in their hand, and have taken [them] away." ⁷ And the king of Israel calls to all [the] elderly of the land and says, "Please know and see that this [one] is seeking evil, for he sent to me for my wives, and for my sons, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I did not withhold from him." ⁸ And all the elderly and all the people say to him, "Do not listen, nor consent." ⁹ And he says to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, "Say to my lord the king, All that you sent to your servant for at the first I do, and this thing I am not able to do"; and the messengers go and take him back word. ¹⁰ And Ben-Hadad sends to him and says, "Thus the gods do to me, and thus do they add, if the dust of Samaria suffice for handfuls for all the people who [are] at my feet." ¹¹ And the king of Israel answers and says, "Speak: Do not let him who is girding on boast himself as him who is loosing [his armor]." ¹² And it comes to pass at the hearing of this word—and he is drinking, he and the kings, in the shelters—that he says to his servants, "Set yourselves"; and they set themselves against the city. ¹³ And behold, a certain prophet has come near to Ahab king of Israel and says, "Thus said YHWH: Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I am giving it into your hand today, and you have known that I [am] YHWH." ¹⁴ And Ahab says, "By whom?" And he says, "Thus said YHWH: By the young men of the heads of the provinces"; and he says, "Who directs the battle?" And he says, "You." ¹⁵ And he inspects the young men of the heads of the provinces, and they are two hundred and thirty-two, and after them he has mustered all the people, all the sons of Israel—seven thousand, ¹⁶ and they go out at noon, and Ben-Hadad is drinking—drunk in the shelters, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings helping him. ¹⁷ And the young men of the heads of the provinces go out at the first, and Ben-Hadad sends, and they declare to him, saying, "Men have come out of Samaria." ¹⁸ And he says, "If they have come out for peace, catch them alive; and if they have come out for battle, catch them alive." ¹⁹ And these have gone out of the city—the young men of the heads of the provinces—and the force that [is] after them, ²⁰ and each strikes his man, and Aram flees, and Israel pursues them, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram escapes on a horse—and the horsemen; ²¹ and the king of Israel goes out, and strikes the horses, and the charioteers, and has struck among the Arameans a great striking. ²² And the prophet comes near to the king of Israel and says to him, "Go, strengthen yourself, and know and see that which you do, for at the turn of the year the king of Aram is coming up against you." ²³ And the servants of the king of Aram said to him, "Their gods [are] gods of hills, therefore they were stronger than us; and yet, we fight with them in the plain—are we not stronger than they? ²⁴ And this thing you do: turn aside each of the kings out of his place, and set captains in their stead; ²⁵ and you, number for yourself a force as the force that is fallen from you, and horse for horse, and chariot for chariot, and we fight with them in the plain; are we not stronger than they?" And he listens to their voice, and does so. ²⁶ And it comes to pass at the turn of the year, that Ben-Hadad inspects the Arameans, and goes up to Aphek, to battle with Israel, ²⁷ and the sons of Israel have been inspected, and supported, and go to meet them, and the sons of Israel encamp before them, like two flocks of goats, and the Arameans have filled the land. ²⁸ And a man of God comes near, and speaks to the king of Israel and says, "Thus said YHWH: Because that the Arameans have said, YHWH [is] God of [the] hills, but He [is] not God of [the] valleys—I have given the whole of this great multitude into your hand, and you have known that I [am] YHWH." ²⁹ And they encamp opposite one another [for] seven days, and it comes to pass on the seventh day, that the battle draws near, and the sons of Israel strike one hundred thousand footmen of Aram in one day. ³⁰ And those left flee to Aphek, into the city, and the wall falls on twenty-seven chief men who are left, and Ben-Hadad has fled, and comes into the city, into the innermost part. ³¹ And his servants say to him, "Now behold, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel—that they are kind kings; please let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads, and we go out to the king of Israel; it may be he keeps you alive." ³² And they gird sackcloth on their loins, and ropes [are] on their heads, and they come to the king of Israel, and say, "Your servant Ben-Hadad has said, Please let me live"; and he says, "Is he still alive? He [is] my brother." ³³ And the men observe diligently, and hurry, and catch [the word] from him, and say, "Your brother Ben-Hadad"; and he says, "Go in, bring him"; and Ben-Hadad comes out to him, and he causes him to come up on the chariot. ³⁴ And he says to him, "The cities that my father took from your father, I give back, and you make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria; and I, with a covenant, send you away"; and he makes a covenant with him, and sends him away. ³⁵ And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor by the word of YHWH, "Please strike me"; and the man refuses to strike him, ³⁶ and he says to him, "Because that you have not listened to the voice of YHWH, behold, you are going from me, and the lion has struck you"; and he goes from him, and the lion finds him, and strikes him. ³⁷ And he finds another man and says, "Please strike me"; and the man strikes him, striking and wounding, ³⁸ and the prophet goes and stands for the king on the way, and disguises himself with ashes on his eyes. ³⁹ And it comes to pass—the king is passing by—that he has cried to the king and says, "Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a man has turned aside and brings a man to me, and says, Keep this man; if he is at all missing, then your life has been for his life, or you weigh out a talent of silver; ⁴⁰ and it comes to pass, your servant is working here and there, and he is not!" And the king of Israel says to him, "Your judgment [is] right; you have determined [it]." ⁴¹ And he hurries and turns aside the ashes from off his eyes, and the king of Israel discerns him, that he [is] of the prophets, ⁴² and he says to him, "Thus said YHWH: Because you have sent away the man I devoted, out of [your] hand, even your life has been for his life, and your people for his people"; ⁴³ and the king of Israel goes to his house, sulky and angry, and comes to Samaria.

Chapter 21

¹ And it comes to pass after these things, a vineyard has been to Naboth the Jezreelite, that [is] in Jezreel, near the palace of Ahab king of Samaria, ² and Ahab speaks to Naboth, saying, "Give your vineyard to me, and it is for a garden of green herbs for me, for it [is] near by my house, and I give to you a better vineyard than it in its stead; if [this is] good in your eyes, I give to you its price [in] silver." ³ And Naboth says to Ahab, "Far be it from me, by YHWH, my giving the inheritance of my fathers to you"; ⁴ and Ahab comes to his house, sulky and angry, because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite has spoken to him when he says, "I do not give the inheritance of my fathers to you," and he lies down on his bed, and turns around his face, and has not eaten bread. ⁵ And his wife Jezebel comes to him, and speaks to him, "Why [is] this [that] your spirit [is] sulky, and you are not eating bread?" ⁶ And he says to her, "Because I speak to Naboth the Jezreelite, and say to him, Give your vineyard to me for money, or if you desire, I give a vineyard to you in its stead; and he says, I do not give my vineyard to you." ⁷ And his wife Jezebel says to him, "You now execute rule over Israel! Rise, eat bread, and let your heart be glad—I give the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to you." ⁸ And she writes letters in the name of Ahab, and seals with his seal, and sends the letters to the elderly and to the nobles who are in his city, those dwelling with Naboth, ⁹ and she writes in the letters, saying, "Proclaim a fast, and cause Naboth to sit at the head of the people, ¹⁰ and cause two men—sons of worthlessness—to sit opposite him, and they testify of him, saying, You have blessed [[or cursed]] God and [the] king; and they have brought him out, and stoned him, and he dies." ¹¹ And the men of his city, the elderly and the nobles who are dwelling in his city, do as Jezebel has sent to them, as written in the letters that she sent to them, ¹² they have proclaimed a fast, and caused Naboth to sit at the head of the people, ¹³ and two men—sons of worthlessness—come in, and sit opposite him, and the men of worthlessness testify of him, even Naboth, before the people, saying, "Naboth blessed [[or cursed]] God and [the] king"; and they take him out to the outside of the city, and stone him with stones, and he dies; ¹⁴ and they send to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth was stoned, and is dead." ¹⁵ And it comes to pass, at Jezebel's hearing that Naboth has been stoned, and is dead, that Jezebel says to Ahab, "Rise, possess the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, that he refused to give to you for money, for Naboth is not alive but dead." ¹⁶ And it comes to pass, at Ahab's hearing that Naboth is dead, that Ahab rises to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to possess it. ¹⁷ And the word of YHWH is to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸ "Rise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who [is] in Samaria—behold, in the vineyard of Naboth, to where he has gone down to possess it, ¹⁹ and you have spoken to him, saying, Thus said YHWH: Have you murdered, and also possessed? And you have spoken to him, saying, Thus said YHWH: In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs lick your blood, even yours." ²⁰ And Ahab says to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?" And he says, "I have found—because of your selling yourself to do evil in the eyes of YHWH; ²¹ behold, I am bringing calamity on you, and have taken away your posterity, and cut off from Ahab those sitting on the wall, and restrained, and left, in Israel, ²² and given up your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, for the provocation with which you have provoked [Me], and cause Israel to sin. ²³ And YHWH has also spoken of Jezebel, saying, The dogs eat Jezebel in the bulwark of Jezreel; ²⁴ the dogs eat him who dies of Ahab in a city, and [the] bird of the heavens eats him who dies in a field; ²⁵ surely there has been none like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of YHWH, whom his wife Jezebel has moved, ²⁶ and he does very abominably to go after the idols, according to all that the Amorite did whom YHWH dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel." ²⁷ And it comes to pass, at Ahab's hearing these words, that he tears his garments, and puts sackcloth on his flesh, and fasts, and lies in sackcloth, and goes gently. ²⁸ And the word of YHWH is to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹ "Have you seen that Ahab has been humbled before Me? Because that he has been humbled before Me, I do not bring in the calamity in his days; I bring in the calamity on his house in the days of his son."

Chapter 22

¹ And they sit still three years; there is no war between Aram and Israel. ² And it comes to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat king of Judah comes down to the king of Israel, ³ and the king of Israel says to his servants, "Have you not known that Ramoth-Gilead [is] ours? And we are keeping silent from taking it out of the hand of the king of Aram!" ⁴ And he says to Jehoshaphat, "Do you go with me to battle [against] Ramoth-Gilead?" And Jehoshaphat says to the king of Israel, "As I am, so [are] you; as my people, so your people; as my horses, so your horses." ⁵ And Jehoshaphat says to the king of Israel, "Please seek the word of YHWH today"; ⁶ and the king of Israel gathers the prophets, about four hundred men, and says to them, "Do I go to battle against Ramoth-Gilead, or do I refrain?" And they say, "Go up, and the Lord gives [it] into the hand of the king." ⁷ And Jehoshaphat says, "[Is there] not a prophet of YHWH still here that we may seek from him?" ⁸ And the king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat, "Yet one man [remains] to seek YHWH from him, and I have hated him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil—Micaiah son of Imlah"; and Jehoshaphat says, "Do not let the king say so." ⁹ And the king of Israel calls to a certain eunuch and says, "Hurry along Micaiah son of Imlah." ¹⁰ And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah are sitting, each on his throne, clothed with garments, in a threshing-floor, at the opening of the Gate of Samaria, and all the prophets are prophesying before them. ¹¹ And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah makes horns of iron for himself and says, "Thus said YHWH: By these you push the Arameans until they are consumed"; ¹² and all the prophets are prophesying so, saying, "Go up to Ramoth-Gilead, and prosper, and YHWH has given [it] into the hand of the king." ¹³ And the messenger who has gone to call Micaiah has spoken to him, saying, "Now behold, the words of the prophets, with one mouth, [are] good toward the king; please let your word be as the word of one of them—and you have spoken good." ¹⁴ And Micaiah says, "YHWH lives; surely that which YHWH says to me—it I speak." ¹⁵ And he comes to the king, and the king says to him, "Micaiah, do we go to Ramoth-Gilead, to battle, or do we refrain?" And he says to him, "Go up, and prosper, and YHWH has given [it] into the hand of the king." ¹⁶ And the king says to him, "How many times am I adjuring you that you speak nothing to me but truth in the Name of YHWH?" ¹⁷ And he says, "I have seen all Israel scattered on the hills as sheep that have no shepherd, and YHWH says, These have no master; let them return—each to his house in peace." ¹⁸ And the king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat, "Have I not said to you, He does not prophesy of me good, but evil?" ¹⁹ And he says, "Therefore, hear a word of YHWH! I have seen YHWH sitting on His throne, and all the host of the heavens standing by Him, on His right and on His left; ²⁰ and YHWH says, Who entices Ahab, and he goes up and falls in Ramoth-Gilead? And this one says thus, and that one is saying thus. ²¹ And the spirit goes out and stands before YHWH, and says, I entice him; and YHWH says to him, By what? ²² And he says, I go out, and have been a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets; and He says, You entice, and also you are able; go out and do so. ²³ And now, behold, YHWH has put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and YHWH has spoken calamity concerning you." ²⁴ And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah draws near and strikes Micaiah on the cheek, and says, "Where [is] this [that] the spirit [from] YHWH has passed over from me to speak with you?" ²⁵ And Micaiah says, "Behold, you are seeing on that day when you go into the innermost chamber to be hidden." ²⁶ And the king of Israel says, "Take Micaiah, and turn him back to Amon head of the city, and to Joash son of the king, ²⁷ and you have said, Thus said the king: Place this one in the house of restraint, and cause him to eat bread of oppression, and water of oppression, until my coming in peace." ²⁸ And Micaiah says, "If you return in peace at all, YHWH has not spoken by me"; and he says, "Hear, O peoples, all of them." ²⁹ And the king of Israel goes up—and Jehoshaphat king of Judah—to Ramoth-Gilead. ³⁰ And the king of Israel says to Jehoshaphat to disguise himself, and to go into battle, "And you, put on your garments." And the king of Israel disguises himself, and goes into battle. ³¹ And the king of Aram commanded the thirty-two heads of the charioteers whom he has, saying, "You do not fight with small or with great, but with the king of Israel by himself." ³² And it comes to pass, at the heads of the charioteers seeing Jehoshaphat, that they said, "He [is] surely the king of Israel!" And they turn aside to him to fight, and Jehoshaphat cries out, ³³ and it comes to pass, at the heads of the charioteers seeing that he [is] not the king of Israel, that they turn back from after him. ³⁴ And a man has drawn with a bow in his simplicity, and strikes the king of Israel between the joinings and the coat of mail, and he says to his charioteer, "Turn your hand, and take me out from the camp, for I have become sick." ³⁵ And the battle increases on that day, and the king has been caused to stand in the chariot, in front of Aram, and he dies in the evening, and the blood of the wound runs out to the midst of the chariot, ³⁶ and he causes the cry to pass over through the camp, at the going in of the sun, saying, "Each to his city, and each to his land!" ³⁷ And the king dies, and comes into Samaria, and they bury the king in Samaria; ³⁸ and [one] rinses the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs lick his blood when they had washed the armor, according to the word of YHWH that He spoke. ³⁹ And the rest of the matters of Ahab, and all that he did, and the house of ivory that he built, and all the cities that he built, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁴⁰ And Ahab lies with his fathers, and his son Ahaziah reigns in his stead. ⁴¹ And Jehoshaphat son of Asa has reigned over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel, ⁴² Jehoshaphat [is] a son of thirty-five years in his reigning, and he has reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Azubah daughter of Shilhi. ⁴³ And he walks in all the way of his father Asa, he has not turned aside from it, to do that which [is] right in the eyes of YHWH; only, the high places have not been removed—the people are still sacrificing and making incense in high places. ⁴⁴ And Jehoshaphat makes peace with the king of Israel; ⁴⁵ and the rest of the matters of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he exercised, and with which he fought, are they not written on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁴⁶ And the remnant of the whoremongers who were left in the days of his father Asa he took away out of the land; ⁴⁷ and there is no king in Edom; he set up a king. ⁴⁸ Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, and they did not go, for the ships were broken in Ezion-Geber. ⁴⁹ Then Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants go with your servants in the ships"; and Jehoshaphat was not willing. ⁵⁰ And Jehoshaphat lies with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoram reigns in his stead. ⁵¹ Ahaziah son of Ahab has reigned over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigns over Israel two years, ⁵² and does evil in the eyes of YHWH, and walks in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat who caused Israel to sin, ⁵³ and serves the Ba'al, and bows himself to it, and provokes YHWH, God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.

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